Lucky-63

It was great that somebody did this. For those who are very close to that scene and those times, it is probably interesting. But it focuses too much on the personalities that initiated techno. They're heroes, but no more so than the many people who've carried it much farther, or the fans with the open-mindedness and vision to bring it so far.

There's very little exhibition of the art, very little about the music. (One scene that shows us some gear, and a few shots of turntablism.) Which means that this movie is not for the uninitiated ... and that's disappointing. The movie many times seems to wonder why the music hasn't been more accepted, gone more mainstream.

But what this movie shows the casual viewer - I'm not sure it was intended - is that there's a lot *not* to like about the original scene... or about Detroit. (What's with the college prof rhapsodizing about an empty city?) My respect for what happened there (but not the music) went *down* after seeing the movie. All the more reason it's too bad it didn't focus on the music and the fans more. Because without them, all you got is prima donnas cruisin for props.

This movie is some kind of snake-swallows-its-own-tale cap for Eastwood's career. Somehow he manages, in the course of almost two hours, to work in every one of his famous facial gestures. Disgust, rage, threat, snarl: it's all there. That's one reason to love it. Cuz this movie is about Clint. Forget the plot, really: it's about those adoring Hmong ladies bringing him lots of plates of food. Now there's a hero: Love me.

= SPOILERS=

Another reason to love this story is that the next door neighbor kid abandons an opportunity to be a gangsta. Not does he do that, in favor of the beloved *hard work* this country was built on, he learns how American males talk mano-a-mano. It's so CUTE!

Best of all, the movie's all about cars, our beloved cars. It's set in Detroit. Much of which is lying in ruins after what we called the American dream has awoken in ruins. With the auto companies on life-support, after what they did to us and their employees and the environment (see Michael Moore et al), thanks to the tax dollars earned by us hard-working, self-sacrificing Americans, we get a movie whose main inspirational symbol is an (ugly) US classic automobile. The only 'special features' on the DVD are about the car.

And that legacy gets handed on to the next generation in the end. Along with a great-big-dollop of self-sacrifice. Yeah, take what we've learned from cars and run with it, neighbors. Cuz we're at the end of the line here. You zipperheads.

What did Clint learn from a long life of heroically defending the good against the evil? I guess you'll have to see this film. Marvelous.