BEFORE: I'm essentially housebound today, thanks to the complete mismanagement of NYC Sanitation services. The city waited until AFTER the snow was done to start plowing, which was a huge mistake. Plus, they simply don't have enough plows and sanders to cover every street, so the people who live on "non-essential" streets or in the outer boroughs found out just where they are in the pecking order. Expect heads to roll at City Hall in the New Year. And to everyone who called for small government and tax cuts, this is the result - fewer city services when they're really needed. I don't care, I was able to spend the day unpacking and catching up on some TV and comic books.
Sticking with the religion theme tonight, and a late Christmas tie-in.
THE PLOT: When letters written to God start getting results, and replies, people everywhere are amazed. The Post Office however is annoyed.
AFTER: There is a (somewhat) heartwarming message in this film - people who are on hard times and write letters to God get the help that they need, but I'm just not sure that it's coming from a genuine good place.
The central character, played by Greg Kinnear (last seen in "Flash of Genius"), is a reformed (?) con-man, who only ends up at the post office because he is ordered by the court to find a job. Even though he signs on as temporary holiday help, I'm not sure that's how the post office works...don't you have to take some kind of exam? So when he sees all the letters to God in the dead letter office, his initial thought is that he can turn this into some kind of scam - although we're never really sure what the angle is, or how answering these letters will lead to some form of profit.
The rest of the staff at the post office wants to jump on board, and they all mean well, they really do - but every single one of them is a screw-up, or is neurotic or damaged in some way. So there's no one to really root for here, my choices are the con man, or the screw-ups, or the desperately needy. It's great that people want to help other people, it's just too bad that they have to violate federal mailing laws to do so.
What's strange is that the Post Office already HAS programs in place to help the needy. Kids in need have been writing letters to "Santa" for years, and though the program was suspended for a few years (something about privacy laws, or the lack of safety in giving out people's addresses...) my understanding was that it was back on. Plus mail carriers already participate in things like canned food drives, and special stamps that raise money for worthy causes. Should they spend time on their evenings and weekends doing pro bono work too? And who should fund all of this?
What bothers me is that the first postal "miracle" happens by accident - so that one doesn't really count, does it? And then the process is continued, largely because the main character is trying to impress a woman - so those don't really come from a pure place, either. Would it have been so wrong to have someone doing good deeds for the sake of doing good deeds? I can't help but think about Jason Lee's character on "My Name Is Earl" - a former contemptible (yet likeable) lowlife thief, who learns about karma and then straightens out his life and atones for his misdeeds, because he believes this will bring good things back to him in the long run. Nothing wrong with that set-up at all.
The film culminates in the main character put on trial - yes, put on trial for trying to help people in need. Is this Los Angeles or Nottingham? Were the filmmakers trying for a "Miracle on 34th St." vibe? Or like the rest of this film, was the whole idea just sort of misguided?
Also starring Laurie Metcalf, Hector Elizondo (last seen in "Turbulence"), Tim Conway, Roscoe Lee Browne, Donal Logue (last seen in "Blade"), with cameos from Sam McMurray (last seen in "Lucky Numbers"), Larry Miller (last seen in "Chairman of the Board"), Nancy Marchand, Rue McClanahan, Jack Klugman, Coolio, John Pinette, Ellen Cleghorne, director Garry Marshall, Timothy Stack, Tony Danza, David Hasselhoff and Elvira (wow, what a motley bunch...)
RATING: 4 out of 10 blurred addresses
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