Two Movies 

Two Movies

My wife rented The Upside of Anger. A chick flick, of course, but really quite good. I join the ranks of admirers of Joan Allen. She always seems to be listening to some inner voice, yet she gives quite a bit to the people around her. She makes you want to follow and see where she goes. Kevin Costner is surprisingly good.

I rented Bottle Rocket. For some reason both my wife and my son were convinced they wouldn't like it, so I watched it alone. I was inspired by the piece in Slate on Wes Anderson--the kind of thing they do so well. The basic idea is that Anderson was at his best when Owen Wilson was his co-writer. Exhibit A for the problems with Anderson on his own is supposed to be the recent The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou starring Bill Murray.

Bottle Rocket is a nice, indy-type movie. Partly these guys are trying to show that much of the human race isn't brilliant in any way. How do you tell the story of non-brilliant people and their genuine successes? People are struggling with this all the time in modern democracy. One joke about David Adams Richards is that he makes inarticulate people extremely articulate. I guess this is even a big part of Tarentino. Arguing about some aspect of pop culture or etiquette--like whether to tip, or how much. Also like the conversation in Cheers.

I guess I'm often more drawn to the humour of someone who is fairly bright and articulate, albeit damaged, in a world that is crazy as well as inarticulate. Frazier and Lilith on Cheers, even Diane, more than Norm and Cliff. Fawlty Towers, I think Father Ted. This is meaner in a way: how did I get stuck with all these clods? But there is still the underlying theme that we are all damaged in some way, we all deal with the same issues.