The Writer's Poke

"Perhaps he knew, as I did not, that the Earth was made round so that we could not see too far down the road." -- Karen, reflecting on what Denys had taught her. Karen (Meryl Streep) is a rich Danish woman. She wants to be married. She leaves Denmark and goes to Africa to get married and start a farm. The year is 1913, and European colonialization is a fact. If this is an autobiographical account of an upper-class Danish writer, then it should reflect her experiences and point of view. The beginning of the film suggests that Karen has had many lovers, and she's written about them all. Denys (Robert Redford), however, might be the most important one, and the one that's she's saved writing about for last. The setting, then, may be Africa, but this is not a story about Africans. It's about what she learned about herself, love and romance, and perhaps, life; and maybe she was only able to learn about it in Africa, because this is the only place that a man like D...

Roger Ebert added this one to his Great Movies canon, and I thought: Really? And since I watch all of those movies, I thought: Eventually I'm going to have to watch this one whether I want to or not. I live in Minnesota, and I've listened to the show on the radio from time-to-time. I'm not sure I've ever listened to a full episode, unless I just happened to be in the car and it was playing... My impression of the movie is that it captures the spirit of the radio show. The only real difference is that it uses some pretty big stars to play the roles of the radio show's usually much more modest cast. So, what attracted so many A-listers to make up this film's ensemble cast? Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Lindsey Lohan, Woody Harrelson, John C. Reilly, Tommy Lee Jones, Kevin Klein, and of course, GK himself. Is Keiller so much on an American icon that they all wanted to be associated with this film? Was it because Roger Altman was directing? I'm not sure what Altman...

Steve Martin was 34 when he played Navin in The Jerk (1979) -- probably 10 or 15 years too old for the role in my opinion. He's over-the-top and basically the Steve Martin of the "wild and crazy guy" stage show, not yet an actor. Thirty years later, he plays Adam in It's Complicated. His "wild-and-craziness" is limited to about a 5-second scene when he's on the dance floor after taking a hit. Otherwise, he plays the part with quietness and total reserve. It's just amazing to see how far he came as an actor, but 30 years prior, he could only be "on," and over his acting career, he learned how to shift gears. He didn't always have to be his persona. He could act. In a way, Steve Martin's acting journey reminds me somewhat of Robin Williams's -- both are known for being completely over-the-top, but both learned how to take on serious roles. I really liked this movie. The focus of the film is on Jane (Meryl Streep) and Jake (Alec Ba...