watrousjames

The almost forgotten film MORE AMERICAN GRAFFITI, the 1979 sequel to George Lucas' masterpiece AMERICAN GRAFFITI is not as bad as critics thought, but nowhere near as good as the original. Lucas was the executive producer, but B. W. L. Norton wrote and directed this sequel. All of the cast returned except for Richard Dreyfuss.

It's actually a very ambitious films as it takes place over the course of four New Years Eve day and evening during the middle 1960's. Yet, some stories are more compelling than others. The weakest is Toad in Vietnam. It's the most farfetched story out of all of them. Compared to other films dealing with Vietnam such as APOCALYPSE NOW!, which came out the same year, it pales in comparison.

Lori and Steve story is okay but nothing great. Lori has a fight with Steve because she would like to work and not be a stay home mother. She visits her younger brother, a college student, protesting the Vietnam War and gets caught up in riot between protesters and police.

Debbie's story is more interesting as she has joined the hippie counter culture movement in San Francisco's Haight/Asbury district. The way it was filmed was interesting with multiple camera shots going on at the same time. It reminded me a bit of WOODSTOCK.

The most compelling and bittersweet story is John Milner drag.racing at the Fremont Drag Strip in Fremont, CA on New Years Eve Day 1964, the last day of his life. Between races he meets a young lady from Iceland who doesn't speak English but nevertheless they are attracted to each other and fall in love.

Overall, an uneven film with some good moments. 6/10/

The film version of Ron Hansen's historical novel about Jesse James and Robert Ford starts off sluggishly, but becomes more compelling and intriguing as it progresses. The acting by everyone is really good, but Casey Affleck is excellent as Robert "Bob" Ford. Roger Deakins cinematography is excellent. It has a haunting beautiful quality to it that reminds me of Terrence Malick's films such as DAYS OF HEAVEN.

One minor flaw is the women in the story, such as Jesse James' wife played by the great Mary Louise Parker. Get short shrift in this film. I would have liked to have learned more about them. Yet, it is a story about men.

I am a fan of writer Ron Hansen. I've read the novel some years ago. From what I recall from the novel this film version does justice to it.

This film is a low budget independent Christian film with a really intriguing premise. What if God sent St. Paul to 21st century America? The movie tries to answer that. I wondered if the film would be absolutely terrible, which it isn't. Yet, it is quite uneven. The biggest problem was that some of the acting in this film was really bad, though mostly it was smaller parts. The main actor who plays Paul was pretty good. The young American man he befriends was definitely green when it came to acting, but he wasn't terrible. The actress who becomes the young man's love interest was actually quite good.

As Paul is about to be executed he is transported (or translated as they call it in the film) to 21st century rural Oregon, where a truck driver picks him up. Paul can't speak English, but the truck driver figures out he speaks Greek (ancient Greek to be exact). The truck driver, who is a lapsed Christian who went to Bible college, takes Paul home with him to Eugene, OR. Paul learns English within two months, which seemed a bit farfetched to me. (Yes, the real Paul was a really smart man, but I still think it would take longer to learn English.) When Paul learns there are Christians in the 21st century he is happy, but he is unhappy to find out there are divisions in Christianity. He would like the various congregations to come together and pray together and start a movement to push unity. Not all pastors are keen on this. One pastor, in particular, thinks he's a fraud. Obviously, this causes conflict.

I liked the ecumenical message of the film. The film was made by Evangelical Protestant Christians. Paul does attend a Catholic mass, which I thought was good. Paul comes across as a very nice man, but Paul in his letters had a temper, which we never see. On the other hand Paul wants to work and not live by handouts, which was true. The real Paul made a living as a tentmaker while he traveled around the Roman Empire spreading the Gospel. The script itself wasn't terrible, but it could've been better in spots. As I stated some of the acting, by mostly, smaller characters, was bad.

If you are a Christian it is worthwhile seeing once. I enjoyed it despite its flaws, but I probably won't watch it again.