Movie Review: Observe and Report

Friday was Ricky's birthday and, being the birthday boy, he got to choose the day's activities. We had a nice dinner out and went to a movie. Now, we haven't seen a movie in the theater in...several years. His work schedule is so crazy that we don't have much of an opportunity to go. But he took Friday off, so we went out to a show. And I almost dropped dead at the FORTY DOLLARS we spent for the movie and some snacks!



Anyway, his choice of movie was Observe and Report, the lastest Seth Rogen offering. I thought this movie would be the typical screwball comedy that one expects from Seth Rogen. I was fine with that; I was kind of in the mood for something silly, and I've always loved Rogen, since his days on the cancelled-too-soon Freaks and Geeks.

What I got was something quite different. Observe and Report is NOT just a screwball comedy. Granted, parts of it did make me laugh hysterically. But the parts of it that are comedy are very DARK comedy. Halfway through, I realized that it was more of a comment on the mentally ill and their place in our society than anything else.

It reminded me of some of my clients. It made me sad that, at least where I practice law, there isn't really a place for the mentally ill in the criminal justice system. Things are too black and white: if someone is competent to proceed, and if they were sane at the time of the offense, they are treated just like any other criminal defendant in the system, even if that's not the most appropriate way to handle their case. This movie did a very good job of pointing out the difficulties of life for those facing mental illness: the difficulties of obtaining (and maintaining) employment, the difficulties of engaging in romantic relationships, the difficulties of simply making it through the day, when you aren't exactly sure what is real and what is in your imagination.

I didn't really like Seth Rogen's character. But I empathized with him and with his plight. He was at times quite violent, but the director did a good job of pointing out that it was his mental illness that caused the violence, along with a failure to understand his place in the world.

I went in for a comedy and got so much more. Go see this movie. It was so much better than I expected it to be. It said so much more than I thought it could. I feel like I'm repeating myself a bit here, but, seriously, see it.

Books to Movies/TV Mini-Challenge

The challenge this hour (these hours?) is to post about books which have been made into TV series or movies, books you WANT to see made into movies or TV series, and TV series and movies you would like to see in book form.

TV or Movie Adaptations I like:

Anne of Green Gables - loved the Kevin Sullivan adaptation, although I watched it BEFORE I read the book, and I remember being crushed about the parts of the mini-series that differed from the book. The second one wasn't as good, since it smushed together several of the sequels into one movie. I hear there's a third, but haven't seen it.

Harry Potter - I haven't seen all of these, but the casting is great, and I think they are as true to the books as they can be in the time allotted to movies.

Lord of the Rings - OF COURSE I love these movies. What more can I say? They were excellently done.

Pride and Prejudice - Ah, Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. Le sigh. And, speaking of Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy...

Bridget Jones' Diary - although I'm not sure I'd pick Renee Zellweger to be Bridget.

Movies/TV series I wish were books:

Was Four Weddings and a Funeral based on a book? If not, I'd like to read it in novel form. LOVE that movie.

What about the new TV series Castle? Based on a thriller writer's need to create a new series, I think this would made great reading.

That's all I can think of for now. Feel free to add your faves in the comments!

End of a Rough Week

This week has been a tough one, work-wise. "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold." You know? It marks only the second time in my life when I've been steamrolled by someone absolutely losing their shit when I undeniably thought they had it all together. It freaks me out. I am about the farthest thing from having everything together. Some days I feel like I'm hanging on by my fingernails, above a bottomless ravine. My house is a wreck, I don't spend enough time with my fiance', I can't get anything accomplished at work, my leisure reading is behind schedule...the list goes on and on. So when someone who is supposedly unshakeable gets shaken, well, what is to become of me?

Went to see The Changeling last night with some friends from work, in order to kind of decompress. Unfortunately, that movie is DEPRESSING and was probably not the best choice for someone who wanted to blow off a little steam. We probably should have gone to see Role Models. The movie was just okay. I don't know what it was about it that I didn't like. The storyline was fine, the acting was fine (for the most part...Jeffrey Donovan's Irish accent made my skin crawl, but the Malkovich more than made up for it). It wasn't as suspenseful as I hoped, I guess, maybe because I'd seen too many commercials which gave away at least PART of the storyline which might better have been kept under wraps. And the ending wasn't very satisfying. I needed a happy ending last night, and it just...wasn't. So we had to go have a couple of beers afterwards, in order to get our happy ending.

The air show is this weekend, which means planes buzzing the house for the foreseeable future. The Dawgs play Kentucky at 12:30. Hopefully, they can shake off the pathetic game against Florida last week, and kick some serious Wildcat ass this week.

Things I Can't Wait For

This.

My sisters coming to visit in a month.

Going to Ohio for Nat's wedding in September.