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MBHenderson00
Reviews
The Full Monty (1997)
Nine years later...
When The Full Monty was released in 1997, it didn't make the multiplex cinemas until after the Oscar nod. A friend and I drove to an "art house" theater to see it. My friend, not normally given to undignified behavior, was literally falling out of her seat and snorting with laughter. Recently, I saw her again after almost a year of absence, and over dinner she said, "I can't stand in the line at the bank without thinking about The Full Monty and 'Hot Stuff'." That's how much staying power the film has.
Not to get too analytical (a requirement for an English major), I loved the mixture of metaphor, irony, and pathos. The metaphor or symbolism of the men's emasculation by their unemployment (and the women seeming to have jobs and money) being reversed by literally revealing their manhood is unmistakable. More importantly, they regain their self worth by thinking of, organizing, rehearsing, and finally performing their own work. They are willing to do whatever it takes. They CAN be successful on their own.
The irony of the men having to deal with the double standard of being judged solely on looks, especially after Gaz and Dave "rate" a couple of women they pass on the street, is delectable to any woman in the viewing audience. Wrinkle cream, cling film, sun beds, sexual "enhancement" devices...the men turn to them all, just as women have forever, and with about the same result.
The pathos revolving around Gaz's love for his son, Nathan, and his despair at the threat of losing him made my eyes well up, especially in the scene when Nathan wants Gaz to go swimming with his mother and her smarmy boyfriend. Robert Carlyle's barely withheld tears should resonate with divorced parents. Based on that one scene alone, Carlyle should have won an award. Of course, Dave's crisis of confidence both in and out of the bedroom, as well as Jean's loving attempts to help her "big man," are also moving moments, especially in the final 20 minutes. Lomper's finally making friends and getting some positive attention in the factory band is also heartwarming. His desire for friends is so palpable it hurts, and his entire life is changed by the kindness of a bunch of scruffy blokes who, in another time, probably would have either been oblivious to him or among the men snickering behind his back. He even gets a love life, also ironic, for reasons I won't go into here.
Some men of my acquaintance announced that the movie was the most depressing thing they had ever seen. I, naturally, had to show them the error of their ways. All they saw were a group of losers forced to humiliate themselves to make money. Some people are so LITERAL. If that's all you saw, please watch again and look for the uplifting themes that are partly the reasons for the movie's success.
I can watch this film over and over and always enjoy it. I revisit the "gang" like old friends and I'm sorry when the credits roll and they are gone until the next time. Each character is so richly drawn that they become real people, not props or scenery with lines. Like a child watching The Wizard of Oz and wishing Oz really existed, I watch The Full Monty and wish that I, too, could have been in that night club audience!
Finding Neverland (2004)
This is some of Johnny Depp's best work.
Rarely am I moved by a movie as I was by "Finding Neverland." Johnny Depp transcends his "oddball character" stereotype. I thought no other of his performances would surpass his portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow, but his sweetly endearing portrayal of J. M. Barrie, while very different, is its equal. He has a marvelous supporting cast, and young Freddie Highmore could easily have stolen the movie right out from under him, but Depp is so convincing as Barrie that one actually forgets that one is watching "The Sexiest Man Alive" and sees only Barrie; Depp once again submerges himself so deeply into the character that he disappears and only the character remains. One of the most moving moments of the film comes when Barrie explains how he came to create Neverland for himself. Depp handles the moment without sentimentality, but one feels the pain of the child James Barrie and begins to understand the adult Barrie's reasons for creating such an active fantasy life. As young Peter Davies states, Depp/Barrie IS Peter Pan.
Don't Tell Her It's Me (1990)
My favorite book turned upside down.
The Boyfriend School has to be my favorite comic novel of all time, followed closely by Kotzwinkle's Midnight Examiner. I was disappointed that the screenplay told the story from Gus's point of view, which removed the element of surprise that made the novel so wonderful. Gretchen got turned into an "Emily," when one of her self-esteem issues had to do with her name.
And what happened to Juanita? I loved Juanita! I can't bear to talk about what was done to the character of Trout. However, the casting of the main characters, Lizzie, Gus, and the newly christened "Emily," was excellent. I'm waiting for a remake from the point of view of Gretchen. The novel is still at the top of my list and lying in permanent repose on my nightstand, with a "loaner" copy available for my friends.