Must Love Dogs (2005)

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Sometimes you don’t even need to be watching the screen to determine if a movie is any good or not. Sometimes you can just tell by the number and intensity of the “Ooohs� and “Aaahs� you hear around you. Using this as a meter, Must Love Dogs is going to be a big success. Sitting in the theater I had three teenage girls in the row ahead of me with two women and an elderly couple in the row behind. So I got an earful of Ooohs and Aaahs in stereo. But even without this accurate means of measurement I can tell you that the film will be a smash.

Must Love Dogs is a story about Sarah (Diane Lane) a preschool teacher whose husband, as Sarah says “just quit loving her�, has left her and re-married a younger woman. And no matter how much she wants to forget about men, her large Irish family all have perspective dates that they keep pushing on her. As anyone who comes from a large family, or is married into one, can tell you -- you are never along and EVERYONE has an opinion. This is the case with Sarah as her sister posts an internet personal ad for Sarah. That’s when it gets interesting.

Promoted as a Romantic Comedy, this movie lived up to the genre. But it was even funnier than most films in this category. This comes primarily from the one-liners and the interesting situations that Sarah finds herself in.

When I saw this movie I was on business travel and ended up at the theater by myself. However, when I get back home I will definitely take my wife to see it. This movie is great as a couples’ movie or for women (generally in groups). But I don’t think you will see too many men in the theater by themselves (well, of course unless they are doing a movie review :0).

John Cusack provides his normal off-the-wall character as John Anderson; which for this script, fits in perfectly. He and Diane Lane are well matched and you aren’t sitting there wondering how these two could ever get together, as I have with some romantic comedies. A great supporting cast only added to my enjoyment of the film. Elizabeth Perkins (Carol) plays the perfect interfering sister who won’t give up on her Sarah. Christopher Plummer, who plays Sarah’s widowed father, Bill, adds a distinguished flavor to the story. At 70+ years, and having already experienced the “love of his life�, he gives everyone out there hope as he still ventures out into the dating world. And to complement Plummer’s character, Stockard Channing (Dolly) provides an excellent performance and the women’s view to accompany Plummer’s.

What I really liked about the movie was that regardless of all the disappoints, in both Diane and John’s lives, they still had hope in love (of course they had to be pushed initially). But his is kind of like life and also our relationship with God. Without love life really doesn’t have much meaning. The importance of love in our lives has been evident since the beginning of mankind. There are probably more quotes about love than anything else. Some of the earliest quotes capture this theme. Even as far back as Aristotle “Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.�

So I am not surprised that Must Love Dogs will be a big hit. Combine comedy, the continuing search for love, and some good acting to bring this story to light; and you have a recipe for success.

At one point, during a Confirmation party for his grandson, Christopher Plummer’s character quotes a poem by William Butler Yeats, called Brown Penny. I don’t normally quote poems in my review, but I thought this one captured the essence of the film’s theme so eloquently.

I whispered, 'I am too young,'
And then, 'I am old enough';
Wherefore I threw a penny
To find out if I might love.
'Go and love, go and love, young man,
If the lady be young and fair.'
Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,
I am looped in the loops of her hair.

O love is the crooked thing,
There is nobody wise enough
To find out all that is in it,
For he would be thinking of love
Till the stars had run away
And the shadows eaten the moon.
Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,
One cannot begin it too soon.

This summarizes the storyline and the Message in the Movie. A penny represents the chance that we all take in life. Like tossing a penny in the air we are uncertain if it is the right time or that we may be too young (or too old) for love. But as the movie shows us, love does not care about your age or where you are in life. And as the film proves, if you find love, don’t give up and instead get lost in it (looped). But don’t think about it too much or you may lose sight of why you are in love – stay lost in the dream (till the stars run away). As with Sarah and John, take a risk -- throw your penny out there and see what you get in return. Have fun with this movie, and take someone you love to it.

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Bad News Bears (2005)

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I recently wrote a review where I had nothing but kudos for the remake of a classic, The Longest Yard. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about the Bad News Bears. Maybe if I had never seen the original 1976 version of the Bad News Bears I would have enjoyed this current release a bit more. But that is not the case.

About the only similarity between the original 1976 and the 2005 versions is the overall plot. A self acclaimed drunk and loser, whose claim to fame is that he once stepped onto a major league field, is hired to coach a team of misfits and the athletically challenged. The story follows the coach, as much a misfit as the kids he is coaching, and the team he grows to love as they rise from the cellar to become a competitor. But this is where the similarity ends. The main focus of the movie is not about the team’s turn around, as much as it is about the many relationships and the evolution of these relationships during this one Little League season.

Well, at least that is what you get out of the 1976 version. And this is the big difference between the two. In the 1976 version a lot of time is spent on character development and the relationship of the characters. How the events of the baseball season impact these relationships and the characters themselves. Walter Matthau as Coach Morris Buttermaker and his estranged daughter Amanda Whurlitzer (played by Tatum O’Neal) gave excellent performances and you really got to know and feel for these characters. The Director, Michael Ritchie, focused on these characters and their relationship, giving you a glimpse as to why Buttermaker was who he was and how hard it was for he and his daughter to reconnect. And when they do, you feel like you were there for the painful and loving effort that it required.

While Billy Bob Thornton was able to convince you that Buttermaker was a drunken, go nowhere, has-been baseball player, there was little depth to the character. And I was totally thrown off, even though I knew it was coming, when he all of sudden becomes “the coach�. It was like one minute he is this unrecoverable scumbag and then the next he is the experienced coach, driven to whip his team into shape. Why did he make this change? There was no buildup—he just changes? Not very convincing and not very entertaining. And the relationship between Buttermaker and his alienated daughter, while highlighted as it was in the earlier release, it was not emphasized in this remake. In the current release, if that part of the film had been left on the editing floor, it probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference to this newest version. By comparison this was essential to the earlier version and is what really made the earlier version a classic. This difference is carried through with all the rest of the characters. Other than an off-handed mention about his father, we have no idea why the character Kelly Leak is such a rebel. And the relationship between Kelly and Amanda is almost inconsequential in this newest release—where it was a critical component of the original movie.

And what about Timmy Lupis, Tanner Boyle, and the rest of the team? In the original you got to know these characters and why, finally, when they came together it was such a wondrous thing. It seems like the only purpose in the current version for the rest of the team is to provide an outlet for obscenities, flipping off each other, and someone for Buttermaker to cuss at. The earlier release, when it first came out, was considered a bit edgy (a young girl like Amanda talking about sexual things, kids being exposed to the excesses of the original drunken Buttermaker). But this new release isn’t edgy—it’s just a flourish of profanity, racism, and sexual innuendo; from beginning to end; in a hope that if you provide enough shock value, some people will find it funny. I don't mind if a film requires these components to provide atmosphere or emphasis to the storyline, but when the purpose is just to fill in (most of the film) or used as for shock value (and even then not very successfully), then I am artistically offended.

And it was funny at times. There were some scenes that made you laugh and some interactions that made you think. But these were few and far between. I did like Sammi Kane Kraft, who plays Buttermaker’s daughter (Amanda) in the 2005 version. Though it probably was not a stretch for her to play the role as she is a Little League pitcher in real life. I would like to see her in a different role where she is given the opportunity to demonstrate her acting abilities. Because the Bad News Bears was not one of these.

Even though the film has been dissected to remove the factors that made the original such a success, the overall Message in the Movie remains. We see this Message in Buttermaker’s salvation as he develops an affinity for the Bad News Bear players (though, like I said earlier, this transformation is sudden and without any real substance). Also, though lightly touched on, is the reconciliation with his daughter. A similarity to the returning prodigal son story, but in reverse. The father, who has been away from the family returns, and after some trepidation on the daughter’s part, accepted back – even after everything he has done wrong. We are shown how the change in the father impacts the daughter. The same applies in our own lives. How we interact with others can make a major difference in their lives and the reverse is true. Our relationships have a profound impact on how we see the world and others around us. Lastly, we see fellowship exemplified as individuals come together to form a team, especially in the relationship between Tanner and Lupis (though this is again lightly touched on in the 2005 release).

With all the great movies out this Summer, I would put this one on the backburner until it comes out on DVD and you have seen everything else you want to see. Better yet, go rent the 1976 version and really enjoy the film as it was meant to be.

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Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith

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Book Review: When someone generally says they are a Christian, most people will automatically (right or wrong) envision a Right Wing supporter of President Bush. Well, Anne Lamott (author of the best seller “Traveling Mercies�) proves that not all Christians fall into this category. First off, you need to picture a 50 year old white woman with dreadlocks who is an ex-drug addict raising a 15 year old son on her own and is a self proclaimed Right Wing Christian. And, by the way, she really has problems with the Bush Administration. Ok, now you are beginning to get an insight into the author of the book “Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith�.

When asked if I am a Liberal or Conservative I just shrug my shoulders and say “depends�. It depends on the issue. Sometimes I can be pretty conservative, and on other issues I might be extremely liberal. Sometimes I may be middle of the road. I guess I just don’t fit into a nice neat box. So there are many things I could relate to in Anne’s book, but then there are some things that she comes up with that I found a little extreme, even me.

But all-in-all, I feel like Anne Lamott provided a lot of insight into our daily life, especially for those of us in the second half of this (sometimes) wonderful and glorious life. Yet even those who still think their physical body is immortal can find nuggets of wisdom that might help them find their way the complex maze of what we call life.

Life is tough. For anyone who has had any experience in life knows that this is one of life’s truer statements. Anne Lamott has had a tough life and has taken her hard earned wisdom and put it down on paper. Again, her perspective takes on a highly liberal viewpoint on many issues, but even in this she speaks what many of us (both liberals and conservatives) have thought ourselves, just not put into words. For those that believe there is only way to look at a subject, they might not “get� Anne’s book. But for the majority who look at the many angles of an issue, regardless of whether they are Christian or not, this book holds a lot for them to think about. It is a book about faith in everyday life and faith that knows no bounds. Or for that matter, structure. That’s why those of you who have never felt comfortable in a traditional church will soak up this book.

To really understand where Anne comes from and how she interprets daily life, it is best to highlight some of her observations that I found of interest:

Anne tells the story of trying to start up a Sunday school at her church, though at the time she did not particularly like having more than two children around at any time and she has self proclaimed mediocre self-esteem. As she put it, “I grow anxious on my way to the dump with a car full of garbage, convinced that my garbage and I will be rejected, either because I am throwing out perfectly good stuff, or because it is so disgusting that the people who run the dump wouldn’t want it.�

So why start a Sunday school. She tells a Hasidic story [Anne leverages all people to get to her point] of a rabbi who when asked why God puts Scripture on their hearts rather than in their hearts. The rabbi answered “Only God can put Scripture inside. But reading sacred text can put it on your hearts, and then when your hearts break, the holy words will fall inside.�

The Iraqi war started during the writing of Anne’s book and greatly influenced much of the book’s content. In one chapter she relates of how the war made her feel the same as when her mother had Alzheimers and her entire family felt totally helpless. You didn’t know quite what to do as the old rules just no longer applied. She remembers a decal she saw that helped her through her mother’s debilitating disease and also through the beginning weeks of the Iraqi war. It had a picture of a gorilla on it and a caption that said “The law of the American jungle: Remain calm, share the bananas.� Her family tried to make one another laugh and stay calm, and shared their bananas. This is what she says we all need to do every day – share the bananas because we are all in this together and faith is about relying on each other and God.

Anne pulls on wisdom she has garnered from many different wise people (Christians, Buddhist, Hindus, whoever). There are a number of things that Anne says that really stuck with me. One was something she learned from reading the memoir by a Hindu writer; which she says is basically the same thing she was told by a close Priest friend of hers, “…when you pray, you are not starting the conversation from scratch, just remembering to plug back into a conversation that’s always in progress.� I now find my self sitting down and rather than beginning with a lot of re-introductions (after all, God probably knows me well enough from all my past failures), I just start right off like I had stepped out of the room to get a soda and was returning to an on-going conversation. Sometimes, I just sit and say “I’m back God�.

The book is really humorous, but I do caution – this is not your normal “Christian life insight� book, and if you consider yourself more on the conservative side and not really interested in getting into the mind of someone a bit different, you won’t enjoy this reading. One example I can give you is that Anne feels that there are times when only profanity is the proper response and she is not bashful about using it from time-to-time to express her feelings. Overall, though most Readers will probably not agree with all Anne’s observations, I believe that there is something for everyone in this book. Whether the parent of a teenager, an ex-hippy, recovering addict, single parent, or Sunday school teacher and devout Christian, you will recognize something in this book that you can relate with and will find yourself going “hmmm�.

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