Druggie movies
Yesterday I saw Half Nelson, a well-acted movie that left me totally depressed.
What I want to know is if this is one of those “Is it me?” kinds of things. Because I just don’t find movies about people with unbeatable drug addictions to be all that uplifting. The other one that’s out right now is Sherry Baby starring Maggie Gyllenhaal–again, really well-acted, terribly dejecting.
I understand the lure for actors. These are meaty roles that really give them a chance to show their skills. These are like Charlize Theron going heavy-weight in Monster–a chance to impress the Academy by playing an unattractive character.
But here’s the thing: I go to one movie a week if I’m lucky. I try to be a discriminating chooser, listening to Ebert and Roeper every week, reading the reviews in Time and my local paper, and I try to pick a winner every time. Some days my choice exceeds my expectations in every way–like with Little Miss Sunshine. Other times I walk out thinking I could have saved myself the money and just stayed home and depressed myself with the Sunday newspaper.
So tell me–is it me?
Technorati Tags: Movies, Films, Half Nelson, Sherry Baby, Monster, Little Miss Sunshine
September 25th, 2006 at 7:30 am
Don’t feel too bad-I went to see Crank on Saturday,mainly because it was as long as the movie my sister wanted to see that I refused to watch(Jackass Number Two). Crank has Jason Straham as a hitman dying from a rare poison who must keep moving to stay alive. Sounds good,right?
Well,one scene has Our Hero lopping off a bad guy’s hand with a cleaver,which doesn’t slow his foe down. Our Hero gets some assistance from his effeminate informant buddy(who uses a rolling pin!) and while the foe is backing Informant Guy into a corner,OH finds the severed hand still holding a gun and uses it to splatter the enemy’s brains over the place! And that’s a mild moment,let me tell you.
Monster was a good film but some flicks,you just have to be in the mood for and I suspect Half Nelson was one of them.
September 25th, 2006 at 7:31 am
It isn’t just you.
I can remember hitting my male friend with a purse (a fully loaded handbag) for dragging us all to see that depressing movie with Nicholas Cage and Elizabeth Shue. Leaving Las Vegas?
I don’t want to watch a movie that makes me question if I’ll ever be happy again. It also ruins my diet because I begin eating comfort food.
September 25th, 2006 at 8:39 am
Oh, my gosh, Lady T–thank you so much for that warning. I do NOT need to see that.
Heather–ha! on the comfort foods!
September 25th, 2006 at 2:02 pm
i’m on record, on this very blog, for my opinion that “leaving las vegas” is a great film. depressing, gut wrenching, put you off booze indefinitely?–you bet, but wow, the acting. i saw it with my then 14 year old son (i know, where’s cps when you need them)–talk about uncomfortable. when i tried to get him to leave, he said, “ma relax, it’s not that i don’t already know all this stuff”–we stayed with my admonition, “the next time she (elizabeth shue) goes down on anybody, we’re outta here.” afterwards we were so wound up we spent a couple of hours over coffee having one of the best parent-child discussions about a myriad of “hard” topics (prostitution, addiction, self-esteem, dispair) ever.
don’t get me wrong i couldn’t take a steady diet of the heavies (have to throw in a “forty year-old virgin” now and again), but i bet if you look back at the movies that have really stayed with you over the years, they’re not the pretty ones.