Never Been Kissed.

This blog is about movies. But not just any movie. And not about whole movies. I am only writing about how movies end. My favorite movie ending happens in "Never Been Kissed." The movie is just all around good. Remember high school and the politics that happen with students dividing into groups based on smarts, athletic ability, musical or theatrical skill, and life attitudes and then the system of judging which of these groups contains the popular people? This movie reminds us of such adolescent behavior, and it's quite funny. But anyways, back to the point of this: the end of the movie. Drew Barrymore's character "Josie" is standing on a pitcher's mound before the start of the high school state championship baseball game. Five minutes is put on the clock and begins to tick down. She is waiting on a high school teacher, "Mr. Coulson" (Sam) played by Michael Vartan, to show up and then they can live happily ever after. It was a classic setup: they both liked each other but then an obstacle got in the way (he found out she was lying about her life) and all hope was lost. Except for this last ditch effort by Josie to win her man. Let's not get into the details of this teacher getting upset about Josie lying about being a student. So he gets upset when he finds out this girl he is totally in love with is not a student in real life? Would he rather her have been a student? Exactly why I don't want to get into the details of that right now.

Ok, so she's on the mound. The clock ticks down to zero and he doesn't show up. Now any hope that was left is completely gone. She drops the microphone onto the dusty mound. When we see her face, she is not crying her eyes out, she's not devastated. There is a look of "OK, this wasn't meant to be. I made myself available and he didn't act on that. Time to move on." She had the look of a person who was totally content with herself, her satisfaction and self-worth completely independent of another person. If the movie had ended there, I still think it would have been a great ending. However, the crowd at the baseball stadium begins to look to a corner of the bleachers. The excitement and chatter build quickly. The Beach Boys "Don't Worry, Baby" begins to play. Sam is energetically descending the stadium steps. He makes his way onto the field and takes Josie into his arms and they kiss. The camera circles around them and everything else fades away except for the two of them hugging and kissing. A phenomenal ending! As if that wasn't enough, Sam says, "Sorry, I'm late. It took me forever to get here." That last line of his dialogue is heavy with meaning and depth! In those few words, he confesses two completely different things: his literal lateness (because remember the clock ticked to zero about 3 minutes ago), and also his emotional journey leading up to his relationship with Josie (whose response, "I know what you mean," cleverly answered to both of his meanings). They both had to experience a lot to get to this point in their individual lives and in their newly established relationship. From the emotional climax of the scene, to the cleverly and well written dialogue, I can't think of a better ending in any movie I've seen. It just all worked so well! And using the Beach Boys to highlight the climax of the movie? Truly rufus!

Do you have a favorite movie ending? Is there a scene that finishes a story better than any other ending you know of? If so, tell me about it!

Life Is Rated R

In my quest to see 156 movies this year, I've come up with a theory. As theories go, I think it's a pretty good one, although not very scientific. But it "arrived through speculation or conjecture," so it fits the dictionary definition of theory, and here it is: life is rated R. It begins with a G rating, although if you really want to go back to the very beginning, one could argue that it begins with an X rating, but we'll say G, starting from birth. As a baby grows and journies through life, the force and influence of the rated R future slowly presses in. Molding this young G-rated life into a PG-13 life. As I think about how and why this happens, I am saddened. In a perfect world, there would be no R-rated life, our existence would be how it was originally designed to be: no harsh language, no violence, no drug abuse, which are all evidence and symptoms of the real problems... greed, lust, and selfishness. But as it is now, we do not grow into the rated R life, the rated R life grows into us. And that is sad. Think back to when you were 9 or 10... most of what you learn is from adults, right? Yes, you learn from your peers quite a bit when you are young, but even your peers have learned it from somewhere else. Adults. With the rated R life. I'm not saying every adult is at fault for innocent lives being corrupted, but surely every adult is responsible for the growth and/or starvation of the R-rated lifestyle. Concerning the generations coming up behind us, I suppose, as adults, we are either flaming the fire or shielding them from it. As an uncle of 6, I've been able to watch babies turn into young children. And I am feeling this strong urge to shield them, to protect them, to make it my responsibility (at least when I am with them) to guard their innocence, to keep their lives G-rated as long as possible. Why would I want anything else for them? Think about it, movies that are rated R have nudity, violence, danger, hard language, drug abuse and more. Which movie have you seen that's rated R because the characters were involved in excessive giving? Or being too selfless? Or for lengthy non-violent scenes? Or for consistent use of kind language? None! Here's what I'm getting at: the elements that make a movie rated R are not and cannot be positive. So why would anyone subject, or even help, the next generation experience this? But this is not about the movie rating system. It's about real life.

Like my title says, life is rated R... for me, and I bet for you, too. We should not try to hide from reality, because reality is simply that life is rated R. And there are some really great movies out there that have captured the challenge that life is... and sometimes it is violent, sometimes it does have adult material, sometimes it has colorful language because we are all human, and we are all trying to make sense of the world and the life we live. And when it get's tough, you know what? That's life, and life... is rated R. The good news, though, like every great movie, is that there is hope... and it is this: to find the one who can be your guardian through the R-rated moments of life. Then, and only then, will the life you lead have the happiest of endings.