BEFORE: I think what struck me most on my little trip this weekend was just how darn entitled everyone seems these days. Traveling up and back on the train, and going to the Chowderfest, I kept seeing evidence of people who all want more, who believe that the rules don't apply to them. Standing in Penn Station on Friday evening, people were DEMANDING that the Amtrak personnel tell them which gate the train to Boston would be departing from, just so they could get close to it, and board it before everyone else. Bear in mind that there's a proper time for them to post the gate, and then obviously once they do, there would be a rush of people toward that gate, but if you ask any Amtrak personnel which gate it will be, they'll just say, "Sorry, the gate's not posted yet." But they KNOW, they're just not telling, one loud snide female passenger was sure of it, and kept pestering the porter.
This is not the way to get the information, it only annoys the staff. Now, I was already standing close to what I believed was the right gate (while trying not to LOOK like I was standing next to the right gate) because I checked the arrivals board, and I saw that the train from Washington was coming in on Gate 9, and the safe bet would be that it would be leaving from Gate 9 as well, and this info appeared on the Arrivals board 10 minutes before it was posted on the Departures board. So, I naturally wanted to get there first myself, but the difference was, I did the research, so I deserved to be ahead of those who didn't. I found myself standing with a group of people who knew the gate just because they travel that route very often, and that's fine too. Prior knowledge trumps whiny last-minute questioning.
It's all done so we can each get the best seat, which ideally would be on an otherwise empty train car, or to find a set of two seats that no one is sitting in, so we can each have extra space for our coat (or bag, or snacktray, or whatever) and not have to sit next to a stranger and make awkward conversation. Again, most people somehow feel that they're entitled to more, to have the use of two seats when they've only paid for one. Now, I happened to get a spare seat both ways, but at least on the way up, I worked for it. I earned it, unlike anyone who was too lazy to track down the Arrivals board. That said, if anyone had requested the seat next to me, I would have gladly moved my bag or newspapers for them. OK, maybe not "gladly", perhaps "begrudgingly", but I would have done it.
Something similar happened at the Chowderfest - since they reduced the number of competing restaurants while increasing the event's capacity, naturally this led to long lines. And separate long lines for each booth, or at least at the ones that were serving acceptable clam chowder. I spotted a man who waited in a long line for Booth #2 (there's no Booth #1, that would prejudice the voting) and he felt this then entitled him to walk over to grab a sample from Booth #4, and then proceed to Booths 5, 6 and 7 without waiting in each individual line. Not only was this rude, it was expressly forbidden in the "Chowdering Etiquette" section of the brochure. (I'm not kidding)
I tracked the guy down and informed him he could not do this, he had to wait in each individual line to sample all of the chowders. His response to me was, "Who are you, the line police?" Yes. Indeed I am the line police, though I may not appear like an official, perhaps I'm undercover, and what you have done is unfair to the good citizens of Newport and surrounding area, who are waiting patiently in line on a hot day to enjoy hot soup. Said citizens failed to back me up and kind of left me hanging, but that's all right. I took a stand for what I believed in, and against irrational entitlement.
Look, I don't want special treatment, I just want what I feel I deserve. The world doesn't owe me anything, I'm willing to put in the time and the effort on things, provided there's a payoff. I'll stand in line, I'll do the research, I'll pay my bill, I'll work long hours, as long as I'm getting something in return. It just grinds my gears when I see someone, or everyone, trying to game the system. Most people at the event were taking two samples of chowder instead of one at a time, and I'll admit I sometimes did too, but at least I acknowledge that if everyone does that, it makes the lines move slower, not faster. I would have been willing to limit myself to 1 sample per booth visit as long as everyone else agreed to that - but that just wasn't going to happen. And it would have taken three hours that way to consume the equivalent of a small bowl of chowder, which is available at most area diners more quickly, for less effort and at a lower cost.
I know this probably sounds hypocritical - everyone believes they're special, including me, and they're all wrong and I'm right, but it's really not like that. I just want everyone to have an equal chance at enjoying life's little pleasures, and if I see someone who isn't me getting special treatment, I'm inclined to call them out, that's all. But if good fortune or special treatment comes MY way, I'm fairly inclined to convince myself that I earned it somehow. Is that so wrong?
Clint Eastwood carries over from "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot". That's it, I'm out of Eastwood, so another actor has to pick up the slack for linking.
THE PLOT: Can an over-the-hill journalist uncover the evidence that can prove a death row inmate's innocence just hours before his execution?
AFTER: If that plotline seems a little familiar, perhaps it's because it could almost exactly describe the premise of "The Life of David Gale", which I watched just 6 days ago. It's a riff on the same conceit, that perhaps everyone in both the justice system and the court of public opinion believes that a condemned man deserves to die, but this ONE journalist, unwilling as he or she may be, is going to find the evidence that proves otherwise, ticking clock be damned.
It's too bad that this premise relies so strongly on clichés. Reprieves, if they come, tend to come at the last second - because the state's governor has nothing better to do at 11:59 pm. The reporter's evidence is found at the last minute - it's never found the week or the month before the execution, now, is it?
At least the lead character here isn't too much of a stereotype - one would perhaps expect a hero, a noble journalist with the best intentions to free an innocent man. But Eastwood's character is not perfect, in fact he's a bad husband, a terrible father, and he's only doing the interview with the condemned man as a last-minute substitute. In fact, he's on the cusp of being fired if he can't deliver this story as a simple "human interest" story, about what it's like to serve on death row. But the newsman in him takes over, and he smells there's something wrong with the conviction - he's not even sure if he's right, nor does he particularly care, he just wants to find out if his instincts are still sharp.
That's a bit refreshing, if he'd been on an anti-capital punishment crusade, like the characters in "The Life of David Gale", this would have been way too preachy. Clint's character just knows B.S. when he smells it, and then he wants to expose it. Not because it's the right thing, but because that's his job, and that's what he's good at. If he were the least bit noble, he wouldn't sleep with so many of his co-workers' wives, and then where would he be?
NITPICK POINT: Tthe California Penal System is depicted as having switched their method of execution from gas chamber to lethal injection, and for some reason, the prison decided to still place the condemned man inside the old, non-working gas chamber. Sure, looks great on film, but otherwise there would be no practical reason to do this. The injection could be given just as easily, if not more easily, on a simple hospital table or gurney.
Also starring Isaiah Washington, James Woods (last seen in "Against All Odds"), Denis Leary (last seen in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2"), Bernard Hill (last seen in "Gandhi"), LisaGay Hamilton, Diane Venora, Michael McKean (last seen in "The Words"), Michael Jeter (last seen in "Patch Adams"), Hattie Winston, with cameos from Mary McCormack, Frances Fisher (last seen in "Laws of Attraction"), Christine Ebersole, Tom McGowan, Lucy Liu (last seen in "Payback"), William Windom.
RATING: 5 out of 10 animals (seen while playing "Speed Zoo")
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