Movies of the Month: April 2008

Lest you think all I do is sit around day in and day out with a book in hand, I'll have you know I also watch movies. Sometimes. Not as much. Here's an April wrap-up (*= saw it in the theater).

Away From Her
Directed by young and talented Sarah Polley and starring the very beautiful Julie Christie, this is the story of a long-married couple whose lives are dramatically altered as she slips into early Alzheimer's. Gordon Pinsent plays the loving husband who struggles to come to grips with his changing wife, her disease, and her new affections. The movie is based on a short story by Alice Munro. This of course makes me want to read short stories by Alice Munro, just as our Alzheimer's themed flick last month, Iris, made me want to pick up an Iris Murdoch novel or two. What can I say? I guess I'm a sucker for literary tear-jerkers about deeply devoted old married couples. Marriage has made me mushier than I was in my youthful spinster years.

The 400 Blows
This one's not nearly as dirty as it sounds. It's French director Francois Truffaut's semi-autobiographical account of his rough childhood in Paris. Unloved and misunderstood by his parents and the world, poor Antoine Doinel's adventures on the streets and as a petty criminal are compelling and a little bit heartbreaking. Truffaut sure feels sorry for himself, and after watching this, you will too.

Love in the Time of Cholera
Well, I'm glad I read the book first. Really, really glad. (See my review below.)

Michael Clayton
I was surprisingly captivated by this legal/psychological thriller. This movie was so good, I stayed awake past 11 pm on a Friday night. (If you've ever watched a movie with me, you know that this is a major cinematic accomplishment.) George Clooney was, of course, dreamy in a rich old man kind of way. Is confidence the mark of a hero? Lack of confidence the mark of a villain? Michael Clayton makes some quiet yet disturbing statements about gender, and I'm still feeling mixed. But I think that's the mark of a good movie. Not only did I stay awake, I'm still thinking about it two weeks later.

Friends With Money
The moral of the story here is this: money can buy you happiness. I hoped this might be a bit deeper or nuanced film, but it really wasn't. And yes, I did fall asleep for a few minutes while watching it.

Then She Found Me*
I had to get up early on a Sunday morning, but it was free. Helen Hunt's directorial debut is your average, melodramatic family tale -- love, marriage, abandonment, death, pregnancy, adoption, the works. It was wonderful to see Helen Hunt has eschewed the Botox trend sweeping Hollywood. Matthew Broderick was convincing as an overgrown kid and Colin Firth was pretty cute as a hopelessly romantic single dad. Ultimately, the film was a bit clunky and uneven (surprisingly unlike Bette Midler's naked thighs, to which the viewer is ruthlessly subjected). And I think Helen Hunt wanted me to cry at least once or twice. But I refused. I'm not sure, but I also think I was supposed to be deeply moved by the scene in which Bernice (Bette Midler) washes her given-up-for-adoption-daughter April's (Helen Hunt) hair whilst April sits naked in a bathtub. But I wasn't.