BEFORE: Tom Hanks carries over from "The Terminal", and I've re-shuffled my remaining 2013 films yet again, so here's a quick look at the topics I'll be covering before the end of the year: urban crime/black films, the South, which leads neatly into the Civil War, which leads into westerns, a couple of Jack Nicholson films, then it'll be time for Halloween weirdness and horror, which conveniently leads into presidents + politics, then it's mostly war films until I get to Thanksgiving and Christmas. War and horses, that is. And since I've got some rather long westerns + war films, I've planned it so that any time I spread a film over two nights, or just plain skip a night, it will only serve to push the horror films closer to Halloween and the war films closer to Veteran's Day.
The other good news is that my watchlist is down to 215 films, which is just barely above where I started the year. I've still got a shot at getting my total down below that.
THE PLOT: After losing his job, a middle-aged man reinvents himself by going back to college.
AFTER: Time and again, throughout this process I've been astounded by seemingly non-random coincidences between what takes place on-screen and what's happening in the real world, either in the news or in my own life. In this case, a film about a man losing his job coincides with some co-workers taking a stand for their principles, and being shown the door as a result. I can't get into the details, but it puts me in a position where I'm simultaneously sorry for their predicament and also slightly envious that they get to (hopefully) start fresh somewhere else.
By contrast, I've been at the same two part-time office jobs for just shy of 20 years - if I were a cop, I'd be a month away from my pension right now and desperate to avoid being shot. But unlike most people who bounce from job to job making connections, I've chosen to stay in one place (OK, two places) and make friends as they come and go - ideally creating a network of people I can contact in the future if I need a new position.
But anyway, back to tonight's film, which is all about a man reinventing himself after 20 years working for a KMart-type store. The company "lets him go" because he's ineligible for a management position since he doesn't have a college education. Seems he went to work right after the military, and never took advantage of the G.I. bill. He chooses to study economics, but also gets convinced to take a public speaking course, since it "changed the life" of the college dean. And because public speaking is so important in economics, of course.
The teacher is jaded in her own way, her sparsely-attended classes are wearing on her, along with her husband's porn addiction and her excessive drinking, which isn't helping. If only some optimistic older gentleman would take her class and inspire her to make some changes. Say, you don't suppose... nah, it's just too unlikely. There's also a loose community of colorful outcasts, all trying to live the American Dream, so that's another carry-over from last night.
Along the way we learn how to save gasoline, not to tuck in a polo shirt, and when it makes sense to default on one's mortgage. (Hey, isn't that what caused our most recent recession?) This feels like an attempt to cash in on the zeitgeist of the last couple of years, with people being downsized across the nation and learning how to trim their expenses and simplify their lives. But I'm not sure all of the messages are clear - how many of those people will have the good fortune to fall in love with their gorgeous college teachers and catch them on the rebound?
NITPICK POINT: If our hero had such great skills as a short-order cook, why didn't he try that as a new career first? Good diner cooks are always in demand, right? Plus he could have saved some time. My dad was trained as a baker and then worked as an army cook, and when he got out of the trucking business after 30+ years he tried to go right back into baking. Unfortunately he was allergic to the flour used by the Hostess Corp, so that didn't pan out for him. So it was back to trucking until he got his pension.
When the film was over, "American Splendor" was playing on the cable, and it was near the end so I watched a few sequences. I forgot what a great and powerful film that is - I can't review it here because I've already seen it, so perhaps it's worth a re-watch if I have some time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Harvey Pekar's outlook on life stands in sharp contrast to Larry Crowne's. (yes, I know only one of them was fictional, that's kind of the point) After learning that his cancer is in remission, Harvey takes the news somewhat in perspective, saying, "If I'm lucky, I'll have a window of good health between now and the end." I don't know, maybe I'm just getting contemplative in my mid-40's, but perhaps the real truth lies somewhere between "I can go back to school, re-invent myself and romance the teacher" and "I hope I can get well before I die".
Also starring Julia Roberts (last heard in "The Ant Bully"), Cedric the Entertainer (last seen on Monday at the "Millionaire" auditions), Wilmer Valderrama, Bryan Cranston (last seen in "Rock of Ages"), George Takei (last seen in "The Great Buck Howard"), Pam Grier (last seen in "Escape from L.A."), Grace Gummer, Holmes Osborne, Taraji P. Henson (last seen in "Date Night"), Rita Wilson (last seen in "Mixed Nuts"), Gugu Mbatha-Raw, with a cameo from Rob Riggle (last seen in "21 Jump Street").
RATING: 4 out of 10 yard sales
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