It's 3:30 A.M. and I'm wondering whether it might be possible that I'm the only soul in a country of 1.7 billion who's ever heard of or listens to Bruce Hornsby, after having watched "World's Greatest Dad" about a pretty much true-to-life dad with a true-to-life son and a very bizarre, and perhaps not so true to life plot unfolding after that son's death, but all-the-while remaining more true to life than the evening news (especially if you're watching Fox).
I pick my movies very carefully and read plots and reviews before I bother to waste my time on them, and so it came as not only a pleasant surprise but nearly a renaissance of enlightenment to get ahold of 3 (what I'd consider) good movies in a row after the probably lamest year in cinematographic history.
The first one was "Flipped," which I expected to be a slightly above average teen comedy but turned out to be a trip back into a time where real human beings who knew how to communicate and articulate themselves and listened to their hearts were already rare and few in-between, but at least existent.
The generations growing up around our ears will unfortunately never know the degree of integrity and nobility streaming forth from a 50's teen girl's heart like Julie, the hero of the story, but if you do have any notion of being able to relate to what's going on in this film, should you watch it, send me a high five just so that I can die on peace knowing you're somewhere out there.
The second was "Adam," about a young man with a disorder called Asperger's syndrome, which basically stands for the disability to deceive or hide one's true feelings. Unfortunately, it also reveals the selfish core of the human nature to a stinging degree. Team that up with a pretty neat girl taking a liking to that boy and you'll come up with quite a story you can learn a thing a thing or two from.
When it comes to the selfish, childish and immature side of "Aspies," I'm afraid a lot of us are infected with perhaps slightly milder, or merely better camouflaged strains of the disease.
Finally, I decided to "preview" "Greatest Dad Alive," of which I also only expected the mediocrity I had started getting used to during the 365 days of a very uneventful (as far as Hollywood goes) 2011, but was surprised by an expose of the compulsively deceptive and dishonest society and culture that boasts of ruling the 21st century.
Seriously, when was the last time you saw Robin Williams in a movie truly worth watching? Well, this was one, as far as I'm concerned, even if it may sting a little, especially if you're American.
Altogether, it was an unforgettable movie night... One of those rare ones during which you feel that somehow, somewhere the light of truth was able to break through the thick morass of dull, gray time wasters, perhaps for one last time... you never know.
If God never used a movie to speak through or convey a message, then He must have at least shone through to the minds and hearts of the folks who wrote the scripts for these three, even if for no other purpose than to ask us, "For Heaven's sake, people, when are you ever gonna start to get real?"
