Karma was once a foreign word in English, it remains a foreign concept. Generally it is depicted as a sort of yo-yo, when in fact it is probably some askew aspect of string theory. An 11th dimension connection between disparate people, times and events.
This film worked for me perhaps better than other viewers. While there were some treacly sentiments, how can I not like a film rooted in questions like:
How come I am not a better person even when I try?
How much did it cost to make (or buy from a bereaved relative) this thing?
Whatever happened to the Roches?
Hey, I had not heard their Moonswept album, did not even know they reunited. Their cover of Paranoid Larry's "No Shoes", which you can listen to at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh2T7Q2LfHs
while a bit repetitive, does sort of parallel the spirit and whimsy of this film. Toss in a frazzled Catherine Keener (is there any other), a flawed but charming Oliver Platt (are these people acting or just terribly well-cast?), and a role for a cranky old woman (not enough of those) and you've got yourself a film.
I just watched the trailer, and it misleadingly puts the comedy completely at the forefront, but the soul-searching of Keener is what made this film a little bit more than an excellent ensemble juggling the urbane and the polite.
Somehow this film struck that spot inside me that feels life is unfair (even when I have a pretty damn fair share myself in the big scheme of things), but even though we know life may be unfair, you've still got to fake it.
And for me it's easier to fake it when the Roches hum a few bars...
This film worked for me perhaps better than other viewers. While there were some treacly sentiments, how can I not like a film rooted in questions like:
How come I am not a better person even when I try?
How much did it cost to make (or buy from a bereaved relative) this thing?
Whatever happened to the Roches?
Hey, I had not heard their Moonswept album, did not even know they reunited. Their cover of Paranoid Larry's "No Shoes", which you can listen to at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh2T7Q2LfHs
while a bit repetitive, does sort of parallel the spirit and whimsy of this film. Toss in a frazzled Catherine Keener (is there any other), a flawed but charming Oliver Platt (are these people acting or just terribly well-cast?), and a role for a cranky old woman (not enough of those) and you've got yourself a film.
I just watched the trailer, and it misleadingly puts the comedy completely at the forefront, but the soul-searching of Keener is what made this film a little bit more than an excellent ensemble juggling the urbane and the polite.
Somehow this film struck that spot inside me that feels life is unfair (even when I have a pretty damn fair share myself in the big scheme of things), but even though we know life may be unfair, you've still got to fake it.
And for me it's easier to fake it when the Roches hum a few bars...