Not My Kind Of Film
Tonight my friend Karen and I went to see The Full Monty.
Briefly put, it was not for me.
The film takes place in an English town whose steel-based economy has collapsed. Some out-of-work men get the idea that maybe they can get some cash by becoming male strippers. The whole thrust of the movie, then, is what these guys go through to reach this goal, and all of the self-exploration (so to speak) that they do along the way, examining all of the foibles they have about this notion. Although basically a serious film, it is played very lightheartedly, and has a lot of humor.
For me, the problem is that I don't like - very actively dislike, in fact - situation-based comedy. Yes, I don't like TV sitcoms; the last one I saw that I liked was M*A*S*H. So I spent much of the movie cringing, and finally had to leave 2/3ds of the way through, because it just wasn't any fun for me. I think it's the first time I've ever walked out of a movie.
Not to say it's a bad film; it's well-written and -acted, handles its subject matter seriously and intelligently, and might even be considered an important film.
It's just not my kind of film.
I prefer comedy which is more absurdist than situational. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. The Marx Brothers. Stand-up acts like Johnny Carson and Steven Wright.
Karen was gracious enough to put up with me - she rather enjoyed the film, saying it took many of the self-image issues that women in our culture deal with routinely and applied them to men. Like I said, there's some worthy stuff in there. The vehicle for the subject was just not my cup of tea.
(Don't mince words, Rawdon. Tell us what you really think!)
Also picked up some packs of the new Magic expansion, Tempest, which looks pretty mediocre.
And it's comic book night, but I haven't actually read the comics yet, so I'll save that for tomorrow, probably.
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