Movies to Make You Think

So, we saw two movies this past weekend (Doubt, and Seven Pounds) and enjoyed them both.  Yet they were so very different that I find it impossible to compare.  I cannot say, “this one was better because…”  They were just too very different.

I do not want the job of a movie critic, who must find a way to assess each movie to some standard.  In my world, the standard is, “did I enjoy it?”  AND I tend to enjoy movies that cause me to think.  Both of these did, in different ways.

First, the movie Doubt.  (click on the image to learn more, and read the reviews). This movie has garnered 76% positive reviews, and there appears little debate that it’s a “good” movie.

In my opinion, all three of the main players turned in very powerful performances.  Phillip Seymour Hoffman is always sensational, and there’s no exception here as he plays across a wide range of emotional space as a parish priest accused of impropriety; he moves from anger to arrogance, and from caring concern to resignation.

Meryl Streep, whom I just saw last weekend on video in the cotton-candy of a musical, Momma Mia, plays a nun — the school principal — who must balance very carefully the evidence she does not really have against her compelling need to protect the children in her care.  She, too, must navigate a broad range of emotions, and IMHO she carries off her role with a fierceness and caring that I found extraordinary.

The real surprise for me was the intense performance by Amy Adams.  Till now, I’ve only seen her in light and airy roles: singing with birds in Disney’s Enchantment, or playing the madcap and superficial employer in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.  Here, sans makeup, color, music, or dancing, she’s left with nothing but her acting talent.  I was truly impressed.  There’s one scene where she is torn nearly apart with conflict, and she carries all of that scene with just her face, framed by a black habit.

Frankly, there’s one other scene stealer: Viola Davis, in a role as the mother of the parish school’s only black student.  She’s on screen for maybe five minutes, and WOW, what a powerful performance as a mother terribly conflicted about what is best for her son.  If you see the movie, watch for the scene where she and Sister Aloysius are standing outside the apartment building.

There was little happiness in this movie.  But it certainly helped me to appreciate how important a little happiness is to people….

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Then there was Seven Pounds, the newest Will Smith vehicle.  The movie’s been roundly panned by critics (only 28% positive reviews — click on the image to learn more)… but still, it’s WILL SMITH!

One reviewer captured best what I felt after viewing the movie: “You will either be frustrated with its asymmetrical and manipulative storytelling or be captivated by scattered clues that ultimately lead to some kind of resolution.”

For the first 15 minutes I just kept thinking, “what is H— is going on?!?!”  Then my curiosity started getting the better of me and I thought, “I remember having the same reaction to the movie, Crash… and the out-of-sequence narrative eventually came together.”  So, I surrendered to the movie, and instead of trying to FIGURE IT OUT, I let it unfold.

Which it did.

Does it make sense, in the end?  From a narrative standpoint, I was very satisfied.  I was surprised.  I cried.  Once the plot twist occurred, the rest was predictable.  But still, I was satisfied.

The interesting thing is that this was about a man who, in an effort to make up for a horrific event that he blames himself for, ends up making seven people very happy.

I can’t tell you how, because that would ruin the movie.  I CAN tell you that some of those scenes are blatantly manipulative, in the way that storytelling manipulates us into an emotional space and then takes advantage of our trust.

A word of warning: if you go to see this movie, plan to suspend logic and reality before you enter the theater.  If you want a reality tale, this is not your thing.  If you want a fantastic, sometimes perplexing, sometimes sweet story that is marginally plausible (which is what movies allow us to enjoy), then you’re all set.

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I guarantee both these movies will make you think.

Slumdog Millionaire – I hope it’s as good as the book

Two years ago in my 2007 Summer Reading List I lauded the book, Q&A, by Vikas Swarup.  I thought it was a WONDERFUL story, and highly recommended the audio version of the book.  I am thrilled that it’s been turned in to a movie, Slumdog Millionaire, opening in Cleveland tonite!

Here’s an excerpt from my own review of the book:

[Jim’s Notes:How do I describe this book? The premise is that a young, uneducated waiter who lives in Mumbai, India, has just won the largest Jackpot in television history – a billion rupees! – by answering a series of twelve consecutive and increasingly difficult questions on a “who wants to be a millionaire”-like program on Indian television. The producers of the show find it impossible to believe that he achieved this without cheating. As the book opens, he is being arrested. He ends up in the custody of a police detective to whom he tells his story, demonstrating how his unique life circumstances led him to know – uneducated as he is – all the correct answers. The tale is an exploration of life for the indigent and servile masses in modern day India, the caste system, injustice, child slavery the buying and selling of lives, greed, friendship, love, betrayal, and most of all, the power of spirit. AND it is all wrapped up in an engaging story about an unassuming young man who has struggled to survive on his wits alone, in an unforgiving system, since he was orphaned at age seven.

In the midst of much misery, by the way, this character never suffers – for suffering is not about pain but about how we respond to pain. He does not suffer because he sees life for what it is – life. He just keeps moving, doing what he needs to do to survive. (I do not believe this was a commentary by the author, but more my own observation. I never felt sorry for him – he simply tells his story in a straightforward matter -- it is what it is).]

To read the rest of my review, you can download the list from my archives.

It’s got a 92% postive rating at RottenTomatoes.com.  Read the book.  See the movie.  I promise you your heart will feel lighter!

Happiness and The Joker

Well, it’s official — THE blockbuster movie of Summer 2008 is The Dark Knight, the new Batman installment starring Heath Ledger as the nihilistic bad guy, the Joker. I finally went to see it on Friday evening.

I don’t evaluate movies based on their Academy Award potential. My standards are: did I have a good time?, and will I recommend it to others? To both, a resounding YES. I had a blast! It is dark, yes. It is chilling at times. The Joker here is a nihilistic bad guy with nothing even resembling a conscience — he is REALLY evil!

He is also scarred. Oh, I’m not talking about the apparent emotional baggage, but the actual physical scarring. He gives different accounts of how it happened, but bottom line is this: at a point in his childhood, his cheeks were sliced open from both corners of his mouth to create an enormous and hideous grin. While the cheeks are healed the scar remains, and he paints the entire scar — down one cheek, across his lips, and up the other cheek — with red.

In one of his stories, he was trying to cheer up his mother, who had ceased to smile. In that version, he took a razor and sliced open his own face in a desperate attempt to increase the size of his smile, hoping it would encourage his mother to also smile.

And I thought, Wow, except for the razor blade part, how many of us do that same sort of thing? We paste on a HUGE smile, in the hopes of encouraging others. But as the Joker learned, it’s not about the facial expression of smiling — it’s about the feeling that goes with it. The Joker enlarged his grin out of fear and desperation, so that’s all his mother picked up from him. In real life, emotions are contagious. A smile based on fear inspires fear. Only a smile based on kindness, compassion, empathy, happiness (or something related) will inspire another person to feel better.

If you’re going to paste on a smile, smile first with your heart. Your face will follow.