As with everything in my life, I learned about this movie from watching Hoda and Kathie Lee. Honestly, I feel that watching the Today show has become part of my daily regimen that I find is both depressing and yet entertaining.
Oh, and sometimes retarded. But I digress…
Last night I went to go see the Rob Reiner film Flipped and I have to say that it’s obvious that it was based off of a novel, just in how some of the story isn’t fully fleshed out on the screen but the overall story was pretty cute and all about adolescent love and, probably as the books does – although I haven’t read it so I can’t assume – the story is told twice from the viewpoint of the two main characters throughout their youth and the back-and-forth evolution of their feelings for one another.
The whole story of the boy’s father was one of the bits that I imagine was better told in the novel because it felt awkwardly shoved in here to try to prove a certain point of view. But like I said, you were beat over the head with the point and the climax is that he strikes one of his children, but we learn nothing more about what happens afterwards.
Overall, I enjoyed it. It was a sentimental movie and the theme of seeing something or someone as a whole landscape, a summation of their parts versus just liking a person for their smile or eyes or humor.
The film was set in the early 60s and with that comes music of the time to set the scene. One of my favorite songs of all time started playing in a certain scene where the boy comes to realize that he actually has feelings for the girl next door. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles’ You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me is just one of those wonderful, tragic, poignant songs that always gets played when you realize you’ve got it bad for somebody.
That means I usually sit in the dark listening to it drinking whiskey. That’s where Smokey takes me. But even better than Smokey’s version is Me’Shell Ndegeocello’s take from the film Standing In The Shadows Of Motown.
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