Thursday, June 26, 2008

The Inside Passage

The last day on the cruise, we sailed the Inside Passage all the way down the Canadian Coast to Vancouver. It was rainy pretty much all day, but that didn't keep the wildlife from surfacing! We saw a humpback whale and her calf, and we actually saw killer whales jumping out of the water! They were too quick for me to get a photo - you'll just have to take my word for it that we saw them. It was pretty neat.


To pass the time, Jon and I watched "Lars and the Real Girl" in our room. I had heard that it was funny from several people, and it was advertised as a sort of off-the-wall romantic comedy. Except it was neither funny nor romantic. It was about a guy with mental illness. The only way the movie could be funny is if you were laughing AT him, which I was not inclined to do. I just felt sad for him. The best part of the movie is a speech Lars' sister-in-law makes about how they all accept his delusions and go along with them because they love him. I think that's really what the movie was about - how this community accepted Lars even though he was not like them, and they did everything they could to make him feel loved despite his mental illness. AND, another point in its favor is that it is one of the very few movies in recent history that portrays the clergyman as a pretty good guy. No pedophilia or excessive greed. He was just an all around nice person. So, I give "Lars and the Real Girl" 2 out of 5 stars mostly because of its faulty advertising.

1 comment:

Scott W. Clark said...

Re Lars: I was not presented with the "comedy" marketing before I saw it. So my expectations were different going in. I liked it so much because of how everyone help Lars deal with his problem. The one time I did laugh was when Lars and his girlfriend were having their breakup fight in his car. I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars.