Movie Reviews (spoilers abound)
I've finally been able to go to the movies again, thank god.
Sleepwalk With Me:
SWM is was written/directed/stars Mike Birbiglia, who I first became aware of because a friend of mine made me listen his Moth version of this story, which is about how Birbiglia’s sleep disorder, made worse by his relationship with his girlfriend, causes him to jump through a window. I laughed so hard I almost chocked. Since then, I’ve heard the story in a few other contexts: This American Life, Birbilia’s CD version of it, and a few other places.
Seeing it in this new way, with scenes previously described now being acted out, was fascinating. For one thing, there’s still some narration (Birbiglia drives around in a car and faces a cameraman, and yes, he was really driving actual streets, and no, it was not particularly safe) so there were points that were jarring, because I know what comes next and you’re saying it wrong.
This movie is, for better or worse, very much an independent movie. It’s got a cheap look to it, and not all the jokes stick, but there’s a fair number of awesome actors-I love to see Carol Kane pop up anywhere-and there’s tons of comedians making cameos. Mike goes by “Mark” in the movie, which I found frustrating, and he’s not a great actor, but he has a great presence and a sense of humor that translates here, with that mix of pathos that defines his work. His relationship with Lauren Ambrose in particular really worked for me, especially when he gives the audience a context for what happened with the real-life Abby.
The particular context I got to see this in-at least 200 people in the theater, and Ira Glass hosted a Q&A afterward-really enhanced my enjoyment of it. The audience was in great spirits because we all wanted to see Ira, and he was awesome; exactly what I pictured, and he answered my question with a lot of thought and insight. The fact that I got to see this in a theater was a minor miracle; Glass let us in on the process an movie takes to get to a theater, and the odds were not in this movie’s favor.
All in all, though, if you get the chance, you should see this, because it’s an experience, and because supporting a small project like this is so important, and it makes Joss Whedon mad.
Beasts of the Southern Wild:
this movie follows the adventures of Hushpuppy, a little girl who lives in abject poverty on the Bayou. Her mother is gone, her father is sick (and possibly mentally ill) and she lives in The Bathtub, a small shack community on the water. Hushpuppy herself lives in a trailer separate from her father, and cooks cat food for herself on a stove she has to light with a blowtorch. When a storm threatens their community, Hushpuppy is forced into a shelter and a new way of life.
The actress who plays Hushpuppy, Quvenzhané Wallis, was just six when this movie was filmed, but she’s glorious. With children that young, it can be difficult to know how much is acting and how much is camera angles and coaching, but she has a great presence and wisdom to her that reminds me a bit of Shirley Temple (though this movie has exactly zero things in common with a Temple movie). The camera loves her, and trusts her, mostly, to tell this story.
One of the problems, though, is that movie is a little formless. It wanders, and unfolds much slower than most. The residents of The Bathtub are most reactive, to their circumstances, and that can be frustrating to watch. Plus, there are scenes I don’t entirely believe, like when the entire community of fifteen to twenty people escape the shelter, and ones I don’t entirely understand, such as when Hushpuppy and her three little friends all wander onto a boat and then dance at a club called the Elysian Fields (groan).
Coming at this from a middle class white girl perspective, it was hard to know what I wanted to happen to Hushpuppy and her community. I spent most of the movie hoping someone would grab her, put a shower cap on her and dump her in a shower, because she spends so much of the movie in dirty, grubby conditions. When the government actually does this, I want them to escape, because clearly the community is chafing under those conditions. At the same time, though, they’re living in unsafe conditions in the Tub, and Hushpuppy doesn’t appear to go to actual school, and will have a difficult time living in the real world when she lives so free of the real world.
I think the real sad story here, though, is that little Wallis could have a fantastic acting career one day, if she wanted, except that Hollywood is racist. I worry if she sticks around she’s going to get relegated to sassy best friend/maid/prostitute parts, and that would be just heartbreaking. Therefore, I hope we can solve racism within the next decade, ideally.
Celeste and Jesse Forever:
Celeste and Jesse, two best friends, are revealed early on to be getting a divorce. Despite this, they still live feet away from each other, see each other every day, and creep out their best friends. They can’t work their feelings out; he wants her back, but she doesn’t want him until dun dun dun a woman from his past reveals that she’s pregnant. From there, Rashida Jones has to try dating other people, deal with her feelings for her ex, handle a professional crisis at work relating to her Ke$ha-I-mean-Riley-Banks pop star, and decide if it’s better to be right, or to be happy.
Overall, this movie reminded me of so many I’ve seen. I liked the characters, and wished they had a better script to work with. The script is mostly dumb and predictable, and I hated, for instance, the way it tried to handle Elijah Woods’ character. Woods plays the gay best friend/work partner for Jones, and they bring up his gayness several times, each more groan-worthy than the last. We’re totally cool with the gays, the movie seems to be saying. Look, he’s gay! Great, movie, but let’s give him an actual character to work with, and some actual motivations beyond supporting Jones, and then you can tell me how non-homophobic you are. When the Riley Banks subplot is resolved because gays love her! I almost groaned out loud.
Plus, in the grand tradition of Hollywood, no one in a romantic comedy can be smart. Jones drops off her ex’s stuff at his new home, and naturally, ends up falling into their trash can just shoot me now. When she calls her client, she naturally can’t hang up the phone and she says terrible things about her oh my god woman don’t you know how phones work? There are parts here that make me think Jones’ character is a human being, and then THE MOVIE interferes and I’m shaking my head again.
The movie also forces her into a relationship with a man from her yoga class, and the two of them have exactly zero chemistry. She’s got much better chemistry with her young pop star, and I hope somewhere there’s fic about the two of them finding love together because I ship it.
That said, there were things I liked here: the C/J relationship felt realistic to me. They felt like two people who had grown up and around each other, with codependence. Jones is allowed to be a jerk in a way few movies really let heroines be-and to be clear, the movie punishes her for her hubris, but still-and it was great that she ends up alone, because that’s how life goes, often times. Plus, it got right that delicate post-break-up dance everyone’s friends go through when they try to support both halves of a couple.
Plus, this just confirms what I always say about breakups: stop seeing each other, cold turkey. No good comes from immediately trying to be friends, and one person will end up hurt.
Parks fans will be amused to see Millicent Girgich pop up at the wedding.