Kinsey and Million Dollar Baby

[topaz]

Have been catching up on my movie viewing.

On Tuesday, got to see Kinsey and had a very nice, long dinner and evening stroll with the always fascinating psongster. The movie was very nicely done: I had problems with some of the characterizations (like Kinsey's father) but it was very well acted. In particular I liked the fact that while it didn't shy away from Kinsey's problems and the shortcomings of his methodology, it also didn't demonize him for them. Given that it was ultimately a very favorable portrait I thought it was as neutral as it could possibly be, given how polarized the subject matter was.

Last night I saw Million Dollar Baby. What a movie. Anyone who considers themselves a student of writing should see this one. The script is deceptively complex -- deceptive because it seems, when you are watching it, like a very simple, straightforward story, but the more you think about it, you will find layer upon layer of meaning that you had not noticed before. The stories fit together so neatly and so beautifully that you can't imagine them being told any other way. Lots of critics named Sideways the best picture of the year, and while I think I enjoyed the time I spent watching Sideways more, I can't say that it was the better film. The craft of Million Dollar Baby was so remarkable that even thinking about it now it takes my breath away.

Still want to see The Aviator and Rwanda, and Assassination and Aquatic before they leave the theaters. And Neverland if I can get keyne to go with me before the Oscars.

Comments

[psongster.livejournal.com]

You almost make me think I chose the wrong movie!

I'm interested that you found the portrayal of Kinsey's father problematic. Why? The character seemed all too plausible to me. I still haven't read a Kinsey bio, but I've read some reviews, and that isn't one of the inconsistencies they suggest.

Do let me know if you want a companion for others of your movie-explorations. Recently I've been averaging slightly under one movie a year, and I wouldn't mind increasing that rate.

And thank you for the compliment :-).

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

The character seemed plausible, but their relationship together seemed less so. In particular, the last scene with the father. It was a very traditional, in a melodramatic way, for the father to open up to his son at that moment, but the movie gave us very little reason to believe that it would happen in that way. There hadn't been any character development to speak of between the two characters.

I like flawed characters -- people who are troubled or troublesome in some deep way, but still show you their basic humanity. Neeson portrayed Kinsey very, very well in that way. But his father was really a caricature -- I found no depth beyond his bluster. That what seemed less satisfying about it to me.

And I will definitely give you a holler in the future when I'm planning to go to a movie and am looking for company. :-)

[psongster.livejournal.com]

Ok -- yes, I see what you mean about the father, and that last scene, and certainly the lack of relationship development between those two characters. I guess it bothered me less because it seemed of a keeping with my feeling about the staff as well -- there are all these personal stories that the movie hints at, but doesn't have time to develop, so we see only the suggestions.

This pattern is frustrating if I think of the movie as a piece of literature, which somewhat lacks internal unity. But I find it more thought-provoking than bothersome when I think of the movie as a reflection on history (*not* a historical source in itself, but the filmmakers' attempt to grapple with the recent past).

[rsc.livejournal.com]

I recall reading or hearing somewhere recently that the Kinsey's father was more or less as depicted -- but that after Alfred left home as a young man, they never saw each other again.

[qnetter]

I never would have believed that people like Lithgow's portrayal of Kinsey's father existed, at least that one-dinmensionally, until this past Christmas. Then I heard LOMLFOML's 87-year-onld grandmother describe her father.

As for Million Dollar Baby, the issue, I think, is that no matter what Eastwood does, many people still see Dirty Harry and the Man with No Name, whether in front of the camera or behind it. He's very much the Fred Astaire of serious non-indy filmmaking these days: great craft that is distinguished even further by its invisibility.

I'd love to know what country is Eastwood's equivalence of Jerry Lewis' France.

[psongster.livejournal.com]

Yes, my father grew up in a family/church like Kinsey's, so that portrayal rang quite true to me. But I do see the criticism that their final conversation is under-motivated in the context of the film. My grandfather never, in his entire lifetime, opened up like that to his son.