More than a cast and a plot line
Not always the cook, or the recipe, or the ingredients. A meal can turn out to be, politely put, ordinary. The same thing applies in cinema.
This afternoon, I watched a new movie. Didn’t recognize the cast, but the plot line ran to the familiar – a war movie adventure. I make a point not to check the IMDB ratings until I’ve given the film a chance to “prove itself”, but I may have to adjust that rule. This movie, which will remain nameless, just didn’t “get” it.
All the necessary ingredients: trains, planes, tanks and a submarine. Lots of gold. Radios, on a moving train. Lots of gunfire (is that an attempt to turn lead into gold? I wonder). And a plot that simply spun in circles. I still don’t know how the characters got from point A to B to C. Had nothing to do with the modes of transport already mentioned.
In the end, I stayed with it through to the credits, but my thumbs will remain hidden inside my palms (that same gesture that my grandfather warned me to never use in a fist fight).
In contrast, last night I watched High Noon, which is a classic western. No big moments, but there was a train. Should you ask, I’d tell you to add this one to your view list, and the IMDB people agree. Great score. The whole premise of real time; it worked. Actually, I’m surprised that it took me a lifetime to finally watch this one. Better late than never.
