There are different degrees of inspiration obviously, depending on what type of medium it's presented in and how it is then presented once in that medium. All of these were films (thanks for the obvious, Captain Tim), but my high on Spain still factored into the equation when I was watching them. It was an awesome ride home, though, because it's nice seeing people get what they want. Lester Burnham wants to be his own person, not just another office drone with a shitty marriage and a daughter who hates him, in American Beauty. Chris Gardner wants to see his son be happy and to live a good life that he earned, in The Pursuit of Happyness. Barbara Covett wants to be with a woman half her age and infinitely more beautiful than her (who also happens to be straight, as it is), while Sheba Hart wants to feel some pleasure in her monotonous life in Notes on a Scandal. And in maybe the most interestingly made film of the bunch, the hyper-realistic Facing the Giants's main character Matt Prater wants to teach his football team that there are bigger things out there than the gridiron.
I liked to loved all of these movies. They all have their own qualities that make them work. Beauty is the best of the bunch, no doubt about it. Seeing Lester Burnham's midlife crisis see him turn into a ball of giddy energy while everyone else in his life goes crazy is an oddly inspirational sight, as well as a thought to ponder. When does solidifying yourself as your own person turn into a bad thing? Is being a materialistic, superficial person necessarily a bad thing? I don't think so. If someone wants to find inner peace, while the person next to them wants a diamond ring the size of a small piece of fruit, I say good luck to both of them.
Chris Gardner is without question the most inspiring film character of last year. When you can have teenage guys breaking down and crying at a film about a father helping out his son, you've made something special. It only strengthens The Pursuit of Happyness's case as a terrific movie that it's based on a true story. Even after only watching about ten minutes of it, I was teary-eyed, and not ashamed to admit it. I'm beating a dead horse with this word, but don't you just feel so fucking inspired by something so beautiful as a man turning an impossible situation, with his son's life and future in the balance, into such a phenomenal success? Maybe it's because it had Hollywood poster-boy Will Smith as the lead, but a lot of critics panned this movie. "It's too sappy." "It's too contrived." "Everything clicks". "There's not enough conflict". "Did anyone think it wouldn't turn out alright for Will Smith in the end?". I think some people almost don't want to have a warm feeling in them anymore. They want to see the dark side of life reflected in films, and can't stand when a story as touching as this, with a star who is so recognizable and is still able to genuinely affect you to the very core, hits you. When Smith teared up and started to lose it while sleeping in a subway with his son, it just hits so hard. And that's what makes the ending, even if it is predictable, so potent.
Notes on a Scandal is the most disturbing film of the bunch. It's got Dame Judi Dench in a startling performance as Barbara Covett, and old teacher at a run-down high school in England who fancies herself younger women. She finds one in the beautiful Sheba Hart, the new art teacher. Cate Blanchett plays the multi-faceted character with the pitch perfect note of desperation the role calls for, and she equals Dench's greatness (too bland a word?) in every minute she's on screen, even though it's clearly Dench's movie. Anyway, Barbara sees Sheba going down on one of her students, and instead of doing the proper thing by notifying the authorities right away, she manipulates the situation to the point where she's getting more pleasure out of the teacher-student than either the teacher or the student. She changes her life because of the 'situation', as she refers to it, because it allows her to be in close, intimate contact with the woman she lusts for. Messed up? Yeah. Fascinating? Yeah. Notes is a quietly affecting and almost always engrossing character study, on two characters who truly do deserve a movie as solid as this to be made about them.Facing the Giants is something of an interesting movie just for how it was produced. It's as if a camera crew, for a real movie (not a documentary-type deal), followed around the characters in the film. The acting is pretty shaky, but the emotion came off real to me. I honestly got the impression that real peoplel were being filmed, even if it did involve some Hollywood-ness. It's a very simple story; A football coach tries to rescue his failing program, job, and marriage by tying in the "God wants you to be better people, not just better football players" message. It works, surprise surprise, and the team wins the state/national/county championship, which you knew was going to happen. That's not important, though. What is important is that the film is somehow able to truly inspire despite being preachy as fuck and having some of the most hackneyed dialog I've ever been subjected to. I don't know how the movie worked, with its bad script, dialog, camerawork, acting, and cheesiness, but somehow it did, all in all.
P.S.- I realize now that I'm not as inspired about this essay as I was when I started it a few weeks back. I think I was still high on Spain then, which I'm about to write about (ahh the joys of an afternoon with nothing to do), and just feeling good about life. Sorry if this was total shite.
P.P.S- I don't know about the italicized movie titles. I kind of feel too pretentious and art-housey. I miss my caps. Comment on how you feel, since you have nothing better to do.
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