The Quest for Redemption

Saw two new movies this past weekend – Sherrybaby via Netflix and The Children of Men at a Saturday matinee.

Sherrybaby stars Maggie Gyllenhaal as a woman who has just been released from prison, has kicked her heroin habit and wants to reunite with her daughter. Her brother and sister-in-law have been raising the girl and are not quite ready to just hand her over to Sherry. This is a really depressing movie. Sherry never hesitates to offer her body as payment for what she wants (e.g., she wants to get a job working with children, the placement officer needs a little encouragement) and she has trouble understanding why her sister-in-law might be attached to the little girl. We also learn about her troubled past (let me just say it involves a creepy, creepy daddy).

In the end, Sherry has some hard choices to make and she goes down the path toward several bad decisions. She steers back from the worst one, though, toward a better decision (no right and wrong in this one) and redeems herself pretty well, considering.

The Children of Men is based on PD James’ dystopian novel. Set in 2027, women across the world have lost the ability to have children. The youngest people alive are 18 years old. Most of the planet has been obliterated by nukes or has sunk into other unmentionable conditions. England is the last civilized place on the planet. Clive Owen plays an alcoholic bureaucrat waiting for the world to end. His ex-wife, leader of a radical activist group, contacts him out of the blue. He decides to help her and ends up in the fight of his life, in the fight of everyone’s life: bringing a young pregnant woman to safety.

Although he is not exactly enthusiastic at first, he is drawn deeper into the chaos, seems to suddenly not be drinking any more, and, with memories of his dead son firmly in mind, fiercely protects the young woman to the end. Another successful shot at redemption.

Maybe that’s all anyone ever wants.

January movies

Deconstructing Harry – kicked off the New Year with one of my favorite Woody Allens

Titanic – seemed much sappier this time

The Spanish Prisoner – Mamet’s puzzle of a thriller, hadn't seen this one in awhile

Mission Impossible III – yawn.

Factotum – how can a movie be so depressing? Oh yeah, it’s based on Bukowski. Good performances, though, from Matt Dillon, one of our most underrated actors, and Lily Taylor, one of our most ignored actors

Flirting with Disaster – still as hilarious as the first time I saw this. One of my all time favorites.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – another favorite, so sad and so amusing

Brokeback Mountain - enjoyed seeing this again, still heartbreaking

Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill – an interesting documentary, hadn’t seen this when it went around the theatres.

Cold Mountain - enjoyed seeing this one again too

All the King’s Men – hmmm. A lot of wasted talent here.

Bullets Over Broadway – another one of my favorite Woodys. John Cusack does a great job in the typical Woody role.

Three Times – AO Scott had this on his top ten for 2006. I fell asleep. It was interesting, but if you’re going to tell a story with very little dialogue, you’ve got to come through more on the other aspects.

La Strada – had never seen this. I really don’t get what the big deal is with Italian cinema :-)

Curse of the Golden Flower and Volver – see posting below

Monty Python and the Holy Grail – how is it that I laugh my ass off every time I see this? We just finally gave in and ordered the complete Flying Circus set!

Look Both Ways – Australian melodrama about a woman obsessed with death and a man who has just gotten a cancer diagnosis

Swingers – Jon Favreau is a genius.

Prairie Home Companion – how sad to watch this again, now that Altman is gone. Hard to believe there won’t be any more.

This month we also watched a lot of Seinfeld and Frasier episodes from Netflix. Funny stuff.