Ever wonder if society is simply disintegrating (a la the ‘character’ they created for the Catholic Church?) and if your broken family and relationships are just a reflection of all this? Well, add Robert Zemeckis to the family circus. He took a beautifully understated Graphic Novel titled Here by Richard McGuire, whose entire premise was that it’s the little nuanced items we remember of our past, and then pummeled the hell out of it (with Eric Roth who wrote Forrest Gump-also crowded with story if ya think about it) with birthdays! child births! death! dementia!
All I can do is shake my head. As a human race, the majority of us are not listening to each other, not thinking reflectively, not caring about people as 3-d humans and frankly, I’m at a loss. I’m just darn glad Sean Baker (no relation) has a film coming out this weekend, who, at least based on his past films, DOES honor humans in all their foibles and fantastic uniqenesses. Anora is the name of Baker’s film and also will be playing at my favorite cinema, Burns Court.
If you didn’t read the book or know anything, you might have thought it was cute and confusing. I guess that’s the downside of being too informed.
Now, I didn’t hate Here, I love Hanks and Wright who have a staged, but comforting chemistry. I also thought the very beginning of the films fast motion evolutionary look at this one piece of land with fast growing trees, mesmerizing. I just wish Zemeckis would have chosen a project that actually calls for the spectacle he delivered.
