Tuesday, December 27, 2011

20 Seconds of Insane Courage...

This isn't a review as much as it's a reaction to an amazing movie.  Pure inspiration and joy caused this outburst of Jerry Maguire-esqe rambling (I even had The Who's "Getting in Tune" playing in the background)...


So We Bought A Zoo was a knockout. With a Cameron Crowe movie you are guaranteed a couple things...

1) A great soundtrack and perfect music cues  
Only QT and PTA have come close to matching Crowe's perfect ear for using a moment of a song an actor.  His choices for the Vanilla Sky soundtrack alone should have gotten it a supporting actor credit.

2) Great performances from his actors  
Great directors bring out the best in their actors.  Simple.  Everyone he's worked with has seemed to come to the conclusion that they end up seeing a little of Crowe in their final acting product they put on the screen.  His talent and passion is contagious.

3) An amazing script
He has a way with conveying emotion that is more real to me than any other writer/director...ever.  I've always said nobody reads his lines better than Tom Cruise...well Tom might have found some stiff competition with Matt Damon.  The shouting scene between the father and son in We Bought A Zoo is written and acted so well you forget you're watching a movie.  It's as real as anything else you'll see this year.


4) A GREAT MOVIE!
Here's a couple of my favorite movies...that happen to also be films he wrote and directed...
We Bought A Zoo- See below...an easy Top 10 this year.
Elizabethtown- I enjoyed it the first time I saw it in theaters, but the second viewing was much more enjoyable in the end.  The epic couple hour long phone call between strangers played by Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst will forever bring me back to this movie over and over.
Vanilla Sky- One of my favorite movies of all time.  This is to me a true masterpiece.   I absolutely love everything about this movie.  Every cue of music is perfect.  That final climb in the elevator to David's conscience truth in the climax is perfect on every level (no pun intended...or maybe).
Almost Famous- I need to revisit this one soon, but this movie had me fall in love with Kate Hudson, much like Elizabethtown had me with Kirsten Dunst.  The fact that Cameron basically lived this life at that age is almost as amazing as the way he told it as an adult.
Jerry Maguire- Probably Crowe's greatest achievement overall...and it's all about a sports agent who grew a conscience.  Nobody on the planet could have played Jerry Maguire like Tom Cruise did.  The Oscar should have been his that year, along with Crowe for screenplay, film and director. It's a tie with Vanilla Sky for me for best of Crowe/Cruise.

So...whatever the definition of a soul is, he manages to always grab mine with his movies. His movies are beautiful. Matt Damon also plays the "every-man" better than anyone else around (he did it in Contagion as well this year). Everyone shines in this movie. Crowe engages everyone and infects them with whatever power he has to make everyone leaving his movies feel better about life, because there are already enough movies out there to show how bleak life can be. It's true, all we really need in life is 20 seconds of insane courage to accomplish something great. Crowe has been doing that his whole life.

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