The Sweetest Thing (2002)

Nancy M. Pimental wrote this one. From 1998-2001, she was a staff writer on South Park, which kind of gives you a sense of the humor likely to be used in this movie. She's also credited with writing 25 episodes of Shameless (TV series with 134 episodes, 2011-2021 and a current IMDb rating of 8.5).

I include this because it would be so easy to write-off The Sweetest Thing as juvenile and stupid. And yes, it probably is juvenile and stupid, but in a Harold and Kumar (2004) way. That's the film that immediately came to mind as I started watching this. And yet, Sweetest Thing has a 5.2 IMDb rating, and Harold and Kumar has a 7.0 IMDb rating. I don't think that's fair. Is it just because this film features women being crude, whereas we're more accepting of crudeness from men?

Roger Ebert, for example, rated Sweetest Thing a Thumbs Down (1.5/4 stars). In his assessment, he admitted that he loved watching the three female leads, admiring how committed and into their roles they were... but in the end, he just thought the comedy was subpar. He didn't appreciate the juvenile humor. But two years later, this same Ebert would rate Harold and Kumar a Thumbs Up (3/4 stars), even though he also was quick to point out the humor would go straight to the bottom of the barrel.

Well, what's funny? If you're in the mood for fart, poop, and sex jokes, both movies are equally funny.

In one scene, Courtney (Christina Applegate) and Christina (Cameron Diaz) can't get into the women's bathroom at a gas station. So, they go into the men's bathroom. Courtney ends up using the urinal. Is that funny watching her try to sit on the urinal and go to the bathroom? Watch it and decide for yourself. I would say her "commitment" to the scene does make it funny.

Anyway, the premise of the film starts as an anti-Romance. Christina and her friends aren't looking for Mr. Right. They are looking for Mr. Right-now. As Christina tells Jane (Selma Blair), just find someone to have fun with. Then maybe something will develop from that.

The truth Christina learns is that she's been lying to herself. She's never taken the time to allow anything to develop. In fact, she usually doesn't take the time to learn the guy's name. She's afraid of commitment and the possibility of being hurt.

Them she grabs an ass in a bar and accidently learns Peter's name (Thomas Jane). And it's love at first sight. Unbeknownst to her, he's getting married that weekend. Christina and Courtney go to the wedding, thinking it's Peter's brother (Jason Bateman) getting married. They leave the wedding before they realize their mistake, and wouldn't you know it, Peter and his bride mutually decide right at the last second not to marry.

The wedding reception, which the couple still has, includes a nice rendition of the Bangles "Eternal Flame" performed by Bateman. I should also point out that Christina and Courtney end up arriving at the wedding in dresses straight out of a Cinderella (the hair metal band) video.

It's a fun movie, and ends up with a traditional Romance ending. The characters do go all-in on their parts, and the humor, as juvenile as it can be, is just as funny as Harold and Kumar.

Rating: 4/5 stars

"Digging for the Truth" Experiment #4 -- The Federalist Radio Hour

I first heard of Sean Davis last week. He created an online magazine called The Federalist in 2011, and he currently has about 500,000 followers on X. It was about last week that he posted something amazing. He suggested if the Supreme Court doesn't rule the way they should, not only should Trump just ignore the ruling, if they keep obstructing the administration, he should just dissolve the Court altogether. And I thought, wow. This guy is saying outrageous stuff like that, and there's an audience for it. So, I decided I'd listen to an episode of The Federalist podcast: April 17, 2025 -- Deportation, Due Process, and Deference to the American People (40 minutes) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deportation-due-process-and-deference-to-the/id983782306?i=1000703904873 In the 40-minute conversation, the host and guest discussed why due process wasn't required for illegal immigrants. The case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia was mentioned for a brief second, but...

In Utero

In 1994, I wore my In Utero shirt to college. I’d walk down the hall, and people would look at the shirt. I still remember a professor looking at it, not apparently hip to the scene. She asked, “Bret, is there something you’re trying to tell us?” I had no idea what I was trying to say. Kurt Cobain had just shot his head off with a shotgun. Before that life-changing event, I hadn’t been the biggest fan of Nirvana, but I did recognize the immediate impact “Smells Like Teen Spirit” had on music, or at least on MTV. Nirvana had seemingly killed and buried Hair Metal, and they had done it single-handedly. What exactly was this “Alternative” sound? It was weird, because soon it felt like everything was “alternative,” and that didn’t make any sense. Once everything is the same, how can it be anything but standard, normal? Nirvana was okay, but at least at the time I was wearing the merch, I was much more into Offspring and Green Day and Tool. And that’s about as far as I went into...

I Must Betray You -- Ruta Sepetys

I appreciate the pacing. The author's epilogue includes her mission statement -- historical fiction as a way to keep history alive. Romanis is an obscure place, but she hopes people reading the book will take an interest in its history. She also makes the point that there are no clean endings. So, the evil dictator and his wife were killed, but the problems they created didn't magically go away, the country still had to find its way and move forward, and it was a process.

The Writer's Poke

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