There are a few movies that I’ve been looking forward to and am finally seeing some ads for on the tube. One is The Men Who Stare at Goats starring George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey. It’s based on the 2004 Jon Ronson book of the same name that was an accompaniment to a BBC documentary on some of the odder aspects of US military intelligence. Things like psychic warfare and mind control.
It looks like a very funny flick. Clooney and Bridges have both shown great comedic chops in the past, particularly in Coen Brothers’ films, and look to do the same here.
Another film that I am looking forward to seeing is The Road. Well, I guess I’m looking forward to seeing it. Dreading it may actually be the better description to how well I really want to see this film, based on Cormac McCarthy‘s sparse, bleak tale of a father and his young son trying to find warmth and safety in an end of the world scenario. It’s a dark story that plays on primal fears with little room for hope. Like much of McCarthy’s work.
Like many books being translated into film, The Road could very well be a bust as a film. I am afraid they will clutter the story with too much backstory instead of focusing on the simple father-son relationship of the two main characters. McCarthy told the story with beautifully pared down prose that said everything but not too much. He lets you fill in your own nightmare. If you’ve read some of his other work ( No Country For Old Men and the Hieronymous Bosch-like Blood Meridien leap to mind) you’ll know what I mean.
So, of the two I expect one to make me laugh and one to depress me, either from disappointment or from its portrayal of the abyss of hopelessness. Now that’s good stuff…
Redtree Times 