arthur christmas

aaron and i saw "Arthur Christmas"

a couple of weeks ago

because i wanted to see a movie

and he wanted to see one with a little more action than

George Clooney's new "The Descendants."

Speaking of which, I've yet to see this and need to and if you want to see it as well, THEN LET'S DO IT.

(also on the movie list--"We Bought a Zoo."

Arthur Christmas is adorable.

as it should be,

being the annual Holiday film for its studio

with elves and sleighs and santas galore,

all high-tech and modern and super spies

and all missing/forgetting/losing sight of what Santa Claus is really about.

UNTIL

one child is forgotten on Christmas Eve

and Arthur Christmas

the heart and soul of holiday spirit

makes it his accidental mission with Grampa

(pictured above with the flying teeth)

to save her holiday

and preserve the Santa Claus dream.

the movie is totally cute

interesting

and almost preach-y

but not so much that it would annoy a theatre-goer like myself.

there's a few quiet themes running through the film

one about tradition being paired with modern technology

one about the holidays

one about family and pecking orders

one about tongue-in-cheek women's empowerment

one about aging

and then the ultimate focal point,

the heart and soul that defines a Santa Claus.

It's cute.

and entire-family friendly.

so if you're wanting to see it, SEE IT.

you'll like it.

ides of march

i'm a sucker for all things relevant.

connections, missed connections, coincidences, shared experiences

heck yes, count me in, i'm interested in that!

so when all the hubbub was happening in cincinnati because george clooney was shooting his latest flick here, in an environment i live and work in, i was totally all over that.

and then, when it came out in theatres, i was also, totally, all over that. cincinnati looks GREAT on high-budget film!

seriously, though, "ides of march" was GREAT.

i saw it on a tuesday evening, thinking, "uggghhh, tuesday....i'm not up for a gigantic, thick, heavy, political film." and it started out that way. kind of dreary, exposition-y, laying out the world and the facts.

and then, and i don't know if this is because i'm finally old enough to get into political films or if it's because the movie just so darn compelling, BAM, the film takes off at breakneck speed.

events unfurl. lines get crossed. seemingly small choices become very big and very huge consequences. a young girl gets pregnant, and a political party gets entirely re-organized.

george clooney is impressive, consistent, and cohesive.

ryan gosling is effervescent, likable, witty, and very appropriate for his role.

phillip seymour hoffman is quiet and patient, aged, and perfect.

and paul giamatti is cutting-edge, abrasive AND slick, taut, and busy.

all in all, the movie is purely logistical, practical, chess-like.

which, of course, makes the eventual heartbreaks and betrayals all the more poignant. 

oh my god, blogoworld, i was practically screaming and heaving in my seat.

so tense.

so suspenseful.

sooooo so good.

and so very relevant. look at those george clooney "believe" political campaign posters created for the film.

they look AMAZINGLY FAMILIAR, don't they?

this film is a compact, well-implemented parallel of some producer's ideas about the 2008 obama campaign.

and it's great.

recommendation? absolutely.

go check it out!

Movie Review: The Help

I saw "The Help," awhile ago, and it was meh.

i wanted it to be AWESOME. i'm all about women's empowerment, and this is womens' empowerment in EVERY sense of the word. and it's set in the early sixties. the costumes were to be to die for. and a friend of mine worked on it. i wanted it to ROCK because i was so excited that she got to be in it.

but it was meh.

the acting was pretty good. hands down, viola davis knocks it out of the park. but did you guys see her in the meh-film "Doubt," a couple years back? she has eight minutes of screen time and walks in and out with a mission and purpose, totally steamrolling all of meryl streep's lauded performance (which is always too contrived for me, anyway.)

so, viola davis, amazing.

octavia spencer, duh.

emma stone, not so much. she's good, but she doesn't sparkle. i like my movie star idols to sparkle, and i reallllly missed it from her in this one. she looks like she was toned down, that it was a directing choice. anyway, she's one-dimensional in the movie--she exists only to write this danged book, and not much more. she doesn't even help with any comeuppance or take a stand on her work, her personal experiences, or her relationships. they all just kind of happen. so, forgettable, unfortunately.

jessica chastain was unbelievable. she's got a ton of movies coming out right now, including "The Tree of Life," with Sean Penn and Brad Pitt. She tooooootally deserves it. she's aaaammmaazzziiinngg, with a giant smile and a big, bright heart. So beautiful. So perfect.

dallas bryce howard plays hilly holbrook, a crazy, evil bitch that makes me really want to scrape my eyeballs out and scratch her face off. dallas plays her effortlessly, but, ultimately, there's no matching force to hilly holbrook in the very delicate balance of a film. she's so so so mean and evil, and there isn't anyone who can put her in her place. a couple of characters attempt it (the mom, aibileen,) but it really isn't entirely satisfying or successful to the audience.

we really just need one really good catfight where she gets slapped. it would totally be worth it.

Night 8: The Graduate

The Graduate

Remember when movies were simple and you could sit down to one without being burdened and beat over the head with a huge message about the state of humanity? remember that time?

enter, "The Graduate,"

or, as I'd like to call it "The Most Perfect Movie EVER."

It's perfect. Perfect. A likable hero, down on his luck. Winds up in an interesting situation. Begins to redeem himself through actual connection. Winds up in another unpredictable situation. Falls in love. Loses love. Is so pure of heart he wins love back. Loses the Ultimate love, and then, again, wins her again, against all odds.

It's so beautiful. So simple. So pure.

Of course, I love Dustin Hoffman more than life itself.

He's so dreamy.

And in this, he gives his all without pushing one thing any bit too far. He's present, he's activated, engaged, and interesting.

And his co-stars are pretty amazing too! Mrs. Robinson, purrrfectly seductive and sexy. Never missteps. These women are not alive today. This whole era, this frame of mind, doesn't even exist. Is there a modern Mrs. Robinson? An adult woman who can use her womanhood to get exactly what she wants in the way she does? I don't think so, not like this. This woman is dangerous!

And think about Benjamin! He promises NOT to take Elaine out, and when his parents call his bluff, he takes her TO A STRIP CLUB!! I was mortified in this scene, it was humiliating! There he is, sabotaging this date, and Elaine just stands there, crying, shocked, no idea what this is all about. The stripper comes over, swinging her tassels, and Elaine, so pure, so sweet, just stands there, mortified. Ben grabs her and takes her out. And she's crying and crying, so he kisses her!

Then, they're perfect. Ben comes clean about his behavior, and they really do get along right away. Elaine is so sweet, too. Charming, lively, smart, holds her own. I love watching this young actress on screen.

And at the end, I'm just so happy having watched it all. Ben remains honest throughout the entire movie--he never denies what he has done/is doing, and he always treats the other characters with honesty and respect. Of course, this causes problems, but if it didn't, well, we wouldn't have a movie, would we? :)

The Graduate. The Most Perfect Movie Ever Made.

Day 7: I Love You, Phillip Morris

I Love You, Phillip Morris

Ohh, here we go.

This movie would've been funnier without Jim Carrey in it. He surprises me--he's a good actor. But what's his deal? Or, better yet, why is he still doing it? I want some growth in his comedy, some growth in his humor. And here, it's not.

So I watch it, thinking, ooohhh uuuggghhh Jimmmm Caarrreeeyy (who I usually love,), and then, later on in the film, he pulls out some pretty good moments, and I think, JIM CARREY YOU'RE DRIVING ME NUTS. I want him to always be good, and I want his comedy to grow up.

And then, there's a couple of moments where the cameras focus on certain aspects of Texas life, Texas stereotypes, that I don't appreciate.

Maybe it's just me, but they're not funny, and if you're not from Texas, you won't even notice them.

Ewan McGregor's in it, and he's amazing, making me want to immediately rent and watch every Ewan McGregor movie ever made.

Isn't it funny how it doesn't take much to be an amazing actor? It doesn't. Just do your job, be honest, don't lie to your audience, and you'll immediately be amazing. Do it. Do it!

I can understand why this movie was made. It's cute. It's funny. It's interesting. I watched it all the way through. But it doesn't do justice to what is actually going on in the story. Jim Carrey is abusive, manipulative, a big fat liar, and does a LOT of illegal stuff, all the time. But don't worry, it's okay because he's gay. His ends justify his means, which is not okay. So, we watch it, but it's a little far-fetched for reality. A little too stereotyped, a little too meh.

Day 6: The Departed

Day 6: The Departed

You've seen it, right?

Everyone has.

Except me, obviously.

And now, I have!

I'm gonna have to say, the movie is GREAT.

It's well written, it's well acted (hello Leo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, Matt Damon, etc.) and the story has all the elements that tickle audiences everywhere: there's endless parallels, appropriate twists, excellent mirroring, nice action, tongue in cheek events, and a story worth following.

Wahlberg and Leo are both mice in a larger cat-and-mouse game. Because they're both small nobodies, the fact that they've been implemented from opposing organizations as rats for the other is hilarious. I watch it waiting for the explosions, waiting for the fireworks. Boy, oh boy, do they deliver.

Mark Wahlberg got nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role here. I'm glad he didn't win--he's very good, but it's not a Best Supporting Actor role. He's obviously having the most fun with his role, though. He's seamless, he's abrupt, he's brusque, blunt, bold, and so so macho.

He's one-dimensional. But it's awesome. He's not supposed to be very rounded out. It's great! :)

The movie is good. It's pretty great. It didn't change my life or anything, but I watched it in the middle of the day on Sunday (even though it's my Saturday movie.) :)

It's great!

Day 5B: The Worst Movie Ever

Bride Wars

I watched thirty minutes of this movie while making dinner last night.

Judge me if you will, I probably deserve it for not changing the channel.

Know when you see a car accident, and you can't look away? Hello, Bride Wars.

Anne Hathaway, choose movies that you don't have to work so hard in.

Goldie's daughter, please grow up if you're going to be an actress. You're pretty good! Be pretty good in better things.

Whoever is playing the fiances' in this movie, it's obvious they are unknown for a reason.

THIS MOVIE IS A PIECE OF CRAP.

I don't like anyone in it. If, in thirty minutes, I don't care about you or your wedding or all the crap you are throwing on your best friend, then I don't like you at all. Your wedding is no reason for you to be a bitch. Get over it.

PLEASE NEVER EVER WATCH THIS MOVIE.

It's soooooo bad.

Day 5: The Reader

The Reader

There's very little I need to say about "The Reader," other than I spent the last half hour bawling my eyes out during it.

I can't believe this movie got so much kick back, so much derision! This movie is amazing! I will agree that it's a quiet, underlying message that isn't fully fleshed--ANYTHING dealing with the Holocaust is going to carry weight, and this one has the Holocaust and Auschwitz lurking nearby in its shadows.

But there is no way that anyone can create a solid argument that this movie is about the Holocaust.

It's not.

Let's take a look at what happens. There's a young-ish German woman, living alone. She cannot read. She is illiterate, and if truth be told, she's relatively stupid. She creates a life out of working, out of living, out of doing what she is told.

Enter into her life a young boy, ill. She helps him, takes him home, and three months later, cured, he returns to thank her.

She is alone. He is curious. And he catches a glimpse of her in all her nekkkkkid post WWII glory. An affair begins.

It's fun! It lasts for a summer, and throughout it, she repeatedly asks him again and again and again to read to her. He does. They begin to fall in love. Oh, such problems! Kate Winslet's Hanna knows she should not be the focus of attention in a young boy's life; he has to grow up, hasn't he?

So she leaves. She takes a new job, and disappears.

Years go by.

The young boy is now in law school, and turns up with his class at some post WWII trials where guards at Auschwitz are being tried.

And here...his heart breaks.

His Hanna, his love, the great love of his young life, is on trial. She hasn't changed much. She is still simple, still solemn, still purposeful. Despite the aftermath of revelation that comes with EVERYTHING DEALING WITH THE HOLOCAUST, Hanna has seemingly remained naive about the realities regarding the Holocaust. Whereas her fellow mates on trial deny and redirect the accusations against them, Hanna answers questions about her action, and the actions of all, very simply.

This, of course, gets her in trouble. She is accused of being in charge, leading the others to the horrible atrocities of WWII.

She denies it. The court calls for a sample of her handwriting, and immediately, shamefully, she admits to their accusations, falsely. Her young lover, the young man watching the trials from above, begins to sob. He knows Hanna is innocent, knows she is entirely illiterate, incapable even of making a legible mark regarding her own name. And here, not out of horror or humiliation of her actions, but out of shame, in her own simple way, shame of being illiterate, she prefers to serve the rest of her life in prison than own up to her lack of education.

He keeps her secret.

And I begin to bawl!

Kate Winslet is Hanna. Gorgeous, passionate, quiet, and full of such incredible depth. I am always and forever floored by her grace and by her glamour. An amazing actress. She hits the mark, continuously throughout the film, acting, reacting, questioning, deciding her way throughout the story. In her love affair, she is vulnerable and troubled, delighted, and alive, for perhaps the first time, in the life of a simple German Woman. On trial, she is dim, unaware, deeply disturbed, and quietly aware of the depth of her actions. She has not learned anything she did not already know throughout her life, but she is a good woman, very aware, and very repentent.

Her repentance is not what causes her to confess her crimes. It was her job, she says, should she have not signed up at Siemens?

Winslet is most amazing when she is listening to the events around her, a good marker of a fantastic actress. She reveals such emotion, and is undeniably incredible when her atmosphere affects her.

David Kross, Kate Winslet's young affair, Michael, is absolutely stunning. He imbues a quiet, European sensibility, a long-suffering, passionate eternal love, a puzzling patience for life to reveal its meaning to him. He knows Hanna's heart, he knows her mode of activity, her compass, and now, he must reconcile what he knows of this woman, and what she has done. He must make sense of it. His journey, his understanding, is stunning.

The filming of the movie is breathtaking. Romantic, purposeful, meaningful.

Again, spoken in the present about the past, Ralph Fiennes is the leader in delivering the message of the past informing the present. He continuously struggles with the changing times, continuously looking to make sense of them, for himself, and for Hanna.

Repeatedly, this film smacks of a message few have commented on: Silence has Consequences. Watch the movie, apply that to every level of storytelling, and see what you find.

My Wishlist

if only, if only!

i've an excellent idea to begin making a movie soon.

as in, as soon as i get a laptop.

and then, as soon as i get a camera.

so soon, so soon!

Day 4: Million Dollar Baby

Million Dollar Baby

There comes a point in every person's life when they must finally, finally, serendipitously find themselves in front of a tv wondering why the hell Hilary Swank won an Oscar for "Million Dollar Baby."

For me, that night was tonight.

Don't get me wrong. THE SCRIPT IS PRETTY DARN GOOD.

Not earth-shattering. Not "Fight Club." Not "Stranger than Fiction." But pretty darn good, especially when you think that it's a mega-million dollar film front run by a GIANT studio. But, seriously? This was not a million-dollar role. Swank has MUCH better roles (obvs "Boys Don't Cry' and even freaking "P.S. I Love You!") but hey, Hollywood's got a lotta politics, right?

I mean, come on. We see everyone, i.e. Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman, quietly fall in love with a girl who steals their hearts with her spunkiness. She's got guts, she's got heart. Clint Eastwood especially loves her-- he's currently estranged from his real daughter. The fit is natural. Morgan Freeman is a man on the sidelines, a simple man with uncanny Freeman advice, dispensed appropriately when is necessary. We love them all. Even Clint Eastwood, who, if you haven't grown up with him, can sometimes be hard to digest, is pretty great. Good people. Good hearts. Good aspirations.

And things go swimmingly! Hilary Swank's Maggie is an ace fighter. She routinely KO's in the beginning of her first round, moving up and up and up in ranks. Eastwood comes around, having a character change of heart, taking a risk, and puts her in a title match with the current champion, a dirty ex-prostitute of a fighter who knowingly fights dirty in the ring.

She basically kills Maggie. She fights her dirty. Maggie gets all busted up, comes right back, pummels the crap out of dirty-bitch-german-prostitute, and then DBGP comes right back in a time-out and smacks Hillary Swank's Maggie across her head when she's not looking. And as so often happens serendipitously in movies, something BAD happens.

Maggie falls over, knocks her temple on a stool, and is g-o-n-e.

The rest of the movie is spent watching her decay in a hospital bed, a vegetable, now that her spinal column is detached, breathing through her throat because of a tracheotomy, getting bed sores and ulcers and ultimately amputated, and finally, begging, BEGGING Clint Eastwood to kill her so that she can keep her hard-earned respect and dignity.

He does. And before he does, Eastwood, who has been quietly studying Gaelic this entire film, finally fills Maggie in on a little secret: her nickname in the ring, the one all her fans chant and scream, the name Eastwood gave her while pretending not to know what it meant, means "my darling, my blood."

She dies happily, peacefully, lovingly.

And that's what's very, very good about the movie.

The voice over narrating the whole thing is of course Morgan Freeman, and by the end of the film, we realize he's writing a letter to Clint Eastwood's real daughter, the one that never responds to the years and years and years of letters Eastwood has sent her. "I thought someone should tell you about the man your father really was," Freeman says, and we are happy with that conclusion. It's important, it's meaningful, it's relevant, and it really, really sums up nicely the forty minutes of trauma we just watched everyone endure.

So that's all good. :)

But not Oscar-worthy performance good, for Swank. I mean, seriously, take a look at who she was up against that year: "VERA DRAKE," "ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND," AND "MARIA FULL OF GRACE."

And Swank gets it for gaining 19 lbs of muscle and having gut-wrenching prosthetics and make-up applied every day? she wins with this? come on.

Swank should be better than that. She is MUCH better than the roles I've recently seen her in; this one, and "Conviction." She can, and SHOULD, do much, much more with her ability.

The story is pretty cute. Day players make a few good appearances, Danger, a mentally handicapped kid gives us all a huge dose of heart right in the midst of any situation, giving the Hit Pit a charming, quirky attitude. A couple of the fighters play pretty good assholes, and the big German Ex-Prostitute Bitch is TERRIFYING. OH, and Swank's family; as she says quite accurately, "lazy-ass hillbillies." They're good. They're awful, and they make me really, really, really hate them and their selfish habits.

So. Million Dollar Baby.

A mis-directed Oscar, but hey, I guess it was alright.

Night 3: Vicky Christina Barcelona

Took a new turn on my movie marathon-ing last night, meaning, not dark and brooding? :P

Ended the night with Woody Allen's "Vicky Christina Barcelona."

This title makes most sense if you think of it like this:

Vicky. Christina. Barcelona.

(the adventure of it becomes implied, at this point.)

Here's the thing about Woody Allen films.......ummmmm....duh, i love the

m. And this? Well, no exception, but maybe a little bit of one.

The BEST part of the film, like all good films (good meaning, makes sense and doesn't drive me crazy,) comes at the end. Our resolution. The movie begins by comparing two friends together. Vicky, who knows exactly what she wants out of love, and Christina, who

does not know, but knows what she does not want.

By the end of the film--surprise surprise! We reach a magical conclusion. Vicky now knows exactly what she does NOT want out of love (that which she actually has,) and Christina knows what she does not want. Turns out, they're different viewpoints now equal the same thing.

Now if that isn't a nice bow to put on top of a package, I don't know what is.

What a simply complicated film. I mean that quite literally, "simply," "complicated."

Vicky is engaged.

Christina goes after Antonio.

Antonio is divorced.

Christina gets sick.

Vicky makes love with Antonio.

Antonio focuses on Christina.

Antonio's ex-wife comes back.

Vicky marries her fiance.

Antonio, Christina, and Penelope Cruz have a happy, productive relationship.

Christina leaves.

Penelope Cruz leaves.

Antonio and Vicky kiss.

and Penelope Cruz comes back and tries to kill them.

WOW.

VERY COMPLICATED.

So why does it work?

It works because nobody beats around the bush about what's going on. Did I mention this movie is set in Spain? Did I mention that means the normal rules and laws about attraction are different? They are. Very much so. Antonio (Javier Bardem) is unbelievably sexy in this movie; opening, surrendering, and vocalizing all of his desires. This leads him to make good choices, keep his women comfortable and informed, and allows them to make their own respective good choices, however unconventional they may be.

Each character compliments and completes another one in a very wonderfu

lly circular way; the only character we really experience as having a present struggle is Vicky who just married a man she doesn't really love (being responsible, being steady.) The rest are just who they are, which is complicated enough.

i like what this reviewer has to say about the film, giving more texture and subtext to surface events i describe above: ,

“Vicky Cristina Barcelona” is a rueful comedy about two young American women who, during a summertime European idyll, savor many of the Continental delicacies that such travelers often take pleasure in: art, music, culture, yes, but also strange bodies and unexpected dreams. These bodies and dreams open possibilities for the women, intimating freer, somehow different lives, despite the persistent tugging of a voice that hovers at the edge of this story trying to pull it and its characters down to earth, where desire can

fade quickly."

Christina confuses love and pain, looks constantly for passion, is shy about her art, and ready to throw herself to the wind in an attempt to find herself.

Antonio is spanish, loves Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz) tirelessly, and recognizes that they just are not compatible at all.

Maria Elena is a hellcat of a woman, with every bit of fire and spice that any woman worth her salt has. She is amazing. This movie works because Penelope Cruz, a hellcat of a woman, allows

Maria Elena to live up to her reputation. The other characte

rs speak of Maria Elena as being gorgeous, talented, spirited, the most amazing woman, and she is. She truly is. Cruz leaves no hesitation, no question about right or wrong, no reason for us to doubt how truly free-spirited and bold this woman is. She is perfect.

this is also a perfect note about the film, the reviewer, who just finishes saying that Bardem and Cruz, who could have been stuck in Spanish stereotypes, easily break past them by infusing their characters with very real will and heart. He continues with thoughts I agree with on Vicky and Christina:

"Maria Elena and Juan Antonio give the film such a twinned jolt of energy that you may wish it would head off into Almodóvar country, but that wouldn’t be true to Mr. Allen, for whom desire remains an agony. Still, he’s enough of an entertainer to give the audience its pleasures, which partly accounts for Ms. Johansson. She isn’t much of an actress, but it doesn’t terribly matter in his films: She gives him succulent youth, and he cushions her with enough laughs to distract you from her lack of skill. The appealing Ms. Hall, whose jaw line and brittle delivery evokeKatharine Hepburn, furnishes an actual performance, one that, tinged with sadness, makes evident that this is as much a tragedy as a comedy."

And so the characters live their lives, a summer in Spain, lives which are complicated, messy, but not hard to follow. The movie is beautiful, Bardem gives a solid grounding with a very present masculine energy amidst such tripled, VERY DIVERSE feminine energy, and the live-live-now-old time-romanticism of Spain is captured easily and picturesquely.

Second favorite moment of the film: In the climax of the film, Bardem is caught in the midst of two hysterical women; Maria Elena, is Spanish, holds a gun and fires wildly, exclaiming that she can't live this life, this isn't the life she wants! Vicky, having just been shot and emotions firing wildly about Antonio, breaks out, in English, "i can't live this life! this isn't the life i want!" The audience, struck by the amazing similarity these women suddenly have to each other, are suddenly aware of an earlier comment Antonio made to Maria Elena, that his American Tourist was the exact antithesis of herself. Here, we see the glue that holds all the characters together--they're whole, as four, that fill in the gaps and crevices from one to the next. They're beautiful.

The only minor discredit I give the film is the Voice Over, the narration, which is attached to no character at all. It's young, it's very modern, and it's very American. I didn't think it fit well with the entire environment of the film. Meh. Who knows. What's your take on it?

is butter a carb?

Night 1: What's Eating Gilbert Grape?

What's Eating Gilbert Grape?

I'm just so happy to see a movie where nothing is too hard! The acting, the story, the shots--everything about this film was simple and easy. It certainly worked to the film's advantage, too. Everything in this movie can only best be handled and dealt with a no-nonsense sensibility, a quiet charm and understanding for the way the world works.

"What's Eating Gilbert Grape?"
Nobody ever actually asks that question, and only a few people come close to wondering it. In fact, it is our privilege to even know something is new and different for Gilbert Grape, entirely. He exists in a very responsible life, a life where Gilbert Grape, is responsible for his entire family. Not uncommon. Yes. But no. Gilbert Grape has two sisters, a mentally handicapped brother, and a fat mom. Oh, but oh, does he take it all in stride, a trait that without a doubt, rules the very decisions Gilbert makes in his day to day life. Johnny Depp, as Gilbert, picks up on that easily and quickly. Gilbert is practical, pragmatic. Selfishness leads to harming the ones he loves, and he exists only to enable them to their highest, best selves.


But the experience, the experience! What are my lasting impressions of the film? Well, my movie fans (aka perhaps only Justin Osborne,) I've gotta say that I LOVED Juliette Lewis as Becky, the wandering, waifish love interest of Gilbert Grape. Holy crap, she was weird, and GOOD. Innocent. In fact, innocence is a word running rampant through this movie. In a place and time and setting and situation were desolation and desperation should run wild, it doesn't. Johnny Depp's Gilbert should be destroying everything in his path, and he doesn't. He helps. He cares. He changes lives. His brother, Arnie, played unimaginably well by Leonard di Caprio--innocent. The sisters, innocence. The mother--innocent.

This all-encompassing "innocence" I'm bestowing here, well, it's actually saying a lot. All the Grape children are sunk deep into the family history--their father hung himself in the basement. If this didn't give them a reputation immediately in a small town, the fact that the youngest bro, Arnie, is probably the town's only mentally handicapped person with a penchant for climbing a very public water tower, and the mom has gained upwards of three to four hundred pounds since her husband's death (making her, of course, the town's only morbidly obese person), does. The Gilbert's have a reputation in they're hometown they don't understand. They're messed up, washed out, poor, dirty, indecent.

And obviously, they're not.

The Gilberts are united. They stand strong, fight strong, care strong. Every child cares and watches the mom. The mom respects and honors them for doing so. The household is strained because the situation is strained, NOT because we're watching a family of desolate creatures. They're wonderful, they're amazing, they're innocent. They stand quietly in place of their lives, watching it stretch before them the way it must. Gilbert must always go on baby-sitting Arnie and bathing him, must always work full-time to support the family. The girls must always make the food, plan the events, entertain the mother. Arnie will always go on being Arnie, perpetually young, hugely irreverent. In this way, the family forges a life for themselves.

Until things change, of course.. We, as the privileged audience, watch and sit and listen and care for the various members of this family in their day to day lives. We see a girl come into Gilbert's life, and we see him responsibly let her go. We see friends come in and out of their lives, and we see them all carry the burden of their mother's depression with them.

Here's what I'm trying to say: The Gilberts are ALL burdened by their mother's depression. Years ago, she lost it. She cried, she wailed, she ate a lot of food. And now, in the aftermath, her children are dealing with the consequences. This does a LOT to a mother's psyche. Her children every day are cleaning and working and baby-sitting, while she sits on a couch and watches tv and sends along "growing up" advice. They carry the secrets too. The children know the house is caving where their mother sits all day. The children know their mom is the town freak, and work tirelessly to protect her. They are working double duty, over time, all the time, for her.

and she loves them.

So she dies. She begins to trust the strength of her family, something she found shattered years ago when her husband hung himself. Gilbert has reached out and found a love, reached out and hurt Arnie, and made amends the way he should on all accounts. The girls need lives for themselves, lives away from her, and they tend and obey and love in every way that they should. And Arnie? He's always Arnie, and he's always her sunshine. She walks up to her bedroom, and she dies.

With this, the Grape children reach freedom. From years and years of tireless piecing things together, making things work, they've suddenly become the most capable people in their hometown, opportunity stretching out in every direction. They're quiet. They're simple. They're innocent. They pick up they're innocence, and take it with them.

Leonardo diCaprio AMAZES in this movie. Without a doubt, his performances will be reviewed in the coming years and he will have a LIFETIME of achievement and excellent acting behind him.

Johnny Depp is understated and powerful. I like seeing him do so little in his film, I like seeing him so fresh and young.

Crispin Glover, John C. Reilly, and Mary Steenburgen make excellent cameos, bringing some really great texture into the film. And boy, oh boy is this movie gritty.

Grape?
Grapes of Wrath?
Not a coincidence.