Movies

The wonderful wife and I saw "The Descendants" a few weeks ago. At the time, I thought it was OK, but not much more than that. It starts with a husband who's supposed to be detached and uninvolved and with two bratty kids, but before you can say Jack Robinson (where did that come from?) he's mister sensitivity and the kids are supernaturally supportive. And it starts with him preparing to make a big score selling the patrimony but by the end he's a virtual recruiter for the Sierra Club.

Over the next few days, however, I found myself thinking better of it. The acting was very good. The husband's eventual forgiveness of his wife's betrayal was, well, noble. And I wonder whether his refusal to sell the inheritance was admirable (he wanted to prevent despoiling the virgin landscape with shopping centers and golf courses) or was it vengeful (he wanted to deprive his wife's lover of that big commission)? Of course, he wound up doing both, but I kind of like the ambiguity behind his motivation.

Last week we saw "The Artist." An imaginative and pleasant little movie with a charming star (the woman, not the man), but I don't understand why it's gotten all the raves it has. Though I did laugh out loud at the end, when the silent movie stars did a dance number, a la "Singin' in the Rain."

From Netflix, "True Romance" and "Everything Is Illuminated" both rate close to 4 stars.