Stranger Than Fiction

“God has a Woman’s Voice�

Usually when you start hearing voices, even voices that just narrate your life, it’s not a good sign. That’s the dilemma in which Harold Crick finds himself in the movie Stranger Than Fiction. We always hold our breath when an actor known for their comedic roles decides to show their versatility by doing a dramatic turn. While there is nothing sadder than the tears of a clown, Will Farrell plays Harold Crick almost too straight and doesn’t get to do much with his character. However, in this cross between The Truman Show and Adaptation, what could have been a one-trick movie becomes a nicely layered, and easily watched, bit of pop confection.

“If you knew you were going to die, possibly soon, what would you do?� –Harold

Harold Crick, think Walter Mitty without the imagination, is a man trapped by the routine (and loneliness) of his life. He’s an IRS agent who is great at his job and loves it, counting the minutiae of his day (from tooth brush strokes to steps) while living by the dictates of his wristwatch. That is, until he starts to hear the voice of a woman narrating his life. The woman turns out to be reclusive novelist, Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson), who is planning on killing her character creation, poor Harold, but hasn’t settled on how. Thus, our hero sets out on a journey, with the help from his guide, Professor Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman) to find the Narrator of his life while figuring out what it means to truly live.

“I’m somehow involved in some sort of story, like I’m a character in my own life.� –Harold

Often we are so wrapped up in our own stories that we miss the opportunities of life. The interruption of other people, the significant and mundane moments that make up life. Sometimes we get a sense that we are caught up in some sort of narrative; maybe we connect with story because we’re a part of a grand story of God meeting us where we are–messy and broken–and wooing us back to him. God speaks into our precise and ordered lives, as the Author of the Story. Our spiritual journey is about becoming in tune with our (ultimate) story and the voice of our Narrator.

We want to know our Narrator.

Harold had tested the words of the narrator and found them true, thus bolstering his faith in the very existence of that narrator. He doesn’t know who, or what, this narrator is, but he trusts, because that narrator had been right about so much of his life already. Maybe, like Harold, having tested our Narrator, we want to find him and better understand who we are, who he is, and what he would have us do. Because our individual stories are connected.

“The only way to know what story you’re in is to figure out what stories you’re not in.� –Professor Hilbert

Questions will always help us on our journey, questions to uncover the truth about the Narrator. Like Job confronting God, we have questions that we’d always wanted to ask our Author, but we may not be able to. It helps to have guides, maybe scholars like Professor Hilbert, to help us better shape our questions or point us in the right directions. However, some questions will leave us crying in futility to the heavens, because we don’t like the answers, like when Harold asks “you’re asking me to knowingly face my Death?� our puzzled, yet hopeful seeker Harold asks. The answer is “yes;� life is lived in light of death. Ultimately, the questions and the answers come back to the Book, the Story of our faith.

“The hero dies, but the story lives on forever.� –Professor Hilbert

“A story about a man who’s unaware that he’s about to die. If he knows he’s going to die and chooses to die anyway, isn’t that the kind of man you want to keep alive?� Karen has to ask herself, unaware of how she sums up Christ’s own journey within his narrated story. Death imbues life with meaning and gives eternal consequences to our actions. When we understand the Story, we live in light of the Story, though maybe if we could see the whole story we’d finally, fully appreciate the Story and our place in it.

Harold: It’s not a story to me. It’s my life.
Hilbert: Absolutely. So live the one you’ve always wanted.

We all have our callings and talents that we can use to make the world a better place. From numbers to cooking, the most important thing is to keep your eyes open for opportunities to be a blessing to each other. To live life as you were meant to, fully human, where even the mundane and ordinary have meaning.

Stranger Than Fiction is a moral tale, almost a fable, about the interconnectivity of humanity, the inevitability of Death, and the passionate ties between Author, Character, and the Story. It’s a thought provoking film that could have been a great movie had it committed to its ending (thus touching on one of its themes with the artist’s responsibility to their art). Instead, it compromises by going for a “happy� ending and thus became merely a really good and intelligent movie. Yeah, we have way too many of those.


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Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

“A Stranger in a Strange Land�

Kazakhstan greatest country in the world.
All other countries are run by little girls.
Kazakhstan number one exporter of potassium.
Other countries have inferior potassium.

If the title of this movie or the “lyrics� of the Kazakhstan national anthem (especially great when sung to the tune of America’s national anthem) don’t have you at least mildly intrigued, then you probably won’t get a lot of the dumb/smart humor going on in the movie Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. However, miss this one and you will be missing one of the hands down funniest movies in years. And I’m going to do my best not to spoil any of it for you.

While the movie may seem like a Ken Burns documentary filmed in someone’s basement on a lunch money budget, it is the mostly improvised road movie about a man on a quest. Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen) is a television personality in his desperately poor and somewhat backwards (though gloriously proud) home of Kazakhstan. He goes off to the desperately wealthy and equally somewhat backwards (and gloriously proud) country of America to learn from its customs and bring home lessons for his people to learn.

I was unfamiliar with Sacha Baron Cohen’s work on Da Ali G. Show (Borat, the ever horny, cringingly bigoted, yet strangely likeable reporter, was one of his three character creations from the show). Yet Borat, along with his sidekick, Azamat Bagatov (Ken Davitian), become the perfect mirror to observe how outsiders perceive and are perceived by America(ns).

“We nearly died last night. This journey is cursed.� –Azamat

America has not always been kind in its treatment of “the other.� Borat, as the ultimate “other,� offers often biting commentary on how we treat “the other.� No one ever thinks of their own customs and ways as unusual unless they go outside of their culture or, in this case, have someone outside of their culture thrust into their lives. Borat comes to America and tries to understand our humor, tries to understand our culture (including our predilection for Pamela Anderson), tries to grasp how we view and treat women all the while poking fun at all aspects of our culture. From him being long on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd (how many people recalled Chris Rock’s joke about MLK Blvd and thought “RUN!�?) to his poor attempts to learn our etiquette in order to dine with high society circles, Borat leaves no one, none of our stereotypes and own backwards characters, unskewered or undermined.

“Hey, fuck off, Death.� –Borat

Borat is on his version of the hero’s journey, not just of discovery, but to claim his true love. In so doing, the movie also offers a sly commentary on religion. When Borat hits rock bottom, he experiences a rebirth via “Mr. Jesus� (although, many good “Christians� step over him in order to get into church before he stumbles in later). It is his encounter with the spiritual that renews him in order for him to continue his journey as he learns the power of forgiveness. As a part of forgiving others, Azamat and Pamela included, he even realizes that even those who hurt us are capable of much good.

“If you chase a dream, especially those with a plastic chest, you can miss the real beauty in front of your eyes.� –Borat

Not everyone is going to get Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, with its humor designed to make people uncomfortable, but it is a movie one has to experience for themselves. Doubtlessly some will be offended (thank God for the judicious, though awfully complimentary, use of a black bar during the nude wrestling scene). However, no one can say that the movie wasn’t one of the most original comedies to come down the pike in a long time. For that alone we should be grateful, that is, if it wasn’t also a side-straining hilarious movie. I guess this means that we may have a Bruno movie to look forward to. “High Five!�


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Mother Grove Interview

Brad Sprauer, lead vocalist and song-writer for Mother Grove has come a long way since we shared a place and screamed Public Enemy lyrics at one another. Their song “All Right" remains at # 2 on Celtic Radio and their song, "The Ballad of Miles O'Toole," has moved to #4! So I thought that I would poke around in Brad’s brain for a bit.

Tell me a little bit about how you guys got together. What does the name Mother Grove mean?

Mother Grove came together at a Christmas party back in 2000. I was working on shopping a demo of my originals to form a standard rock band and met Gary Booth. He said, "I'm a bagpiper" to which I thought "Oh yea? Uh, that's nice". He proceeded to fully educate me on the merits and originality of Celtic rock including handing me a fistful of Celtic Rock CDs. After the first listen I immediately heard my songs with the Celtic instrumentation. And the rest, as they say, is history.

The name, "Mother Grove" is a Druid reference. Druidism (or Druidry) is an ancient religion of the Celtic Isles, specifically Ireland and Scotland. A "grove" of druids is basically a group, or a congregation. The "Mother Grove" is a more modern word meaning a gathering of several groves who work together. I suppose it's like an archdiocese. The name evokes the ancient Celtic but yet sounds cool enough to work in the modern age. So many Celtic bands try to name themselves some Gaelic word that looks cool and has some cool meaning, but is impossible to pronounce, which is like #1 in the list of 101 worst marketing ideas.

Why Celtic rock? What led you down that musical vein?

I’ve always wanted to do something a bit different. The typical rock outfit has been played out for me. I’ve always like bands with different instrumentations outside of the “standard approved rock instruments�. It really allows you to be more creative and think outside of the box a bit. Bagpipes are loud, in your face and unmistakable in sound. Who needs a screaming electric guitar when you have bagpipes?! No one can deny their presence. The energy they lend to the music is awesome. Fiddles are more of the yin to the pipes yang. They’re beautifully melodic and really balance out the energy of the music. Plus they’re versatile. Many bands have violins/fiddles but the styles of the players and the songwriting lend themselves to fit in with any song. We’re an original rock band first and foremost, and then we’re a Celtic rock band.

You write a lot of your own music. What drives you to write? What is the passion that drives you?

The passion is the drive to create art, to make the listener “feel�; no matter what feeling that is, just evoking emotion. When someone tells me a particular songs moves them or touches them in a certain way, that’s success to me. It’s wonderful to know that something I created can make someone happy or feel any number of emotions. It sounds a bit selfish, aye? It’s actually quite the opposite; I see it as a gift to give away. Once a song is out there, it’s not mine anymore. It’s like a child, you help create the child, help her grow and eventually she goes off to live her own life.

The way I explain the need to create, is pretty simple; just like everyone needs to eat and breathe to survive, I need to create. It’s not really an option. If I couldn’t create I’d be locked up or in a nice cozy padded cell somewhere. I’ve learned over the years that it’s at the core of many issues in my life. If I go too long without writing, I get very cranky, disoriented and sometimes even become physically ill. The Buddhists say: “speak to the mind and the body will listen.� It’s very true for me. Music, writing, creating is the ultimate therapy…and much cheaper.

My method of song-writing is probably a bit different than most. I can’t sit down and say, “Today I’m going to write a song about…� it just doesn’t happen that way. I like the song to evolve and appear on its own. Sort of like automatic writing, but the catalyst is the music. I’ll start playing chords and just humming or scatting random words or phrases and eventually I’ll come up with a line or two. Once I have that foundation, the rest of the song sort of writes itself. You won’t hear many storytelling songs from me; it’s mostly like free verse poetry with a very loose theme. It’s all about the metaphor. 10 people can listen to the same song and get 10 different meanings out it and they can all be right.

Occasionally the song will be about an event or a topic; for instance; the song “Kiss You Goodbye� was written just after 9/11. But I didn’t want to make this “rah rah, kick ass USA� song or some sappy, sad ballad about loss. I wanted it to have different perspectives; the victims, the perpetrators and the soldiers. I wanted to make it human, to make people think beyond the knee-jerk, “us against them� mentality. So that song is an exception. Love songs are another exception, even though they’re more often metaphorical, they are inspired and written specifically for my wife…who by the way is my ultimate muse. I’ve written more songs since meeting her than I can remember.

Oh, and magnetic poetry. Some crazy stuff has been written with the help of those little guys. I keep them on a big cookie sheet so I can take it from room to room with my notebook and spread them out without losing any words. I have like 4 sets that I rotate in and out.

There do seem to be a lot of spiritual themes in your music. In your live shows you perform a verse of Amazing Grace. Is this a "bagpipes are expected to play 'Amazing Grace'" thing or is there a greater meaning behind this? Can you talk a bit about your faith?

You know, I’ve been through an incredible, wonderful ride with my spirituality. Right now I’m in the most comfortable place I’ve ever been spiritually. I was raised Catholic and was immersed in non-denominational Christianity for many, many years and it served me very well for those times in my life. I have nothing but fond memories of my spiritual growth as a Christian. But now I feel I’ve moved beyond any religion. I can read any sacred text, sit in any temple or church, participate in any ritual and gain an immense amount of peace and spirituality from them. I take the good, the common elements and teachings from every path and incorporate it into my daily life and personal philosophy. The biggest thing is, I’ve removed any need to answer the unanswerable questions (I have four of them: Where did we come from? Why are we here? Where do we go when we die? Is there a god?). On a day-to-day, live your life, interact with others world we don’t really need to pontificate on the origins of the universe, the validity of any particular deity, or the proper way to worship him or her. It’s really unnecessary. It really forces me to focus on the things we have in common as human beings; we all feel love, anger, frustration, sadness, loneliness; each and every one of us. I know that it feels good to have someone smile at me, or hug me, or tell me they love me. It doesn’t matter if they believe in God, Krishna, Buddha, or a rock that keeps away zombies. All that matters is we’ve connected as human beings and learned to live in peace; period. Adding the supernatural, the focus on the unanswerable, eternal salvation (or damnation) only serves to keep us further apart as humans. Most of the songs on our last 3 CDs deal with this kind of spirituality. If you look at the lyrics to our first CD “Listen to Your Mother� they were all written when I was a devout Christian. I even performed most all of theses songs in churches long before Mother Grove came about. But even then, they’re pretty metaphorical. By the time we recorded the CD, I had moved beyond the Christian themes of the songs. I was asked if I wanted to re-write the lyrics to reflect my new stage of spirituality. That was unthinkable. Those songs are snapshots of where I was at that time and there was no way I was going to take away the message and the sentiment behind them. Especially if they could help someone gain inspiration or insight into their own path…no matter what path that may be.

This is spirit in which we perform “Amazing Grace�; togetherness, everyone knows the song and is moved by it in some way or another. Plus Laura our fiddler can belt out the tune like nobody’s business. It’s like a tent revival every time we perform it. She’s a preacher’s kid and very strong in her Christina faith, so with all the eclectic spiritual and pagan themes in our music, we’re all about balance, diversity and equality.

And yes, there’s some sort of unwritten law that if a bagpiper is present, Amazing Grace must be performed.

How does your faith impact your music?

I think music is my faith. At the core of faith is trust. Music has proven herself trustworthy to me. I know that after a performance I’m going to feel spiritually high. I know that after I write a song, I’m going to feel peacefully satisfied; I know that I can communicate with anyone through the language of music. Music is at the heart of humanity, so there is really no difference between faith, spirituality, religion and music. It’s like the Native American way; everything is religion and religion is everything.

What message do you want to convey to audience? What do you want your audience to go home thinking or feeling?

Pure joy. I want to bring a crowd to their crescendo, then take them a little higher, then leave them smiling and satisfied. When a crowd is responsive and there’s this exchange of energy, it’s truly spiritual. Call it what you will, but THAT’S religion to me. I just want to know that what I’ve just given them, makes them happy, or makes them feel, or think or just forget about everything else for awhile and live in the moment, the music and sharing in the collective joy.


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Mother Grove “Live at Dublin Pub�

“You gotta breathe in life gotta taste the air/Gotta feel the earth beneath you see the beauty everywhere/Gonna be my brother, gonna be my friend/Gonna leave the fear behind you and listen from within� –Beltane

My big fear about listening to Celtic rock groups is that I fear all of the music will sound like an Irish Spring commercial. With their fourth release, “Live at the Dublin Pub,� they attempt to capture the spirit and enthusiasm of their live show. Featuring songs from their previous CDs: Tri, Mother May I, and Listen to Your Mother, the live CD is like a one stop sampler/introduction to the band.

Brad Sprauer’s impassioned, raspy vocals sounds like someone you’d want to go drinking with. Apparently some folks at the Dublin Pub in Dayton, Ohio agree. We only get hints of the banter that makes the MoGro live experience. There are songs they obviously enjoy playing more than others (“The Ballad of Miles O’Toole�) and songs that obviously mean a lot personally (“Amazing Grace�) - the songs that bookend the CD. They eschew the easy, pop crafted tunes that would play well for mainstream radio ears in favor of a more unique sound.

“We got a holy man trying to be a police man/We got a ways to go to cross the road.� –The Road

What they may lack in technical virtuosity and vocals, they make up for with heart and imagination. A mix of more romantic songs sit side-by-side with bar song sing-alongs. Also, there is a sense of humor to their music (there’s no other way to explain them yelling “Get jiggy with it� in the middle of a Celtic rock song).

“Sometimes we need faith to swallow whole/Sometimes we need/Sometimes we need/A will to carry home/ But I don't mind/I don't care no, I don't mind/Give me away/Give me peace to mask the pain/'Cause I will not follow man's - Great Religion/You've got to believe in something/Or you'll fall for anything/Take some time to say, Hey/'Cause you're never obligated to the chains of earth/Just spread your mind and pray.�–Rev. Darwin

The album has the thread of a spiritual journey winding through it, reflecting a spiritual journey that we are all on and questions that we are all asking. The story, if there was a conscious story at the heart of the collection, examines modern expressions of religions (“The Road�); looks for connection within the human experience (“Beltane�); meditates on the mystery of falling in love (“As I Fall�); lives life in all of its excesses (“A Whiskey and a Friend�); tries on the idea of defining yourself in the story of your culture (“Listen to Your Mother�); finds answers, and the limits to those answers, in reason over man’s religion (“Rev. Darwin�); and ends with contemplating God and His grace (“Amazing Grace�).

On St. Patrick’s Day, everyone’s an honorary Irishman. Live at the Dublin Pub will help keep you in touch with your inner Irishman all year round. All Mother Grove needs now is the one break out album to reach that wider audience they deserve.


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3 Lbs

“Pensees�

“Do you think in this business you have to have some glaring personality defect to be taken seriously as a genius?� Dr. Jonathan Singer (Mark Feuerstein) finds himself asking. That does seem to be the take home lesson of such hit shows like House, Bones, or Monk. It seems that we can’t get enough of medical shows, given the popularity of the aforementioned House as well as Grey’s Anatomy (even ER has found a renewed spark of life lately). Titled after the three pound lump of flesh we call our brain, 3 Lbs. is the latest entry.

Singer: “The brain is too mysterious.�
Hanson: “It’s wires in a box.�

Stanley Tucci plays the tortured and haunted Dr. Douglas Hanson, resident genius of Hanson Neuro. In full reptilian charm (“I am what I am� he says, quoting Popeye), it’s his first steady television work since the days of his short-lived runs on Bull and Murder One. Dr. Hanson sees the world as a logical place, an “all questions have answers� sort of worldview. However, he seems to be at the limits of this mindset.

Dr. Hanson is joined by his more metaphysical colleague, Dr. Jonathan Singer (Mark Feuerstein), the new fellow, “the sorcerer’s apprentice.� While navigating office politics, Dr. Singer is of the mindset that he has to know whose soul he’s bumping up against before he goes poking around in their brains.

“That’s the beauty of being human. There’s not another species for a billion miles that can make itself scared. We think too much.� Dr. Adrienne Holland (Indira Varma)

The uniqueness of man, to borrow from Pascal, is the great paradox of creation, capable of the highest grandeur and the worst misery. We have the ability to think and reflect, a rationality and the free will to make choices. In other words, we think too much. We contemplate ourselves, our existence, our origin, our destiny. We can evaluate the goodness or badness of a situation.

On the flip side, we can also contemplate a better life. Though we can conceive of a life without pain, problems, suffering, evil, and death; we’re powerless to escape it. We can’t accomplish it by ourselves.

“Do you know what Ego means? Self. It’s what opens our eyes in the morning. It’s the thing that allows us to have an affect on the world.� –Dr. Hanson

Too often, it is presented that one cannot be both a logical person and a person of faith. Yet, it’s important to have a passionate concern for the logical aspects of faith. No one has to leave logic behind in order to embrace faith. Science and religion are not at odds. Both are pursuits of truth and can find a common meeting place. Sometimes we can find God in the beauty of His most complicated creation, our minds. Or, as Dr. Cole puts it, “the thing about our Creator? Even when He ties the veins inside our head into an angry map, it’s beautiful.�

“If I die, you’re going to have a moment in time where everything important in life rises to the top. You’ve got to grab that moment. It’s the only chance you’ll get.� –Patient

3 Lbs walks a tricky tightrope with its main character. Like House, it’s Dr. Hanson’s very brokenness as a human being that draws us to him, yet it’s difficult to have him essentially not grow or change as a character and be believeable (not to mention the risk of him “growing� to the point of being uninteresting). Here we are presented with yet another a brilliant, deductive mind unable to grasp the simplest concepts of human interaction and relationships, being too smart for his own good. Unless that’s the point.

Well acted, well directed, well written, 3 lbs is a fine drama, but I can’t help but feel a weariness to these kind of shows. There is a sameness to the rhythm of the modern drama, down to the “meaningful� song over scenes summing up the show at the end and the journey inside the body special effects. What makes the show standout, however, is the central character of Dr. Hanson. Let’s see if the audiences rally around him like they do Dr. House. I’m not betting that they will.


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Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

Ah, I’ve missed Aaron Sorkin and in that spirit, I have really looked forward to the premiere of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. It's directed by Thomas Schlamme and written by Aaron Sorkin, a master of the “at work� genre. He made the mundane aspects of work interesting, giving us Sports Night and The West Wing. That is the reservation I have about the show, it has that great Sorkin dialogue, but it also has the “been there� familiarity of the Sorkin touch.

Sorkin kept a lot of his tricks and rhythms that he picked up on The West Wing, from the winding camera-work, to the dialogue on the move, down to the W.G. Snuffy Walden original music. The show is populated by rich characters played by terrific actors, including some The West Wing alum: Bradley Whitford and Timothy Busfield.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip follows the behind the scenes workplace of a once cutting edge and relevant sketch comedy show. After a live, Network-like rant from the show's founder, Wes Mendell (Judd Hirsch) - a meta moment, as NBC is realizing the place it is in with its shows - the new president of "NBS" entertainment, Jordan McDeere (Amanda Peet), makes some changes. Facing down the network head, Jack Rudolph (Stephen King’s Desperation’s Steven Weber), she decides to bring back the brilliant writer/director team Jack forced out, Danny Tripp (Whitford) and Matt Albie (Friends’ Matthew Perry).

“Not everyone of whom is necessarily the grotesque stereotype you’d like them to be. Most of these people have nothing except their faith and that moves me.� –Harriet Hayes (Sarah Paulson)

The show has a potential for interesting dialogue between the red and blue states ... that is, when it isn’t sharpening its ax to grind against the 700 Club/Pat Robertson. The show within the show features such sketches as “Crazy Christians� and “Science Shmience.� It attempts to balance the out the edge of satire toward religion by also having a fully rounded Southern Baptist character, Harriet Hayes who believes that “He who sits high in heaven laughs�.

The fact is that we are to be a joyous people, to laugh, to sing, to dance, all to express the joy within us. We are wired to worship. And while the history of the church is an often troubling one, with plenty to apologize for, Jesus instituted the church. Jesus participated in congregational worship. Put another way, Miroslav Volf, in a moment of personal reflection, communicated the paradox of a broken church. He said, “I am not a Christian because of the church, but because of the gospel. However, it was only through the broken church that I received the gospel. Because of the gospel, I participate in the church.�

“You gotta ask yourself ‘is she for real?’� –Danny Tripp

It’s hard to make smart television. We dumb down everything, from our newspapers to the text messaging culture and movies that point this out in satire, we sweep under the rug (look for Idiocracy to become the next Office Space). To fight for quality and intelligence automatically means a smaller audience and moves against the grain of our cultural mindset and this show will more than likely serve as Exhibit A. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is not without its flaws. The experience is like approaching Saturday Night Live with a The West Wing style gravitas. It is sometimes a little too self-important and self-referential. However, its characters are real, flawed, and smart spouting dialogue that is witty, intelligent, and funny. Sure the show was heavily-hyped, but the question remains, will anyone care?


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Prison Break

“I guess in a place like this, you never know which day is going to be your last.� –Michael Scoffield

One of the most spiritual shows on television, along with Deep Space Nine and Babylon 5 (not including those set up to specifically explore those themes, like Joan of Arcadia), was the show Oz. Why? Because do you know when many of us think about God and life? When we’re desperate. When we’ve reached the end of our rope and hope. When we’ve seen where life has gotten us under our own efforts. When we see the bars/cages of our life for what they are. Prison Break has more in common with 24 than the harsh depictions of prison life found in Oz.

Make no mistake: Prison Break isn’t trying to be a documentary on prison life. In fact, the set up is fairly ludicrous. Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) is on Death Row, framed for the murder of the U.S. Vice President. His brother, Michael Scofield (The Human Stain's Wentworth Miller), was one of the structural engineers that designed the prison. So concocts an elaborate plan to escape, tattoos the schematic of the prison on his body, then robs a bank to land in the same prison as his brother. If you can get past the set up, then sit back and enjoy the ride, because it’s a roller coaster of a show.

Wonderfully shot, the show itself is a technical beauty. Despite the show being chock full of action, we wouldn’t watch if we didn’t care about the characters. And the show is full of brilliantly acted characters: John Abruzzi, an incarcerated mob boss (Constantine’s Peter Stormare); the legendary D.B. Cooper (Muse Watson); Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell (Robert Knepper), the white supremacist with the survival capabilities of a cockroach; and dishonorably discharged Benjamin Miles 'C-Note' Franklin (Rockmond Dunbar) among others. Criminals, but none seemingly too unsympathetic or beyond redemption (except maybe T-Bag). And that’s what the show is, a journey of redemption.

“Preparation can only take you so far. After that you have to take a few leaps of faith.� –Michael

During the “secret origin� episode of Prison Break, we find that Scofield has been diagnosed with low latent inhibition. People like Scofield see everyday things like we do, but they process everything - their brains are more open to incoming stimuli. Coupled with a high IQ, makes him a creative genius, one that is attuned to all the suffering around him. Scofield became a rescuer, concerned with other people’s welfare more than his own, in short, he became a kinsmen-redeemer.

Originally, the brother or kinsman of a deceased husband was to marry his widow, and if she were childless, provide offspring. The kinsmen-redeemer had a three fold function: he was a redeemer of person (from slavery), of property (an inheritance), and of blood (an avenger). Christ is a kinsmen-redeemer, whose demonstrated grace and mercy by shedding his blood to purchase liberty for us from the prison of sin.

The tattoos on his body are a map to freedom.

“Often the Lord appears when you are in particular need of forgiveness.� –Reverend Mailor

The thing about prison is that it is the ultimate end of self moment. Why people so often find themselves on a spiritual path once they find themselves in prison is because they look around and see the consequences of living life their way on their terms. We are trapped, sometimes by our selves, sometimes by the Law, and sometimes by the circumstance of life.

Michael: Why are you so cynical?
Dr. Tancredi: Michael, I think there’s cynicism and there’s realism.
Michael: And there’s optimism. Hope. Faith.

Faith is the central theme of the show. We see all manner of faith being examined and lived out: faith in their efforts, faith in each other, faith in God (which John Abruzzi finds). Each type of faith is an attempt to escape the desperation of being trapped, of being caught up in a web of conspiracies and forces beyond our control. In Christ there is freedom, a liberation and reconciliation where we are declared blameless and which only puts us on the path to become holy.

“It’s never too late. If you agree to accept Christ into your heart and turn from your sin, he will forgive you. And save you in eternity.� –Reverend Mailor (Thomas Edson McElroy)

Serialized shows are all the hip rage this season (and watch as many of the freshman serialized shows crash and burn before mid season). I’m hoping that Prison Break won’t try to overstay its welcome by stretching out a story that by all rights should wrap up in the third season. Much like The Fugitive, chase shows should know when to end. In season two, our “heroes� find themselves still seeking freedom by their own means. One of the keys to the show is to not get too attached to anyone because, like 24, anyone can go at anytime. On its face, Prison Break is completely ridiculous, but it is quite entertaining.


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Justice vs. Shark

“A Tale of Two Law Shows�

While David Caruso is doing his best Batman impersonation on CSI: Miami (and the show becoming increasingly ridiculous the more they play into it - With his black jacket as a cape and his sunglasses as his mask, I seriously expect him to do his best Michael Keaton saying “I’m Batman� at the end of every scene), the other branches of our legal system are getting quite the work out. This season, in addition to Boston Legal, we have the freshmen shows Justice and Shark. Let’s see how the freshman class stacks up to one another.

“If you keep digging holes for yourself, people are going to get tired of throwing you down a rope.� –Tom (Kerr Smith)

Executive producer, Jerry Bruckheimer (C.S.I.), brings us Justice which follows the Los Angeles law firm of TNT&G. A forensic look at legal defense strategy, the show is as slick as the lead attorney Victor Garber’s Ron Trott (Alias) smarmy, cocky lawyer. At once the voice of veteran leadership yet nicely greased and unlikeable, he would be a one-note character except that Garber’s charisma shines through despite his character. He heads a team of high stakes and highly paid (are there any other television kind) defense attorneys, the most notable being Eamonn Walker (Oz) who brings a captivating gravitas to his role as former prosecutor, Luther Graves.

At the end of each episode we get to see a flashback of what really happened. The show doesn’t exactly break new ground, trying to be a hybrid of C.S.I. and The Practice, but it is quite watchable.

“And my problem is that I don’t believe in God ... and he hates me for it.� –Sebastian Stark

In Shark, James Woods plays Sebastian Stark (a.k.a. Shark) who has something approaching a crisis of faith when a client he gets free on a technicality goes off to murder. His brand of penance involves switching sides as he ends up working along side the L.A. district attorney, Jessica Devlin (Jeri Ryan). Would now be a bad time to point out that Jeri Ryan can’t actually act? Yes, when Star Trek: Voyager became Star Trek: Seven of Nine, it became more ... interesting is too strong a word, but you know what I meane. However, we weren’t watching because of her acting chops. Luckily, she never has enough screen time to actually say or do much. In fact, she barely has enough screen time to justify her name being in the credits, much less have anything approaching chemistry with Woods. They talk fast and by that I guess we’re supposed to be caught up in their witty repartee.

Did I mention that the acting is thin?

Even Woods seems to not quite get his own character as he stumbles through the scenes. Alternately doing poor versions of arrogant, condescending House-lite when he isn’t doing a watered down James Spader (of the aforementioned Boston Legal). The set ups and characters border on the cliched. This show doesn’t even attempt to break new ground.

“Your job is to win. Justice is God’s problem.� –Sebastian Stark

What is it within us that gives rise to this need for justice? C.S. Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia, makes an argument for a Law of Human Nature, those laws of right and wrong written onto men’s hearts. “For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.� (Romans 1:20) After all, ethical disputes presuppose some common standard of human decency.

However, as we look around at the people around us, we’re disturbed by how men actually behave versus how they ought to behave. Even at our best, we struggle with the already/not yet tension: that we are already redeemed, though not yet fully redeemed. Already holy, not yet fully holy. Something in us tells us that there is a standard of behavior that we ought to adhere or at least aspire to. And if there is some kind of code written into each of us, the fact that we don’t live in a state of lawlessness still points to a Lawgiver. Jesus is our Advocate (1 John 2:1), pleading our case before the Father like a defense attorney.

“Do you miss it? Doing God’s work?� –Betsy (Erin Daniels)

We work in a fallen world, a world rife with injustice, yet we’re God’s co-workers in bringing about justice. Our mission defines our vocation. At least between bouts of watching Vincent D’Onofrio (Law & Order: Criminal Intent) attempting to do his own variation of the Dark Knight Detective.


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Bones

We are a procedural junkie nation. We are awash in CSIs, Law & Orders, Without a Traces, Cold Cases, and Criminal Minds. Like reality shows, every time you think there is not another permutation to explore, out pops another one from those fertile Hollywood minds (who turn “monkey succeed, monkey see, monkey do� into their work credo). We are in love with watching people at work, either because we’re fascinated with jobs other than our own or we simply enjoy watching people passionate about their work.

The show is inspired by real-life forensic anthropologist and best-selling novelist Kathy Reichs, one of only 50 certified forensic anthropologists in the U.S. - and who also wrote a series of books about her alter-ego, Temperance Brennan. In a nod to something passing as whimsical wit, Bones features a character, Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel), a certified forensic anthropologist, who is also a part-time author who writes books about a forensic anthropologist called... wait for it... Kathy Reichs.

Brennan heads a squad of “squints� - lab folks more comfortable with remains and test tubes than other people. For no one is this more true than Brennan herself. Effectively orphaned at a young age, she grew up in the foster system where she became emotionally closed off. So unable to pick up on the slightest of social cues, from flirting to being aware of her own beauty to other people’s emotions - she, in effect, keeps the audience from relating to her.

Thus we have Seely Booth (David Boreanaz), the former Army sniper turned FBI agent who is her partner. Some may remember Boreanaz from his stints on Buffy: the Vampire Slayer and in the spinoff, Angel. Some may then recall that while he is fully capable of playing the taciturn, dark, and broody role (with the occasional bit of self-deprecating humor), any roles requiring much more emoting puts him somewhere just shy of, say, William Shatner-esque hamming. Thus the central flaw of Bones.

The show revolves about the chemistry between David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel, their banter firmly couched in some latent attraction for one another. Unfortunately, neither lead can act. Bones herself is a fairly one-note character. Unemotional, well, restrained emotions to allow her professional distance, though supposedly “even an empiricist has a heart�; and Boreanaz’s thin acting style becomes readily transparent. The two get by on their charm more than anything else, which right now seems to be working for them.

“... for dust you are and to dust you will return.’� –Genesis 2:19

In the end, we aren’t much more than bones. The fact that we are aware of this is what leads us to explore the meaning, or futility, of this life. It is this self-examination, this pursuit of truth that so often has science at odds with religion, when they are actually more often after the same thing. Finding the patterns of creation, putting together the jigsaw puzzles of life, we are on this journey of questions trying to connect the randomness of life (or seeing the fingerprints of a Creator).

“I thought you found answers in what you believe.� –Temperance

What we are often left with is a sense of story faith. Clinicians like Brennan would take such a collection of stories and label them as myths while others might consider them the story they’ve chosen to form their lives. She, like all of us, have faith, she just places her faith in science. However, even the armor of science can be pierced by the power of story. As she wrestles with the Bible, she concludes that “the lesson I would learn from this myth ... that when it comes to your children, your love has to be absolute. The messenger represents goodness, what you know to be right. Ergo you have to be open to what you know is true.�

Bones: “Faith and hope, right?�
Booth: “Love is good.�

Likeable and fun, formulaic and far-fetched Bones manages to work. Barely. For how long it can walk this precarious edge in anyone’s guess. Whereas Crossing Jordan is like Quincy in a skirt, Bones is like Quincy with a gun. Hmm, a Quincy reference certainly dates me. Um, Bones is like a modern day Nick and Nora. Okay, a Thin Man reference isn’t much better. Anyway, Bones is procedural-lite. It has the trappings of a procedural. The actual crime-solving is practically secondary to the banter of the characters and the gizmos and experiments they get to conduct. All we ask from a procedural is some sense of verisimilitude or at least writers competent enough to be able to spell verisimilitude.


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If you want to make sure that I see your comment or just want to stop by and say hi, feel free to do so on my message board. I apologize in advance for some of my regulars.