Movie Recommendation: Win Win

Eric and I snagged Win Win from a Redbox recently, and I can happily suggest it as a beautifully crafted story with well written characters, perfect pacing and a thoughtful conclusion. (Also, it stars Paul Giamatti, one of those actors who comes with a neon light above his head blinking "See this film! I'm in it, so it's probably good!")

Win Win tells the story of Mike, a lawyer specializing in elder care law with a practice that is slowly and painfully sinking into the red. In desperation, he unethically takes on wealthy client Leo's guardianship so he can collect an extra $1500 commission each month.

This one act of dubious morality sets in motion a series of events that leads Leo's troubled grandson Kyle to stay with Mike and his family. Kyle is headstrong teenager who has run away from a mother struggling through a drug treatment program. He is sixteen but has peroxided blonde hair, bold tattoos etched across his back and a serious cigarette habit. Though he is respectful and appreciative to Mike and his family, it's clear that he will do exactly as he pleases.

Mike spends his free time volunteering as a high school wrestling coach. Their team is limp and uninspired, just like everything else in Mike's life, so when Kyle shows an interest in training with the team, Mike doesn't expect much. It quickly becomes clear that Kyle is a very talented, powerful wrestler. Suddenly Mike (and his fellow coaches) have something to be excited about.

Watching this kid dominate all comers makes these grown men feel powerful by proxy. It's a moment where every single one of the characters need the encouragement. Mike is broke and tired out by middle age and the monotony of his life. Co-coach Stephen just needs an escape from his wife and rude teen aged step-son. Mike's best friend Terry needs something to obsess about besides his ex-wife's affair with the contractor of the massive dream home he's just lost in their divorce. And Kyle needs a second chance and redemption in the aftermath of his mother's addiction and his own sketchy past.

This film did all the things I enjoy most in movies. It told a story that felt believable by showing me finely drawn characters and the way their motivations and personalities tangled their lives together to move the plot forward. Nothing felt rushed or wasted and there were great performances from even the supporting characters.

Have you watched anything great lately?

Movie Recommendation: Friends with Money

Eric and I saw Friends with Money when it first came out in 2006. (We still lived in Chicago back then!) I remember being cruelly disappointed by the ending in the theater, and I decided to watch it again to decide for sure.

Nicole Holofcener, the writer/director, makes wonderful movies about women who have everything, yet still feel vaguely dissatisfied. Her characters are subtle, funny, touching, real and a little pathetic. Her films, which also include Walking & Talking, Lovely and Amazing
and Please Give, don't offer much in the way of plot- but they do offer touching insight into the lives of modern American women.

Friends With Money interweaves the lives of four friends. Three are wealthy and successful, one is a burnt out ex-teacher, and all are struggling through the long march of middle age and the private misery they have created for themselves.

Christine (Catherine Keener) is a screenwriter and one half of a husband and wife writing team. As they read through the dialog of their latest endeavor, we see that they have given up even a facade of civility in their marriage and working relationship. Instead, they are distracting themselves by building a giant addition to the roof of their home that will give them an ocean view- never mind about the neighbors.

Jane (Francis McDormand) is a successful fashion designer whose husband everyone assumes to be gay. That he runs a hair care company and loves shopping for cashmere at sample sales isn't helping matters. Jane is seething with a midlife crisis in full swing and is filled with rage at the smallest slights. She comes unglued when another mom fails to acknowledge a play date their sons had and flies off the handle in a very memorable scene at Old Navy.

Franny (Joan Cusak) is a multi-millionaire who spends her days home making (with the benefit of a full time staff) gossiping about her friends and attending fancy charitable events. Her husband seems to enjoy being a kept man and relishes spending her money on their kids.

Olivia (Jennifer Aniston) is the only one without means. She recently quit her job at a fancy private high school where the students drove nicer cars than she did and has resorted to cleaning houses, smoking lots of pot, stalking a married ex-boyfriend and wallowing in entitled and destructive self pity.

So lets just say, they each have their issues.

The part of this film that stuck with me across all these years is Jane, who, in her frustration at being undeniably middle aged at last, has given up washing her hair. She tells her husband, "Remember when we first met? All the shampoo I had? I was obsessed! It was like each bottle was a new chance... A new chance to be pretty. And then I met you, and I found out they all have the same sh*t in 'em."

To me, that is the heart of the whole film. Everyone has the same sh*t to deal with; themselves. Our culture makes it easy to put off. You can distract yourself with consuming for an entire lifetime. But the longer you put it off, the harder it gets to avoid the heart of the matter (you are going to die!) and the more disgusted with yourself you become.

Each of these women is circling around that problem. And so the ending comes without a perfect resolution. Interestingly, the conclusion for Olivia bothered me much less now that I am five years older. This time around I knew that her character getting rich wasn't meant to be a happy ending.

John Lennon said "Everyone knows that money doesn't buy happiness, but everyone wants to find out for themselves." I am sure Olivia got a chance to learn that lesson herself.

Do you have a favorite writer or director whose movies always seem to speak to you? (Another of my favorites is John Patrick Shanley.) What is it about their world view that appeals to you?

Moonstruck: Love is Messy

Have you seen Moonstruck? It's definitely in my top ten. This movie is often campy and sometimes profound, just like another favorite of mine, also written by John Patrick Shanley, called Joe Versus the Volcano. What both stories have in common are heroes who decide to stop playing it safe with their lives. Instead, they decide to really live and feel the pain and joy that decision brings. I found tears streaming down my cheeks as Johnny tells Loretta this:


"I want you in my bed. I don't care if I burn in hell. I don't care if you burn in hell. The past, the future are a joke to me now. They ain't here. I see that now. Loretta, I love you. Not like they told you love is, and I didn't know this either, but love don't make things nice - it ruins everything. It breaks your heart. It makes things a mess. We aren't here to make things perfect. The snowflakes are perfect. The stars are perfect. Not us. Not us! We are here to ruin ourselves and to break our hearts and love the wrong people and *die*. The storybooks are *bullshit*. Now I want you to come upstairs with me and *get* in my bed!"

Now that is a compelling argument for living fearlessly. What is your favorite movie?