Well, I went to the theater after work expecting to see
Thirteen Conversations About One Thing, oops, I should have read the show times a little closer, that movie won't open here until Wednesday. Instead I went to
The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, a movie I didn't really expect to see in the theater. Just some short comments, I liked the movie, and not just because of the presence of Jena Malone (who is slowly creeping up my pantheon of today's young actresses; though I doubt she would ever dislodge Kirsten, oh Kirsten....), who plays another character like her breakthrough role (at least to me) in
Donnie Darko, a sweet, vulnerable girl hiding emotional damage and struggling to find intimacy, with the equally misunderstood object of her affections. I liked the movie best when the film followed the boys slacking off, screwing around, drinking, bullshitting, smoking a joint, making jokes, plotting their comic books, as well as their sometimes elaborate stunts and gags; their adolescent, testosterone-fueled lifes had a nice rythmn and vibe, and carried a movie that was somewhat short on narrative (the film also had a realistic look, like something that actually was taking place in the 1970s). I also liked the fumbling, stammering, looking down at your feet romantic relationship between Francis and Margie. Oh yeah, the animation scenes, courtesy of Todd McFarlane, were a gas, they had, somewhat, the look of a 70s
Heavy Metal cartoon, rendered with more modern technology. The movie lost me a bit when it veered suddenly into more serious territory, such as Tim and Francis's growing estrangement, which was so on and off, I probably shouldn't be calling it "growing," or the whole Margie's dark secret thing. And while I saw the entire ending coming a mile away (though my version of it was slightly different, who knew, after giving a cougar PCP?), I though the reading of William Blake's poem "The Tyger" was affective.
I generally liked the acting; Kiernan Culkin plays a better borderline sociopath than his brother (anyone remember
The Good Son? I do), and I really liked Vincent D'Onofrio's Father, which he plays with a bit of a rebelious streak, he's been around and understands the boys more than the earnest, well-meaning, yet somewhat out of touch Sister Assumptia, who, played by Jodi Foster was OK, with the wavering accent and all.
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