College classics: Fight Club (with a Tao twist)

Here's another film that I think most college students are familar with, especially guys: Fight Club. The 1999 David Fincher dark-comedy-actioner has been a pretty strong hit with 19 year old males, but women and adults should take a look at it as well. Here, I compared it with Tao philosophy. Hopefully, this will show students how to take a new spin on popular movies.

Philosophical lessons do not usually saturate Hollywood action movies. Most of the time, a movie about people kicking and punching each other is not going to amount to much more than that. Sometimes, however, great ideas are hidden underneath layers of flash and advertising. Much like The Matrix, Fight Club is an action movie geared for younger audiences that also has deep philosophical teachings that audiences (and perhaps even the filmmakers) missed. Fight Club is a work of social criticism and contains many teachings of the Tao, which we have learned in this class. More importantly, I have recognized these lessons and they have changed my life. The Taoist teachings reflected in this movie show how modern American society can make people ill.
The story begins with a young man, age 30, who works for a major automobile manufacturer. His job is to investigate crash sites where the vehicle’s safety features may have malfunctioned. Basically, he checks to make sure that his product does not kill enough people to issue a costly recall. This relates to recent exposures of corporate greed and deception, most notably the Firestone Tires scandal. Like the chiefs of that company, he knows his product can kill but his job states that he must try to report it in other ways as to save his corporation money.
He is, like many of his generation, a nameless face: a person working in a huge office building, trying to make some money. In fact, one of the quirks of this movie is that he does not have a name (the credits call him “the Narrator”). He is not a smashing hero or exceptional individual, and he spends his free time shopping for furniture and name brand items that will spruce up his apartment. In all, he leads a pointless existence and knows it. He does not go out often, and his job takes up his life.
His boring life and his pursuit of empty possessions lead him to insomnia. He is so bored and apathetic that he cannot sleep, and he tries various methods to cease his monotony. His real problem is that he has tried to make himself happy with brand names and possessions. As the Tao Te Ching states, “Chase after money and security and your heart will never unclench”(9). He talks about the imported Swedish tables and handcrafted dishware he bought and wonders sarcastically why they do not please him. His life has become completely useless because he has not filled it with anything real.
A doctor, upon hearing his pleas for help, tells him that real pain comes with real problems, and suggests he try seeing cancer patients in pain before deciding that his life is horrible. This piece of advice leads the insomniac to various support groups. He visits with cancer patients, pretending that he is afflicted, and sees true pain. “If you open yourself to loss,” the Tao Te Ching states, “you are at one with loss and you can accept it completely”(23). Of course, the movie presents his visits in a dry humor, which can be offending to anyone who has gone through cancer. The point is that he realizes he has less to worry about than he originally thought, and begins to “sleep” better.
For his work, he travels across the country to check out claims. During these flights, he makes a terrific point about American business and hospitality, which he calls “the single-serving life”. He describes the single-serving meals on the plane; the single-serving coffee at offices; the single-serving shampoo bottles in the hotel bathrooms; the single-serving packets of condiments at these bland, uninteresting places; and the “single-serving friends,” who are the people he meets during flights and has brief conversations with. His annoyance is with America’s tendency to be convenient and quick without establishing any quality, which sounds much like Robert Pirsig’s grievances in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance about quality and the people in a hurry. The Narrator knows that he cannot create a serious conversation with someone he will likely never see again, and thus his life is full of business terms and idle small talk, while completely lacking any depth.
This changes on one flight home when he meets Tyler Durden. Tyler is outgoing and completely unreserved in his mannerisms. He is nearly the opposite of the Narrator, and from their brief conversation he learns that they live near each other. The Narrator then returns home to find his apartment in ruins. An explosion completely wiped out his apartment and destroyed everything he owned. He has relied on these possessions, as I have mentioned, and so he is heartbroken and unsure of what to do next. He has no friends, so he calls up Tyler, who lets him stay at his place.
Tyler and the Narrator go out often and discuss the problems that they face. The Narrator is so unhappy because all of the things that he has worked for are gone, and how he almost had enough stuff. Tyler begins to shed light on his new friend. He explains that the important thing is no one died, and urges the Narrator to forget about his clothes and furniture and other items. “The things you own,” Tyler says, “end up owning you.” This is a very Tao statement, much like “If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich”(33). I will note the relation to Christian teaching in this, as Jesus taught this idea many times. It makes his friend realize even more the pathetic nature of his life.
Another point that Tyler tries to make is that the Narrator should be himself and quit worrying about his appearance. As the Tao Te Ching states, “Care about people’s approval and you will be their prisoner”(9). Tyler knows how to let insults go, and thus has an extreme amount of confidence. This reflects on his friend, who is very uptight and unhappy when they first meet.
The two continue to live and talk, and the Narrator is very impressed with Tyler’s views on life. Both of them were raised without much help from their fathers and are stuck in a mid-life confused state; they are looking for the meaning to life and trying to convince themselves that they are special. Tyler, who makes soap in his basement and works odd jobs at night, is an interesting character. Without ever admitting it, he is quite a Taoist master.
He encourages the Narrator to have “near-life experiences,” which are random stunts designed to help him accept death and not fear it so much. “You’re one step closer to rock bottom,” he tells the frightened Narrator after he burns his hand and makes him miserable for one night. “It's only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything.” This relates to the Tao The Ching, which states several times that death is your wisest advisor. “He [the Master] knows that he is going to die, and he has nothing left to hold on to… He holds nothing back from life; therefore he is ready for death”(50). “If you want to be given everything, give everything up”(22). The Narrator has given up the comforts of home to live in a rundown house without all of his possessions. He accepts it, and then enjoys it because there is no pressure.
The two friends decide on one of their early nights out that they need to release some aggravation. This is where the namesake of the film comes in. They find it refreshing to engage in hand-to-hand battle, just for the rush. “All of them [athletes and others] embody the virtue of non-competition. Not that they don’t love to compete,” as the Tao Te Ching says, “but they do it in the spirit of play”(68). They create the Fight Club in a local bar’s basement, and its popularity grows because it is strictly a positive release from the modern world. It is a place where men can go and let out their pain. The point is no to hurt the other person or even to win, but to release bottled emotions. It becomes an absurd, alternative therapy session for men.
Tyler continues his odd teaching of the Tao. He uses his platform as the creator of the Fight Club to say a few words to its members about society. “Look at the guys in Fight Club,” he says. “The strongest and smartest men who have ever lived -- and they're pumping gas and waiting tables; or they're slaves with white collars.” Tyler is unhappy with modern American society. Many of the members come to release the stress they get from pointless jobs, and Tyler bemoans the system. This relates to the Tao Te Ching’s sections on society in general. “When the upper class is extravagant and irresponsible,” it says, “while the poor have nowhere to run-all this is robbery and chaos”(53). Tyler sympathizes with his working-class fellows, and voice this to them.
Tyler continues to describe America’s preoccupation with materialism, saying, “Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes. A whole generation working in jobs we hate, just so we can buy shit we don't need. We were raised by television to believe that someday we'll all be millionaires and movie stars and rock stars- but we won't.” He realizes the futility of his culture and wants to change it. He rejects our cultural traditions, which goes along with the Tao Te Ching passage reading, “Ritual is the husk of true faith, the beginning of chaos”(38).
Unfortunately, this platform creates problems. As the movie goes on, the Narrator realizes that Tyler’s great ideas are getting more and more radical. They are also getting more and more dangerous. He threatens a stranger working at a mini-mart to either die or change his useless life. The Narrator fears these changes and begins to see Tyler as a dangerous reactionary. Tyler continues to preach to the members of Fight Club and eventually recruits them into a sort of underground army. He does not encourage them to fight a traditional battle, but fight the facets of society that he finds useless. “We're the middle children of history,” he tells them, “with no special purpose or place. We don't have a great war in our generation, or a great depression. Our great depression is our lives. Our great war is a spiritual war.”
His spiritual war becomes a series of random pranks around the city. Each member has a certain prank to pull that mocks corporate America. Tyler contends that corporations are not even human anymore. His idea seems justified, as once again the Tao Te Ching backs him up, saying, “Throw away industry and profit, and there won’t be any thieves”(19). Eventually, however, these pranks increase from childish vandalism to major destruction of property, as stores are smashed and buildings set ablaze. Tyler again tries to justify his actions with the fact that no actual person is hurt, but the Narrator sets out to stop his actions before they get way out of control.
The Narrator’s search proves difficult. New clubs begin popping up all over the country, and Tyler is the official leader of all of them. The Narrator quits his job and trails Tyler all over the country, hoping to halt the spread of his messages. Tyler, however, stays a step ahead of the frustrated Narrator. To make matters worse, Tyler has been involved in a relationship with a weird lady whom the Narrator met at the self-help meetings (she, like him, was just going to observe). This girl, Marla, acts very strangely around the Narrator, as if he is the one having an affair with her. Eventually, after days of searching, he calls her up to ask for clues about Tyler’s whereabouts.
The movie reaches its shocking climax here, because Marla tells the Narrator that he is Tyler Durden! Everything comes into focus for the Narrator, who realizes the truth. Tyler Durden is a fictional character; a split personality created by the Narrator to be everything that he was not. For the entire time, the Narrator has been the actual radical in charge of all the plans. He sometimes has imagined himself watching Tyler, but when Tyler has interacted with anyone else, it has just been the unconscious Narrator. He actually has not cured his insomnia; rather, when he believes he is asleep he really “becomes” Tyler. He blew up his own apartment because he hated it.
Armed with this revelation, the Narrator figures he can stop all the plans easily because it was actually himself who created them. His unconscious mind, however, is a step ahead of his conscious being. “Tyler” told his followers that nothing could change, even under direct orders from himself. Thus, the Narrator cannot undo the orders for Tyler’s final project, which turns out to be the complete bombing and destruction of several buildings. These buildings hold offices for major credit card magnates, as Tyler wants to eliminate all credit debt.
Exhausted, the Narrator turns himself in to the police in a final ploy to stop the destruction. Even the police officers, however, are under orders from Tyler. The Narrator makes it to one of the sites and tries to diffuse the bombs when his imaginary friend shows up and “stops” him from doing it. He cannot get over this mental block fast enough, and the explosions occur.
At the end of the movie, the Narrator approaches his problem directly. He overcomes his block and mentally “kills” Tyler, but it is too late. He realizes what has happened and he finally understands why he created this mess. He reaches his enlightenment, and then the film ends.
As I think about what really happened in the story, the Taoist teaching becomes clear to me: take the middle path. “Reach for the center,” as it says many times. The Narrator was an extremely boring person with a pointless life based upon useless items. He created this split personality that was the opposite of himself because he was in such an extremely dull state. This personality engaged him and made him think. Tyler, however, was not a good thing for him. He was too extreme. He placed too much emphasis on action and was far out of control. Therefore, both characters are lost because they are extremes. At the heart of one extreme, the Narrator, is another extreme, Tyler. They are the ying and yang. The Narrator needs to follow the middle path and destroy the extreme influences in his life on both sides.
Another common theme in the Tao Te Ching is “Know thyself,” and the Narrator did not. He did not realize that this was his own soul, crying out for action. He created this person because he was so ridiculously empty, and instead of fixing his life, he simply took it from one extreme to the other. At the end of the movie, he realizes this.
When I first saw this movie, I was amazed. The philosophy that Tyler showed spoke to me. Of course, I have no desire to attempt near-death stunts or blow up buildings because I realize that Tyler is not complete. I also, however, realize that the Narrator is far from complete. When you take the middle path, and look at the both of them as whole (because they are the same person), you see how sick this man has become.
I loved some of Tyler’s ideas about modern American society and our worship of useless things. It always amazes me how much the average person wishes to be rich and famous, as if that is all there is to life. We treat our celebrities like Gods, and then gasp when they fail and become human to us. His attitude about death also really made me think. Personally, I have always been very afraid of death, but I am now starting to understand how it can be a helpful tool for living. I can also see why he lived in a real shoddy house- he wanted to have nothing.
The Narrator’s experiences show how unsatisfying a career can be when it does not positively affect the community. He practiced non-being in a literal sense- he did nothing. As I have learned, that is not true non-being. He needed to take action to make his life worthwhile. He was calmer and more flowing than Tyler at most points, but he was not awake. He was not aware of his own true problems and did not seek them out until it was too late.
Many of the lessons that I enjoyed from this movie have been reflected in our class. We live in a spiritually unhealthy society, and we must realize that the teachings of the Tao can help us live better and see things more clearly. Fight Club serves as an unexpected source of life lessons. As Tyler told his disciples, “You are not your job. You are not your car. You’re not the clothes you wear.” We are human beings, and we are more important than the things we own or how much money we have. If only everyone in America could see this truth (this reality), we would be at peace.




Works Referenced

Fincher, David,Dir. Fight Club. 1998, Regency Films.
Mitchell, Stephen, and Lao-Tzu. Tao Te Ching. Harper: New York, 1988.
Pirsig, Robert. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Harper: New York, 1999.

Summer movie blowout

Here's a quick recap of some summer movies I had the chance to see recently.

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army - in theaters now -

To complete my recent Guillermo-obsession, I saw the original and now the sequel. I enjoyed both of them a lot. Del Toro has a great visual style, loving the whimsical and fantasy but using it the right way. He also knows this series deserves a sense of humor, and it delivers. I don't know about the bad guys, but the heroes are great.

Wanted - in theaters now -

Another comic book adaptation, but this one is all flash and not much else. I like James McAvoy, and he does well as a loser who finds out he's actually special. This has some crazy action sequences, but it might have the most annoying script I've heard in a while. The dialogue and most of the story is grating, but the action pulls it out just enough for it to be decent.

Mamma Mia! - in theaters now -

N wanted to see this, and I can't argue with a rock musical. If you like ABBA, you'll like it. It's boisterous and fluffy without ever getting too serious.

The X Files: I Want to Believe - in theaters now -

A lot of people have been complaining about this because it's not very groundbreaking. While I do agree that it is mostly just a longer regular episode, I like that. I never thought they were great at continuing story lines; I just went for the freak of the week. This has some juicy developments on Mulder and Scully, but it's mostly just one more story of someone creating weird problems somewhere. Billy Conolly is creepy as a priest with dark secrets and maybe psychic powers. It might be a long episode, but it's a good one, and I was happy to see Duchovny and Anderson back on screen.

Step Brothers - in theaters now -

A great pairing of Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly trying to outdo each other in ridiculousness, this doesn't have much structure but is hilarious for the most part. The guys do everything they can to be destructive and immature, although it nearly falls apart in the end. Add in some great cameos, and it's a lot like Apatow's recent hits: great humor, some slow spots, not much story, relationships, and male genitalia.

The New World - 2005 -

I never sat down and watched this long epic throughout, but I'm glad I did. Terrence Malik is a visual master who doesn't mind if he takes too long, because he wants to get a beautiful picture and mood down. Colin Farrell is surprisingly toned down as John Smith, early pioneer, and Christian Bale arrives halfway to keep things interesting. This was shot by Emmanuel Lubezki (Children of Men), so it's worth it just for the cinematics.

Lars and the Real Girl - 2007 -

As with many offbeat indies, this film has an eccentric main character, who lives in a small town and has a nowhere job... but this time, the protagonist has a real delusional problem: he's in love with a doll. It sounds silly, and it is, but of course the gentle townsfolk don't want to hurt him, so they play along. It's easy to be cynical of this movie, but the acting is good enough that you can believe it. Ryan Gosling, one of the best young actors there is, throws himself into the main role, and damned if he doesn't make you feel for him. Emily Mortimer and Paul Schneider are his family that have to put up with him. This is a sweet tale with some comedy, but it wants more touching and acceptance than all-out laughs. It's hard at times to play along, but the people in the film do, and it creates a nice indie piece.

Fido - 2006 -

Here's another offbeat indie that had a goofy premise: what if there was a big zombie outbreak, but we figured out how to control them and made them slaves? Yeah, it sounds kind of like the ending and bonus material of Shaun of the Dead, but with a satiric take on corporate life and false 50's life.... so I guess it's ripping off Pleasantville as well. But it's got some nice gags and swipes at society.

It begins as a young boy gets his first zombie (Billy Conolly, making quite a career for himself). His parents, the underrated Dylan Baker and a feisty Carrie-Ann Moss, are mixed. The dad doesn't like it, but the mom grows to understand why the boy needs him. They are threatened by new neighbor and big brother honcho Matt Czerny, who is high up at the all-powerful zombie corporation / dystopian force. Throw in a solid Tim Blake Nelson as another nutty neighbor, and this faux-50's but also post-zompocalypse neighborhood is a strange place. When the zombie (affectionately named Fido) eats the neighbor, it creates a panic, and the boy has to save him. It's a nice mix of humor and horror, but not nearly on the same level as SOTD. It's a bit too smarmy for its own good, and although writer/director Andrew Currie is cleverly trying to make a social commentary, it doesn't have the success of other new mixes. But it's a good shot, and a nice early effort for him.

films in brief

Once again, some short reviews of things I saw recently.

Super High Me - 2007 - on DVD now

Doug Benson once made a joke that he should stop smoking weed, then smoke nonstop for 30 days and make a documentary out of it like Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me. Well, a couple weed-loving producers decided why not do it? And so ever-stoner Benson quits smoking, sees the results, and then goes all out and compares. In between, he does stand up, chats with pals like Paul Tompkins, Patton Oswalt, all the UCB guys, and the like, and also gives a brief history of medical marijuana and how easy it is to get in California (uhh... reallllly easy.... why didn't anyone tell me this?). This is a funny take on personal docs, but it also has more information than I expected about the fine line between legal weed and not (which has been a controversial topic out here). If you can put up with a million stoner jokes, it's a great doc/expose, funny and interesting.

Sex and Death 101 - 2007 - on DVD now

Speaking of the great Mr. Oswalt, his appearance in this film prompted us to look it up, along with an interesting premise. A man (Simon Baker) finds a list that has every woman he's ever slept with on it, but then it also has many more names, so it appears it can predict the name of every woman he will ever sleep with too. This causes him to freak out and end his engagement, while questioning fate. Meanwhile, Winona Ryder stars as a black widow woman who puts lothario men in comas... and may factor into his life.

For such an interesting premise, this doesn't live up to it, going in many weird directions. I like indie movies that take chances, but this goes way off track too often, trying to mix in romantic satire with R-rated slapstick, serious questions about fate and love, goofy sci-fi, and a host of other things that just don't quite work together.

Iron Man - in theaters now

So much has been said, so I can't add anything. For all the people who doubted Robert Downey Jr. as the lead, he's by far the best (maybe only) reason to watch it. It's a solid comic action movie, with good humor, and one of the best to come out recently.

But I overlooked some of those, like...

Hellboy - 2004

I never paid attention to it when it came out, but my new obsession with Guillermo Del Toro led me to watch this in full. He's the real master of comic books now, mixing in great visuals with fun and humor and not getting full of himself. Now I'm excited for part 2, which is right around the corner.

Gerry - 2002

As part of Gus Van Sant's avant-garde movement this decade, he has been making some minimalist films with non-actors or few actors, very long takes, minimal dialogue, long shots, and open endings. This was the first entry in that strand, but it at least has real name people in it (Matt Damon and Casey Affleck). Basically, two guys named Gerry get lost in the desert. Why did they go? What is the point? Why does one... That's up to you to decide.

Return to Me - 2000

Bonnie Hunt's directorial debut is a romantic comedy without a ton of comedy, but a lot of feeling. David Duchovny stars as a man who loses his wife, and after a long grieving period, meets sparky waitress Minnie Driver, happy to be living with a heart transplant. What they don't know is that her heart came from his wife. Sounds cheesy? It's light and heartfelt, and serious at times, and it works. Hunt puts herself and some other random people to work surrounding these two and pushing them towards each other. One of the better chick flicks, even if it sounds like a too-Hollywood premise.

Across the Universe

I was wrong.

I was initially excited about this after a mind-bending trailer popped up last year. Others warned me that it would be lame and a bit silly, but I was hopeful. You can't keep down the Beatles, right?

Well, the songs were mostly good, but the actual film was .... what? Pretty much nothing. There is a generic plot about the 60's and the crazy stuff that happened that tries to connect musical segments, but it doesn't go anywhere and leaves huge holes. The idea of naming characters after songs is.... awkward. The dialogue that's not sung is ... incredibly awkward. The trippy musical segments are not nearly as cool as I thought they'd be visually, and don't really add anything to the plot, since there really isn't one. I did like some of the covers various actors and singers did. No, it's not worth watching; I'd just download two excellent covers by the Secret Machines - "Flying" and "Blue Jay Way". Also, I liked "Falling," "I Want to Hold Your Hand," and "Dear Prudence," just how they sounded. They might be worth your time... the feature is not.

It was a good.... no, it wasn't a good idea, but I think their hearts were in the right place. Just please come up with something more for a story next time.

films in brief

Here's a few quick reviews of some things I saw recently.

The Da Vinci Code - 2006 -

Yes, it took me this long to watch it. I'm kinda played out on all the conspiracy flicks (which this helped cause), but I see why it was addictive and popular. It's a nice thriller, very exciting and all, and it's one of the better blockbusters to come out recently. I was wondering where Audrey Tatou went, so that's cool. I just thought it was hilarious that Hanks got to costar with Ian McKellan, whom he is starting to look like more and more.

In America - 2001 -

Jim Sheridan's modern immigrant tale is a heartfelt light drama, with lots of emotion. Paddy Considine and Samantha Morton are poor Irish who come to New York looking for something and end up in a junkie-filled tenant. Their cute daughters, though, have fun exploring the new world, making friends with reclusive artist Djimon Honsou. This is a very sweet and touching tale, with strong performances from the young cast.

At the Death House Door - 2008 - on IFC now -

IFC presents this stunning doc about capital punishment, focusing on the intersecting lives of a man who was most likely innocent but had a raw deal and was executed, and the longtime prison chaplain who saw his last day. As they present the facts in the case of Carlos De Luna, the filmmakers also go over the life of the pastor who consoled him and hundreds of other convicted men. It all took place in one of the most famous prisons in Texas, where lots of executions happened.

This is a biased piece, for sure, but it's not deceitful. It's presenting a case against the death penalty, through factual evidence from the case, and adding emotional testimony from the pastor (who now campaigns hard against it). The police overlooked a lot of obvious things in the De Luna case, and it now looks pretty clearly like he was innocent, and in fact knew the man who did it. It's a powerful argument in a very strong political doc.

Wristcutters: A Love Story - 2006 -

I had the chance to see this indie film at Sundance two years ago, but I didn't, mainly because it was getting mixed reviews. Now I see why. Despite a very interesting premise and the potential for sharp dark comedy, it drags at times. The idea here is that suicide takes you to an afterlife that is a lot like real life, just slightly worse. Everyone in this world (which looks like the crappiest parts of this country) is dull and disillusioned... which makes sense, because they all killed themselves. But in a weird way, they're at peace with suffering. The black humor they aim for at the start fades when protagonist Patrick Fugit learns his ex-girlfriend may have killed herself too, in guilt over his death. He sets off on a quest to find her, but runs into Shannyn Sossamon, who claims to have not killed herself on purpose.

The film drags for a while and then tries to look positive, undermining its dark comedy. Despite great cameos from Tom Waits and Will Arnett, it's uneven. The world they set up is bleak, but it also looks like they didn't have the money to do much else. It was a cool idea, but it just doesn't work out as well.

In the Valley of Elah - 2007 - on DVD now -

Paul Haggis' military drama was overlooked last year, but it did get some award notices. Tommy Lee Jones got a surprise nom for best actor, so critics were high on it, even if audiences aren't watching anything Iraq-themed. Ironically, I think it's much better then Crash, which won it all several years ago (I still don't know why). Jones is stoic as usual, but shows a lot of pain as man whose soldier son disappears after he comes home. Being a former police officer and an army man himself, he sets on a mission to find out what happened. The local police chief, Charlize Theron, doesn't appreciate him getting in the way of her investigation, but he has some good insights. The military base and its officials are being shady, causing them to wonder if there's something up.

This is a solid mystery with a lot of emotional pull. It starts to push an anti-war feeling toward the end, but it's a good film

Recount (TV movie)

HBO couldn't resist, in this election year, to make a definitive film about the 2000 election nuttiness. Even though it might not be fairly balanced, it's really good. They skip over most of the election to just what happened after Election Day, and though it is a great ensemble cast, the protagonist is clearly Kevin Spacey. Ah, I missed the Spaceman. Really bad. He's excellent as Ron Klain, a guy who helped Gore through the recount even as he was having issues with the VP. On his side are Dennis Leary, John Hurt, and Ed Begley Jr. (natch). The opposing side comes with Tom Wilkinson, who plays James Baker a little bit too boss-villain-y, and Laura Dern, who makes Katherine Harris look overwhelmed. Bob Balaban is the only nice guy on the GOP side. I mean, I felt it could be real, but I'm biased.

Like I said, it's not exactly a balanced story, but they are trying to paint the Dems as underdogs rising up in adversity. They had to push through public outrage and lots of legal difficulties, and they never had the "lead" as reported by media, which hurt. The film touches on the voter discrimination problems, but doesn't accuse too much. The worst facet probably is that the Republicans basically paid for their protesters and then encouraged them to riot in the local voting offices. This claim has been made before, so who knows. It brought back some bad memories for me, and of course, the last 8 years kinda... well, you know.

It may not be fair, but it's really good, and it's a great return for Spacey.

films in brief

Here are some short reviews for a few things I saw recently.

FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL - 2008 (in theaters) -

Just like most Apatow projects, this is a relaxed comedy with romantic tinges; a relationship story with some great gags. Jason Segal is a lovable lunk, and Mila Kunis steps it up as his new love interest. The comedy comes in moments here and there, and it's good but not overwhelming. I just love Segel, Kristen Bell, Jack McBrayer, and Paul Rudd too much to give it a bad name. It's decent comedy without much fanfare.


DOGVILLE - 2003 -

I'll be honest. I have no idea what to make of it. I wanted to see this for years and I finally got around to it and, well, let's just say that Lars von Trier is an intriguing director. This looks like a play, but it's a film: an original concept, shot on a stage, but with no audience, and with some of the set fixtures missing.... like, I don't know, WALLS! Yeah.... very strange way of filming, mixing theater standards with film and leaving that out. I think it could be comparable to dark stage plays like Ibsen. I also thought of William Faulkner, not that this is the same class as those great writers, but that's kind of the dark tone. It goes in weird directions, but the cast is amazing. Lauren Bacall jumped in and Nicole Kidman had just won an Oscar when she did this.

I'm torn because I think he could've done well if he shot it normally, but of course he won't, because he started that whole Dogma 95 movement and he has to be different. I found that a lot of people think it's anti-American, but it seems more to me like a dark examination of human nature, especially regarding the myth of small towns making good people. If you like indie or foreign pieces, it's def worth a look, but know that it's three hours long and a trip.

LUST, CAUTION - 2007 (just out on DVD) -

Ang Lee's erotic thriller is a strong period piece. In 1930's China, a woman caught up in rebellion tries to get close to a powerful government man. This starts a little slow, but picks up dramatically towards the end. Beautiful, intense, and emotional, this might have lost audiences because of its rough sexual scenes, but it's a very good drama.

THE BRAVE ONE - 2007 (just out on DVD) -

I skipped this Jodie Foster drama last year, skeptical of vigilante films, and it most certainly is that. But then I saw that it's also directed by Neil Jordan, who does a lot of sensitive and gender-confusing fare (The Crying Game, Breakfast on Pluto), so it shouldn't be totally macho. Foster, a popular NPR-type radio host in New York, goes into full revenge mode when some thugs kill her husband (Sayid from Lost). She also befriends a detective, Terence Howard, who starts to wonder about her intentions, while unknowingly steering her towards a crime boss he can't convict. This is emotional and pretty dark, and I'm not sure if the message is deeper than I want it to be. I can't imagine Jordan ever wanting to remake Death Wish with a female lead, but I get that feeling here. Maybe there's more than I see, and I suggest taking a look. It's gripping, but does it take sides too easily?