Knock-Down Drag-Outs (Crying In The Rain)
Aaaaannnndd it's time for our weekly rec!Take Me Home is a romantic comedy (another one, I know) written, directed, and starring Sam Jaeger. No, you shouldn't recognize that name. It's an indie film. (His leading lady is his RL wife, too, which I think is all sorts of cute.) It tells the story of Claire, a rather wealthy woman who's having a spectacularly bad day, and Thom, the not-actually-legit cabbie who she hires--to drive her all the way across the country to see her dying father, as she doesn't like flying. It's a fairly quiet film, all said, but it packs quite the punch.
You should be warned, though, that I might be biased; this is a very personal movie for me. My grandpa passed shortly before I saw it for the first time, and my other grandfather’s funeral a few years earlier was practically identical to the one in the film, albeit with far more people and on the Chesapeake rather than in California. I loved it for its hopefulness and its not-picture-perfect portrayal of family. But, setting aside angst, I also delighted in the way it truthfully showed a journey across the United States-having done a fair bit of cross-country travelling myself, I could follow along with just about every scene and even occasionally pinpoint exactly where they were (including, hilariously, the scene in the desert, where they actually walk in the wrong direction). They filmed the majority of the movie on location, be that in Nebraska or California; and, knowing the journey they were making (having made an almost identical one myself), I knew and appreciated that. It leant the film a realism and a beauty that most others are lacking.
Putting aside my own particular and admittedly biased reasons for having given my heart to this movie, it also does a wonderful job at portraying how two people can grow together without the need for some grand destiny or design. The treatment of the relationship between trust and romance was superb and thoughtful, not just a kneejerk reaction but an honest exploration. Witty without being hilarious, insightful without being intellectual, it stands on the quality of its script, acting, and cinematography rather than any Hollywood gimmick. It’s a romance, there’s no doubt, but far from a standard one; Take Me Home is sweet and charming without succumbing to being gushy, vapid, or formulaic. It’s beautifully done, if a little short (only 1 hour long), and is absolutely one of my favorites.