Get the !@#$ Off His Lawn, and Don’t Steal His “Gran Torino”

Walt Kowalski would rather call you names than hug you. That’s the kind of grandpa he is. His rough language, filled with as many racial slurs as possible, is so abrasive that can make one cringe at first. But after awhile, after the slurs keep coming and coming, the realization hits that this man doesn’t mean what he says because he doesn’t know what he’s saying. He’s just an angry old man who becomes so bitter that all the ammunition he has are words. That is, until he pulls his gun out. Then you know that he’s willing to walk his talk. That’s when those “rotten punks” start running!

Supposedly, Walt loves his Gran Torino. He even protects it when the neighbor kid tries to steal it. However, by the end of the film, the Gran Torino is no longer even part of the story, other than a gift to that same neighbor kid. What Walt does love is fighting injustice. He did it in the war, and he does it on his front porch, one mean old man stare, grimace, and collection of insults at a time. Beneath his rough exterior is, well, a slightly less rough exterior that likes to eat good food and tell the kids how to behave (off his lawn, of course).

“Gran Torino” doesn’t fall into the Hollywood trap of a bitter old man becoming soft hearted. Walt at the end is still as old-man crotchety as he is in the first frame. He just directs his old-man-ness at the gangsters instead of the neighbors. He’s the last of a dying breed, and he’s not going down without a fight. If only we all were as confident, honest, and good as Walt (if not so colorful in our speech)!

It’s easy to tell where the story is heading by the last fourth of the film. Walt must make a tough decision for his newfound Hmong friends. How will he protect them? How can he heal the hurt that has been done to his neighbors? How can he bust those punk gangsters real good one last time?

It’s a good thing Walt figures it out.

Enroll in the “School of Rock”!

The touching “School of Rock”, directed by Richard Linklater (Of Before Sunrise and Before Sunsut fame) is all about the kids. Jack Black, who plays Dewey Finn, does a great job hamming it up, as well as helping 5th graders realize that life isn’t all about getting the right answers and being perfect. You can imagine what a prep school would do to a child- drilling into a young person’s head that they need to be a high achieving performer at all times and never to screw up. Black takes this philosophy and says, “Hold on, dude. You’re great the way you are!”

This message is much needed today. We all get a bit uptight when it comes to our responsibilities. Dewey reminds us to chill out, that it’s OK to have a little fun and rock out. Of course, he doesn’t play by the rules most of the time, but then the film wouldn’t be interesting if he did, would it? And who wants to listen to someone who doesn’t practice what he preaches? When it comes to creativity, Dewey has no problem preaching that it’s OK to dance to the beat of your own drum, or to the licks of your own guitar. Whatever you play, Dewey would say, play it loud and proud. Stick it to the man.

Although the kids don’t “stick it to the man,” they do get a lesson in being themselves in the face of the high demands placed on them. They get to have fun and be kids with Dewey in class. It’s sort of a “Freedom Writers” experience for them- they have a freedom to express themselves that they don’t have in other areas of their lives.

The film keeps the issues appropriate to what an elementary school kid would deal with. An especially touching moment is when a child confesses that she struggles with an image issue. Here’s Dewey’s counsel:

Dewey: You have an issue with weight? You know who else has a weight issue? Me! But I get up there on the stage and start to sing, and people worship me!

Brilliant! Dewey is preaching to the choir here, and the choir is listening. He’s speaking from the heart, because he’s speaking from personal experience, all to help a kid feel better about herself. In another example, other students in the film didn’t have the musical talents needed in the band. That’s OK, Dewey says. Everyone has a job! He then assigns creative jobs for each student. Each has their role, their contribution to the whole. If we all had teachers like Dewey, we’d all be rock stars in life!

Thanks Jack Black for being yourself while inspiring kids to be their best!

What’s in Your Backpack When Life’s “Up in the Air”?

Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) has an empty backpack at the beginning of “Up in the Air”. His job as a professional “downsizer” allows him to live according to his philosophy of living this way- always travelling and never developing close relationships. He believes this philosophy so much that he gives “motivational talks” from time to time about the value of emptying the backpack of your life- your things and people. It’s people who weigh Bingham down and keep him from moving. Moving is life he says, and he’s the most alive person he knows. He says all this with a knowing smirk.

It wouldn’t be a movie (a good one anyway) if our hero didn’t change in some way. Enter Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga). She’s just like him, except with different plumbing. An air warrior like himself, they meet at an exclusive airport lounge and plan their get-togethers according to their flight itineraries. She’s not in his backpack, but he gets all the advantages as if she were. Perfect, right? As Ryan deals with changes at work and with his sister getting married, his heart starts to warm to the idea of putting Alex in his backpack. They’re so similar. They get along so well. They grow close, and he invites her to his sister’s wedding.

At a big motivational speech that he’s making near the end of the film, he pauses as he’s giving his initial address. He realizes that he doesn’t want an empty backpack anymore. He wants Alex in there, and he wants to be in hers. Leaving mid-speech, he rushes to fly to her house. I won’t give away the ending, but what he learns is a powerful lesson in the desire for relationship. He learns that people don’t weigh him down. He learns that what he wanted before isn’t what he wants now. Ryan is like us, trying to figure out life when it’s all up in the air. At the end of the film, he stares at an airport board with hundreds of flights listed. Where will he go? Who will be in his backpack?

Where will you go? Who’s in your backpack?

Don’t Give Up For a “The Shawshank Redemption”

A touching story, “The Shawshank Redemption” is known as the movie that redeemed prison films. A new take on incarcerated life, it doesn’t contain the violent prison riots so commonplace in films in its genre. There is violence and subjugation, but mostly it depicts inmates as those who are just trying to live out their monotonous life that exists behind bars. Andy (played by Tim Robbins) is innocent, as we find out in the beginning. His steadfast belief that someday he’ll be free keeps his hopes alive. His friend and narrator of the film Red (played by the brilliant Morgan Freeman) tells him that hope is dangerous. Andy doesn’t care. Red has been in the system so long, his world has shrunk to the drab grey concrete walls of the prison. Life for Red is about keeping his head down, buying friendships with knickknacks he can get from “the outside” and a resignation that he will die incarcerated. In fact, the prison to him has become home, and he can’t imagine life any other way.

Andy has a different view. Sure, he’s a newcomer, but he ends up spending almost 20 years behind bars. The entire time, though, his goal is to get out somehow. He comes up with a plan that eventually results in his freedom. I can’t imagine hanging on to a dream for 20 years. The waiting, the anticipation, and the trials experienced during that time would take a huge toll on me for sure. During the waiting, however, Andy doesn’t isolate himself as he waits for his “real” life to begin. He revitalizes the library. He helps the prison staff with their taxes. He builds friendships, the most important friendship being with Red. He helps out as best he can where he’s at.

Many of us struggle with this. If only we had a better job, were a little older (or maybe a little younger), if we could just save up enough money, if we could only improve ourselves somehow. Life will start then. The grass will be greener next year, we tell ourselves. We’ve gotten used to life the way it is, and have resigned ourselves in a self-incarceration of defeat. Andy proves us wrong. Life is now, and we’re missing life if we think better days are to come.

“One Last Thing” . . . Or Is It?

“One Last Thing” is about a terminally ill teenager, Dylan, who goes on TV with the "United Wish Givers" foundation and tells everyone he wants to spend the weekend with his favorite supermodel Nikki Sinclair. This controversial goal is met with skepticism from everyone, but he is steadfast in his determination. Nikki, on the other hand, has a bad rep and needs to revamp her image. She decides to visit Dylan at home, gets a photo op, and bails as quickly as possible back to New York. Bummed, Dylan however renews his quest to pursue her.

As this plot progresses, a second plot that explores Dylan's relationship with his father, Earl, develops. Earl had been terminally ill as well and had already passed away. All Dylan wants is to go fishing with his father, something that will never happen again. The only connection to his father is a few video tapes that Earl left him, having these sort of father/son chats. In one video, Earl tells Dylan that he's in the afterlife, waiting for him (But take your time on Earth, son.).

Dylan vehemently denies the existence of an afterlife. This is introduced by an unfortunate scene with a bible thumper in the hallway of his high school. This is a frustrating scene, because it portrayed Christians as rude thugs that judge others harshly. The language used by this "Christian" was clichéd, and it may be that the writer of the film had a bad experience with some unfortunately pushy Christian at some point in the past. It’s an unfortunate bias that harshly criticizes rather than explores the issues of the Christian faith.

All that aside, Dylan's quest for Nikki leads him to New York. While there, he starts seeing his dad everywhere he goes. He then meets up with some Krishna guy who affirms the existence of an afterlife. Still skeptical, Dylan nonetheless starts to soften his heart toward this possibility. This questioning is crucial, as it sets up Dylan’s experience after death. He longs to be with his father so much. Will he be with his dad in the afterlife?

The ideal Hollywood ending was a bit mushy. Do we always get what we want, even after death? And what if what we want is really lame compared to what the afterlife is really like? The ending may please audiences, but it’s a sugar coated fairy tale that sidesteps the bigger questions of what’s waiting on the other side. Will we be transported to an Earth 2.0, complete with fishing trips with our dads forever? Or is something much grander and beyond our imagining waiting for us?

“One Last Thing” certainly has heart, but not much soul.

I never thought that this film would be made. I actually really loved that "Before Sunset" had an open ending. But this looks like a perfect follow up film. There are no words that explain my excitement for this film!