Wednesday, December 12, 2007
MEN!
Today's movie was
which won a lot of acclaim earlier this year.
It is a kind of fantasy of how men put upon women. Not that the stereotypes don't exist but these are stylized in a way that sometimes grates.
There is the abusing husband, just short of physical. The Don Juan. And the father figure (a surprisingly old Andy Griffith).
There is a suitably happy ending as the "waitress" who puts up with all this shit gets her life turned around.
These are not spoilers.
The fairy tale quotient of the film lets us know early on that things will get better. We just aren't let in on how this might occur.
I liked it well enough but not enough to give it more than a 3 out of Netflix5.
There is a back story to the making of the film itself in that Adrienne Shelly, the director, producer and co-star, was murdered just after the film was accepted at Sundance. Before she saw it shown there.
I wonder if there is a slight sentimental push to like the movie a bit more because of this.
It is hard to watch, in a way, knowing that one of the principles got a bad deal in real life.
Sometimes reality bites.
