Our Souls at Night

Our Souls at Night is a Netflix original released in 2017, based on a novel published in 2015. This will probably seem like too long ago to be relevant to you, but don’t overlook it just yet. I did at first, and it definitely was a mistake. As you know, I love old, simple movies and this movie and book are exactly that. It revolves around two older people, Addie and Louis,  who live in the same neighborhood who begin sleeping (yes, JUST sleeping, if you watch the movie) together to help combat the loneliness after they both have spent many years alone after the death of their spouses. We also see the influence that older adults have on young children, which is also a lesson I hope by this time you have been exposed to. What I hope you learn from this is the importance of listening to what others think and then doing what you believe is right, and to ALWAYS read the book.

I hope by now you have learned from me to ALWAYS read the book. If you see a movie and like it, read the book too! Books outright convey what movies try to tell us through their imagery. They give us more information and allow your mind to create your own story. I watched this movie on a whim one night, and thought it was okay (I’m not big on movies, but I’m learning), but when I listened to the audiobook one night coming home from school, that sealed the deal for me, and I fell in love with it. Give things a second chance, especially when you like it the first time. I could tell that the plot line was great from the movie, however the execution of that was not my favorite. I believe they left out some important details that helped with the cohesiveness and understanding of the movie. In the book we read about a trip that Addie and Ruth, Addie’s elderly neighbor, take to the grocery store and the judgement that both Ruth and the clerk pass on to Addie about Louis. After this initial contact with Ruth, we see her appear at least twice more in the book, until her death. In the movie, we see Addie, Louis, and Jamie, Addie’s grandson, at Ruth’s funeral. This doesn’t make clear sense in the movie why they are all there and why Ruth is a significant character, but in the book it makes much more sense. You should always find out the whole story when something is confusing you.

From the beginning, Addie acknowledges that others will talk, but how she has used her whole life to listen to what other people think and she is just going to do what is best for her and take up companionship with Louis. This kind of relationship is uncharacteristic to talk about and especially in a small town where you know everyone and their connections. We see them go out to lunch, choose a table in the middle of the restaurant, both while wearing bright red to catch people’s attention. Louis also chooses to sit next to her, instead of across, just another thing out of the ordinary that people would talk about-but makes them happy. Do things that make you happy, even when you know people will talk about it. Hiding from people will only make you feel worse, especially if it is something that you are proud of. People will talk about you regardless, but by showing people what you love, you can sometimes redirect them towards your passion instead of focusing on you. The only opinion that truly matters is your own. Striving to make others like you can only bring you happiness if you love yourself and like the choices you are making. Little life messages like this are spread throughout in the book, ones that take most people years to understand and accept. By surrounding yourself with a multitude of people as you live your life, their various characteristics and beliefs you are better able to understand and see things through their lives, how they would see them. The ability to do this is severely underrated, being able to put yourself in other people’s shoes. Overall, my biggest takeaway from this is to read both the book and watch the movie, and be proud of who you are.

Not Your Typical RomCom

Romantic Comedies. We all know of at least one. Chances are, we all have one that we could watch over and over again. But, why? What makes romantic comedies so appealing? Why do so many people like them? The Incredible Jessica James is a romantic comedy, that is also an adult’s coming of age movie, but not your typical one. A typical romcom plays love as an almost insignificantly light hearted joke. While love is still joked about, it isn’t quite as light hearted in The Incredible Jessica James.
When people think of a rom com we typically think of one like: Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, 10 Things I Hate About You, or Pretty in Pink. The Incredible Jessica James doesn’t match up to those movies in a couple of ways. The Incredible Jessica James doesn’t completely shy around the politics of today’s society, it starts off light, but gradually becomes a little more serious, shows the struggles of dating when two people start out not completely over their exes, and is even relatable to some people whose parents have had a rough divorced. Jessica Jones was made to be more relatable than the idealistic, romantic comedy where they always end up together.
Politics; it is everywhere, so why shouldn’t we expect it in our movies? Jessica James is passionate about three things in this movie: her opinions (politics), theater, and honesty. Her political views are showcased in one particular scene: her sister’s baby shower. Her gift while thoughtful is obviously not what her sister wanted. Her gift didn’t conform to the stereotypical suburban living beliefs. You can tell Jessica doesn’t want to be home, is not having a good time, and wanted to make her niece or nephew something that might broaden their horizons and make them more tolerant in today’s world. Her sister starts to read a page of the book Jessica made out loud, and after deciding to stop one of her friends next to her decides to ask something along the lines of why would the baby need this. This prompted a response from Jessica about how it is never too early to start fighting the system. When asked what system Jessica can’t understand how these women don’t understand the society they grew up in that forced gender roles on them. She then proceeds to point out that it influenced them to play a game where they ate things that looked like poop out of baby diapers to try and guess what the food was. (side note: my aunt did this at one of her baby showers, DISGUSTING in every way) Her love for honesty and telling her opinion also feed how the intensity of her love life is.
When meeting men in this movie she is forthright in saying that she isn’t completely over her ex-boyfriend. It makes her go on a terrible tinder date to make him jealous. The surprise comes along in the form of a blind date who isn’t completely over his ex-wife. They start a sort of non committed relationship to help each other get over their exes and somewhere along the way, as most romance storylines go, something changes. Suddenly, Jessica is showing up at his house and getting blindsided. The movie then spirals into the main angst filled finding yourself story. The movie goes from love being this light hearted thing to your main characters realizing that, without knowing, they have gotten over their exes and want to be with each other. While this intensity in their romance is happening, it is further escalated by Jessica finally understanding that life will always be unsure and then finding out again that she has been given the opportunity of a lifetime. But where does it leave her and Boone, her new not boyfriend boyfriend?
Throughout this timeline and her love life, you come to understand that Jessica’s parents got divorced and it wasn’t nice. They have affected the way she interacts with people. To the point where she says, “Nothing works out, people let you down, and you should never trust anybody ever. I’ve known that since I was a kid.” Later, it helps her relate to one of the kids she teaches at a nonprofit. Yet, for so many people they don’t see how those things can and will affect you in mainstream movies. They can relate to the little girl just like Jessica can and it makes them want to root for the home team (i.e. Jessica).
All of these aspects come together to create the story known as The Incredible Jessica James. Without these things things this movie could have been like every other romantic comedy seen today. The effectiveness and increased likelihood that people will like and watch this movie is because it is relatable and sincere to how many people feel. I enjoyed this adult coming of age romantic comedy, but I am a hopeless romantic. What do you think?

The Discovery: A Scientific Take on the Afterlife

The Discovery is a 2017 science fiction mystery romance film directed by Charlie McDowell and stars Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother), Rooney Mara (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Jesse Plemons (Black Mass), and the iconic Robert Redford (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid). The film is about Jason Segel's Will, a neurologist who is trying to cope in a suicidal world following Redford's Thomas scientific discovery of an afterlife. Additionally, the film follows Thomas as he tries to figure out exactly what this afterlife entails.
Being a christian myself, I found this idea to be quite interesting and have in a way been looking forward to watching the film and then being able to talk about it. I was curious how the film would approach the topic and if it would try to give an actual proposition about the afterlife.
Now that I have seen the film, I can say that the film is a thought provoking, well made film that unfortunately is too flawed to create what could have been a terrific sci-fi masterpiece. The major problem with the film is the romance subplot. Rooney Mara's Isla slowly becomes involved in Will as they sprout a romance, and while this subplot could work, I don't feel like the overall structure of the film supported this subplot. Most of the runtime is intensely focused on trying to find out what the afterlife entails. Whenever the romance plot pops up, it feels forced and completely out of place. A subplot involving Will and Isla trying to disprove this afterlife also pops up towards the end of the film, similarly feeling out of place. If this was the main plot and had been developed from the beginning of the film, then it would have worked and probably well. The problem is that the subplot starts around the hour mark with only forty minutes of runtime left. For an hour, the audience is led to believe that this afterlife is real, and then all of a sudden it comes into question? To make matters worse, the afterlife turns out to be real, rendering the subplot dead on arrival and completely unnecessary. The ending also was rushed and forced. It seemed like the writers wanted to have a thrilling ending that would in turn reveal exactly what the afterlife is. What actually unfolded was a crammed ending. It did show what the afterlife was, however I think it was super predictable and should have been taken in a completely different direction.
While it might sound like I didn't like the film, it quite frankly really was good despite its problems, because almost everything else about the film is solid if not great. The acting was very solid all around, especially from Redford and Segel. All of the characters were incredibly well developed, leaving them feeling three dimensional. In this case, I think that the praise should go both to the actors and the writers. The film is also incredibly well paced. Never in its entirety does the film ever feel long or boring. The cinematography was also very solid. Most of it is filmed with slow camera panning and a healthy mixture of close ups and medium shots. To me, this helps keep the tone of the film as feeling mysterious and sort of depressing.
The highest of praises that I can give this film as it was incredibly thought inducing. Even though I am a christian, I don't necessarily know exactly what heaven or hell are like. The interesting angle the film takes is one that isn't necessarily religious. Having never been an atheist, I always assumed that they didn't believe in any sort of afterlife. This film, however, introduces one that may very well be an afterlife without a God. Even though I personally don't agree with that notion, I can still understand and respect it. I think that this should have been explored deeper than it was, however I think it is a good idea not to answer all questions in a movie like this. It's just unfortunate that this was something that wasn't addressed. The film also introduces ideas of what an afterlife could be like that I would never have thought of, such as ones that involve parallel universes.
The sad thing about the film is that it could have been great, but instead is just a very ambitious solid one. I think the writers had a million and one great ideas for the film and decided to try and fit them all into the film. If the film had only focused on a few of the stronger ideas present in the film, I think it could have been the next Arrival. I still recommend the film for anyone who wants to watch a thoughtful sci-fi that tackles maybe the most sought out question in the history of this world: is there an afterlife?