Two beautiful films for today on the friendship between a struggling man and his loud, horny friend. I swear I don't look for similar films to watch back to back. It just keeps happening. Weird.
Elling is such a delight. The two leads meet in an institution. Neither can live on his own, but they decide that maybe together they can take on the outside world. It's a Felix and Oscar union but so much kinder - and more violent. Things get shaken up as they each meet someone on the outside, and it takes a bit of reassurance that their friendship is still a top priority before they can enjoy themselves again.
They're fearful of many commonplace things and activities. It's a reminder of how much courage it can take for some people to cross the floor of a restaurant alone or to talk on the phone. It's a reminder to be more understanding of all the stories we don't know about the people we meet.
It's a must see for the hidden poems and the Christmas presents and the gregarious exclamations! The trailer would just spoil it.
Then I watched 50/50.
It's a movie about friendship disguised as a movie about cancer. It's painfully realistic in places, yet still light-hearted overall. I'm not sure why I keep gravitating to Joseph Gordon-Levitt movies lately, but here he is again. And I've liked Seth Rogen since I watched him fall in love in Freaks and Geeks.
I love that both films include a woman who is neither bitchy nor cloying, doesn't get in the way of the friendship by toying with the other guy, and isn't hated by the friend. That's a nice change. There are a lot of buddy movies out there, and in so many of them, if there's a central female at all, she's that same irritating character. She's in the first bit of 50/50, but they soon get rid of her. That plot element loosely reminded me of Office Space actually: a guy has a horrible girlfriend, he goes through a pivotal transformation and then finally is able to connect with a nice girl. Apparently it took having cancer before he could insist on being treated kindly.
Elling is such a delight. The two leads meet in an institution. Neither can live on his own, but they decide that maybe together they can take on the outside world. It's a Felix and Oscar union but so much kinder - and more violent. Things get shaken up as they each meet someone on the outside, and it takes a bit of reassurance that their friendship is still a top priority before they can enjoy themselves again.
They're fearful of many commonplace things and activities. It's a reminder of how much courage it can take for some people to cross the floor of a restaurant alone or to talk on the phone. It's a reminder to be more understanding of all the stories we don't know about the people we meet.
It's a must see for the hidden poems and the Christmas presents and the gregarious exclamations! The trailer would just spoil it.
Then I watched 50/50.
It's a movie about friendship disguised as a movie about cancer. It's painfully realistic in places, yet still light-hearted overall. I'm not sure why I keep gravitating to Joseph Gordon-Levitt movies lately, but here he is again. And I've liked Seth Rogen since I watched him fall in love in Freaks and Geeks.
I love that both films include a woman who is neither bitchy nor cloying, doesn't get in the way of the friendship by toying with the other guy, and isn't hated by the friend. That's a nice change. There are a lot of buddy movies out there, and in so many of them, if there's a central female at all, she's that same irritating character. She's in the first bit of 50/50, but they soon get rid of her. That plot element loosely reminded me of Office Space actually: a guy has a horrible girlfriend, he goes through a pivotal transformation and then finally is able to connect with a nice girl. Apparently it took having cancer before he could insist on being treated kindly.
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