What a thoughtful movie. It’s about this middle-aged man who’s in a real interesting career, been at it his whole adult life. But the guy is on its far side, losing it. What he’s doing — or selling, depending on the degree of jaundice in your opinion of work — well, maybe it’s best as a young man’s game or maybe his edge is dulling from having done it so long. But from what the multiplex audience is shown, our hero is still pretty damned good.<\/p>\n
Is it just a loner-guy monologue, or a buddy-barracks movie? No. Though he is single but previously married, there is a woman in the picture. While somewhat younger, she is in a comparably vulnerable spot of aging, loneliness and dwindling options. The man is irresponsible, but does he realize that he is then feel guilty? Yes, and to demonstrate that we have the long-abandoned daughter, and boy is she still sore.<\/p>\n
Maybe 2008 had a hundred movies like this that we missed, but last weekend I saw two (regular towns get the Oscar-contending and small movies in late winter). Wanna guess?<\/p>\n
OK, Last Chance Harvey<\/a>. Dustin Hoffman’s Harvey Shine has spent essentially his entire working life composing commercial jingles. Emma Thompson is the sad but hopeful love interest. The estranged adult daughter stays in the background, but her few lines are key.<\/p>\n Well-read or well-movied folks should have thought I meant The Wrestler<\/a>. Indeed, that was the other flick. Mickey Rourke plays Randy “the Ram” Robinson. Marisa Tomei is the sad but hopeful love interest. The estranged adult daughter has maybe three significant scenes.<\/p>\n Sure, the reviews are spot-on. The Wrestler<\/em> is remarkable. Last Chance Harvey<\/em> should have gone straight to video. My Beloved though enjoyed the latter and won’t go near a movie like Rourke’s. I don’t mean to slight the differences. Hoffman’s jingle writing is sketched in, and Rourke’s rope-a-dope is as authentic and thorough as any documentary could hope to be. Thompson is a market researcher, not that we focus much on that. Tomei is a stripper and we get to hang around the club quite a bit.<\/p>\n There’s a couple good things about Harvey<\/em>, though. First, a great interchange between Harvey and his nose-up ex-wife, outside their daughter’s wedding rehearsal dinner. “Why’d you hook up with me back then?” he asks, and she answers, “Because I thought you were fun.” Then he asks about her successful second husband, “Why did he go for you?” and she answers, “Because he thought I was fun.”<\/p>\n The second thing is Hoffman now shows up in regular movies, no longer just Major Motion Pictures. His proud, angry, confused, should’ve-stopped-at-two-drinks toast to the young couple proves the character a bright but not brilliant man who plays piano far better than talks. As far as magnetism, Thompson and Hoffman showed it better in much less screen time in Stranger Than Fiction<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rourke likewise has a big speech, to the fans before the climactic match. The film does have a predictable Rocky<\/em> arc — and the similarities between showgirls and rasslers are painted thickly and often — but otherwise it deserves every rave. Rourke should win the Oscar for best actor. Acting Oscars often go for the emotive roles, and this would be one but Rourke never overacts.<\/p>\n Brick<\/strong> has addressed<\/a> plain-folk characters in books and movies: “I don\u2019t need fiction to be stocked with people better than me or just like me, but blockheads try my patience. Movies about dopes are intolerable, too.”<\/p>\n Both of these movies prove to be exceptions, because their creators did not patronize either the characters or the stories. Hoffman’s authenticity overcame the weak script. Both Rourke and Robert D. Siegel’s screenplay honored the backstage reality of this unaccountable but enduring world, with its violence, drug use and moral relativism — complete with a character seeing Jesus\u00a0 as portrayed in Passion of the Christ<\/a> being just like a wrestler.<\/p>\n Unexpected double features add profundities. Ready for a Kate Winslet Revolutionary<\/a> Reader<\/a>?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What a thoughtful movie. It’s about this middle-aged man who’s in a real interesting career, been at it his whole adult life. But the guy is on its far side, losing it. What he’s doing — or selling, depending on the degree of jaundice in your opinion of work — well, maybe it’s best as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mr-boo-klist"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1771,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2010\/02\/man-and-superboy\/","url_meta":{"origin":939,"position":0},"title":"Man and Superboy","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"February 8, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Copyright 2010 Ben S. Pollock Seeing the backstage drama Crazy Heart down at the Malco on its opening weekend here in Northwest Arkansas gave me lots to think about, being a good movie. It\u2019d be fine to wait for a home viewing, but leisurely, panoramic views of New Mexico increase\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life Lessons"","block_context":{"text":"Life Lessons","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/life-lessons\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3502,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2012\/02\/whodve-thunks\/","url_meta":{"origin":939,"position":1},"title":"Who’d’ve-Thunks","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"February 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Copyright 2012 Ben S. Pollock I knew what to expect of The Artist, a \"silent\" film, meaning no talking, though it did have sound effects and music (and beforehand, ironically, the loudest-volume trailers since those running with Avatar). Still, the teenage box office cashier warned My Beloved and me, while\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "American Culture"","block_context":{"text":"American Culture","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/american-culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":153,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2005\/02\/second-adolescence\/","url_meta":{"origin":939,"position":2},"title":"Second adolescence","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"February 25, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Copyright 2005 Ben S. Pollock Friday, Feb. 25, 2005. The local paper ran a feature photo this morning of an old man playing pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey. I couldn't tell what he thought of this; the blindfold covered most of his face. A photog grabbing this sort of shot is easy-pickin's, just head\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "American Culture"","block_context":{"text":"American Culture","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/american-culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":95,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2005\/06\/bicycles-are-cool\/","url_meta":{"origin":939,"position":3},"title":"Bicycles are cool","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"June 10, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Copyright 2005 Ben S. Pollock Friday, June 10, 2005: There are serious two mountain bikers moving around on the Town Center Plaza, off the Fayetteville Square. \"Serious\"? That is, dedicated. First, very good bikes. The 20-something woman and man are wearing fancy helmets and true skintight bicycle shorts and tights,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Body, Home, Street"","block_context":{"text":"Body, Home, Street","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/body-home-street\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5843,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2017\/11\/consent-degree\/","url_meta":{"origin":939,"position":4},"title":"Consent Degree","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"November 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Bullies surround us. Always.\u00a0All of us, 100 percent.\u00a0Accept it, you know it's true, and choose your battles. Making dark jokes helps. Also, they're not always on the prowl. This isn't about bobcats or coyotes. Although like humans, kitty cats and puppy dogs if the predator instinct remains strong and they're\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News, Spin"","block_context":{"text":"News, Spin","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/news-spin\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Two young antelopes spar or play in front of elephant","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/StockSnap_Y7OQI22I2P-httpsstocksnap.iophotoY7OQI22I2P-683x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":201,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2006\/06\/production-number\/","url_meta":{"origin":939,"position":5},"title":"Production Number","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"June 24, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Brick heartily endorses renting the DVD version of The Producers -- the Lane-Broderick version. (Of course we vouch for the original. How else would you know that Matthew Broderick deliberately imitates Gene Wilder's voice, inflections and timing when the dialogue is exactly as it was in the original -- and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "American Culture"","block_context":{"text":"American Culture","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/american-culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=939"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":941,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/939\/revisions\/941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}