ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

Ecclesiastes

The Magnificent Meyersons – Wandering Wisdom

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“Sometimes, I wish God would just reach down and give the world a big old shake, you know?”

One day. One family. And it all gets shaken up a bit. Evan Oppenheimer’s The Magnificent Meyersons is a peripatetic search for understanding what it means to live in a world that may or may not have a god, in which right and wrong may or may not be relative, in which the future and the past may or may not hold the answers. And it’s a comedy (sort of).

We wander through the streets of New York along with four upper middle class adult siblings: Daphne (Jackie Burns), the older daughter, who is struggling with not being quite fulfilled as a mother, wife, or at work; Roland (Ian Kahn), the older son, who is a confident businessman, but perhaps a bit overprotective of his daughter; Daniel (Daniel Eric Gold), the younger son, a rabbinical student who may or may not have faith; and Susie (Shoshannah Stern), the younger daughter, who is deaf and seeking to make her way as a realtor. There are also interludes involving their mother (Kate Mulgrew) and memories of their absent father (Richard Kind).

Note that the term “peripatetic” means to walk around, to wander. As the day progresses, each of the siblings sit or stroll through the city talking to friends or family about any variety of things. The subjects are just as wandering as the people in the film: the existence of God, what makes man [sic] unique among the animals, what it means to be successful, what makes us happy, and if the past can be forgiven.

There is a philosophical bent to this film similar to what is found in the biblical book Ecclesiastes. In Ecclesiastes, the author (often referred to as Qoheleth) ponders the meaning of life and what makes life worth living. Qoheleth is also a bit peripatetic. He wanders through various approaches in search of the answers to his questions. The four siblings, along with the parents to a lesser extent, all have different understandings of life. The film and all the talking are not so much about finding the answers as it is about all the questions. That too is a bit like Ecclesiastes.

Because the discussions are so diverse, there are many interesting things said along the way. There is an ontological proof of God set side by side with an ontological disproof. At another point, Roland says, “You know what makes man unique? He’s the only animal who can’t take care of himself.” When Daphne admits to being “selfish, vain, and lazy”, her husband concurs, and adds, “like everybody else”. Perhaps the deepest wisdom expressed is “Everything matters”.

The theme line of Ecclesiastes is “Vanity of vanities! All is Vanity.” That refers to the ephemeral nature of life. That concept is also central to the musings of the characters in The Magnificent Meyersons. As they all try in their own way to deal with the life, there is an understanding that things are constantly changing. But how we deal with all those changes can open new ways for us to live in vain lives.

The Magnificent Meyerson is playing in limited theatrical release and on virtual cinema.

Photos courtesy of Argot Pictures.

Running Naked – Days of Vain Life

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“Benjamin Taylor is leaving living today.”

Sometimes it takes the specter of death to bring light into life. Running Naked, from director Victor Buhler, is a feel-good dramedy that helps us see the beauty in life, even if we know that life is finite. Perhaps that finitude helps us see the meaning of it all.

As teenagers, Mark and Ben (Samuel Bottomley and James Senneck) were roommates in a cancer ward as they underwent treatment. The two would push against the confines of their situation. They plotted an escape from the hospital, only to discover there was nothing to do after they succeeded. Their highlight was a one lap race around the hospital floor au naturel.

Sixteen years later, Mark (Mathew McNulty) is an oncologist trying to bring hope and happiness to the teenage patients who are going through their own treatments. Ben (Andrew Gower) has become a reclusive, nervous nerd. Ben is plagued by OCD and a phobia of hospitals. He has a job in a basement that most people in the company don’t even know is there. Yet, through the years Ben and Mark have gotten together every Wednesday night.

When tests show a return of the cancer for one of them, Mark sets out to give Ben the life he has been missing all these years. With only a bit of time, the two reinvent their lives to discover the richness of life all around them, and finding joy and love that give meaning to days whether short or long. It also tests their friendship when they have to come to terms with changes in perspectives.

While not a outwardly religious story, there are places along the journey that allow us to reflect briefly on spiritual issues. For example, when the two men go to a dog track (where they won £50 as kids), Ben, at the last minute, chooses to put their money on a long shot, Hope Eternal. Later, we see the two, both as teens and as adults, sitting in the hospital chapel contemplating the words on the wall, “I will never forget you. I have written your name on the palms of my hands.” (Isaiah 49:16)

Although the Book of Ecclesiastes is never mentioned or quoted, the film is firmly rooted in the wisdom found there. The book’s key theme, stated in Ecc. 1:2, is “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity!” It moves from a view of the world that is meaningless and repetitious (as Ben has been living) but through a search for wisdom, the writer discovered that the meaning of life is to “Enjoy life . . . all the days of your vain life that are given you under the sun, for that is your portion in life.” (9:9)

The film serves as a reminder that we too often get bogged down in the vanities of life when we are meant to be seeking the beauty and joy that surrounds us—even in seemingly dark times.

Running Naked is available on VOD.

Photos courtesy of Trinity Creative Partnership.

Max Cloud: The Importance of Teamwork

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“Max Cloud will shoot first and ask pointed questions later.”

One of the unique aspects of growing up in the 1980s (besides being able to roam free in the neighborhood after school) was the advent of video games.  Sure, you could go to the arcade in the mall or the local pizza parlor and pump quarters into Pole Position, Donkey Kong, or Ms. Pac Man (my personal nemesis), but we longed for something more.  

I have received a number of game systems over the years thanks to my father’s job (Pong; Bally; Odyssey2; Texas Instruments-even learning to code in BASIC), but it was the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986 that jolted me into a world I never knew existed.  Suddenly there was a connection among friends, all of us attempting to accomplish the same task – defeat games without the use of the Internet, email, chat, or online play. Yes, we called each other on the phone.  Yes, we spent the night at each other’s houses and played until the sun rose. Yes, we drew highly sophisticated maps and conjectured ways of defeating Ganondorf or the Mother Brain. Yes, we did eat highly caloric snacks and played quintessential 1980’s tunes.  Yes, we celebrated the takedown of a game like we won the NBA Championship.

I think that’s why the new film Max Cloud brought back memories for me in a flood of music, icons, and 1980’s-era graphics.  I wanted it to be a film that would evoke the geekiness and excitement of Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One while adding a new layer to the world I grew up in.  Sadly, it does neither.   

The story itself is fairly straightforward in nature. Sarah (Isabelle Allen, Les Misérables) is a fan of the Max Cloud videogame series.  While playing one day, she finds an easter egg (code for a secret item) that sends her from playing in her bedroom to being an active part of the game as Jake (Elliot Langridge), Max Cloud’s cook. Her friend Cowboy (Franz Drameh, Hereafter) looks for her and suddenly realizes that in order for Sarah to return to the land of the early 1990’s, he’s going to have to beat the game—or bye bye Sarah/Jake. Sarah’s comrades in the game consist of Rexy (Sally Collett), a somewhat shy and gregarious commander, and Max Cloud himself (Scott Adkins, Zero Dark Thirty; Doctor Strange), a vainly pretentious fighter in the vein of Buzz Lightyear, complete with references to himself in third person.

Every teenager’s bedroom, circa 1990

This sounds awesome! Where does the film go wrong?, you might wonder.  I think it begins with the screenplay itself. There are a number of opportunities for fleshing out the characters and having the viewer connect with Sarah and Max.  However, these are all brushed aside, leaving a bare-bones structure that simply cannot overcome the lack of detail.  The characters simply aren’t given enough to do. I do appreciate the concept, but in this case, less is not necessarily more.

Another area of concern is the unevenness of the graphics and set quality.  The video game Sarah gets pulled into is 16-bit (a la Double Dragon) and would be pretty respectable if it existed in real life. That might explain why the actual video game sets look like something one might find on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Some of the props look wonky as well, such as Rexy’s backpack blaster (it looks better in the actual game than in real life) and the helmets the characters have in case of going out into space. At the end, the final battle is of significantly higher quality, but it’s a bit jarring to see such differing graphics on the screen (think early Nintendo versus a PS5).

Even though there are some definite issues with the film, I did notice that the concept of teamwork is on grand display for the viewer.  The Cowboy realizes that if he doesn’t beat the game (which he has never done), his friend dies. He can hear Sarah, so the two partner to make sure he does the best he can—even resorting to her calling out button presses so the characters will get out of a tight jam. Even her father jumps in to make a critical save of the game at the end.  I’m reminded of a passage in the Bible that says, “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor; for if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up!” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10). Life is challenging enough as it is right now (Covid or not), so to have people around to help when the going gets tough-or even to talk to about all types of things-is important. Let us take a lesson from the Bible and video game players—we need each other.

Max Cloud is available on VOD now.

Don’t Come Back from the Moon – A World of Emptiness

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An optimist sees a glass as half full; a pessimist sees it as half empty. A nihilist will dump the water from the glass and marvel at the emptiness. Bruce Thierry Cheung’s Don’t Come Back from the Moon is a study of such emptiness.

In a small desert community, after the one local plant closes, the fathers leave town, one by one. Some may be looking for work elsewhere; others are just admitting defeat in life. The fathers are referred to as having gone to the moon. In the aftermath, their children must struggle with the abandonment. They act out with a mixture of anarchism, anger, distrust, and fear.

The story is told by sixteen year-old Mickey (Jeffery Wahlberg), whose father (James Franco, in a brief appearance) has set off for a new start. His mother (Rashida Jones) has gone through all the new starts she can handle, so the rest of the family stays behind. Mickey and the other kids left behind spend their days and nights in mischief, drinking, and “harvesting” abandoned homes for scrap they can sell. They live in the moment, without thought of what might lie ahead of them. There seems to be no future. Mickey connects with Sonya (Alyssa Elle Steinacker), and they begin to form a bond, until her father returns seeking to take her with him to Nebraska where he has found work.

Filmed in the area around the Salton Sea in California, the film is full of ruins of the past grandeur (or hoped for grandeur) of the community. The world we see in this film has rusted and eroded away leaving only reminders of the dreams of those who came there. That serves as a metaphor for the lives of the children left behind. It is a world without dreams—only a weather-beaten past. Many of the scenes focus on the physical emptiness of the location, which lead us to see the emptiness in the lives of the characters.

Emptiness is one of the ways some have understood the term “vanity” in Ecclesiastes. When Qoheleth repeatedly tells us that “all is vanity”, it is a reference to the sense that life can often seem empty of meaning. Should we count Qoheleth among the nihilists who would show us the empty glass? Certainly, there are some who would read Ecclesiastes in that light.

There is a sense that the characters in the film have lived in this world of emptiness for so long that they have no concept of what might bring fullness (or even half-fullness) to their lives. For them this empty world is normal—perhaps even beautiful. That may be why they choose to stay. The pack of children promise each other that they will never go to the moon. They would hear Qoheleth’s “all is vanity” as an unemotional description. I think it should be heard as lament in search of something to bring life and meaning.

When the time comes for Mickey to decide how he will choose to live his life, the options are to continue in the emptiness that is so familiar or searching out the possibilities of life elsewhere. But can he find anything better somewhere else, or is the whole world really as empty as the moon?

Photos courtesy of Brainstorm Media

Tully – A Bit of Help to Find Happiness

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When writer Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman collaborate (as they did earlier in Juno and Young Adult), the result is always an interesting bit of social philosophy set within the institution of family. Tully is their latest work, with a special emphasis on the trial and meaning of motherhood in today’s world.

We meet Marlo (Charlize Theron) shortly before her third child is born. She already is struggling to cope with the first two children and the romantically cooled off relationship with her husband Drew (Ron Livingston). Her brother, Craig (Mark Duplass), offers to pay for a night nanny to help Marlo get rest after the new baby is born. But Marlo resists the idea of having someone come in at night to care for the baby. Soon, however, it’s just too much for her, so she finds her brother’s note and a young woman named Tully (Mackenzie Davis) arrives.

(l to r.) Mackenzie Davis as Tully and Charlize Theron as Marlo star in Jason Reitman’s TULLY, a Focus Features release.

Tully is full of energy, just as Marlo is worn out. Tully is bright and perky, where Marlo is sullen and depressed. Yet the two women have a great deal in common and soon create a bond that allows Marlo to unburden herself of all the things she has been holding inside. This seems a wonderful therapeutic relationship that touches all the difficulties in Marlo’s life. Except…. (Yes, there is something more that I will not spoil here.)

Although a driving force in the story is Marlo’s post-partum depression, that can easily be expanded to the sense of ennui that often fills people lives just as they are reaching the point in life where they may think they should be finding happiness and fulfillment. It is not uncommon to instead discover life has become routine, perhaps even boring. We may miss the excitement of falling in and out of love and discovering new relationships. The responsibilities of family and work may fill our days so much that we fail to appreciate the treasures that might be there.

Mackenzie Davis stars as Tully in Jason Reitman’s TULLY, a Focus Features release.

The wisdom that Tully brings to Marlo’s life is the truth that finding such a boring place in life is really the sign of success. That boredom comes from having a life where love and security are so common that they go unnoticed. The search for love and security may seem exciting as we consider our earlier lives, but when we have reached those goals, we may, like Marlo, not recognize the gifts that are in our lives.

I think a case could easily be made that Qoheleth faced a similar ennui which led to his search for meaning that fills Ecclesiastes. Throughout that search, in all he finds along the way, he constantly returns to his “vanity of vanities” refrain, noting that wealth, religion, sensuality, and knowledge all fail to bring him satisfaction. It is the discovery of enjoying his life, as “vain” as it may be, that he finds his fulfilment. Marlo has a chance to make a similar discovery through her interactions with Tully.

Photos courtesy of Focus Features

Lady Bird – Discovering a Best Self

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“I wish I could live through something.”

The senior year of high school, the cusp of adulthood, is the setting for Lady Bird, the coming-of-age comic drama from writer/director Greta Gerwig. Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson (Saoirse Rowan) is at that point where she is not satisfied with her life. Her hometown of Sacramento seems to be the epitome of nowhere. Her family, which is struggling financially, is somewhat embarrassing to her. Even her image of herself isn’t what she wants it to be, and so she has chosen her own name.

Lady Bird’s senior year (2002-3) is almost a holding pattern for her desire to leave and live the kind of life she believes exists in other places. She wants to go to New York for college, even though her grades are mediocre and her family can’t afford much. Along the way there is experimentation with acting, boyfriends. There is typical teenage heartbreak. But mostly there is conflict with her mother, Marion (Laurie Metcalf).

Marion is very pragmatic. She hunts for bargains. She works two shifts. She tries to push Lady Bird out of her own self-absorption. There are times she and Lady Bird bond as mothers and daughters often do, but they also irritate and repel each other as mothers and daughters often do. Marion often seems hard or angry, but she is always loving. Lady Bird only senses the animosity, leading her at one point to say “I wish that you liked me.” But she fails to see just how much Marion and Lady Bird’s father (Tracy Letts) do for her. Lady Bird is often cruel in her relationship with her mother. Never in big ways, but she tends to wound with a thousand small cuts.

There is a great sense of reality to this relationship, in not small part because of the reality of the characters. Ronan’s portrayal of Lady Bird is not about a great teenage angst, just the day-to-day struggle to understand who she is and wants to be. Metcalf’s Marion is not a saccharine best friend or a dominating harridan. She is struggling with her own understandings of Lady Bird and her desires for Lady Bird’s future.

There is also a spiritual dimension to Lady Bird’s story. Because she attends a Catholic high school (although apparently not Catholic herself), there are scenes that take place in religious services, and priests and nuns play roles in her life and growth. The religious aspect is always treated with respect. The religious characters are just as human as everyone else in the story. The most prominent is Sister Sarah Joan (Lois Smith), the school’s principal who provides a touch of grace in nearly every scene she is in.  And although Lady Bird may not seem to be outwardly religious, the environment that the church has provided through her time at school, provides her with a place to re-center herself when she discovers life away from home is not as different as she had hoped.

This is one of those films that has me wanting to go back to Ecclesiastes. Certainly Lady Bird thinks “There is nothing new under the Sun” (at least in Sacramento). She is busy looking for meaning and happiness in wealth, or sex, or fame, as did Qoheleth. And like Ecclesiastes the discoveries of meaning are found within.

I saw this film on Thanksgiving weekend, and it was amazingly appropriate. So much of our time is spent being oblivious to the many things we have because we so often focus on the things we do not have. That is very much Lady Bird’s experience with the world. Sacrament seems to her to be a place to escape from, even though when she wrote an essay about it, Sister Sarah Joan says it shows she loves this place. She sees her family as an embarrassment, but also a place of love. She thinks she has never really experienced any thing of import, but each little thing adds up to a life time. Which brings us to the quote I use to open this review. It is one of the first lines in the film. By the end, we know (and Lady Bird is discovering) that she has been living through a great deal. That is an important first step in appreciating the world and the people around us.

Photos courtesy of A24.

The Long Road Home Ep. 1&2: Come Together

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(Photo: National Geographic/Van Redin)

If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.
–The Apostle Paul

Peacekeeping was the goal for the members of the First Calvary Division when they headed to Sadr City, Iraq in 2004.  It was a quiet area with one incident in the previous calendar year.

Two weeks later, that peace turned into war and a desperate fight for survival.

The first two episodes of National Geographic’s new series The Long Road Home (tonight, 9 PM/8 CT) chronicles the events of Black Sunday and paints a multifaceted picture of war and its effects on not only the soldiers but their families seven thousand miles away.  Based on the New York Times bestseller of the same name by ABC Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz, it’s intense, violent, and sad—sometimes all at once.  It’s definitely must-see-TV (or at least must-DVR).

Each episode focuses, to some extent, on one of the main players in the Black Sunday attack on April 4, 2004.  1st Lt. Shane Aguero (EJ Bonilla) is the focal point of episode one as the leader of the group initially attacked.  The viewer sees him at the outset playing with his two kids, each of whom are taking his deployment hard.  His daughter is clinging to his side while his son wants absolutely nothing to do with him.  His wife Amber (Kate Paxton) is left to deal with things until he returns, but she has a group of wives on base who have banded together to provide support until the boys come back (if they do).

Life at Camp War Eagle seems quite boring, but who really wants action when it could mean dying in the process? When Aguero’s battalion is ambushed, it’s the first time many of the troops have ever experienced live fire of that nature.  It’s easy to tell the soldiers are a band of brothers, and when one of their own gets hit, it’s a race against time to keep him alive.

Courtesy National Geographic

The second episode looks at the situation through the eyes of Lt. Col. Gary Volesky (Michael Kelly, seen above), a calm, mild-mannered man who lives a life of faith back home.  There are flashbacks to his family praying before dinner and a few situations where he is asking God for faith in what would become two days of nightmares.  One of the most heartbreaking parts of the episode is when a soldier introduces his mom to Volesky, who promptly demands reasons as to why her son is being forced to deploy.  After calming her, he promises that everyone on the journey will return home alive. You can see his resolve shaken when he later learns one under his charge was killed.  Aguero’s team calls for reinforcements, and when they head out (inadequately protected, BTW), Volesky stands beside the chaplain as he prays a long prayer for them.  It’s easy to tell that the situation is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better.

I was immediately struck by how galvanized the troops were to each other.  Sure, they got on each other’s nerves and struggled with making the right decisions at times, but in the end, they all came together and took care of each together.  This was in direct contrast to the interpreter they had on board (Jassim al-Lani, played by Darius Homayoun), who seemed to be dispensable—especially to Sgt Eric Bourquin (Jon Beavers).  The writer of Ecclesiastes notes that “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up” (Eccl 4:9-10 NASB).  It works in friendship, it works in marriage, and it works in life-and-death situations. That writer was pretty wise!  We were not made to life live alone, and the first two episodes of The Long Road Home are testimony that is the case.

Cars 3 – We Need Each Other

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The film Cars opened with a blank screen as Lightning McQueen pumped himself up for the upcoming race: “Speed.  I am speed.”

The film Cars 3 opens with a blank screen as Lightning McQueen pumps himself up for the upcoming race: “Speed.  I am speed.”

If there’s nothing else you take from this review, know that the third installment of the Pixar animated series returns to its original roots, eschewing the 007-like escapades of the second film.

I’ve always been a fan of the anthropomorphic cars, but always felt cheated that the second film was more about the wisecracking sidekick Mater than Lightning and his role in the Cars universe.  Our Steve Norton felt the same way and recently posted a list of items that would make the new film a good one.  Happily, this version brings back the whimsy, excitement, and fun, along with a darker theme that will resonate with adults.  It’s pretty formulaic and sputters in places, but is still worth a theater viewing.  The kids, of course, will eat it up regardless of when and where they see it.

As I mentioned, the plot is reminiscent of the original film.  Lightning (voiced by Owen Wilson) is still quite successful on the Piston Cup tour and has even found a few friends along the way.  But he’s straight up blindsided in a race when Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer) comes out of nowhere and wins, setting up a seven-race winning streak.  Jackson is part of a new generation of cars that are able to drive faster and train better than Lightning, forcing the older generation to retire.  Of course, Lightning wants to win at all costs, so he pushes himself to the limits in the last race of the season—and violently crashes (this scene caused one kid in the viewing to scream “Oh, no!” in panic).

Lightning has to figure out what to do, and instead of doing something, he throws a pity party in Doc Hudson’s garage.  Hudson (the late Paul Newman) ‘died,’ so Lightning is left with the lovable cast of characters in Radiator Springs to encourage him to keep going.  A phone call from the owners of the Rust-eze team convince him to train at their new facility in Florida, so he heads out and finds a state-of-the-art facility, spearheaded by new owner, Sterling (Nathan Fillion). Sterling loves Lightning, but secretly believes his days are up, seeing him as a way to market all sorts of products.  However, Lightning wants to keep racing and is willing to use the fancy technology to get faster, including a fancy high speed simulator.  The trainer for all the cars is a shiny yellow speedster named Cruz Ramirez (Cristela Alonzo), who sees Lightning as her senior project.  When things don’t work out in training, Sterling gives Lightning one chance to win—or retire to the life of a marketer.

Cruz comes along for the ride and endures the life of a car in a demolition derby where Miss Fritter (Lea DeLaria), a school bus on performance-enhancing-fuel (okay, not really), runs the show—and even steals the spotlight from Lightning and Cruz. Soon, Lightning realizes that Doc Hudson had to have a mentor, so he and Cruz travel to Thomasville GA to find Smokey (Chris Cooper), an old truck reminiscent of Mater (Larry the Cable Guy).  Once there, Lightning makes a discovery that may change his life.  Perhaps the race in Florida means more than anyone thought possible . . .

As always, Pixar continues to push the limits of technology with their animation, which is jaw-droppingly photorealistic throughout. While Cars 3 returns to the ways of the first film, it doesn’t quite reach its level of fun.  Laughs aren’t as prevalent and the subject matter is darker (the crash, for example).  You’re not going to hear Lightning yell “Ka-chow!,” but at least the tractors make a return.  Cruz is a fantastic addition to the ecosystem and little girls will gravitate to her character.  I also appreciated the nods to the first film—especially the loving tributes to Doc Hudson.  Chick Hicks (Bob Peterson) is still obnoxious and smacks Lightning down every chance he gets.  Thankfully, Mater is relegated to a minor character, as he’s best in small doses. But Sally (Bonnie Hunt), Lightning’s romantic interest, is basically a throwaway character for the second consecutive film.  This was an opportunity wasted.

Director Brian Fee provides a story replete with themes of overcoming obstacles, thinking outside the box, the need for others, and empowerment.  Regarding the need for others, it’s important to have people in your life who can laugh with you, cry with you, cheer you up, and push you to be the best you can be. The Bible has something to say about this topic in the book of Ecclesiastes: “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 NASB).  In the case of Lightning and Cruz, the two create a symbiotic relationship that pays dividends for each before the film’s credits roll. Without each other, the two fail in their individual pursuits and goals.  It’s a great reminder for us in our fast-paced, hectic lives.

There is an animated short before the film entitled Lou that will bring back memories of the schoolyard bully.  It’s well done (as the shorts tend to be). And don’t forget to stay through the credits!

 

Genius Ep. 4 – Priorities, Priorities

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(National Geographic/DusanMartincek)

Albert Einstein was one of the most brilliant individuals the world has ever seen.  But as the first three episodes of Genius (Nat Geo, Tuesdays 9 PM/8 CT) have shown, he had many character faults evident to most of the people who knew him.  To cite a few, Einstein was impetuous, irrational, self-absorbed, and had the most difficult time relating to members of the opposite sex. At the end of the third episode, it seems a change may be taking place in his life, as he lets go of his pride and begins work as a patent clerk.

Or has he?

It seems Einstein’s head is occupied with other things while at the office.  He (Johnny Flynn) and Mileva (Samantha Colley) have a healthy baby and they live in a decent place. But Einstein cannot get the science out of his head and constantly thinks of how to get his name out in the academic world. His roommate from Zurich, Michele Besso (Seth Gabel), helps formulate ideas, while Mileva helps him write a series of papers that seemingly generate no interest. But people are looking, including Pierre Lennard (Michael McElhatton) and Max Planck (Ralph Brown).

All is not wine and roses for Einstein, however.  He is so focused on science that he practically ignores his son—and Mileva, to a certain extent. He invites his mom (Helen Monks) to help out at the house, where she promptly tries to convert Mileva into a housewife.  Mileva will have none of that, infuriating mom, who calls her “[Albert’s] librarian and clock.”  Einstein has to step in to that situation and kicks his mother  out. He also has to deal with his former girlfriend Marie Winteler (Shannon Tarbet) when her family experiences a horrible tragedy.

Interspersed within the episode by new director Kevin Hooks are scenes involving Pierre and Marie Curie (Corrado Invernizzi and Klára Issová) as they discover radium. The juxtaposition of the relationships the husbands have with their wives are shocking. When Pierre wins the 1903 Nobel Prize, he says he won’t accept it unless Marie gets it as well. On the other hand, when Einstein discovers the theory of relativity, he thanks Marcel in the paper but not his own wife.  Could this be a foreshadowing to future issues?

(National Geographic/DusanMartincek)

Hooks’ directorial style is a little different than Minkie Spiro’s as he paints a broader picture and isn’t as focused on the intimate portrayals of characters. It’s a bit jarring—and one reason I was concerned when I discovered multiple directors would be part of the production of Genius.  It’s not terrible, however, and as long as there are no more hands in the directorial cookie jar, the series should be okay.

Albert still struggles with priorities—family is a mere existence to him, alluded to by at least one character.  Mileva stays home and helps him while taking care of their son. Only after Marie Winteler’s dad talks to him about focusing on the childhood of his son does Albert begin to spend time with him.  But even then, his scientific mind is spinning wildly.  The book of Ecclesiastes mentions that there is a time for everything under heaven:

“A time to give birth and a time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
A time to kill and a time to heal;
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to weep and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance.
A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;
A time to be silent and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate;
A time for war and a time for peace (Eccl 3:2-8 NASB).”

We have to learn to prioritize our lives based on our current situations, striking a balance our families can work within.  Too much focus on work can lead to alienation from friends and family. Too much play (or even laziness) can lead to a loss of finances and added stress on those we love.  Being well-rounded makes everyone around us better.

We’ll just have to see if Albert learns this lesson next week . . .

Hunt for the Wilderpeople – Foster Family Values

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“Me and this fat kid
We ran and ate and read books.
And it was the best!”

In Hunt for the Wilderpeople, an urban foster child is placed with a rural couple. It doesn’t seem like a very good fit. Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison) is described by the child services worker (Rachel House) as “a real bad egg”. He has a record of many crimes and many placements that didn’t work. Bella Faulkner (Rima Te Wiata) is optimistic that all will be well. Her husband Hec (Sam Neill) seems less convinced. Soon, however, Bella’s unconditional love and acceptance helps Ricky bond with his new “Aunty” and “Uncle”.

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But when Bella dies suddenly, child services plans to return Ricky to state custody. Ricky heads off into the bush. Hec goes off to find him. Soon they are the subjects of a nationwide manhunt. Even though Ricky and Hec are very different, and don’t much like each other, they have to depend on one another to survive and avoid being found. Naturally, all this time together creates a special bond between them. Along the way there is some very good comedy as the two learn to appreciate the differences they have—and the things they hold in common. Along the way they discover some “majestical” landscapes that highlight New Zealand’s beauty.

Ricky (as is often the case in such films) is the more emotionally mature of the two. Through all his troubles, he has had to spend time with those who help him “process” the things of life. For example, Ricky creates haikus to express his feelings. He brings some of those ideas to Hec’s life.

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It turns out that Bella was a rescuer. In both Hec and Ricky she found people who needed rescue—and through loving them added much needed love to her own life. Now without Bella, Hec and Ricky need each other to be rescued from a world that doesn’t know how to deal with either of them. Ricky would soon fall through the cracks of the foster system (as he has been doing for years before Bella took him in). Hec would be totally alone with nothing worth living for.

In Ecclesiastes 4:9 we read: “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help.” (NRSV) Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a cinematic version of those words.

Photos courtesy of The Orchard.