My Favorite Movie

Day 12 of the April Blog Challenge from Green Moms Network:

Today's writing topic is my favorite movie or movie genre.  I do not really have a favorite movie genre, and I really don't even like to watch movies that much, partly because they all seem so trite and predictable and partly because I just don't like to sit for that long.  I do much better with a 45-minute television show on Netflix than with a movie that is 2-3 times as long.

I do have a favorite movie, however, and it is has been my favorite for a long time.  The movie is called True Stories, and it was made in 1986.  It is a ridiculous, off-the-wall movie that manages to simultaneously be goofy and charming.  The first time I saw it was when I was in high school, and I immediately fell in love.

I get so irritated with movies these days because they are SO predictable.  Not long ago, my sister brought the movie Return to Me for me to watch.  Within the first five minutes of the movie, I paused it and told her exactly what would happen in the rest of the movie.  It was just that obvious.  Romantic comedies in general tend to be the worst of the lot.  It always seems to be the same plot:  Boy meets girl.  Boy loves girl.  Boy and girl have horrible misunderstanding that culminates in break-up.  Boy or girl has to race against time to dramatically declare his/her undying love, and in the end, they are reunited.  Gag.

True Stories is not that kind of movie.  It is full of fresh and ridiculous lines, characters, and scenes.  In fact, the only problem I have seen is that people tend not to like the movie because they claim it "doesn't make any sense."  To me, it makes perfect sense.  To quote a line from the movie, it is "a celebration of specialness."  It looks at a small, non-descript town that would otherwise be ignored and makes the viewer recognize how even tiny towns are home to unique and amazing people.  I think the reason people do not always get what makes this movie so special is because they are so accustomed to movies that do not require them to think or to expect something unpredictable.

If you have never had the good fortune of seeing this movie, I hope you will take the time to do so.  It is subtle in many ways, so make sure you can watch it when you are not distracted or you will miss a lot of its humor and charm.  Most importantly, do not try to make it something it is not.  Just sit back, watch, and let the movie happen.  You can rent or buy it from Amazon for download or on DVD.  Once you watch it, I would love to hear what you thought.  Please come back and visit this page and leave a comment with your impressions or send me an email at SpareTimeSuperMom@gmail.com.  I hope you love it as much as I do!