Devotchka

This is not a comedy. It's actually a rather complicated movie. If you're interested in seeing Molly Shannon make goofy faces, you probably should skip it. As it is, she does a rather admirable job of portraying someone who is finally finding herself.

Molly Shannon, as Peggy, finds out about the way animals are treated in the food industry and decides to go vegan. Like many new converts, however, she is overzealous and confused. Frankly, she does some really horrible things in her quest to find peace with her new beliefs. This made me rather uncomfortable. As a vegan, I was concerned: Director Mike White is known for making characters who are less-than-perfect, but what if viewers don't realize that? What if they think we're supposed to admire this woman? We aren't, obviously. The director is mostly vegan himself, and it's clear that he is aware of a lot of the struggles one goes through as a whole new world opens up. Peggy, who I ASSUME we're supposed to realize is already a little off-balance, responds by going a little psychotic.

But by the end of the film, she is finally finding peace with herself. It's a pleasant and inspiring ending and somewhat redeems the awful things she's done...not quite enough, in my opinion, if only for a viewing public who may already be confused about what it means to be vegan.

Would I recommend this movie? Yes, if you think you can go in and appreciate it on its merits without being biased as to whether veganism is right or wrong. That isn't the point of the thing--it's a coming-of-age movie about a middle-aged woman. Like I said earlier, it's basically a movie about finding oneself.

Fights of Nations is an absurd and entertaining little film in five parts. It appears to attempt to demonstrate that though people in every country fight, they all come together happily in the United States. The parts are as follows: "Mexico and Spain", "Our Hebrew Friends", "Hoot Mon! A Scottish Combat", "Sunny Africa, Eighth Avenue New York", "Sons of the Ould Sod", and finally, "America, Land of the Free". The actors in each of the first four scenes engage in little spats which don't necessarily end peacefully, but in the fifth, people from different countries and backgrounds all join together with Uncle Sam. Fights of Nations comes off as vaguely xenophobic and insulting to other countries and cultures, which is probably to be expected considering the era in which it was made and the content it's tackling.