A movie based on a This American Life skit is an interesting idea in theory. The danger in executing it is that it will feel like a fifteen minute skit dragged out for ninety minutes. The other danger is that a character who seems interesting for a brief moment will become loathsome over the long hall.
Sadly Sleepwalk With Me fell into both traps. The sleepwalking skit is one of the great TAL episodes. Mike Birbiglia's other bits are also typically funny. The problem is that he doesn't do the work to tie them together into a story that holds up for the duration. In many ways, the sleepwalking bit feels tacked on to a dull story about the end of a relationship. It doesn't add anything to the story and the humor is fleeting. The love story bit is too mixed up with the bit about becoming an adult and it doesn't seem to really mesh in anyway that is believable. It all hangs together like a ball of wet noodles. A film is too long for Birbiglia's meandering style to hold up. It works best when the audience cannot stop paying attention halfway through because they don't have time.
The other problem is that for the movie to work you have to like the central character. As he says "remember you are on my side". I was never on his side. I wanted the girl to walkout on him after the first five minutes. I wanted her to sleep with the hunky guy at the bar. I wanted him to fall asleep at the wheel. I didn't believe that any girl could have more than a passing "self loathing" moment where she would consider him suitable for anything more than a tool. I didn't even believe it when he finally figured out how to be funny.
Was it a terrible movie? No. Do I feel like it was a waste of ninety minutes? Not really. Would I pay to watch it? No.
Feb 20, 2013
Feb 7, 2013
Fringe
Fringe has finally ended its improbably long run. I never expected that it would make it past the first season. Each summer I would wait for the announcement that it wasn't coming back. Then it would come back and be just as good or better than the season before.
The story lines went off the rails sometimes; plot caverns cropped up; continuity was broken like a twig. The biggest violation was in the middle of season four when Peter went from avoiding Olivia to simply giving into his urges. It was like during the mid season break the characters had some rewiring. Let's also not forget how Walter supposedly wrote the book of the first people or the other book from the first two seasons. The complete rewriting of the timeline was at least telegraphed.
There was also the annoying habit the show had of never quite resolving anything. First there was the pattern, then there was the other side, and finally the future. The writers just skipped from one to the next without ever really resolving the previous. At least in the end the whole framework was put into some sort of sense. It was the Observers all along not that it really answers everything.
Despite all of the shows flaws, it was a great show. It didn't dumb things down even if it did take great liberty with science. The writing was typically sharp. The actors were typically in top form. More than any of that however, the show had great characters that I wanted to follow. They were multilayered and flawed and noble and conflicted and always aimed at doing the right thing. Walter was probably the best of the bunch. Walter was hubristic and brilliant and blind. Olivia was wounded, defensive, smart, tough, and kind. Peter was a lot like Walter. Broyles was too willing to sacrifice what he thought was right for the greater good.
As the final episode drilled home, the show, underneath all the crazy, was a story about family and friends and finding your way in the crazy world. Unlike many shows recently, Fringe went out on top with a close to perfect ending. It may have been too neat, but it was right.
The story lines went off the rails sometimes; plot caverns cropped up; continuity was broken like a twig. The biggest violation was in the middle of season four when Peter went from avoiding Olivia to simply giving into his urges. It was like during the mid season break the characters had some rewiring. Let's also not forget how Walter supposedly wrote the book of the first people or the other book from the first two seasons. The complete rewriting of the timeline was at least telegraphed.
There was also the annoying habit the show had of never quite resolving anything. First there was the pattern, then there was the other side, and finally the future. The writers just skipped from one to the next without ever really resolving the previous. At least in the end the whole framework was put into some sort of sense. It was the Observers all along not that it really answers everything.
Despite all of the shows flaws, it was a great show. It didn't dumb things down even if it did take great liberty with science. The writing was typically sharp. The actors were typically in top form. More than any of that however, the show had great characters that I wanted to follow. They were multilayered and flawed and noble and conflicted and always aimed at doing the right thing. Walter was probably the best of the bunch. Walter was hubristic and brilliant and blind. Olivia was wounded, defensive, smart, tough, and kind. Peter was a lot like Walter. Broyles was too willing to sacrifice what he thought was right for the greater good.
As the final episode drilled home, the show, underneath all the crazy, was a story about family and friends and finding your way in the crazy world. Unlike many shows recently, Fringe went out on top with a close to perfect ending. It may have been too neat, but it was right.
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