Anger Management

Starring Adam Sandler, Jack Nicholson, and Marisa Tomei
Directed by Peter Segal
Year: 2003
IMDB / Wikipedia

I still don’t know how to feel about this movie. This is the second time I’ve watched it with about eight years in between and, though parts got better with age, the whole felt hollow and contrived.

Eight years later I can identify with Sandler’s character, a guy who has an anger problem that threatens to eat him alive and destroy the lives of himself and everyone around him. His inward anger wasn’t bring appropriately manifested outwardly and that is where Dr. Buddy Rydell (Nicholson) comes in. Though a series of very odd and bizarre events and methods, the Sandler’s character Dave finds some peace within himself and the ability to grow as a normal person.

The problem with this movie, despite the fact it is wholly unrealistic, is that it doesn’t work. The way Dave “works things out” in the film would get someone in the real world a hefty prison sentence for anything from destruction of private property to assault to attempted murder. But, I guess like with the previous movie here on TTIHS, the message is what matters. However, I think the message of beating the crap out of people who annoy you probably won’t work. That’s why people like Dave and myself don’t express rage outwardly; we keep our rage inside and visualize ourselves bludgeoning an inconsiderate motorist.

However, there are small parts in this movie that make it worthwhile and, honestly, make you want to cheer because you may be seeing your own rage fantasy acted out on celluloid. Plus, the supporting characters in Rydell’s anger management group (John Turturro, Luis Guzman, and even the insufferable January Jones) add some freshness to the body work and make it more than just one man’s journey against the world that believes he’s screaming when he’s just trying to make a point. In all, the good individual parts of the movie are not enough to bring together a good, cohesive movie, but it’s good enough to have some silly fun time with a movie.

Most Valuable Actor: Jack Nicholson is known for beefier dramatic roles but he gets to flex his intentional funny bone here as the unorthodox Dr. Buddy Rydell. A gifted actor that is the only one who can play this role (no matter how hard Charlie Sheen tries).

Trailer:

Full Movie:

God Bless America

Starring Joel Murray and Tara Lynne Barr
Directed by Bobcat Goldthwait
Year: 2011
IMDB / Wikipedia

Every now and then, I will find it necessary to break protocol to tend to my extremely large Netflix queue. This is one of those times. 

In lieu of writing this blog posting I could go out and use my talents to help those less fortunate. Instead of going to the bar last weekend to watch football, I could have donated that money to charity. Instead of focusing on how to make my life seem more valuable and worthwhile, I could be focusing on larger issues in this world.

Alas, this post exists, I went to the bar, and I’m going to the gym later.

There are those who would point at me and say I am part of the problem with America; that I only focus on my needs, the needs of my family, and do very little else to make this world a better place. To these people I may or may not have imagined (because as an American I have to have some sort of persecution complex) I say this: I’m not making anyone else’s life harder or dragging down anyone else with my existence. My wife may disagree, but that’s another post for another blog that she may or may not be penning. But not being in anyone’s way isn’t good enough. I should be doing something more. I went to college to be a reporter and a teacher, dammit: my life should be worth more than it is.

Bobcat Goldthwait has looked around at the world that myself and my contemporaries have inherited and turned into shit and is now fed up and, despite the hypocrisy, I don’t blame him. Being annoying and remotely entertaining is now something to be lauded while intelligence is belittled and seen as a liability. The strong prey on the weak and people like me allow it to happen. We are not good role models for future generations. Bobcat’s film is is stance on the current state of the world and hos cathartic and violent solution.

I’m not going to outline the plot (the trailer does a great job of that) but, suffice it to say, you can find yourself empathizing with the antihero Frank (Murray) and the swill that is passed off as pop culture that has pushed him over the edge. He sees his daughter sliding down the same destructive path he sees the vapid creatures on TV are on and decides that the way to truly leave a lasting mark on this world is to try and clean it up a bit before he dies. It’s a very paternal motivator for his spree of righteousness and it turns into a teaching moment for us all.

I would complain about the lack of realism in this film–that people don’t talk in soliloquy, murdering people isn’t as easy as it is made out to be–but that would truly be missing the point of the film. This entire film is a socio-cultural statement at where we are as a society and how far we have fallen from our greatness. Even Frank’s association with his teen partner-in-crime (Barr) is held under his personal microscope and held to his common-sense ideals but also a statement of how we define interpersonal relationships. By the end, you find out more about yourself than you do the world around you and it’s not a mirror most of us are ready to look in. For me, I could see myself on both sides of the gun in this story and I fear the day when something like this comes into my reality.

This probably wasn’t the film you expected to see pop up this close after the beginning of the holiday season but it fits in a way. We can choose to be consumers this holiday season or we can find our hearts, think outside ourselves, and be better people to make this world a better place. I just feel I’m speaking to the wind and this film will eventually come to pass as reality and not masturbatory celluloid foreshadowing.

Most Valuable Actor: Joel Murray as Frank delivers a performance that is so gut-wrenchingly real that I felt I was looking into my own dismal future. His pain and his anger are palpable that, even if you do not agree with the character’s point or methods, you feel he might be justified in his carnage.

Trailer (RED BAND–NSFW):

Angels in the Outfield

Starring: Danny Glover, Tony Danza, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Directed by William Dear
Year: 1994
IMDB / Wikipedia

Just as I was coming out of my childhood (my wife would argue this point, but whatever) I was discovering sports but also had a love for the family movies Disney was putting out. This was before the farcical tales of Air Bud and other insipid movies out there that challenged the intellect of the younger viewer, but I wasn’t falling for it. When all of my friends clamored over Rookie of the Year I found it trite and unamusing. Shit, I found Little Big League a bigger bang for my entertainment buck. However, this film had something in it that I found quite whimsical but also very touching.

This film is a remake of the 1951 film and tells the story of young orphan Roger (Gordon-Levitt) whose estranged father tells him the only way they would be a family again is if the last-place California Angels win the American League pennant. Roger takes this literally, prays to God one night for divine intervention, and it arrives from the heavens in the form of Al (Christopher Lloyd) and his band of ball-playing Seraphims. The Angels on the diamond are aided by the actual angels to a string of wins. This allows them to find their confidence and start winning as a team. Along the way, the grizzled coach (Glover) and a has-been pitching veteran (Danza) also find reason to believe as they stop taking things to seriously and begin to believe in themselves again.

The whimsy in this movie is easy to find, as are the touching moments, but what really stood out was Disney’s shot at people who put-down people of faith. The message of having faith in general as opposed to a specific faith is overshadowed by the opposing forces of the faithful and those who find it to be a crutch or, to an extreme degree, a mental disorder. These issues are taken on in a way that was very mature but was allowed to fully match the tone of the rest of the film. I find that in many child or family-focused movies that the big issues are dumbed-down and end up being painted in broad-strokes that do more to insult the intelligence of the audience than it does to deliver the message. This film didn’t resort to that and allowed an increasingly maturing young viewer to grasp and process the message.

But it’s still a family sports-comedy and it had it’s share of laughs. Plus, the supporting cast, which included a very young Matthew McConaughey, Neil McDonough, and Taylor Negron, was well-cast and played their roles in the fashion appropriate to the part. In all, it’s a family movie that’s well worth the watch for the entire family and may give you some hope that, no matter how bad your baseball team may be, they may receive some divine help next season. That’s part of the reason I’m still a Colorado Rockies fan.

Most Valuable Actor: Joseph Gordon-Levitt has cemented his rise in Hollywood by making his characters believable and it all started here. Before his turn on 3rd Rock from the Sun he played his role of a vulnerable foster-child with a power and emotion that he carries with him to every role since.

Trailer:

Angela’s Ashes

Starring: Emily Watson, Robert Carlyle, and Pauline McLynn
Directed by Alan Parker
Year: 1999
IMDB / Wikipedia

In the words of John Lennon, “If you had the luck of the Irish, you’d be sorry and wish you were dead.”

For all of the pagentry and the lore of the Irish, actually being Irish stunk for a long time. You were hated and invaded by the English, most of your heroes are criminals and, if you wanted to come to America, you had a hell of a time finding everything from a place to sleep to employment because of the prejudice. Irish were stereotyped as being lazy, shiftless, drunkards who would earn a days wages and then spend a week drinking them away. Sadly, as with many stereotypes, this has an air of truth to it.

To be poor and Irish was the theme of Frank McCourt‘s best-selling memoir,  Angela’s Ashes, upon which the film was made. The story is of his early life living in squalor with his family, first in America and then in Limerick, Ireland. The tale shows how life is hard when there’s little money to go around, depression setting on the western world, not enough food or shelter to keep you satisfied, and watching small children succumb to their conditions. Frank watched several siblings die at the hands of starvation and unclean living environments, watched himself starve night after night because there wasn’t enough food for everyone, watched his mother beg the Church for anything she could, and his father piss away most of their money with his alcoholism. It’s tough to watch because it is so real.

I read the book years ago and much of it stuck with me. Most of my gripes with the movie were not about how different it was from the source, but about the things it left out. Frank’s life was not all sorrow and misfortune and the film misses a lot of that. There are parts where he and his family seem happy, but those moments are glazed over, trumped by some other greater tragedy, or completely omitted. But, watching it again, I see that in doing it like this, the film keeps with the spirit of the book better than a casual viewer may think.

The theme of the book and the film was that life is hard but, through those hardships and how you deal with them, is how character is developed. Though not an original theme, it is one that is very tragic because it’s a true story. But, casual viewers of the film don’t realize is that, to get to the better parts you have to go beyond the story. Both the book and film end with Frank going to America to find his dream of happiness and the second book ‘Tis, which will probably never be made into a film, expands upon that with much more humor than the first. So, to watch this film or read the book and find all the humor is gone is accurate because, as Frank so illustrates, the situation and his life were not condusive to such at the time. That’s what makes it a great story.

But it’s a sad story. I do not recommend watching this if you are in a great mood as it will bring you down or in a bad mood as it might lead you to suicide. If anything, view this as something that will make your troubles seem trivial and your life that much sweeter.

Most Valuable Actor: There were three actors that portray Frank: one at age 5, one at 10, and another at 15. Michael Legge plays the oldest Frank and did a great job with a very emotionally-charged portrayal of Frank as he comes to grips with the feelings he has kept pent up inside himself and as he tries to find his way to happiness and salvation.

Trailer: