Yesterday, I watched 1.) The Hours and 2.) American Pie. I know, as far as films go they are on opposite ends of the Ricter Scale… but the educated, literature geek in me had been wanting to see The Hours since all of that Oscar-buzz about it last year, and the crude, immature, high school girl wanted to see American Pie (I may be educated, but I still enjoy toilet humor now and then), so I decided what the heck, I had all afternoon free…
I started with The Hours. I am still mulling over this movie in my mind. It was one of those movies you see and find yourself thinking about afterwards. It was obvious to me that there were many levels of meaning here and I am still contemplating them. The most apparent topics were depression, suicide, homosexuality, and the questioning of life decisions.
Now, I have studied literature and I am familiar with Virginia Woolf, though I have never read Mrs. Dalloway. I also know that this movie is based on a book (not Mrs. Dalloway, but one called The Hours, by Michael Cunningham). I must say, now that I have seen this movie I feel like I need to read both Mrs. Dalloway and The Hours to really appreciate it. Perhaps if I get enough ambition I will read them and then re-review the movie, but until then…
Virginia Woolf was well-known for writing in “stream of consciousness” style and I felt this movie was depicted in the same manner. In conjunction with the stream of consciousness style, this film was what I refer to as “a film of character”. In other words, this movie wasn’t about a particular event, it was about the characters. (As a matter of fact it takes place on one day in each of the three main characters lives’.) The cast did a superb job of portraying these characters, but until I began to understand the characters and how they related to one another, I didn’t really understand where the movie was going.
This movie was a bit intimidating, very literate, yet sad and depressing. Yet, I think I can say I appreciated it for what it was. However, I would recommend this film only to those who appreciate movies that have more to them than cool special effects and explosions. On a scale of 1-5 stars (with 5 being the highest), I would give it 4.
Then, in order to cheer myself up a bit, I watched American Pie. I have seen the two other classic movies in the wacky sex-obsessed high school genre, namely Porky’s and Fast Times at Ridgemont High, countless times. And while I found American Pie funny, compared to the afore mentioned movies, something was lacking… On my star scale, I can only give it a 2.