where hypotheses come to die (madman101) wrote,
where hypotheses come to die

Some (More) Girls: Mixed reviews.

Y'all know that the zenith, nadir and epitome of my life was when I finally was able to watch the movie, "Mean Girls." Yesterday, I got to watch the movie, "Some Girl(s)". (It was something I grabbed haphazardly at the library as I was in a big rush). This movie has little vignettes, in the style of, "Night On Earth." Each one features one of the main characters: The guy, (Adam Brody), and then 5 "girls", whom the guy is visiting to have a conversation with. He arrives to each girl, to explain that he meant no harm in all the harm he did them, primarilly by leaving them, (for some new girl).

The first three conversations, or interviews, started to bore and frustrate me. Each was in a single room. They were too talky. I latter learned that this was largely because the movie was based on a play, of the same name, which included Fran Drescher). But, the writing was not grabbing me. The guy's mannerisms or shtick were good enough, but sometimes annoying and redundant.

The first girl, (who stared in House M.D., Jennifer Morrison), was also redundant in her acting, in saying "go for it!, and in her constantly leaving the room and then returning. It is possible that the writer intended this as indicative of her personality. The second girl was an older woman, and the third was somewhat droll or lackluster. But, the writing and acting was still fairly realistic and somewhat interesting.

I was about to shoot my computer though, until the segment featuring the 4th girl, "Reggie", stepped in. Played by Zoe Kazan, this girl was a knock-out character, and an excellent actress. She was an artsy, flirty, funky, skinny little beauty, with Indianan flourishes, and a sharp intellect and nose, producing a flighty nasal, endearing twang. The character recalled girls in my past, besides Molly and Angie from the Cafe Saga, as well as Lisa Kudrow and Teri Garr. Her use of breath, and of erractic, nuanced moves, and controlled emotion, was superb, and worth checking out on its own. Let me see if I might find a YouTube...  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnzWGpJwtlM  -  ?????

It turns out that this character of Reggie, who finally brought the movie to life, was actually someone who had been written in to the movie - and had never existed in the play! Figures. But she does intensify some elements of the movie. There is an attempt to be realistic and dramatic, and to hide emotion behind surfaces and ambiguity. From the beginning of the movie, you think that they guy might be on-the-level, but you eventually find out that he is a schmuck - a douche-bag. But, the fact is that he is "complex" and full of ambiguity, like a lot of people. This is not a black-and-white morality play.

The character of Zoe reflects this ambiguity, in herself. She both longs for the guy who left her so long ago, and she is intensely angry at him for sexually abusing her when she was only 12! She both wants to prove that she is all grown up and independent, and yet she continues to be drawn into him, partly because he remains an adult figure to her. This is really a unique and real depiction of the harm done by a kind of sexual abuse which the victim mistakes for love. It mentions the sexual arousal of the victim, in real human terms, full of emotion, which is something that one NEVER sees in other fiction, or discussions.

The 5th girl, Kristen Bell, was the one who knew the guy the most, and was thus both the girl seemingly most compatible with him, and the one most likely to reject him completely.

The play was written by a guy. The movie was made mainly by women. All of the female characters are strong while hurt, and do get their way. (Reggie lunges and grabs the guy and gives him a wild, long, clumsy and passionate kiss - just as the main character did in the movie I watched previously, "Waitress"). Yes, the guy is a jerk, but a well-meaning jerk, who's real flaw is being an idiot cast adrift in a confusing world, just like everyone else. As Kristen Bell said, (to paraphrase), "If a character is being a jerk, it is because reality is a jerk."
Tags: ambiguity, assholes / assholery, bell - kristen, brody - adam, drescher - fran, girls - hot girls, kazan - zoe, labute - neil, morrison - jennifer, movies - 'some girl(s)', psychology - abuse - child abuse, psychology - sex addicts
  • Post a new comment


    Comments allowed for friends only

    Anonymous comments are disabled in this journal

    default userpic

    Your IP address will be recorded