Movie Review Monday

Not that I plan on reviewing a movie every Monday or anything. I just like alliteration.

So, I fulfilled my wish that I've been wishing for the last two weekends. I made it to the thea-tuh today. Well, the theatre, but since the Golden Globes last night, I've been feeling fancy.

Here's another tidbit about me. I love going to the movies. Literally, my idea of a fun day is theatre-hopping from one great movie to the next to the next. My all-time record is 4 in a day. I love the big screen, the surround sound, the comfy seats and the total darkness. Add buttery popcorn and a jug o' Diet Coke, and I will pay whatever the price. If I won the lottery, my first big expense would be a house. Followed closely by a lavish in-home theatre. But I'd still probably go to the movies because, basically, I just like the act of going. Even if it's by myself - like today. (Only problem -- no one will catch you up on what you missed while you were gone to the bathroom).

Anyhow, today I saw "The Fighter", starring Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, and Amy Adams. Here's another weird factoid: I love boxing, and I adore movies about boxing. It's weird as I tend to shy away from most confrontation (especially of the violent persuasion), but I totally am entranced by boxing. Maybe it's that most movies about boxing are about the underdog (and we know I love an underdog story). Maybe it's the weirdness of getting into a ring and knowing that the other person's one goal is to knock your mother effin' ass out. And that's so completely opposite of what I would ever want to do that I am intrigued by the mere lunacy of it.

The other weird factoid: I love movies about Boston and other Massachusettsy-type places. I think it's the accent. Maybe it's a latent desire to watch "Cheers" re-runs. Maybe it's that I think every Boston-ite looks like Ben Affleck or Matt Damon or either of the Wahlbergs. They don't... but still. I don't know. But it's weird, admittedly.

What am I talking about again? Oh yeah... the movie.

I loved it. Loved it.

But I didn't love it for the boxing. The boxing is really the sub-plot for me. I loved it because it's about the interactions among the people who you love best but don't always know how to love you in the way you need. It's about the ties that bind which sometimes gag us, stealing away all the words you want to say but can't. About the pain we endure by choosing to look past the faults of those closest to us because they're too difficult to admit. About recognizing that your hero is just as effed up, or more, as you might be. And how their demons become our own.

It's about making the choice to break away... to live and not simply survive. To stand in the sun as opposed to hiding in the shadows. The moment where doing what you must do supercedes what you want. It's about the possibility of redemption when maybe no one thinks you are worthwhile.

And most of that happens nowhere near the ring.

It didn't make me sad in the way that some movies make me, but it also didn't give me the cheesy "everything's gonna be alright" feeling either. What it gave me was something to chew on. To think about. And those are the stories I like best.

It also gave me the chills. Christian Bale can play a crackhead like no other. Scary.