That life, as Clooney is told explicitly at one point in the movie, is the life of a juvenile. Clooney's character finally wants to grow up, and . . . well, bad things happen. But there's no doubt that, at the end, Clooney's character is a loser. All the envy has become pity.
Not to say this movie's a downer but it doesn't pull any punches, either. Admirable. There may be a buzz that's building that'll take it all the way to the Oscars. Best Picture? I'd have to see what else was nominated and review the list of movies we saw in 2009 before I'll commit to that but it was definitely one of the best.
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I saw it and liked it. He made reasonable progress as a character. I loved that the woman playing his love interest was unknown to me [though a well-established actress from the Steppenwolfe theater in Chicago]. I loved the role rural Wisconsin played. The high school and churches were PERFECT.
ReplyDeleteI really loved the scene where the 20-something corporate gal was confronting the 'elders' and I laughed out loud when she said 'I really appreciate what you feminists did for me, but I really want a family too' or words to that effect.
That said, I MUCH PREFER 'The Blind Side' as a film and am hoping it garners some Oscar buzz, too. Especially for Sandra Bullock as Best Actress. That would be worth watching.
Jason Bateman plays smarm so well, I think he's really not acting.
I loved the vignettes in the airports and the chapters captioned from up in the air. I loved that he realized his goal but also realized it was an empty pursuit.
And George Clooney playing a not-to-be-tied-down playboy? Again, not acting.
Redo that. Move the 'That said'... paragraph to the end.
ReplyDeleteHaven't caught The Blind Side yet. With all the holiday releases, that got shunted aside. Surely we'll catch it on DVD. I'm a huge fan of Sandra Bullock and with your recommendation that's even more reason to catch it.
ReplyDeleteClooney wasn't playing himself the entire time. Okay, maybe he was but his final scene, looking up at the departure sign, was amazingly done. I just thought it was perfect.
I enjoyed the lead actress, too. Attractive without being all glammed up, about like a mid-30s, married-with-children career woman should look like. And I like how the movie avoided the Hollywood cliche of the old guy being attracted to the young woman. (Though I liked how it was played in Lost in Translation.)
Anyway, much to enjoy.