Trifecta

Three movies in just about a week, unusual theater activity for me these days.

The Women, a remake of a classic b&w film from about 1939, is good. Meg Ryan, who not all that long ago looked like a desperate 30-something trying far too hard not to look a day older than 29, has matured into her face procedures and does an outstanding job in the film. She's able to add drama to a somewhat comedic role and come out as more than believable as a real woman coping with her imploding perfect marriage and a husband who is banging the department store spritzer girl.

Burn After Reading may take 2 viewings to appreciate because there is a whole lot going on during the film that doesn't really make sense until the ending, at which time the film should be rerun so you can get it. Brad Pitt blows away his role, stealing every scene he's in, while George Clooney walks through his part, which should have been given to an actor who wanted the role. My friend, actor Jon McPhalen, could have done a much better job than Clooney, who may be either too damned tired from working too much or to the point where he simply no longer cares about the quality of the role, just the publicity and the paycheck.

My favorite part of the movie? The last line: "What have we learned from this?"

Today, I took my friend out for her birthday and we sobbed our way through Rodante. Sigh. It's so totally a chick flick that I could not begin to understand why the aging old men men accompanied their ancient women! You would think that by this time they would have learned how to say not only no, but hell no, and stayed at home with the Lazy Boy and TV remote!

Observation: Richard Gere, who looks pretty good for an old guy, resembled the Pillsbury Dough Boy, leading me to believe he's taking steroids, as that's the way my son looks when he's on his heaviest meds. Gere's hands particularly looked like sausages, and the contrast to the couple of scenes where he looked "normal" was noticable. Diane Lane rocks in this movie: it is as if it's written just for her. However, her supportive understanding of her obnoxious teen-age daughter would have never occurred to me as a parent. Her catatonic devastation at learning of the doctor's death is totally believable to those of us who have also lived it.

I'd see all of these films again because either I want to (The Women and Rodante) or because I feel the need to re-view the film to get it (Burn). However, with the state of the nation's finances, I'm going to start waiting for the DVD to be sold to NetFlix as, at $6.50 a ticket for the Senior Discount matinee, and the cost to drive the 40 miles round trip to view the films in the theater, there is no money left for snacks!

And what's a movie without popcorn?