Awkward Old People
For some reason, my girlfriend and I are always caught watching the matinee showings of movies. The mean age of the audience is 60 and everyone laughs at the insanely discrete sexual innuendos. Honestly, this is the way I prefer to go to the movies. I don't have to compete with crying babies, or worse, loud and obnoxious teenagers. So, I knew when I went to see this movie in the early afternoon, I would be surrounded by geriatric moviegoing kin.
I have made close to 20 reviews so far on this site, and it strikes me that my ratings can be pretty generous. I am hoping to add some contributors that will provide a lovely counterbalance to my weighted rating system, but I can't help it, I can generally see the "good" in each and every movie. Was Hope Springs a wonderful film? No. Was it entertaining? Sure it was, if not for the content, for the laughter of the seniors I was surrounded by.
Both Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones obviously have a lot of big-time experience under their collective belts, so to see them in a more relaxed, comedic stance is refreshing. No doubt there was on-screen chemistry between the two of them, but I'm not too sure Steve Carell's presence was helping at all. Any time he showed up, it sort of put the brakes on the movies until Streep and Jones could pick things back up again. It just wasn't his best role.
It's one of those movies that people would enjoy because they have a similar experience, or knows someone who has had a similar experience, and thus can easily connect to the underlying message of love that permeates the dialogue. I give it a 7, but I would not necessarily go out of my way to see it. It's just one of those movies that you certainly don't have to see, but once you do see it, you enjoy it.
Oh, and if old people talking about sex is discomforting to you, give this movie a wide berth.
Written April 23, 2013
I have made close to 20 reviews so far on this site, and it strikes me that my ratings can be pretty generous. I am hoping to add some contributors that will provide a lovely counterbalance to my weighted rating system, but I can't help it, I can generally see the "good" in each and every movie. Was Hope Springs a wonderful film? No. Was it entertaining? Sure it was, if not for the content, for the laughter of the seniors I was surrounded by.
Both Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones obviously have a lot of big-time experience under their collective belts, so to see them in a more relaxed, comedic stance is refreshing. No doubt there was on-screen chemistry between the two of them, but I'm not too sure Steve Carell's presence was helping at all. Any time he showed up, it sort of put the brakes on the movies until Streep and Jones could pick things back up again. It just wasn't his best role.
It's one of those movies that people would enjoy because they have a similar experience, or knows someone who has had a similar experience, and thus can easily connect to the underlying message of love that permeates the dialogue. I give it a 7, but I would not necessarily go out of my way to see it. It's just one of those movies that you certainly don't have to see, but once you do see it, you enjoy it.
Oh, and if old people talking about sex is discomforting to you, give this movie a wide berth.
Written April 23, 2013