Loading ...Pass the Kleenex, film’s teardrop ratings
By Nadine Kam
Working Title Films
Once again, Keira Knightley pouts her way through a film, but it works well enough in her role as a haughty English woman whose life takes a tragic turn in “Atonement.”
Sorry I haven’t been posting a lot recently. Been out at the movie theaters. The most recent one was a preview of “P.S. I Love You,” not one I’d normally choose to see — I find the romantic comedy formula really elementary — but a bunch of my friends were going, so why not have a girl’s night out? In addition to being fully predictable, one of the other things I dislike about the romantic comedy is the way the writers jerk women around with sentimentality and cutesiness.
I realize the arts represent a form of manipulation as the creators try to elicit some form of emotion, and enjoyed the power of making people cry when I was younger, which is why I always feel like such a sucker for falling for it myself. It just so happens that “P.S. I Love You” hit the Mother Lode of sentimentality with a device that had about eight of us crying throughout the whole film!
One of my friends is so mean she’s telling everyone to see it, without alerting them to the tear trap.Omigod, that was so embarrassing! The device was a bunch of letters a man who died because of a brain tumor wrote to his wife, to be delivered posthumously to keep her moving forward throughout her mourning/healing period. So, every time a letter arrived, it was wah time.
Because I have been crying a lot at the movies lately, I thought I’d deliver some ratings in terms of tear-fall, so you know how much Kleenex to bring:
“Atonement”: I wasn’t surprised to learn this film garnered the most, at seven, Golden Globe nominations this year. It’s just the kind of film the writers who choose the award winner would vote for because of clever storytelling that has you questioning your own assumptions by film’s end. That’s so cool. It starts slow, such that one noted movie buff walked out halfway through, but if you’re patient, the film does have its pay off. It’s a very sad story in which one little girl’s lies — Saoirse Ronan as Briony Tallis is excellent in the role — due to sibling rivalry and an unrequited crush leads to long-term tragic consequences, but the cool detachment that serves the story leads to zero tears shed.
There’s also a beautiful parade of 1930s/40s inspired costumes designed by Jacqueline Durran in “Atonement,” and I couldn’t help but think that some of the jewelry looked like it came from the house of Chanel, which hired Knightley to be the face of Coco Mademoiselle. “Atonement’s” director Joe Wright also filmed the Coco Mademoiselle ad film.
“August Rush”: An implausible, saccharine story that works because of the single-minded certainty that music can bring people together, as an orphaned boy searches for his parents, who are similarly searching for him/each other. One tear, though I can’t remember where. I think it involves a sympathetic Terence Howard.
New Line Cinema
The other Chanel woman Nicole Kidman also wears some fine threads designed by Ruth Myers in “The Golden Compass.”
“The Golden Compass”: This title is the first of a three-book series, such that the film’s ending had the feel of having just watched only half a movie, like the second of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Most remarkable for the visuals, the cute animal “spirits” that accompany each actor and how scary Nicole Kidman can be without wielding a physical weapon. No tears.
“I Am Legend”: Most remarkable for scenes of a desolate, weed-covered Manhattan, but if you’ve seen the very believable Cillian Murphy in Danny Boyle’s “28 Days Later,” you don’t have to see this variation on the zombie theme, filled with plot holes and an ending that panders to the God crowd. Can you say sellout? No tears, unless you live with a dog.
“Into the Wild”: People really love or hate this film. I loved it. I thought that Sean Penn, as director, with the music of Eddie Vedder, did a great job in evoking the spirit of the open road and great outdoors. I’ve traveled solo throughout the Southwest, and this is exactly how it feels to be so free and unecumbered. And the scene with the moose — so awesome. Without being a hunter, it made me understand exactly why American Indians had such regard for the spirit of animals who gave them sustenance. I loved the flow of the film. One tear for a life cut short by a search that went awry.
“The Kite Runner”: Two Afghani boys become estranged due to a mixture of cowardice and differing class and clan status. Their lives diverge and one finds his way to San Francisco, only to be summoned back to an unrecognizable Taliban-run Afghanistan to “put things right.” Two tears for the cruelty of children to other children, and adult sacrifice that, what do you know, we learn of through a letter.
“Margot at the Wedding”: Nicole Kidman plays Margot in this tale of clashing neuroses and family drama. All is not right in Margot’s world, and her sister, who is about to be married, bears the brunt of her misplaced anger. Mostly a talking character sketch piece in which nothing much really happens. You can basically point a camera at any real life and get the same. Jack Black is funny as the potential groom. No tears.
“No Country for Old Men”: This film reinforces one of the basic rules of law-breaking, which is, never return to the scene of a crime. There’s a lot of bloodshed in this movie about a man who makes off with $2 million after arriving on the scene of a drug-deal gone awry. You’d think he could make a clean getaway, but not when there’s a psychopath who really wants that money, and just like the Terminator, he won’t stop. No tears but you’ll never forget Javier Bardem in the role of the killer and Tommy Lee Jones has great, dry delivery as a small-town sheriff hoping to save some lives.
“P.S. I Love You”: Hillary Swank does well in a feminine role as she grieves over the loss of her husband and attempts to rebuild her life. Yeah, it’s a trite, basic chick flick plotline, but works due to some funny lines, the sincerity Swank brings to the role, and the charms of Irish men. I want to go to Ireland too! Bucketful of tears — and I hate to say it, snot which had women blowing their noises in the restroom when it ended — over a batch of sentimental letters evenly spaced throughout the film. Relentless, unapologetic tear jerker.
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