I've been brooding on this. I liked it a lot. So I was trying to figure out why.
1. based on a novel by John Irving, WIDOW FOR A YEAR, it is a literary adaptation, and of interest because it is a good one, and because it takes a slightly unconventional, but very sound approach.
2. Jeff Bridges, who is a charming lout
3. a splendid cast
4. a fine story
5. excellent DVD features that helped suck me deeper into an appreciation for the film, including how it got made, and why.
The movie is based on the first third of Irving's novel. It works really well structurally, and I had to go out and get the novel, and am reading it with pleasure. The movie is very different from the book, but the movie gets the book exactly right. I'm fascinated at a narrative technical level.
Jeff Bridges the charming lout is a character I'll keep for later use in my type-character folder. I love him, and despise him. I love characters like that.
And Kim Basinger, is also great in this, by the way. I'm not a fan... I barely noticed her in LA Confidential... but she is swell in this.
The narrative is complicated, with lots of characters and movements, and a great way of moving you along towards inevitable climaxes. The story within the story is great, too... the children's book that the protagonist has written.
5. I watched all the special features, fascinated, then stayed up until two AM watching again with the commentary. Never did that before.
I suspect my response to this film is in me as much as in the text. But nonetheless, I think it's a good and interesting film, especially for fans of filmmaking and narrative craft.
3 comments:
I'll look forward to checking this one out. I didn't much care for the film of THE CIDER HOUSE RULES, which I felt barely skimmed the surface of the story or characters. And after his genius portrayal of The Dude, I'll watch Jeff Bridges in just about anything.
Interesting. I just put Lebowski on my queue because of Jeff Bridges. The film didn't make much of an impression on me, but now I'll be watching specifically for Bridges.
I didn't like THE BIG LEBOWSKI the first time I watched it all that much... yet now it's probably in my top 10 favorites of all time. The Dude and John Goodman's Walter are such amazing characters. (I'm not the only one who thinks so - check this out.
Anyway, we watched THE DOOR IN THE FLOOR last night. I liked it and am also now interested in the book and to see what the remaining 2/3 are about. Ted, Jeff Bridges' character reminded me a bit of Michael Douglas' character in WONDER BOYS - only with some asshole artistic temperament thrown in there - I'm reminded of Ed Harris' Jackson Pollock.
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