Kim's Thoughts

All weekend, I planned to go to the movies…..but was far too interested in relaxing and being lazy.  The other thing that kept me from being overly motivated was that I had two movies in mind and just couldn’t decide on which one to see.  Both were romantic comedys, both with lead actresses I like, but, neither sounded like they would be more than average……but, still ones I did want to see!  So, today, I finally decided to just go and see them BOTH!!! 

First up was the one I wanted to see the most – Going The Distance.  This one sounded like it would be the best story and maybe a little more than a silly comedy.  It starred Drew Barrymore, who I usually like in movies. 

It was the story of two people who meet in NYC and strike up a casual relationship.  Neither wanted a serious relationship and Erin (Drew Barrymore) was leaving to go back to school in San Francisco in six weeks.  So, they agreed to just hang out and have as much fun as they could in the short time they would have together.  Well, guess what?  They fell in love!!!  So, they try a long distance relationship — Garrett (Justin Long) on the east coast and Erin on the west coast.  Of course, there are ups and downs as they try to make it work. 

The story was enjoyable, the two main characters (and the actors who played them) were so cute together, and Christina Applegate was a lot of fun in her portrayal of Erin’s sister, Corrine.  I loved the interactions between the three of them.  What I wasn’t so crazy about was the extensive sexual innuendo and banter among all the characters – in particular between Garrett and his buddies.  A certain amount of it was typical, but I thought it went a little overboard and got a little sickening after a short time into the movie.

Bottom line:  It was a cute movie and I did enjoy it, but didn’t think it was all that memorable.  I would highly recommend not taking kids (it is rated R, which is definitely appropriate).  I rate it a solid B.

Next up was The Switch – I thought this one might be cute, but wasn’t expecting much.  I figured it might be too silly to be very good, but did think it could be fun.  It stars Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman – both good actors, but don’t tend to choose movies that become big hits.  I find that their movies are generally OK, but that’s usually about it.

However…..I was pleasantly surprised!  Maybe because I went in not expecting much……maybe because they finally found the right roles…….maybe because I was a little disappointed in the first movie, so this one just naturally outshined it………I don’t know, but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it!

The story revolves around Kassie (Aniston) and her neurotic best friend, Wally (Bateman).  Kassie thinks her biological clock is about to wind down, so she decides to find a sperm donor and have a baby.  Wally disapproves.  During a “get pregnant” party, Wally gets super drunk and ends up in the same room as the jar of the donor’s contribution.  He doesn’t remember anything that happened that night, but 7 years later when he meets Kassie’s son for the first time (Kassie moved out-of-state to be closer to her family), it all comes to light!  Apparently, he ended up switching the donor’s sample for his own and Kassie’s son is HIS son! 

The rest of the story is a delightful depiction of Wally getting acquainted with his son and re-acquainted with Kassie.  In the mean time, Kassie decides to introduce her son to the sperm donor she thinks is his father.  The characters take the audience through all the emotions – laughter, tears, joy, sadness – it is heartwarming and heart tugging.  I very much enjoyed the story and connected completely with the characters.  I rate it an A and recommend it for romantic comedy enthusiasts.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable day at the movies.  But, it just goes to show — watching previews and reading synopsis’ don’t always predict how you’ll react to a movie!  I found my enjoyability was just the opposite of what I expected.

I saw the new Julia Roberts movie – Eat Pray Love – a couple of weeks ago on the 14th.  I got side tracked and didn’t write a review the day I saw it and then went out of town for a couple of weeks, so I am a little late getting my thoughts about it on here…….but, you know what they say – Better late than never!  So, here I am with an attempt to make amends and write my review.

Eat Pray Love is the story of real life American writer, Elizabeth Gilbert, and is based on her 2006 memoir.  Gilbert is a 32-year-old writer who is unhappy in her marriage, so she initiates a contested divorce, has an affair with a younger man, and after all that still doesn’t find her the happiness she craves, she takes a year to travel across Italy, India, and Bali to find herself.   She spends 4 months in each location — first, Italy to find pure pleasure in food and eating it;  second, India to find joy through prayer;  and third, to Bali to seek out inner peace, but ends up finding true love in the process.

Watching her journey was a pleasure.  In each 4 month stay, she made friends that helped her find what she was searching for and had adventures that brought her joy and fulfillment.  I personally enjoyed the Italy and Bali segments, but found the India segments to be a little slow and boring.  I think I would like to read the book because the movie gave me just enough of a taste to peak my interest and curiosity, but not enough to convince me that she got everything she was looking for in her year-long quest.

Julia Roberts does her usual charming job portraying her character.  Other characters of note include Richard Jenkins, who plays Richard from Texas, a fellow traveler in India seeking peace from the loss of his family due to (I believe) alcoholism.  Jenkins always impresses me in his roles – he is a natural actor who makes you want to love and believe his characters.  Javier Bardem is Felipe, the hunky Brazilian businessman that Julia finds true love with in Bali.  Bardem is irresistible and lovable in this role.  I was totally taken in by him!  BUT — I was absolutely 100% confident that he was also the guy who played Izzy Stevens’ love interest in Grey’s Anatomy – the one who was a heart patient and died!!!  I was shocked to find out it is NOT him — the Grey’s character was played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, which I knew — this actor is Javier Bardem!  But they look so much alike — I mean, like REALLY so much alike!  When I saw a different name on the cast list for the movie, I had to go searching to find out if I remembered the name of the Grey’s guy wrong or what!!!  I found that others obviously had the same confusion, because I found a comparison photo – here they are with Bardem on the left and Morgan on the right – long-lost twins, for sure:

So — bottom line — I liked this movie.  I felt like they left some important stuff out, but until I read the book, I won’t know what that was.  So, it did leave me wanting more and feeling like I was missing something.  But, that is usually the case with any film that is made from a book — they can’t put it all in a 1.5-2 hour movie……..  It was a typical “newly divorced woman needs to go to some exotic place to find herself” type of story, but it was told well and had some very interesting characters and relationships to help it along.  I rate it a solid B+ and recommend it to anyone who likes these types of stories.

There hasn’t been a lot of movies out this summer that have grabbed me and compelled me to go see them.  Most of the ones that did pique my interest didn’t motivate me enough to put other priorities aside and go to the theater.  And, the ones that I did go to the theater to see have been less than impressive – “The Kids Are All Right” was good, but fell a little flat and “The Other Guys” was a total waste of my time!  So, I decided not to gamble on “Dinner With Schmucks” – which I thought might be a fun movie, but so far, I haven’t heard many rave reviews from those I know who have seen it and I actually over heard someone at the theater yesterday say it was the dumbest movie they had ever seen – not a good sign!

So, I was even a little leery of “Charlie St. Cloud” – it looked like just the type of movie I really enjoy and the previews looked great, but my track record has been so poor, that I just wasn’t sure……..but, I gave in and went to see it today.  As I was getting my ticket, I over heard a group behind me talking about how much they were looking forward to the movie and a couple in their group said they have already seen it and can’t wait to see it again!  Good sign – I was feeling comfortable with my decision!!!

The movie stars Zac Efron – you know, “High School Musical” – in what I believe is his first serious film.  Efron plays the title role, a sailing enthusiast who lives with his little brother and mother in a sleepy little coastal town in the Pacific Northwest.  He is just graduating from high school with a scholarship and dreams for a bright and successful future.  Until tragedy strikes and changes his life forever.  As time goes on, he has to decide whether to honor a promise made to his little brother, Sam, or a chance at love and discovery of why he was given a second chance at life during the horrible accident that took Sam.

The story is touching, warm, and endearing.  Efron does a decent job in his role – not oscar worthy, but not bad.  Charlie Tahan, who plays Sam, was sweet and charismatic.  Amanda Crew is well cast as Tess Carroll, an old school friend of Charlie’s that comes back into his life.  In two smaller, but important parts, are Ray Liotta, as the paramedic who revives Charlie in the accident, and Kim Basinger, as Charlie and Sam’s mother.

The movie was a little slow in spots – they could have either beefed up the story a little or cut it down some.  But it was good.  I felt a part of the character’s lives and would have liked to see the director cut parts of the fluff and add-on to the end to show more of how everything turned out — although, they did have flashes of that during the credits.

I really enjoyed this movie.  I’ll take some points off for the pace, but over all, I rate it a solid A-.  It was a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon and restored my faith in my choice of movies!