Saturday, September 22, 2007

Mr. Woodcock (Movie Review)

I don't care what anyone says. I don't even care that this film has an abysmal 13% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

It made me laugh and, well, if that was it's objective (it is a comedy, after all), then it was reasonably successful.

Sure, most of the humor is dark and, yeah, some of it is crude. And, there's nothing "funny" about a grown adult gym teacher (Billy Bob Thornton) teaching a group of 13-year old boys how to wrestle by body slamming one of their pudgy classmates. Except that, eh, it actually is kind of funny.

This film is about that pudgy little kid, who grows up, loses weight, writes self help books... and then returns home to find that his mother is engaged to marry his old gym teacher -- the mean, cantaknerous Mr. Woodcock that was the bane of his junior high school existence. one part of his past that he's unable to part with.
I needed a laugh that night. And I got one. Sort of. I mean, it wasn't a guffaw.

But it sufficed.

So stop judging me.

1 comment:

Supafly Turbo Cyborg said...

Don't feel bad. I've watched many a movie just so I didn't have to think about...

I believe I watched Ultraviolet(ultraviolent?) for that very reason. Much like you and your movie, I was pleased to be able to hear, "Smack My Bitch Up" and Mila Jovovitch in a bunch of tight shit. Easy, mindless entertainment at the plebeian level can be quite cathartic. I guess, like exercising in Zealot fashion, I use it as my form of self medication. Maybe I don't buy alcohol for this just because I'm a cheap bastard. I'm leaning more to the side of pretending my healthy "self medication" isn't just there as a facade of happiness. Most days, I just feel like I'm going through the motions. I usually feel like existing isn't a challenge and I'm just trying to keep my job so I can buy shit I don't really need. I think that might be why I'm constantly going for the extreme in any situation. I don't want to just to a triathlon, I want to do Ironman. I don't just want any old car, I want to make it faster, stop shorter, etc. I think you get my drift. I don't have the time or the ability to sit here and write all this out. You could probably do a much better job.