I'd like to talk about a great movie i saw this weekend. But before i do, i want to look back and mention some of the great movie characters i've seen on the big silver screen…
- Lloyd Dobler (Say Anything). The ideal man for women is also a pretty cool guy that guys can admire. He's a free spirit who has the balls to take out the hot smart chick in the class. He's wears a trench coat like he doesn't care, is 18 and isn't intimidated by criminal fathers, and spends his free time kickboxing.
- Officer Bud White (LA Confidential). A man of action with a straight-as-an-arrow moral compass. Oh, and he kicks everyone's ass. He lands the hot chick, solves the most complex crime scandal I've ever seen, and does it all while taking out every abusive character in LA. He's also a great throwback to all the great old-school characters b/c he's a loner and an island all day but is completely vulerable in the precense of a woman, just like Rick in Casablanca. He's programmed to live and protect the female.
- Ray, the kid (Jerry McGuire). Never before have i loved such a nerdy kid. He's just a stud. However, i found out later that the human head actually weighs 12 pounds (not eight).
- Marty (Beautiful Girls). I can only say so much because it just feels weird to love Marty. But she's smart, sassy and just seems like a gal who cuts through all the bs to get to the core. And she's only 14 – which would be a great thing if it wasn't so wrong. As Tim Hutton says in teh movie, "It's not a sexual thing…she's smart, she's funny…this girl is going to be amazing." She definitely was.
- Stanley Goodspeed (The Rock). Stanley is a kickass bio-chemist FBI agent who rocks at disarming bio-chemical weapons but completely sucks at being an in-the-field agent. He's great at trying and failing to be a badass while exchanging great dialogue with Sean Conner (Mason). A quick view of him.
The latest addition to the great list of characters is one that i witnessed this weekend….
Garrison Keillor (Prarie Home Companion). A great movie with a great cast. Meryl is fantastic as is Kevin Kline and they all provide the many layers of a complex story about a very folksy show in a town "that time forgot and decades could not improve." At the center of everything is Garrison. And he's funny. He was once quoted saying, ""God writes a lot of comedy… the trouble is, he's stuck with so many bad actors who don't know how to play funny." Fortunately, this movie has good actors to deliver his script.
What i love about Garrison is that he represents everything that's right about the Midwest – he's smart, genuine, talented, non-pretentious, and sincere – while at the same time he represents everything that East/West coasters disrespect about the Midwest – he's simple, non-ambitious, non-trendy, and completely content. Watching him on screen mades the film feel incredibly comfortable and made me very nostalgic for MN.
