More Fun Than Food Poisoning

Okay, Oscar, I get it... I should have seen these films when you said they were worth watching. Maybe if I had, I would've been more inclined to join the others in favoring it.

In the past week, I sat down to watch Rachel Getting Married and a few days later to watch Revolutionary Road. Aside from the general sense that I should no longer be living, they were great movies.


Considering I spent four hours of my past week, right on the edge of despair, I don't know that I can muster up enough concentration and emotion to give a decent review on each. So I'll keep it simple.

Rachel Getting Married -- Anne Hathaway deserved every bit of recognition for her portrayal of a recovering drug addict trying to make amends with her family during an emotional weekend of nuptials.

Verite style cameras really helped capture to immediate emotions that pushed this story along. Any second, I expected Anne Hathaway's skin to come apart. Aside from the heartbreaking jaunts down the most miserable memory lane ever written, and the quirky wedding guests that seemed to crawl out of the fictional woodwork, it was a lovely ceremony.

Revolutionary Road-- Richard Yate's epic novel was one of my favorite's in college. How it came to warrant a screen debut, I don't know, I'm still perplexed. One of the greatest challenges of translating a novel to a film is being able to incorporate all of the back story and subtle details that filled the pages and outlined the characters in the book.

Add a dash of two renowned actors, it still doesn't help fill in the gaps of sour American Dream heartache that the book held. I thought surely Sam Mendes would add a little pizazz to this piece, but I came away with absolutely nothing. Like the book, the movie is straight forward and unbelievably honest. It still holds true to the end, with a no resolution and zero pay off. If I had cared more about the onscreen characters, maybe I would've raised more of a fuss when the picture abruptly faded to black. Honestly, I was just glad it was over.

I still have one more Oscar pick to view... The Wrestler. If the credits roll and I still want to jump out of the window, I think I'm going back to involving myself in straightforward 90's romcom's for the rest of my days.