Love, As Always, Pete

The Weekly Letters, by A. Pedersen Wood

January 18, 2007

Dear Everyone:

This week I’ve decided to skip what “Jeannie” calls “blah, blah, blah…” and move directly on to the movies.

The Good Shepherd stars Matt Damon as Edward Wilson, a CIA agent contemplating the disaster that was the Bay of Pigs in 1961.  The movie jumps around a lot in time, which can be confusing, always returning to the “present” in 1961.

It jumps back to Wilson’s days as a poetry student at Yale University, at that time (and for a long time after) a boys-only school.  So naturally, Wilson plays “Buttercup” in a production of Gilbert and Sullivan.  He is soon recruited by Skull and Bones, a “secret” society that has included many of America’s elite, including more than one of the country’s Presidents.

He is also recruited by the OSS, precursor to the CIA, its leader played by Robert De Niro who also directed.  After a one-night-stand with a friend’s sister (Angelina Jolie), Wilson is continuing on with his life until the friend, whose father happens to be a US Senator, informs him that the girl is pregnant and he has to do the right thing.

Wilson always does the right thing, even if it’s for a terrible reason.  He places his “higher calling” above everything including family and country.  As the movie jumps from one time to another, we meet many interesting people, all of whom seem to harbor dark secrets.  Damon plays Wilson with a kind of wooden stoicism.  Jolie does quite well as the neglected wife, bringing depth to what could have been “phoned in” by another actress.

We saw Children of Men mostly because it has Clive Owen in it.  He plays Theo, a gray little man who works in an office just like every other office in 2027 London.  He starts out his days with a little something extra in his coffee just to get through the morning.  He had a wife and child once, but that was long ago and he has no fight left in him, or so he thinks.

The last child born in the whole world, 18 years ago, has just been killed.  The rest of the world is even worse off than England and the government has taken an anti-immigration (i.e., non-English) stance that has the country on the brink of civil war.

None of which really affects Theo until his ex-wife shows up with a “special favor” to ask of him.  To transport a “package” out of the country.  That’s Kee, the only woman in the world to successfully carry her pregnancy to full term.

Everyone wants Kee, to use for their own propaganda purposes, and they’re just about willing to kill her to get her.  Theo is thrust into the mess and can’t help himself but try to save her.

Michael Caine puts in an appearance as Jasper, an aged, and charming, hippie who still has that spark of individuality that government types hate.  If this movie gets nominated for any Oscars, it will be for set decoration.

Dreamgirls.  (Saved the best for last.)  This is based on the Broadway musical.  As a musical, it’s pedestrian at best.  Only two songs are really memorable and one isn’t the sort of thing you start humming on your way out of the theater.

The movie covers a period of time from the mid-1960’s through 1979, beginning in Detroit where three girls, the “Dreamettes”, appear onstage at a local talent contest.  The contest is rigged, of course, but it’s the girls’ lucky night because they meet Curtis Taylor, Jr (Jamie Foxx), a used-car salesman by day, a manager by night.

Curtis has only one client at the time, James “Thunder” Early, played with irresistible enthusiasm by Eddie Murphy.  Not only that, but he can actually sing.  Curtis renames the girls’ group “The Dreams” and has them sing backup for James.

The girls are Deena (Beyoncé Knowles), Lorrell (Anika Noni Rose) and Effie (Jennifer Hudson).  Effie is the lead singer because she has the best voice.  Curtis quickly changes that, moving the slimmer, prettier, more malleable Deena into the center position.

Curtis measures success with dollar signs and wants more than anything to “crossover” into mainstream (read “white”) entertainment.  He plays the “family” card when it gets him what the wants, then callously throws Effie out when she needs her family the most.

This is when that memorable song comes in:  “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going”.  It’s a powerhouse song that requires a very strong singer.  Hudson delivers not only as a singer, but as an actress as well.  She belts the song out on a stage surrounded by mirrors, reflecting every unflattering angle of her body, giving it all she has.  People actually applaud at the end.

The Dreams start moving up the charts while Effie falls into a pit.  But she has the one thing all the others would give anything to have.  In the final scene, even Curtis realizes just what all his success has cost him.

Bring at least two hankies and be prepared to sit through the closing credits; it’s worth it.

Programming Note:  It looks like I’ll be in “Hobby” all next week, so no Letter.

Love, as always,

 

Pete

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