BEFORE: Joel Murray carries over from "The Bill Murray Stories". I suppose I could just skip this one, because there was an actress who appeared in archive footage yesterday (who was not listed on the film's IMDB page) and that actress is in tomorrow's movie. But no, I'm committed to this one now, so let's hope that my work schedule next weekend doesn't make me regret the decision to watch this and thus reduce my workload. I'm on track to hit an appropriate movie for Father's Day, plus a few days off for a trip to Chicago on that same weekend, so getting ahead of things is probably a great idea, or maybe I should double-up again this week before the job at the movie theater starts, and I'll have less time. I just don't know, I don't handle change well, and that includes taking on a new part-time job.
I just know I have to get this one out of the way today, because I have a lot of training videos to watch, including the ones on sexual harassment that are now required for any new job I'd take on, there's no escaping this...
THE PLOT: Harriet is a retired businesswoman who tries to control everything around her. When she decides to write her own obituary, a young journalist takes up the task of finding out the truth resulting in a life-altering friendship.
AFTER: I suppose this one seems pretty relevant to me today because Shirley MacLaine's character is 80 years old and takes on a new role as a radio DJ - and she lucks out and finds a radio station that still plays music on vinyl, somehow it's not all digital files and pre-programmed between-song banter. I'm not sure places like that even exist any more, though, not even at the college radio level. It's a bit like a dinosaur getting a job at the Natural History Museum. And here I am, setting out to become a 52-year-old rookie usher at a known movie theater chain. Why didn't I hold out for a position at a small, indie two-screen cinema, why did I have to apply at one of the big, corporate chains? I haven't even started work yet, and part of me is already regretting my decision. I guess I'll find out next weekend if I've got what it takes, or if the job is going to wear me out or drive me crazy.
But enough about me, let me get back to Harriet, who's retired and divorced but also bored. And after reading the obituaries of many of her friends, she's starting to wonder how she'll be remembered by the world when she passes, or if she'll even be remembered at all. This leads her to visit the editor of the local newspaper (one she kept going decades ago with all of her ad agency's media buys) so that she can get a jump on things vis-a-vis her obit. The editor teams her up with the woman who writes the obituary column, so it can be pre-written, only Harriet's contacts generally don't have anything nice to say about her, so poor wanna-be writer Anne determines that the problem is Harriet herself, that she needs to work on her relationships, plus do something magnanimous or otherwise meaningful if she wants to be remembered in the best way.
Harriet is forced to concede the point, and thus the DJ job - plus attempts to reconcile with her daughter and ex-husband, while also taking a young black girl under her wing for mentoring, and forming a friendship with Anne along the way. This is all pretty routine stuff, I mean, it's great that Shirley MacLaine is still active and still making movies, but I'm not sure that the film amounts to anything overall. Maybe it's me, I'm caught up with life changes and schedule concerns right now, my life is in flux and I know I need to start working another job and get out of the house more, but I'm just not sure now this is the way I want to do it. I'm not sure if this new gig is going to lead to anything, or just a detour along the way, do you know what I mean? Plus then there's the pandemic, which has thrown everything into chaos as well - I wouldn't even BE in this rough spot if not for COVID-19, which caused me to lose one of my animation jobs. I've been part-time for the last year, and I need to make more money.
But as we all emerge from various states of lockdown, everything feels just a bit weird, you know? Getting together with friends, dining out, going to a bar or festival or amusement park or casino, it's all going to feel a bit weird at first. Then it's hard to distinguish if if feels weird just because you haven't done it in a while, or it feels weird because you shouldn't be doing it, or it's wrong, and that's kind of the edge I'm walking on right now. This movie, however, like yesterday's, suggests that we all have to face our fears, get out there and DO and achieve and take a risk, because otherwise we're just stuck at home, in a routine, and slowly dying. So I'm going to try to use that as motivation here, I've been at home four days a week for WAY too long, so even if I have to clean a few movie theater bathrooms, it's better for me to be out there, getting some exercise, earning more money, meeting new people and hopefully making something akin to personal progress. But it still is going to feel weird, plus if I get the late shifts then my sleeping schedule's going to get even worse than it already has - I may be keeping "vampire hours" for a while. Oh well, I can sleep when I'm dead, I guess.
The movie's neither here nor there, it didn't exactly thrill me, but it didn't piss me off much, either. Onward and upward, I hope.
Also starring Shirley MacLaine (last seen in "In Her Shoes"), Amanda Seyfried (last seen in "Fathers & Daughters"), AnnJewel Lee Dixon, Anne Heche (last seen in "Opening Night"), Tom Everett Scott (last seen in "Race to Witch Mountain"), Thomas Sadoski (last seen in "John Wick: Chapter 2"), Adina Porter (last seen in "The Peacemaker"), Philip Baker Hall (last seen in "Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond"), Sarah Baker (last seen in "Life of the Party"), Steven Culp (last seen in "The Emperor's Club"), Basil Hoffman (last seen in "Rio, I Love You"), Todd Louiso (last seen in "xXx: State of the Union"), Gedde Watanabe (last heard in "Mulan II"), Yvette Freeman, Valeri Ross (last seen in "Lakeview Terrace"), Nikki McCauley, Marshall Bell (last seen in "The Rum Diary"), Alanna Ubach (last seen in "Bombshell"), Bill Glass, Millicent Martin (last seen in "Alfie" (1966)), John Billingsley (last seen in "20th Century Women").
RATING: 5 out of 10 Kinks albums
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