Whiz Kids

Deb 3 Me 4

The blurb for the movie says this: “Five young scientists from around the United States come of age in an increasingly science-hostile world; their curiosity and excitement for scientific exploration gives hope for America's future and shows how science can be used to answer life's most difficult questions.”

Well that sounded pretty interesting to me and I was excited about seeing the movie. Sitting in the theater with one other couple we were all disappointed to discover we were watching a DVD projected onto the screen. So it’s not a film at all. Parts of it look to have been shot on someone’s phone, other parts look nice, but the audio was often a train wreck.

Basically Intel has a talent contest for high school kid’s science projects. The winner gets a serious scholarship. Thousands of young people apply; they are whittled down to forty finalists and three winners are selected from that group. We meet three hopefuls and their teachers and families and follow them through their research and presentations that get them to the finals.

The good part is the kids and after the movie that’s about all the good we could find here, good kids trying hard and making their way as best they can. But the movie we saw only followed three kids, not five, and there wasn’t much evidence of a science hostile world, although the local Dupont plant didn’t appreciate one girl’s research. I’m not really sure what life's most difficult questions are but I don’t think they were addressed here. And I questioned the science. At one point a student mentioned getting a 6 volt battery out of their dad's car. What the hell kind of pre-war monstro does her daddy drive that doesn't use a 12 volt battery?

The film wasn’t really compelling, you weren’t rooting for one kid over the others, you were just watching, often struggling to understand what they said. Even though there were only three subjects, the footage could have been edited down quite a bit, there was too much confusion at times. Not a great movie, just so-so. But the kids that we meet are alright and you can’t help but wish there are a million more out there looking out for the future.

Mother and Child

Deb 5 Me 8

A few years ago there was a delightful little movie called Juno. In it a young girl decides to give her baby up for adoption. She is a sharp gal with a great attitude, who has the support of her parents, making it a light-hearted look at the issue of adoption. Mother and Child would be the opposite of Juno. The anti-Juno. There are few healthy minded people here.

A lot of famous people signed on for this one. There are actors from TVs The Practice, two from Law and Order and two from NYPD Blue. They are joined with several big name movie stars and a few who are just recognizable; but there’s a boatload of talent here. Coming in at just over two hours, it feels like a long movie. The movie touches on a lot of topics, from workplace relations to religion, and makes no real stand on anything.

There is no joy in Mudville. Not a feel-good movie (although it eventually succumbs to typical Hollywood formulas), it did keep me watching. Acting is credible throughout. Although I didn’t really like many of the characters, the story kept me wondering what decision they’d make next. Before and after rack focus shots there is a tendency for scenes to stay out of focus longer than expected, but after I realized it was a tool, I kind of liked it.

Most stories seem to be based on dysfunctional people struggling through life’s perils making questionable decisions and getting happy endings. A typical post-Disney Disney formula. Biopics are usually the same formula except they are about famous people and have tragic endings. This movie shows us that even the mundane people on the street have the ability to make the same dreadful mistakes as celebrities.

The movie presents activities that are to be resolved after the movie ends. We don’t see the consequences of some of the actions, we can only speculate about them. Usually this pisses me off, but in this case it adds an air of real life credibility to the movie. I like adoption, and this film took an odd stance of presenting the perils of adoption, how it can ill-affect so many people's lives. But I really got the feeling these people are just goners and if it weren't this issue it would be something else. I gave it a lot of points, not because it was light or happy or even interesting. It was just a new type of train wreck that I couldn’t turn away from. Deb gave it a five, a much more realistic rating for the story.