I couldn’t sleep the other night.
I’d made a mistake and had a cup of coffee at around 11 p.m.
Worse, it was Louisiana-style coffee. Made with chicory. Mud, I believe, flows more freely. As for the caffeine content, the phrase “off-the-scale” is most appropriate.
Two hours later, I was still hard-wired and sleep wasn’t going to be part of the picture any time soon.
So as not to awaken my wife by reading in bed (something I’ve learned not to do after only 35 years), I went downstairs and popped a movie into the DVD player. It was an old favorite of mine directed by John Ford – “The Quiet Man.”
After about an hour or so, I found myself chuckling yet again at the goings-on of John Wayne, Barry Fitzgerald, Ward Bond (who, by the way, played on the same USC football team as “The Duke”) and Maureen O’Hara.
As regular readers might guess, I’m not a big fan of “meaningful” movies. That’s the Hollywood genre wherein you pay $9.50 to get beat over the head with some downwardly spiraling and ever more unpleasant story line, all while wondering when the heck the film will ever end. Latest entry in this category: “Babel.”
Instead, I’ve found that I enjoy movies wherein the good guys are good, the bad guys are bad, and the pretty girl’s in trouble but will soon be saved. Sorry, I’ve just never been able to stomach movies where I have to “relate” to the characters and problems being presented or risk being considered “narrow.”
As regards that last, instead of “narrow,” I much prefer the term “focused.”
Where all of this is going is toward a movie recommendation.
It’s not something I do a lot of but, this time, it needs doing.
My wife and I (my wife mostly) recently rented the movie “Pride and Prejudice.”
Trust me when I say that, regardless of your taste in movies, this one’s worth your time.
It’s worth your time simply because it’s a good story well told. By that I mean no one gets naked, the language used is actually language, and your interest is held so well that you never sense the passage of time.
The actors are solid and play their parts well – especially Donald Sutherland, who seems to have a solid future as a graying curmudgeon.
The actresses are both believable and very easy on the eyes. By that I mean that they actually look as if they’ve had more to eat in the last month or so than a sprig of grass and some bottled water. They look like women you might actually meet on the street. That is, women you’d see and not think, “Poor things, someone ought to feed them.”
For the guys out there, there’s no doubt about it. This is a major league chick-flick, but you’ll still enjoy it. You’ll even laugh out loud more than a time or two. Further, I guarantee you’ll get up at the end feeling better than you have since the last time you saw “Dirty Harry.” You’ll enjoy this movie unless you’re a fan of the aforementioned “meaningful” genre and only attend movies guaranteed to drag your feelings from depression to despondency – with intermission spent at dejection – in the name of entertainment.
For the ladies out there, bring the hankies – mostly for when you’re laughing.
I won’t give away any of the plot, but I’ll tell you this much. At the end, I was hoping to see more.
Two thumbs up. A must see. Whatever phrase gets you interested is the one that fits.
That said, the next time I fire down a late night cup of coffee, I’m going to cue up another of my favorites: “High Noon.” Then, for the umpteenth time, I’ll watch Gary Cooper ride off in the end with his horse.
He takes Grace Kelly with him, too.
Which is, in every great movie, as it should be.
Larry Simoneaux lives in Edmonds. Comments can be sent to larrysim@att.net.
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