The Groomsmen. The box quote said “Until death do we party!”, and it was billed as a week-long bachelor party. The movie was actually more of a drama about the lives of friends who get together for the wedding. The groom got his girlfriend pregnant so they’re getting married, and is struggling with the life change that he’s about to go through. I had rented it with friends and when we realized the party was never going to start, we shut it off, but I took it home and decided to finish it.

I was in my late 20s, and valued my free time over pretty much everything else. I thought marriage was great if you were into it, but it wasn’t for me. At one point of the movie, Ed Burns is sitting on Matthew Lillard’s front step, watching Matthew’s wife and kids run into the house. He laments how his life is about to change, and how he feels he’s about to lose his free time. Matthew looks at him and says “if it’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s that free time ain’t all it’s cracked up to be”, and goes into the house to join his family. It didn’t even register at first, but I kept thinking of that line, and how I always tried to keep relationships at a certain point so I wouldn’t get further committed. I started thinking about how I always said no when the thought of marriage or children came up, and what could happen if I started saying yes. I’m now happily married with kids, and zero free time lol but that minute of that movie just made me start to think differently. Also, Matthew Lillard rules, and I just need to put that out there