Thumbs Up for Going Down the "Rabbit Hole"

Last night Bart and I went and saw the movie Rabbit Hole. We had been waiting for some time for its release. It's a film version of a play we saw at Goodman Theatre. Needless to say, we really enjoyed the play.

It's a tale of a couple coping with the loss of their only child (a 4 year old son) and their interactions with family - as well as the young man who accidentally killed him by car. Yes, it's very sorrowful. But well told and very powerful.

Part of the reason we'd been interested in the movie is that it has been championed by and stars Nicole Kidman. If you don't already know, she is my favoritre actress. She astounds me in every performance to the point of not really believing it is her. And I love her normal, off-camera wackiness. But enough about Kidman. :)

Another reason to see the movie is that the author David Lindsay-Abaire adapted his own stage show for the screen. Usually that's a bonus. And in this case it certainly is. Lindsay-Abaire managed to pull off the proverbial "open it up" for the big screen extremely well. Goodman's production played in 2007, so it has been a while since we saw it. But the impact has not diminished. The truth is that the movie is very different from the play. It has additional characters, added scenes and other locations... all par for the course for the "open it up" of course. But other than that, it is a new version. But a very excellent new version - for all the key scenes are still intact. They're just altered slightly. For instance, at one point in the play a video tape is erased. In the film, it becomes a smart phone video. And it works. All of the changes do.

Also quite gratifying is that some of the "new" scenes come from the play in some way. For example, in the play Becca (the mother/wife) comes in and has a monologue about an encounter with a woman at the supermarket. The play, as is often the case with theatre, has a static set of their home. No part of the stage is used to represent other locales with quick fly on pieces or the like. And so... in the film version Lindsay-Abaire is able to take us TO the supermarket and bring the scene to life other than words.

The scenes and changes that are fresh to the script are just that - fresh. The minor restructuring is welcome and sensible. I am tempted to say I liked them better.  But that's a hard call.  Both ways are just as compelling.

Yet as I said, the movie does indeed have all the key elements and scenes from the play.

In regard to the film itself, it's excellent.  All the performances are top notch.  Besides Kidman's usual nailing it (in my opinion) there's fabulously poignant acting from Aaron Eckhart, Miles Teller, Dianne Wiest, Sandra Oh and Tammy Blancard.  That is not to belittle the performances of the rest of the cast, I'm just mentioning the major players.  And a special nod to Sandra Oh, since she brought us a new and wonderful character.  It's also well filmed and Bart noticed effective artistic choices such as the color palate.  One noteable difference is that the play had been much darker.  Not that the film didn't deliver the tear-jerking moments, but it did have a peppering of light humor to break the otherwise looming sadness and tension.  And, like all the other reworking, it came off beautifully.

So... BRAVO to David Lindsay-Abaire for his ability to revisit his work and create such a magnificent new take on it.  That's quite an achievement and I give him a ton of credit.  I'd probably fall to pieces when faced with that challenge.  But that might have something to do with the fact that I (personally) believe I am terrible at writing plays in the first place.

If emotionally charged tales are your thing, you don't want to miss going into this Rabbit Hole.

Extending the Magic of "Bewitched"

I love the TV show Bewitched.
But I never knew that lyrics had been written for the theme song!

You can read Jack Keller’s words and hear it sung by Peggy Lee here.

A word on the show. Yes, it’s silly. But silly can be good. (A good witch!)
I also enjoyed it because the show often tackled social issues. Whether it be a thinly veiled representation of the 60’s and 70’s “hippie/drug” culture or a clever (albeit impossible) solution to racism, the show never ceased to elevate itself above simple charms. It made us think. Consider the one about what we are doing with our civil liberties when Benjamin Franklin is summoned from the past. Or the commentary about the “importance” of Darrin’s job: advertising.

As for the movie, yes, I enjoyed it. But no, I did not love it. On the whole, though, I liked what they did with it. If you ask me, when you “remake” a television show for the big screen, there better be a good “reason” or “hook” other than simply wanting to see it large.

For instance, with The Brady Bunch Movie, the premise of the Bradys being stuck in the 70’s during the 90’s proved just “stupid” enough to work. To me, it worked on two levels. First, it reminded us of a (for lack of a better term) “simpler time” overly contrasted with an era of too much “grunge.” Second, it placed The Brady Bunch on a pedestal, declaring it as an iconic part of our television heritage. It then promptly proceeded to knock the pedestal over as if to say, “What on EARTH did you ever watch this for? It’s horrible!” by merely turning the volume, so to speak, on the personalities and situations up way too loud.

I know of people who did not like the first movie of Mission: Impossible because in it original star Peter Graves's character turned out to be the bad guy. (Sorry if I spoiled that for you…) But that is precisely why I did like it. A jarring event like that is exactly what would warrant a film version.

Anyway, back to Bewitched. The premise in the movie: a reboot of the television show is being done and they want to cast Samantha based on who is actually able to wriggle her nose. Wouldn’t you know it, but the lady they find who can do it is a real witch - and one who wants to experience being a mortal no less? It’s not rocket science clever, but at least it had a purpose and comic thought behind it. In fact, the very idea for the plot came from the notion of "Where on earth can we find another woman who can wriggle her nose?" And I must say "Bravo!" to the casting of Shirley MacLaine as Endora. When Lemonie and I would cast TV-to-Movie just for fun, we decided no other choice existed. Glad they noticed as such, too. For the record, we also figured Richard Dreyfuss would be ideally suited for Larry Tate, but the film had no need for him. Also a "Brava!" to Nicole Kidman for doing Elizabeth Montgomery justice. (And yes, she did learn to wriggle her nose for the movie - no CGI had been used.)

I just think they ended it entirely wrong. I won’t tell you the end, but I’ll tell you mine. The actors playing Darrin and Samantha reveal to the cast and crew that Isabel Bigelow is a real witch. Thus, she really does the magic for the show. The remount of Bewitched, therefore, would surpass the original in its ratings and popularity. The last scene would be Isabel being asked by a reporter, “How do you account for the super success of the show?” And her reply, of course: “It’s magic.”

Anyway, I hope you’re as surprised as me that the theme has lyrics. Enjoy.
(By the way, as I mentioned in my interview by C.J. Redwine, I can wriggle my nose like Samantha.)