When I remember “Remember the Titans” (2000), I remember it as being a lot better than it actually is. I gloss over the “based on a true story” bending of actual events into outright falsehoods, the Disneyfied melodrama, the insertion of musical scenes to help the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack sell better, and the general sports movie, big-game, big-speech schmaltziness. Yet the story of a Virginia high school overcoming an integration controversy to win a state football championship with a black head coach is still interesting enough to overcome the Hollywood treatment. Plus, it’s just fun watching Denzel be Denzel.
Archives for posts with tag: Ryan Gosling
The late 1970s were a time of moral ambiguousness in America. Symbolizing that era are the morally ambiguous protagonists of “The Nice Guys” (2016). Ryan Gosling (drunken detective but well-meaning single father) and Russell Crowe (sadistically violent goon with a heart of gold) team up to crack a murder case. Hijinks ensue. There’s lots of people accidentally getting shot (yet when people shoot at each other on purpose, they’re always missing). There’s also lots of era-inappropriate speech and items (crime-scene tape in 1977?), and other terrible production values (leisure suits that go from soaking wet to bone dry in minutes).
“Crazy, Stupid, Love” (2011) is a treatise about never giving up on your perceived soulmate (in real life, that kinda stuff results in restraining orders). It doesn’t make you think too much (unless you want to). It’s stupid, funny and uneven, yet it’s also a nice movie that made me feel happy. There’s something to be said for that. The plot is a Shakespearean knot of interconnected relationships. The music was nice. I would probably pay to watch Julianne Moore and/or Emma Stone spend two hours checking their email. Steve Carell plays himself (he usually does). Ryan Gosling seems nice.
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