It's been a long time

I recently watched Rachel Getting Married and the Wrestler. I feel an obligation to watch movies that have prominent Oscar nominations, these being two of them with critical acclaim. With all the hype surrounding both of these movies I tucked myself in for what I expected to be a moving and breathtaking experience. Neither of these movies, I felt, delivered.

Now when I say moving or breathtaking I don't just mean that the movie is beautiful to look at or the dialogue is so intense that I well up immediately but I do expect to feel something and crave more from the movie as each minute passes.

Rachel Getting Married was a realistic portrayal of a woman who has been in and out of rehab for much of her life and her sister is getting married. The interaction between each of the family members as they struggle to reconcile a tragic past of one daughter with a bright and happy future of another was well done in its fidelity to such a stuation. I, however, felt uncomfortable for much of the film and was anticipating the end of the movie like a person after a long day of work anticipates a strong drink. The destroyed sister, as it were, was self indulgent and pretty selfish as much of her family accused her of being. Her monologues were filled with self loathing and stories of her troubled past. It made me want leave the room immediately and I wondered why anyone would pay to feel this way when they can feel it for free in life.

The Wrestler on the other hand was a look into a small niche of society. A man, who used to be a legend in a circuit like the WWE and has found he has reached a time in his life where he isn't relevant to anyone, including his own (surprise surprise) estranged daughter. The film was poignant in its character portrayal of a man whose life has figuratively come to an end but yet he continues to eat, drink and breathe. While the film did a good job with its long takes and minimal dialogue, of showing a man who's down on his luck and life I didn't feel I gained anything by watching the movie. Now some would say (*cough cough- a friend of mine who I work with) that I always feel I have to gain something out of a movie, whether it be a profound experience, to escape, or to learn something new. And I say, well why the hell shouldn't I expect that? I pay almost 12$ to see a movie in the theater. I expect to get my money's worth. While the Wrestler certainly took me to a world I have never experienced or seen (either on TV or from the inside) at the end of it I didn't feel like I learned anything more than I had at the beginning of the movie; either about wrestling or the main character. And while I certainly felt for the guy I didn't see any evolution in the character, either upwards or downwards and I wondered, what the hell is the point then of those two hours?

Some would say I'm crazy for not appreciating either of these movies but my boyfriend--who will subsequently be known as Joosh Man (or JM when I'm lazy) brought up an interesting point: Why is it that the Academy feels that all these indie, pseudo-realistic films are the ones that are worth merit? It seems to be the case year after year that these small films with their shaky camera work and their character investigations get all the clout and movies that take you somewhere you never imagined, like Wall-E get shoved into the assumed Animation category and never thought of again. Maybe someday I'll create a new Academy that will have clout with the public and re-invite this whole idea of "good movies". Until then, I'll have to be satisfied with the movies that thrill me like my new peach "Bye Bye Birdie" (classic!).