BEFORE: Again, a slight feeling like I might have seen this one at some point - but I honestly don't remember a thing about it, so I'd best take care of that. I can't resist the connections to last night's film - another family living on the frontier, in Montana no less, plus Brad Pitt carries over as well.
THE PLOT: Two fly-fishing sons of a Presbyterian minister--one reserved, one rebellious--grow up in rural Montana.
AFTER: Well, this was slightly more uplifting than last night's film - at least no one died in the war. There was still rivalry between brothers, but at least tonight they weren't fighting over the same woman. The problem is, without a great deal of conflict, this films seems quite boring in comparison. Oh, sure, there's an exciting trip down the river's rapids, and a couple of fistfights, but nothing that adds up to a major setback, or even counts as a character's story arc.
Instead, the movie features all the excitement (?) of fly-fishing. And for extra measure, people studying! WOW! And going to church! Awesome!
Even the central romance seemed quite lackluster. Norman, the brother played by the actor who wasn't Brad Pitt, falls in love with Jessie Burns, but I wasn't really sure why. Was she just conveniently at the dance? I didn't see anything special about her at all, or anything they had in common, or any spark following the initial attraction. So she drove him home through a railroad tunnel and over a bridge - umm, so what?
And what was the deal with her brother, the California douchebag, coming to town and pretended to want to fish - but ending up drunk with a hooker? That whole sequence just played as really weird - I don't really get what the film was trying to say with this.
In fact, I'm not quite sure what the whole film was trying to say - and don't give me any metaphor about life being a river, that's a cop out. What's the takeaway, as an audience member what have I learned? Not a whole heck of a lot. And another downer ending - this week has become downright Shakespearean with the tragic body counts.
And that wraps up June, just like that the year is half over. But I've only got 93 films before I take a break - even giving myself a week off for Comic-Con, it's more than do-able. I could continue on the Brad Pitt track with "Babel" and "Meet Joe Black" but those seem ultra-depressing - anyway I've got July blocked out already, and it mostly belongs to Tom Cruise, Paul Newman and Robin Williams. But I've worked in some big summer action/fantasy blockbusters of years past to lift my spirits.
Also starring Tom Skerritt (last seen in "Top Gun"), Craig Sheffer, Brenda Blethyn (last seen in "Beyond the Sea"), Emily Lloyd, with cameos from Edie McClurg, Joseph Gordon-Levitt (last seen in "(500) Days of Summer"), and narrated/directed by Robert Redford (last seen in "Out of Africa").
RATING: 3 out of 10 castings
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