| [ |
mood |
| |
 pleased |
] |
I want to focus some of my writing on what I've thought about movies/TV shows/books, etc., that have been special to me (or not special) for whatever reason. I haven't really given a "review" of anything in quite some time, and usually when I do, it's in the form of a comic and I'm kind of just messing around anyway. So, no messing around right now, here's what I did at 4:30 yesterday.
My decision to go see The Wackness was based on a few different things. This is only the second movie I've gone to see in a theater by myself, the first being Atonement, which I was thoroughly disappointed with. Since then, I’ve been kind of reluctant to go see another movie alone. I’ve been meaning to see The Wackness since it came out on the 3rd, and since I live almost down the street from the Century Theaters on Clark, I figured I might as well take advantage of the fact that I live so close to a movie theater. Since I was running late, I almost ditched it for Gonzo (about Hunter S. Thompson), but I figured if The Wackness sucked, I’d sneak into Gonzo or go home and do something else.
A quick note about Century Theaters: this is a really cool theater attached to not much of a mall, which makes it an even better theater since every time I’ve gone, there haven’t been too many people milling around. Century Theaters also has a really good movie concession stand, especially since they have Kernel Seasons’ popcorn seasonings (Jalapeno is my favorite). Even though it’s a winding walk (more so when you walk back down to the mall’s entrance after the movie), going to Century always makes me feel like I’m going to some kind of private theater reserved just for me and others who just might be cool enough to go.
I wasn’t completely taken with the movie at the very beginning; initially, I thought it was too vocal about the fact that it’s set in 1994. For instance, in the beginning, characters seem to reference current events, celebrities, what have you, a good lot in the first 20 minutes. When a character (Shapiro) says he’s depressed, another character (Squires) asks if it’s “because of Kurt Cobain,” even though Shapiro doesn’t listen to grunge. Shapiro goes to get drugs and his supplier introduces him to the music of Biggie Smalls, in a sequence that felt way too much like, “Holy cow! It’s 1994 and Biggie Smalls is still alive and making music!” Shapiro goes to sell drugs, and the girl he’s selling them to pushes his hair back and tells him he looks like Jason Priestly from 90210. Those three parts, although setting up the fact that it’s 1994, seemed a little too forced.
However, despite this, The Wackness is one of those movies where the rest of the movie makes up for the beginning’s missteps. This movie had three excellent things in it (in this order): Squires (Ben Kingsley), Shapiro (Josh Peck), and the mix tapes. First things first: Squires. No doubts about it, he’s a weird old man, even if he doesn’t like to admit it. For most of the movie, he’s in a loveless marriage, he smokes pot like a pro, and he takes a lot of prescription drugs. Even though he’s by far the silliest character, he’s also the smartest, which kind of reminded me of Royal Tenenbaum from The Royal Tenenbaums, which is probably always going to be one of my favorite films.
The Wackness also reminded me of Igby Goes Down in a lot of ways too, because both are excellent stories about someone “coming of age.” The Wackness is a movie in its own, though. The simplest way I could describe the events of this movie, without giving too much away, is by saying that two people (Squires and Shapiro), capable of great love yet essentially alone, are friends and then go their separate ways. Shapiro appealed to me because of this. One of my favorite things about movies is the rare film that isn’t about two people ending up together; it’s about the rarity of finding someone you can actually call a friend, and the fleeting nature of the relationship that makes you appreciate it all the more. I don’t know whether Shapiro and Squires keep talking after the movie’s over, but the movie isn’t really designed to make you wonder that sort of thing.
Finally, the mix tapes which, to me, were the entire reason why this movie needed to be set in 1994. As much as I hate to admit it, the practice of making a mix tape for someone is obsolete and has been replaced with CD mixes and mp3 mixes, which to me are never as meaningful or as genuine. Mixes are made for different people in the movie, but the only mixes that matter (like the relationships in this movie) are the ones that Shapiro and Squires give to each other. Everything else is one-sided, and nothing else gets reciprocated in that same special way.
The main reason why I enjoyed this movie so thoroughly, and why I consider The Wackness to be the best movie of the summer so far, is because of the movie’s message: with friendship, there is always hope, and you are never truly alone if you have had one good friend. As soon as I finished watching The Wackness, I went home and called my dad to talk about the movie. I told him it was the perfect movie to see alone because it was something I needed to experience all by myself without thinking about who I saw the movie with and if they liked it or not. My dad said he never really considered going to the movies the way I did, as he always watches a movie alone (in his head) regardless of who he sees the movie with, while I always remember who I saw the movie with and what they thought of it, which can influence my opinion on the movie from time to time. It was a good conversation to have because it made me rethink how I watch movies, and the entire experience of The Wackness makes me want to see more movies by myself, even if they won’t move me quite as much as The Wackness did. The Wackness is an incredibly engrossing movie about a time in life when it feels like all hope is lost; it’s amazing because it a movie that is truly about both men, giving them equal importance (while some movies try to do this, one of the main characters usually gets the short end of the stick and it doesn’t work). It’s most amazing because even if you don’t know exactly what happens next, or if Shapiro and Squires ever meet again, when Shapiro flicks his cigarette at the train station, you just know that everything’s going to be alright.
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
deformeduniform's journal
accomplished
sleepy
aggravated
high