jnathanj
Joined Dec 1999
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Reviews6
jnathanj's rating
This film, dark and spare in the script and the actual cinematographic light cast on its main characters, succeeds in getting the viewer inside every character.
It makes clear the gnarly inchoate incompetence and pain of being thirteen year-old boys, friends since kindergarten, unsuccessful in 'socializing' in middle school.
Clear also is the wide gap parents try to bridge, when they try to fix their kids, objectify their children as problems to be solved by programs and processes, instead of wordless aimless love.
"And Then I Go" has a plot, which dimly echoes the Columbine school tragedy, but that echo isn't the point of the film at all.
It's about the hundreds of blows that being "othered" inflict upon a young and fragile sense of human worth, and the dark pearl that can rise from being hated or dismissed or being made small, a nick at a time.
It's about the tragedy of blind loyalty also. It's about a lot of things, some of which you will see, though I have missed.
Good movies are like that.
It makes clear the gnarly inchoate incompetence and pain of being thirteen year-old boys, friends since kindergarten, unsuccessful in 'socializing' in middle school.
Clear also is the wide gap parents try to bridge, when they try to fix their kids, objectify their children as problems to be solved by programs and processes, instead of wordless aimless love.
"And Then I Go" has a plot, which dimly echoes the Columbine school tragedy, but that echo isn't the point of the film at all.
It's about the hundreds of blows that being "othered" inflict upon a young and fragile sense of human worth, and the dark pearl that can rise from being hated or dismissed or being made small, a nick at a time.
It's about the tragedy of blind loyalty also. It's about a lot of things, some of which you will see, though I have missed.
Good movies are like that.
The key to enjoying this episode of The Rifleman?
Note the original air date! April 1st, 1958.
Fans of this TV series know how rare the installment is, where no one suffers the righteous lead of Lucas McCain's rifle.
In this episode, if a gun had been fired, what would exit the barrel? A flag embroidered with the word "BANG!"
The humor is so broad, the sight gags so numerous, you'd call it, what, vaudeville mostly, though the gags pointer moves all the way to The Three Stooges for about 15 seconds.
But the arc of the story also has a moral optimism, in that the kind-hearted but feckless Jackman clan, in exodus from their farm for back taxes, finds a comically improbable fortune smile on them, in a town called Paradise. . .
It feels like a producer's gift to the writers, to have allowed them to create this "APRIL FOOLS!" installment. I want to watch it again, to listen for any slide-whistles or brass "Wah, wah, wah" in the soundtrack.
Note the original air date! April 1st, 1958.
Fans of this TV series know how rare the installment is, where no one suffers the righteous lead of Lucas McCain's rifle.
In this episode, if a gun had been fired, what would exit the barrel? A flag embroidered with the word "BANG!"
The humor is so broad, the sight gags so numerous, you'd call it, what, vaudeville mostly, though the gags pointer moves all the way to The Three Stooges for about 15 seconds.
But the arc of the story also has a moral optimism, in that the kind-hearted but feckless Jackman clan, in exodus from their farm for back taxes, finds a comically improbable fortune smile on them, in a town called Paradise. . .
It feels like a producer's gift to the writers, to have allowed them to create this "APRIL FOOLS!" installment. I want to watch it again, to listen for any slide-whistles or brass "Wah, wah, wah" in the soundtrack.
Canvas is a good story in itself, but also feels like a sketch of a larger movie that could be.
The acting and the cinematography are light and even, and a bit pulled-back, as if first-takes were all the budget allowed.
This film has a hook for anyone who's had a family member suffering from mental illness.
Point-of-view is omniscient, but is 2/3rds from the son, who loves his mother almost without reservation, yet wishes she could be perfect, or normal, though his definition of that desire changes in the story's course.
Canvas is a candid yet gentle memory. Yet it's told without the prop-device of voice-over narrative. One scene opens with the son asking his buddy, "Am I Weird?", and after his friend's assurance, he risks repeating, "No. Really, Am I weird?" I take that as reference to Rob Reiner's film treatment of S. King's novella, "Stand By Me".
Reiner's movie relied on the narrator. It was successful and profitable, and a fine movie. But, the narrator device was a cheat.
Canvas has no cheats, unless you count as cheat understanding and identifying with all the main characters.
The foil, the foible characters are chalky sketches, but the story has an arc.
The acting and the cinematography are light and even, and a bit pulled-back, as if first-takes were all the budget allowed.
This film has a hook for anyone who's had a family member suffering from mental illness.
Point-of-view is omniscient, but is 2/3rds from the son, who loves his mother almost without reservation, yet wishes she could be perfect, or normal, though his definition of that desire changes in the story's course.
Canvas is a candid yet gentle memory. Yet it's told without the prop-device of voice-over narrative. One scene opens with the son asking his buddy, "Am I Weird?", and after his friend's assurance, he risks repeating, "No. Really, Am I weird?" I take that as reference to Rob Reiner's film treatment of S. King's novella, "Stand By Me".
Reiner's movie relied on the narrator. It was successful and profitable, and a fine movie. But, the narrator device was a cheat.
Canvas has no cheats, unless you count as cheat understanding and identifying with all the main characters.
The foil, the foible characters are chalky sketches, but the story has an arc.