Been far too long since I have written to you on this topic. Frankly
there have not been a lot of movies that I want to see out there. The
Avengers? No. Hunger Games? You mean The Running Man without
Ah-nold?! Ah, no. So recently I saw two films, one in the theatre
and one on the plane.
Theatre was The Vow. And I will start this review with an Alison
classic re-telling of an opening line. This is the story about a Saab
that in the middle of a Chicago winter after seeing a film stops at a
red light and then gets rear ended by a plow that was unable to stop.
The Saab’s passengers are injured with she (Rachel McAdams) being
thrown through the windshield and her husband driver (Channing
whatever). Being strapped in and becoming yet another commercial for
seat belt usage. Our Saab sadly is neither seen from again, nor
likely ever to be driven again. Our young couple it seems are married
(a few years) and she as she awakens from her coma does not remember
him AT ALL. Nothing. The last 5 years of her life erased. She still
thinks that she is to be married to the local cad, and her
overwhelming parents (Jessica Lange and Sam Neill) step in to fill in
the gaps. There are some good twists and turns and Channing has the
patience of Jobe to be understanding and reasonable. Throughout the
movie I am thinking that Channing really should be Ryan Gosling. But
no never mind. They both do an adequate job. Scott Speedman plays
the cad very well, and the parents have some stories to tell of their
own. It’s not as formulaic and predictable as first thought. I
liked it. With Speedman and McAdams, there are plenty of Canucks
here and Chicago played (for the most part, by Toronto). Worth the
rental and/or the time – but note the sensitive heart that was
watching.
On the plane ride, I watched The Help with much anticipation. Given
the Awards that went around for this and the nominees for Best Actress
and Supporting Actress this was really well done. The times are
important here with the early 60s and the beginning of the movement to
eliminate segregation. Two mindsets altered with history and the
future in the balance. The status quo to 2012 eyes, seems so alarming
and yet there were Supreme Court rulings that equality means
“different but treated equally amongst themselves”. There is a lovely
story here of retribution, and I am not talking about the “pie”.
Viola Davis plays a woman with a heart broken by grief in the loss of
her son. She chooses this way to keep his memory alive. She tells
her story. And she convinces others to tell their story. And in the
end, the local biatch who runs the social circle has her day – and a
fine day at that it is! So I truly enjoyed this. I am thankful that
there were some make characters here and wish that they were a little
more active. I guess they are working and oblivious to the games
going on around them. I can only imagine what things the Help heard
in those days.
So two thumbs up here for two different movies. They are not climbing
my list of all time favs…but I was glad that I saw them, and glad to
recommend them. I can’t recall wanting to see a woman bitch slapped more in
a movie since Lynette in An Officer and a Gentleman. There you have
it.
Inside note that Alison had a Saab when she was in Toronto. She
had recommended me to get one, and I ended up with one that I
regretted. She did a review of the movie Sideways where she put the
Saab in the movie as the lead character.
Funny.
Mondays With Robbie 