OK, maybe just with my wit and charm.
Would you believe just with my wit?
I tried to work on the charm today---by going to see Maryln Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing and Charm School.
The movie actually started during the previews. Really. The last trailer started with an airplane with empty seats. Naturally, Lemming and assumed this was a trailer for Snakes on a Plane. I mean, what else could it be? So we were laughing while we were waiting for some sort of "punchline". There was one minor problem, though---there was no punchline. The joke was on us. This was a film about 9/11 and we were laughing hysterically throughout almost the whole trailer. I feel somewhat embarrassed but also somewhat amused. The other two people in the theatre who were watching the film probably will hate us forever, but we'll just have to live with that. Anyway, on to the film.
It was a good film, though again I wouldn't call it a great film. It was very bittersweet, as happy and sad portions were intermingling simultaneously---kind of like two people making love in a bakery and being all covered in dough when they're finished. The main protagonist was trying to get over his dead wife, and he found romance in the dancing class. A side story---which included the reason he first went to the dance class---was something that could have been a love story but for some poor choices taken along the way. (The ending of the film really drives this home, and the main character's conversation with the would-be female part of that story was the saddest part of the film and was rather well done. It was at least somewhat predictable, but it was still well done.)
There were also a few light-hearted moments. The description of a dance arising from Dominican slaves being stressed in that fashion to a black guy on his first day of the school (and then his being called on to demonstrate that) was priceless. Also, the non sequitar lines about magenta (referring to an earlier comment, but a non sequitar for when it was uttered) and the discounted trip to Europe were beautiful. (Actually, the scene in which the latter occurred---the dough scene---was amusing in general.)
This film is well worth seeing, and if you like bittersweet films, this is definitely one of those.
For me, bittersweet implies a "+= for great justice!" in general.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned that some things were predictable. That's true--the movie took no plot twists that I can think of, instead focusing on telling a simple story very well. Every major scene was entirely predictable in it's outcome, but I still really enjoyed watching the story unfold.
Yes, "What color is magenta?" is my favorite line, closely followed by the perfectly-delivered bit about discount airfare.
The only scene I didn't like (though didn't particularly dislike either) was the beginning of the second dance class.
I expect I liked this movie more than most people will, just because it's right up the alley of the sort of story I like. And no, IT'S NOT JUST BECAUSE DANCING IS IN THE MOVIE, damnit. Dancing more than a MacGuffin, but not by much.
Why do I like bittersweet stories so much? I think I like sweet stories, but there's just nothing believable about "happily ever after". A spoonful of medicine helps the sugar go down.
A spoonful of medicine does indeed help the sugar go down, and I happen to occasionally have a great deal of fondness for bittersweet as well. The reminiscing of the song "Romeo and Juliette" (as we've discussed before) is just one of the most beautiful set of lyrics ever written. (The whole song is one of the most beautiful songs ever! I love Cathy Dennis's "Too Many Walls" for exactly the same reason. There is much sadness, but that's not all there is...)
ReplyDeleteI actually liked the airfare one slightly better than the magenta line. (I prefer the fact that I was hearing the line for the first time rather than the second---entirely different context between the two uses of the line notwithstanding.)
You mean the scene when the protagonist has a dancing orgy? I suppose that was meant to convey how much he really loved dancing, but I think earlier parts of the movie already conveyed that without being so explicit (in particular, the 'thou dost protest too much' bit about not liking it).
Happily ever after tends to irk me. Things that are so saccharine that they have a tendency to cause diabetes when one watches/listens to them tend to turn me off. (This is why people that come across as too cheerful just annoy the fuck out of me.)
People who are too cheeful either really annoy me or really impress me, and it takes me a bit to home in on one or the other. Usually, they're just naive/oblivious, in which case it's annoying. On the other hand, sometimes it is actually a testament to their personal strength--if someone can face our world as it is and still keep a cheery, sunny disposition, well then mad props.
ReplyDeleteAs far as "Romeo and Juliet" (not the play, the song), I TOTALLY FUCKING AGREE. That's one of the songs that is indeterminantly either on my short list or short-short list.
"All I do is kiss you, through the bars of a rhyme," has got to be one of the single most awesomelyfullnessest lines evar.
That's a very good point on the personal strength bit, but I have a slight tendency to think it's naiviety until proven otherwise.
ReplyDeleteI'll need to introduce you to "Too Many Walls".