Four movies

Over the past few weeks we have managed to see four movies, but somehow I haven’t found time to sit down and share them.

The first movie is called “Results.” The story revolves around three characters at a fitness center in Austin, Texas: a tightly wound young woman named Kat (Cobie Smulders), who works as a personal trainer, her boss Trevor (Guy Pearce), and Danny (Kevin Corrigan), a woefully out-of-shape man meandering through his days with too much recently inherited money and no idea of what to do with his life.

From the start you have a feeling that Kat and Trevor are interested in a personal relationship, but have not chosen to jeopardize their professional one. While Kat trains wealthy people in their homes, Trevor is trying to find ways to expand his business by promoting a lifestyle of physical, mental, and spiritual well-being he has developed himself. Danny has recently moved to Austin after a messy divorce and comes to the gym looking for some direction to get his life on track.

The story ends pretty much as you expected it would for this interesting and somewhat offbeat set of characters.

“Pickup on South Street” is an old (1953) film noir neither of us had ever seen. The story is about a petty crook named Skip McCoy (played by Richard Widmark) who pickpockets the purse of a woman named Candy (played by Jean Peters) who, is unknowingly carrying information for the communist underground.  Both the FBI and the spies who planted the information in the bag are trying to retrieve it. But as often happens in these charming old films, Skip falls for Candy, and the rest is as you expect. We had never heard of this film but it is fun to see some of these old pieces now and then.

“I’ll See You in my Dreams” stars Blythe Danner as a long ago widowed woman named Carol who lives a quiet life alone, distant from her grown daughter, and gathering frequently with friends Georgina (June Squibb), Sally (Rhea Perlman) and Rona (Mary Kay Place) with whom she seems to have little in common except for having time on their hands to play cards and drink wine. She develops an odd friendship of sorts with her pool cleaner, a fellow young enough to be her son who is obviously enthralled with her. One evening they go to Karaoke together. Once a singer, Carol still has a fairly good voice, but her young friend is less talented.

Although unlike her friends she is not interested in meeting men or dating, she goes along with their plans to attend an evening of speed dating where she meets a variety of odd characters, including one who earnestly tells her that he is unconcerned if she has Herpes.

On her way out of the speed dating event, a man (Sam Elliott) comes over to introduce himself as Bill, and they make plans to get together. It is clear that she has finally met someone who is able to pique her interest in a relationship. At this point I want to stop so as not to give away the ending.

Although there were some interesting aspects to the movie, and Blythe Danner’s performance resulted in a very believable character, overall the movie was a bit sappy for my taste. Too much was too perfect, but perhaps the less than “happily ever after” ending provided the right balance.

Finally, we saw “Love and Mercy,” a movie about the Beach Boys, a popular singing group in the 1960s. While we are, of course, familiar with many of the songs written and recorded by this group, I had just assumed that over time, as so often happens, their popularity faded. I had no idea what had gone on with the key players that pulled the band apart and out of the spotlight.

In the movie, the group’s leader, Brian Wilson, was played by two actors. Paul Dano played the young Brian Wilson, while John Cusack was Brian as he went into his forties. The psychiatrist who treats Brian, Dr. Eugene Landy, is played by Paul Giamatti, one of my favorite contemporary actors. Much as I think of him as a nice guy, he did a fantastic job of portraying a truly despicable character.

The movie shifts back and forth between the 1960s and the 1980s. The early decade focuses on the recording of the groups’ 1966 “Pet Sounds” album, with a good deal of attention given to the nuts and bolts of writing and recording these songs. One especially memorable segment involves Brian having difficulty getting the band to produce the precise sound he wants for a particular passage. In the 1980s, the focus is on Mr. Wilson’s deteriorating mental state, and the efforts of  Melinda Leadbetter (Elizabeth Banks) a young woman who has grown to love him and fears the role that Dr. Landy is playing in his psychiatric illness.

Whatever the reasons, Brian Wilson was a talented but quite troubled young man. It took many years for him to return to anything resembling a normal life. We have put a “best of” compilation of 30 Beach Boys songs on to Barry’s iPhone, so we’re all set for our next drive!

In addition to four movies, we just had to get over to the Botanical Gardens because the roses are in bloom. Because of some remodeling of a section adjacent to where the roses are grown, they moved the exhibit to another section, and getting there took us along a walk with a terrific view of the entire rose garden.

Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Rebecca