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apocalypsosThis is nominated for Best Comedy or Musical at the Golden Globes, which I suspect may be pushing it a tad. Not that it's a bad movie at all -- it's actually quite lovely -- but I wouldn't call it a comedy all that much. There's definitely comic relief, but that doesn't mean it's comedy by a long shot.
That said, it's a brilliant little movie. I was a little afraid it would be a bit "LOL, white people" or "Look how magical and spiritual brown people are!" and would be two hours of me side-eying the screen hardcore. But it really wasn't. It doesn't paint India has anything more than a different country with a different culture. And I didn't get the impression that it was the Indians themselves who changed the British characters, but simply the change in venue. It could have been America or Chile or Japan, it still wouldn't have changed the fact that all of these characters are at this crossroads and a big change like a move to another country made them confront their biggest concerns and problems. So, yeah, I liked the way the culture clash was handled.
I'm also unsurprised Judi Dench is nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress for it. Granted, I'm pretty sure Judi Dench could get herself nominated for a toothpaste commercial without much trouble, but she really does amazing work in the movie. I guess you could call her the lead, although it is more of an ensemble piece, but more time does get devoted to her journey and it's a good thing. It's very realistic, it's not cloying, and it's easy to sympathize with where she's coming from.
I think my only concern was for the Tom Wilkinson storyline and how it ended, and I'll leave a little spoiler space for this bit:
I guess I just have a kneejerk sort of response to the "kill off the gay character" plot point that gets used a lot, but I think it was really well-handled in this movie. You kind of know from the beginning of the movie that someone is going to die anyway -- I mean, it's a movie about a group of old people; someone's bound to get bumped off eventually -- and you spend most of it sure that it's going to be the hornball character from trying to get laid. But the fact that it's the Tom Wilkinson character makes sense, I suppose. He wanted one thing, and he got that one thing. He just wanted to know that the love of his life was okay before he died. That was the one issue he needed resolved. I think a lot of what makes the "kill the gay character" trope so tasteless is that it always feels like it's punishing the gay character for, you know, being gay. In this instance, it wasn't a punishment, and it actually feels like more of a release than anything else. I don't know about anybody else, I just thought it was handled really great.
I would put money on it getting nominated at least for Best Picture at the Oscars, because it very much fulfills that "Grandma wants to go to the movies, what should we see?" slot. (Which ... I hate labeling it like that, but yeah, that's probably exactly how Hollywood would see it. There's old people in it! Grandparents will love it!) I'm not sure about Judi Dench making Best Actress. I'm thinking Marion Cotilliard for "Rust and Bone", Jessica Chastain for "Zero Dark Thirty", and Jennifer Lawrence for "Silver Linings Playbook" are pretty much locks, and I suspect Anne Hathaway may end up in the Best Actress category instead of supporting actress at the Oscars just because, which leaves one spot open which Judi Dench would be perfect for. That said, everybody else in the category, if I'm right, has already been previously nominated, and I could easily see the Academy saying, "We need an unknown up-and-comer for the final slot." I'm crossing my fingers like crazy for Quvenzhane Wallis, because I had problems with "Beasts of the Southern Wild" but she was most certainly not one of them, but then again she's a little kid and that may be pushing it even for the Academy. (I could see them shoving her in the supporting actress category even though she carries the entire movie and even though Anne Hathaway is going to run away with that award in a heartbeat if she ends up in supporting rather than lead.)
Huh. This turned out much longer than I thought.
That said, it's a brilliant little movie. I was a little afraid it would be a bit "LOL, white people" or "Look how magical and spiritual brown people are!" and would be two hours of me side-eying the screen hardcore. But it really wasn't. It doesn't paint India has anything more than a different country with a different culture. And I didn't get the impression that it was the Indians themselves who changed the British characters, but simply the change in venue. It could have been America or Chile or Japan, it still wouldn't have changed the fact that all of these characters are at this crossroads and a big change like a move to another country made them confront their biggest concerns and problems. So, yeah, I liked the way the culture clash was handled.
I'm also unsurprised Judi Dench is nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress for it. Granted, I'm pretty sure Judi Dench could get herself nominated for a toothpaste commercial without much trouble, but she really does amazing work in the movie. I guess you could call her the lead, although it is more of an ensemble piece, but more time does get devoted to her journey and it's a good thing. It's very realistic, it's not cloying, and it's easy to sympathize with where she's coming from.
I think my only concern was for the Tom Wilkinson storyline and how it ended, and I'll leave a little spoiler space for this bit:
I guess I just have a kneejerk sort of response to the "kill off the gay character" plot point that gets used a lot, but I think it was really well-handled in this movie. You kind of know from the beginning of the movie that someone is going to die anyway -- I mean, it's a movie about a group of old people; someone's bound to get bumped off eventually -- and you spend most of it sure that it's going to be the hornball character from trying to get laid. But the fact that it's the Tom Wilkinson character makes sense, I suppose. He wanted one thing, and he got that one thing. He just wanted to know that the love of his life was okay before he died. That was the one issue he needed resolved. I think a lot of what makes the "kill the gay character" trope so tasteless is that it always feels like it's punishing the gay character for, you know, being gay. In this instance, it wasn't a punishment, and it actually feels like more of a release than anything else. I don't know about anybody else, I just thought it was handled really great.
I would put money on it getting nominated at least for Best Picture at the Oscars, because it very much fulfills that "Grandma wants to go to the movies, what should we see?" slot. (Which ... I hate labeling it like that, but yeah, that's probably exactly how Hollywood would see it. There's old people in it! Grandparents will love it!) I'm not sure about Judi Dench making Best Actress. I'm thinking Marion Cotilliard for "Rust and Bone", Jessica Chastain for "Zero Dark Thirty", and Jennifer Lawrence for "Silver Linings Playbook" are pretty much locks, and I suspect Anne Hathaway may end up in the Best Actress category instead of supporting actress at the Oscars just because, which leaves one spot open which Judi Dench would be perfect for. That said, everybody else in the category, if I'm right, has already been previously nominated, and I could easily see the Academy saying, "We need an unknown up-and-comer for the final slot." I'm crossing my fingers like crazy for Quvenzhane Wallis, because I had problems with "Beasts of the Southern Wild" but she was most certainly not one of them, but then again she's a little kid and that may be pushing it even for the Academy. (I could see them shoving her in the supporting actress category even though she carries the entire movie and even though Anne Hathaway is going to run away with that award in a heartbeat if she ends up in supporting rather than lead.)
Huh. This turned out much longer than I thought.
