‘Tis the season of staying in by the fire and watching movies to recover from piles of blue books. And since John Frame has written a steady stream of movie reviews (which I found recently while gearing up for some e-sparring), I figure I might as well weigh in with my own (all about me) holiday recommendations. I should add that Frame’s application of w— v— to movies hardly does justice to the creativity of character development, narrative, cinematography, and editing. Chalk up another demerit to neo-Calvinism.
The better half and I recently saw two contemporary films, with lots of British ingenuity, that are remarkably pro-family even without ever bringing up God. One is the Hart family yuletide favorite, “About A Boy,” starring Hugh Grant at his comedic best, in the role of a single wealthy man in London who discovers that love and marriage is more fitting to human existence than living alone and being self-absorbed.
The other film, a surprisingly funny and poignant treat in a very understated manner, is “The Trip.” It follows two British actors — Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, as they drive, flirt, and eat their way through the beautiful Lake District. A bonus is the actors’ rival impersonations of Sean Connery, Michael Cain, and even Woody Allen, over dinner. Again, the implicit message is that single life (Steve Coogan) has few of the benefits of marriage and family (Rob Brydon). The film’s finale is even moving.
Neither movie is going to win any skirmishes in the culture wars — in fact, I bet Focus on the Family would mark these films down for lots of sexual themes, foul language, and familial dysfunction. Still, if you want some reassurance that sanity still speaks in the wider culture of celebrity and mass entertainment, you could do worse than to rent “About A Boy” and “The Trip.”
Old Life 
And when you’re done with those you could try “The Ref” (Denis Leary, Judy Davis and Kevin Spacey). Also not family values friendly for the same reasons, but that may be the mark of better things.
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Zrim, isn’t Spacey light in the loafers?
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Zrim, that is a fantastic movie. Maybe it’s just me, but a dysfunctional family depicted on film is often more satisfying than a movie-perfect one; it strikes me as more honest.
Dgh, I don’t know if you are a fan of Akira Kurosawa, but I am, and in fact just watched Rashomon last night. It depicts a far more accurate, if dark and unsettling, view of human nature than one is likely to find on the big screen these days, yet with an hopeful ending. Have you ever watched his films, and if so, any opinion?
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Darryl, he may own cats, I don’t know. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Carter, agreed, there’s just something more Calvinistic about it all. So was it weird of me as an 80s teenager to have thoroughly enjoyed “Ordinary People” over Xmas break?
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I am really appreciating your Movie reviews.
My other half and I watch “Family Man,” with Nick Cage sometime during the season. It is a highly enjoyable movie. It’s endearing, funny without being corny, a great ending, all without the sap.
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Ginger, several years ago I would have readily put “Family Man” on my yuletide list. It’s still there, but down a few pegs.
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Carter, color me provincial, but I’ve never been awed by Asian movies.
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Dgh, nobody is perfect I guess.
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Hey DGH, you’re right on about The Trip (although it wasn’t shown in the UK as a film but as a 6 episode series). The Richard Gere impersonation was the high point.
BTW, if you liked The Trip you’d love Steve Coogan’s series, I’m Alan Partridge. Well worth the investment.
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Ah, Alan Partridge. A couple of my favourite I’m Alan Partridge scenes;
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I read with immediate interest that Dr. Hart describes the Lake District, featured in The Trip, as “beautiful”. Even in winter the county of Cumbria (in which the Lake District is found) has a beauty which is unique and few places parallel it for showing how size is not everything; Cumbria is not big but within it’s area there are dales, becks, valleys, moors, fells, and a coastline which have a charm not found elsewhere in this small island of Britain.
The film The Trip, for any merits it have, falls into the usual trap of showing the Cumbrian places I call the play grounds of those with a certain high income – the fine food places and some scenery known to most tourists. Far better, folks should get to the places where the farmers and locals live and work, raising fine livestock like the Herdwick and salt marsh lamb; even Prince Charles occasionally visits and stays with a sheep farmer in Borrowdale to get away from the madness of metropolitan life. For food in the Lake District, forget the artsy restaurants and head for a decent chippy and a mug of tea best enjoyed after a slog up a fell, and then find and sample the truly local fayre of Rum NIcky, Grasmere Gingerbread, Kendal mint cake, and home made crumpets at Woodlands Tea Room.
In the beautiful coast line of Cumberland (Cumbria’s old west side county name) you will sense the Norse influence and see it on the Gosforth Cross, and remember the slightly sinister Tom Fool (the original jokerman?) of Muncaster Castle who could help or deceive travellers passing through according to his whims. So, films like The Trip will hopefully spur folks here and from further afield to see that there is a far, far more to to England than London or Edinburgh in Scotland.
Finally, may I chip in how much OL has been great in 2011 – here’s to 2012 and hopefully OL will be as interesting as ever in the next year.
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