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Reviews
Young Adult (2011)
I feel compelled to defend Mavis and this movie.
By definition, I think a great movie is one which makes you feel and makes you think long after the credits roll. This movie worried me, bothered me, made me go seek out reviews and ultimately made me rewatch certain scenes to clarify what got me so upset. Just about every reviewer, whether the professionals or amateurs, says Mavis is HORRIBLE and her behavior is indefensible and I can see why on the surface that might seem true. But just a damn minute, here. Buddy's wife starts out the movie by doing something just stunningly horrible. She e-mails a baby announcement to Mavis. Think about it. Why would she do that... 17 years after Mavis is no longer with Buddy. I actually stopped the movie to make sure that the e-mail said FROM BETH SLADE and TO MAVIS, and you have to ask yourself how did she even get ahold of Mavis' e-mail address after that many years. Once you realize (especially in light of later events) how horrible that was, you begin to review your feelings about Mavis and about how she behaves. BIG, BIG spoiler: Late in the film she tells a whole crowd of people that she had been pregnant when she was 20 with Buddy's baby, but had suffered a miscarriage, which evidently left her unable to conceive. I feel like Beth had to know that, which makes her behavior in sending that announcement especially cruel. So this rips Mavis' misery wide open and she unwisely decides to GO GET BUDDY, convincing herself that they had been perfect for each other and all they need to do is get back together. She searches out an old mix tape given to her by Buddy, captioned "Mad Love, Buddy," meaning those songs were meant to be meaningful to them both, and she plays, and rewinds and replays one song which must have been the MOST MEANINGFUL one. Did you see the look of shock and pain in her face when that's the first song played by Beth's band, as if crowing that she got Buddy and now that song belonged to her. How f-ing cruel was that? Yeah, yeah, Mavis is a mess, a drunk, delusional, career going downhill, heading towards middle age with little to show for it... but if you just think about what happened to her is it really so hard to feel empathy for her pain, for her despair, for her need to get back what she lost? Of course, she can't. And I swear to God I can't believe how clueless Buddy is. He's almost literally a cardboard cutout and in all reality had Mavis been able to get him back, he would have bored her pants off in no time. The only thing I have a hard time forgiving this movie for is the way it created this wonderful person in Matt and then, in the end, just leaves him behind. There will never be a sequel, but in my head I keep seeing her realize, once she's back in the Mini Apple, that the real human being she should have in her life is the man who's just as damaged and just as smart as she can be.
American Masters: Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound (2009)
Watching this on Netflix led to a personal epiphany...
I've always loved Joan Baez' beautiful voice and in particular certain of her songs, like "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," have haunted me with such purity. I am now filled with admiration for the woman because I saw how she used her talent and her fame to lend support to so many causes that were important. I was blown away by a review of that period of history that I lived through (I'm only eight years younger than she) in that I have almost forgotten, really sort of buried how horrible the Civil Rights movement was and how tenacious and brave the leaders and followers of that activism had to be in order to prevail against such hatred.
Most valuable to me was the personal epiphany I got at some midpoint of the film where I realized that there truly are only two kinds of people... yeah, I know the old joke: The kind of people that think there are only two kinds of people and the kind that don't. But, seriously, watching this documentary put me in touch with what I felt was a universal truth: There are people who believe in the humanity and brotherhood of all human beings, like the beautiful Ms. Baez, and there are people who only care about the humanity and rights of people who look or act exactly like they do. This fundamental difference leads to every way in which people treat (or fail to treat) others with dignity and respect. Thank you, Joan Baez, for dedicating your life and your lovely voice to illuminating that principle.
Irina Palm (2007)
The dignity of a job well done
What stayed with me after seeing this film was a woman who did what she had to do to save her beloved grandchild, but, also, a woman who did her best to fulfill an obligation, both in the quality of her work and not betraying the business interests of a man who gave her the money she needed on the strength of her word alone that she would repay it.
The reaction of her son upon discovering what his mother was doing to earn the needed money might have seemed over the top until you consider that it was not only the shock of his mother being involved in the sordid sex worker trade, but also how it illustrated his own impotence at being unable to come up with a way to get the money needed to save his child.
I was hoping from the very beginning that this woman would find a way to redeem herself and her grandson, but I must say I was won over by her quiet determination, her loyalty and her dignity in a situation which by the standards of the world would seem to deny her any right to her dignity.
Infidelity (2004)
Amazingly well-told story
I kept being surprised all through this movie at how it took a somewhat distasteful subject, marital infidelity, and made you feel the pain of the person who is driven to look for love and validation outside of marriage, even when there was plenty of both inside the marriage. This movie explores very convincingly the tug-of-war that goes on inside a person who has absorbed the wrong values of one parent and has mistaken the martyrdom of the other parent. Frankly, I don't know how the married woman was able to resist having sex with that hot young man, but the fact that she didn't is all the more testimony to what an unusual and non-exploitive look at the issue the movie was able to present. Catch it if you can. It isn't the usual god-awful Lifetime fare.
Crazylove (2005)
Who wouldn't want this guy?
At first I thought they were cheating by portraying Michael as so normal and charming and interesting, but eventually I realized that was the most heartbreaking thing about his illness, how truly sweet and loving he could be, as long as he took his meds, and how easy it is to discount people's warnings about the price you pay for ignoring the seriousness of someone's mental illness. We would all like to believe that "love conquers all," but there are some things that love alone cannot overcome. This is a movie that portrays the delights and ecstasy of love... and yet is fair enough to also portray the limitations of love to overcome extreme behavior.