moon rivers (moonrivers)

Zemeckis adds to his store of holiday films, still hoping for "it's a wonderful life"'s american family favorite status. first there was "the polar express" with it's emphasis on the santa legend, and now (almost as an apology for such pagan posterings) a return to good ol' Christian and English sensibilities. the art is the story here tho, ever remarkable, as Zemeckis retools the old tale expanding the spectral side of it and, with that, the dreamlike fear of falling (as in from grace). carrey continues to stretch his career spanning Jerry Lewis impersonation in another attempt to tackle the fortress that is the memory of Jimmy Stewart. well worth the visit as this time i believe ol' Robert has done it.

imagine if the adam and eve story and the twilight zone had a baby and you've got "the box", a taut weird study in the moral and personal ramifications of selfishness. langella rules the day (hello!) as a mysterious force of nature - so greasy you can feel the grease on your fingers whenever he's onscreen, diaz drops the easy strumpet next door routine and grows up finally (and is good at it), while marsden is the dumb wondering stolid adam trying to put their humptydumpty life together again. definitely worth your time.

does she love him, or that other guy...was she for real back then in paris, did she really love him or...or...just who the fuck is victor lazlo anyway? she lets him know, but he is all too human and insists on hearing the stupid words as well...and it's not until he lies to himself that he "gets it", when he says, "it doesn't take much to see that..." when in fact it's taken him, well, since paris to see. we never really KNOW if anyone ever loves us...we have to trust, and this is maybe the only hollywood movie that leaves us with that...making it perfect.

the greatest musical ever made, uh, science fiction, uh, fantasy, uh, romance, uh, oh...nevermind, this one's essential americiana for the baby boomer set and it's resonance resonates far more than my poor command of the language can give justice to. let's just enjoy!