This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
Worlds In Collision
Plot Overview
Sometimes conflicting worlds line
up in close proximity, like say, law breakers & law enforcement
in some Hubert Selby novels:
“Time passed—months, maybe years, who knows, and the dress was gone and just the beatup skirt and sweater and the Broadway bars were 8th Avenue bars, but soon even these joints with their hustlers, pushers, pimps, queens and wouldbe thugs kicked her out and the inlaid linoleum turned into wood and then was covered with sawdust and she hung over a beer in a dump on the waterfront, snarling and cursing every sonafabitch who fucked herup and left with anyone who looked at her or had a place to flop. The honeymoon was over—” (Last to Exit Brooklyn, 108)
“[T]here are all forms of abuses of authority—police, politicians, unions, bankers, schools, prisons—and god knows how many others.” (The Room, 47)
In
the 1960's halcyon days of sex, drugs & rock 'n' roll, Vietnam
protests were in full swing w/entertainment by such
notables as Country Joe and the Fish (“There's plenty of
money to be made/ Supplyin' the Army with the tools of its
trade.”) One of their concerts at U.C.L.A. was
monitored—read infiltrated—by
(“Groovy!”) foot soldier Raymond Kingsley (Robin
Thomas.) It was also attended by their groupie Vinnie (Susan
Sarandon) who as Lavinia met and manipulated said Raymond into
thinking she was just a college student out to enjoy the show. They
became an upper middle-class family, with two girl-children and a
Labrador Retriever, in Phoenix where Raymond was a busy lawyer
helping retirees manage their dough. Honesty was not this family's
strong suit. Reformulated Mrs. Lavinia Kingsley kept her
banging hot sister-in-sin Suzette (Goldie Hawn) on her Christmas
card mailing list but otherwise lost touch with her.
The movie opens in medias res with
Suzette getting fired from her long term bartender job at
Whisky A Go-Go, L.A., when
her boss had gotten tired of her schtick. She hit the road to
Phoenix and gave a ride to failed screenwriter Harry Plummer
(Geoffrey Rush) in exchange for gas money. When she observed from
a distance Vinnie's happy family on their spacious grounds with a
pool, she demurred to step forward but crashed with Harry in his
hotel room.
Ideology
Harry is carrying a loaded gun in
his briefcase, “intended for one specific person,” his
father. “I disappointed him!” he says. “He
hated me!” A drug-addled (“I'm almost 18”)
daughter Hannah (Erika Christensen) of Lavinia has been partying on
prom night in Harry's hotel. Suzette lets her sleep it off in her room,
gives her a ride home, and sneaks her in the front door. Suzette has a
heart to heart talk with Vinnie. This is a setup for an unpleasant ride,
(Prov. 30:17) “The eye that mocketh at
his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley
shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.”
At first
Suzette becomes Harry's muse, and he vomits words left & right
from his old typewriter. When she leaves him, he loses it, and
Suzette tracks him down to his father's “retirement
home” and attempts to wrest the gun from him. For family
dinner conversation Suzette and Lavinia pussyfoot around
their past until Raymond demands a clear explanation,
something he should have gotten before tying the knot, I would
think. Lavinia douses him with some spaghetti sauce. During the war
protests one form of statement was to splash some pig's blood on
the war mongers. These older adults here would get the message that
flies over the heads of the young'uns from a later era. Sixteen-
year-old Ginger (Eva Amurri Martino) tells Suzette she was,
“wrecking my family.”
Production Values
“” (2002) was written and directed by Bob Dolman. It starred Susan Sarandon, Goldie Hawn and Geoffrey Rush. Hawn and Sarandon were a winning pair. Rush and Hawn were the consummate odd couple. The spoiled kids gave a righteous performance. Hawn could carry it by herself but she didn't have to.
MPA rated it R for language, sexual content and some drug use. Language styles varied credibly with backgrounds. Big controversies back when have been rendered laughable by time. One can see himself in various roles. Runtime is 1 hour 38 minutes.
Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation
Hannah her class valedictorian
looking towards some hard to imagine future, in her speech to the
graduating class of 2002, advised them “that whatever
you do, do it true,” advice some adults could also profit
from. This is a fun, enjoyable film, albeit glorifying some of the
excesses of the 60's. Goldie Hawn is always a pleasure to watch.
Good for laughs.
Movie Ratings
Action Factor: Weak action scenes. Suitability For Children: Not Suitable for Children of Any Age. Special effects: Average special effects. Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day. Suspense: A few suspenseful moments. Overall movie rating: Four stars out of five.
Works Cited
Scripture quoted from the King James Version. Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Print. Software.
Country Joe and the Fish. “I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag.” From memory.
Selby Jr., Hubert. Last to Exit Brooklyn. Copyright © 1957, 1960, 1961, 1964 by Hubert Selby Jr., New York: Grove Press Inc., 1964, Print.
Selby Jr., Hubert. The Room. Copyright © 1971 by Hubert Selby Jr., New York: Grove Press Inc., 1972, Print.
bibles.n7nz.org