Oh, Canada!

Movie: Trailer Park Boys
My Rating: 4 stars

Those crazy Canadians strike again!  For some reason, when I think of Canada, I only thing of wholesome things--nature preserves, moose, mounted police, happily married lesbian couples, and the like.  I never imagine that country as having the same kind of social problems that we have down here in the States.  But this TV program is here to prove me wrong, yet again.  As it turns out, there are trashy people everywhere you go, and Canada's no exception.  You know the type--the chronically jobless layabouts who are in prison as often as they're out of it.  People who have only ever held vaguely unlawful jobs (if "jobs" is what you want to call them).  I actually didn't know this was a Canadian show going into it.  But, you know how it goes.  Characters are discussing hockey a little more than is traditional.  They're referring an awful lot to places like Toronto, and Saskatchewan.  And then you start noticing how they're pronouncing their "ou"s.  That's what really gives the game away.  Not that anyone was trying to hide anything.  I started watching this show because it looked like it'd be really funny, and the fact that it's Canadian kinda adds to the humor in my book. 

So, this show is legitimately hilarious.  It's a faux reality show following around the residents of a small trailer park, and the humor is in the same vein as Reno 911.  The show creates most of its comedy through character development.  It doesn't really matter what hijinks the residents of this little trailer park are up to in each episode, because each new story line reinforces and further develops their quirky personality traits.  I love how you'll never see Julian without a drink in his hand--usually something like rum and coke, and always in a cut-crystal glass.  Or how Ricky, with all his good intentions, can never quite figure out a legal way to accomplish his goals--even when there are perfectly obvious options available.  And there are cats everywhere!  Although my favorite "mood" element is probably how many casually-gay undertones there are in some of the characters' interactions with one another.  It's no big deal, and none of the characters really think twice about it.  That's just the way things are.  I guess Canada's always been a lot more open minded about homosexuality that the US.  But that's just one small element that helps create the overall tone of the show.  The general theme is about the chaotic, yet somehow totally predictable nature of trailer park living.  It may be impossible to guess all the details, but you can always count on the same general cycles to repeat themselves.  General idleness is periodically broken up by brilliant money-making ideas, followed by failure to execute these plans because of incompetence, laziness, or conflict with bullies, and then jail.  Lather, rinse, repeat.  It's priceless.  But, these guys are always totally baffled each and every time it happens.  You can see the total incomprehension on their faces.  But you'll love them anyway.  The actors that play all these characters are really masters of physical comedy.  Their acting reflects the sort of self-consciousness of people who know they're on a reality show, but not the sort of self-awareness of an actor who knows he's being funny.  It really works.   

Well, I've only watched seasons one and two, but it looks like there are at least seven.  And, they're all available for streaming through Netflix.  I'm totally hooked on these crazy guys.  The show is so funny, I'm sure I'll have watched them all before the month is out.

Bizarre

Movie: $9.99
My Rating: 2 stars

So this is an entirely bizarre, slightly unsettling stop-motion animation film.  Well, I guess I find most stop-motion animation to be vaguely sinister, but this film adds to that aura with its themes about the meaning of life, and conversely, people's dissatisfaction with it.  It's funny, I initially thought this was going to be a South American film, and expected the characters to be speaking in Spanish--mostly because of how all the little clay figures looked.  For some reason, their faces just looked so Argentinean to me.  But no, it's all in English.  This film is pretty violent and grotesque for being animated.  The puppetry definitely adds to that feeling.  The movie touches on suicidal thoughts, sex, death, drugs, and just simple loneliness.  Overall, it examines what it means to be human--but all in a very unflattering way.  

Humans come off as being selfish, insecure, and just generally flawed.  The film follows the stories of a small handful of characters, and they all pretty have pretty uniformly bad judgment.  But I never got the sense that these were supposed to be idiosyncratic people.  In fact, I got the feeling that these were supposed to be just your average citizens.  There's the lazy young man who can't seem to find a prestigious enough job to satisfy his dad, the lonely old man who bores strangers in the supermarket with his stories, the mismatched couple that is constantly breaking up and getting back together, and the man who will do whatever degrading thing his new girlfriend demands because he believes he's dating out of his league.  They're all cases that make you want to smack your forehead.  Mostly because you know there's nothing you can do to stop this never-ending cycle.  You probably know people like these, and while they may intellectually understand their predicaments, they're helpless to stop their self-destructive behavior.  This movie is kind of a downer.  I think it's trying to make a point about life--that you can't count on problems to resolve themselves neatly, just because it'd make for a nice story.  Bad things happen.  A lot of times, we cause them, ourselves.  And, we'll all just have to find a way to deal with that fact.  Plus, the director just throws in all kinds of grotesque, little, visual details.  This film is a little too odd and disturbing for me to recommend to the casual viewer.  And, I don't think I really enjoyed it enough, myself, to even recommend it to other film addicts like me.  The clay-mation was pretty impressive, and unlike any I'd seen before.  But I don't think that technical detail was enough to totally win me over.

A Theme Revisited

Movie: Mother
My Rating: 4 stars

Hmmm, this film reminded me an awful lot of Memories of Murder.  It's directed by the same guy—Bong Joon-ho.  It's set in the same sort of small town atmosphere.  And, it features the same general plot, with a mentally challenged young man being accused of the murder of a beautiful young woman.  It could just be that Korean directors make an awful lot of murder mystery movies.  People do seem to have a taste for them.  But while Memories focused solely on the mystery itself, this film is more of a character study.  It closely examines the mother of the mentally stunted youth, Do-joon, who has been accused of the murder.  She can't believe that her sweet boy could have committed such a wanton and grisly act--bludgeoning a schoolgirl to death, then arranging her body on the roof of a centrally-located house for the whole village to see.  He's always been such a loving and simple soul.  Although, he is sometimes difficult to manage when he gets a little upset of confused.  But, no one else in town really wants to believe Do-joon did it either.  First of all, he's a very beautiful boy, and those big brown eyes look so innocent.  Also, he's never displayed the capacity to make decisions for himself, preferring to follow around his friend, Jin-tae, copying him like little a puppy dog.  Do-joon acts like a child, so sometimes it's difficult for people to recognize that he is an grown man, and may display some of the impulses of one.

As the title suggests, Mother is the star of this film.  She is determined to prove that her boy is innocent.  Although, she's hardly an unbiased party.  She's cared for him for so long, tending to his every physical need, that doesn't know anything else.  She feels her life would be meaningless if she ever lost him, and this film highlights the borderline obsessive and unhealthy nature of her devotion.  While she genuinely does believe that her son is innocent, she's also driven by a selfish impulse as well.  And this sort of inner conflict is often very taxing to the psyche.

As is typical for Korean cinema, this is a gorgeously shot film.  And, while it does resemble Memories an awful lot, this film is a drastic improvement on that theme.  The movie's pacing is far superior, the dramatic timing has been improved a lot, and the story has a far more satisfying climax and resolution.  Bong Joon-ho has clearly learned a lot in the interim between the two films.  Many people are dissatisfied with the plot in Memories of Murder, but since it's based on a true story, there's not much the director can really do about that.  Perhaps that's why Bong revisits the themes with this entirely fictional retelling. 

The Beautiful People

Movie: Flakes
My Rating: 3 stars

So, I didn't hate these hipsters nearly as much as I was planing to.  The whole premise for this movie--a bunch of intellectually-pure, self-satisfied youths, running a restaurant that serves nothing but breakfast cereal--just sounded so insufferable.  And to make matters worse, this movie stars uber-cool-cats Zooey Deschanel and Aaron Stanford.  They're beautiful trust-fund babies who have the luxury of getting to pretend they're poor.  And, they engage in all the classic behavior--wearing only vintage clothes, trying to sell crappy art, playing in struggling bands, and bashing capitalism while actually enjoying all its benefits.  But, the story is actually pretty fun too.  And it sure puts you in the mood for some of the sugary breakfast treats of your childhood (and maybe doing some of those cheesy 80s aerobics programs they played at 5am on every channel on Saturday mornings).  These kids spend their days hanging out at their cereal cafe, talking about awesome things, and fantasizing about when they'll finally make it "big."  But, they never actually do much to make those dreams happen.  They're finally only spurred into action when some smug, corporate hack swoops into town and threatens to steal their restaurant idea (and put them out of business) for his own material gain.  As much as they hate to admit it, there's money in cool, and it's only once there's a risk that they'll lose this comfortable little gig they've got going, that they actually care to make something of themselves.  Since actually giving a crap about things is so un-cool, it should only be resorted to in very dire straits.  But when this band of sneering youngsters finally gets around to taking responsibility for their lives, they're actually pretty charming.  It's still not a film I'd recommend around.  It wasn't that entertaining.  I'm just saying I didn't hate it.

Caveat Emptor

Movie: Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne
My Rating: 4 stars

So, this anime show definitely falls into the category of cartoons that were never designed for children to watch . . . ever.  It's got plenty of the intense violence and blood found in other programs, but this show is especially "adult" because it's so sexually explicit.  And, not just in the "exotic lingerie/ bouncing boobs/ fan servicey" way that a lot of other, much tamer shows are.  The show really focuses on the darker side of these sexual themes, getting into questions of abuse and consent.  But, surprisingly, it's not super pervy.  I never got the feeling that any of these scenes were meant to appeal to anyone's prurient interests (or, at least exclusively . . . ahem).  No, I think this anime actually has something serious to say about human nature, as well as some of the inherent conflict between male and female interaction.

Rin and her little sidekick, Mimi, are immortal women, and so, with nothing but the yawning expanse of never-ending time in front of them, the only way they can really feel alive is to engage in dangerous, unpredictable work.  The idea of unchanging eternity would drive anyone crazy.  So these gals are detectives, investigating only the most violent and savage cases.  This brings them into contact with only the worst kind of underworld scum, as well as other immortals who have already given into their insanity long ago.  And so, naturally, these two end up getting beat, raped, and "killed" as just a natural part of their everyday jobs.  But, since they're immortal, these women can never really die.  And they've grown unsettlingly accustomed to the cruelty that lives deep down in most people's hearts--a darkness that most people would prefer to deny.  (Perhaps this extreme desensitization to humiliation and torture is just another form of going slowly insane.)  And so, despite their perilous, unpredictable, and degrading jobs, Rin and Mimi have a hard time keeping track of time.  As decades run into one another, friends age and die, but strangely, the world always seems to stay the same.  As the generations turn over, it becomes pretty clear that people don't really change much.  It's pretty intense stuff--and unsettling.

Creeping Dread

Movie: I Saw the Devil
My Rating: 4 stars

Well, this Korean horror film doesn't waste any time getting right down to the dismembering.  I had the opportunity to attend a sneak peak of Kim Ji-woon's latest film at the E Street Theater, and I think it's probably his best yet.  This is the same director who made A Tale of Two Sisters (which I recently reviewed), and The Good The Bad and the Weird.  This story falls into the "Serial Killer/Detective Thriller/Revenge" category of horror films.  There's a murderer on the loose in Korea, and he's targeting beautiful young women--just the sort of women who have been rejecting him his whole life.  He drags their bodies to isolated locales, and when he's done doing whatever creepy things serial killers do to dead ladies' bodies, he ceremonially dismembers them, and scatters the parts. Only his latest victim just so happens to be the daughter of a retired police chief, and is the fiance of a secret service officer--that is, two guys with access to police files, and weapons.  And they're determined to find this monster and teach him a lesson.  But, how much revenge can you actually exact before you start to become a monster yourself?

Korea's a pretty small country, and they don't have all that many movie stars, so you'll see most of your favorite actors in this film.  (I think all these actors just draw straws to see who'll be playing the villain in their next movie, and who gets to be the protagonist.)  Lee Byung-hun is our handsome hero--his heart set on revenging his lost love (I guess with a face like that, he's always going to be cast as a leading man).  But this time, Choi Min-sik (from Oldboy) is our twisted killer.  He's played dark characters before, but he also plays a very good, sympathetic, fatherly type, so it's really interesting to see him play one of the most depraved creatures in film history.  And even Kang Song-ho and Kim Ok-bin make a brief appearance (a couple again), as some of our killer's old, similarly-demented buddies.  The scene in which they all meet up again is probably one of the grisliest in the whole film--but it's not like this film is barring any holds.

This movie has got probably some of the most graphic gore I've ever seen in a movie to date.  The director shows us every blow, every slice, and every stab of the knife.  The camera doesn't shy away from some of these shots the way some other films try to tactfully do.  Of course, the audience doesn't really need to see Choi disposing of all the corpses, so the movie skips over some of those (but, not all).  But for the most part, the audience suffers through everything.  But, it doesn't feel like one of those torture-porn movies like Saw or Hostel.  I don't really like those movies because the whole purpose is to watch the violence.  Here, the violence merely supports to the very exciting and suspense-filled revenge story.  The gore never feel too gratuitous or voyeuristic, and I think those scenes do legitimately help create an atmosphere of total terror and dread.  They show us what a monster we're dealing with (or a devil, rather).  By the end of the film the audience really does feel like they're looking pure evil right in the face.  But that being said, this movie really isn't for the weak of stomach.  If you don't like horror films, you won't like this one, no matter how amazing that writing, directing, and acting is.

Show a Little Skin

Movie: You Should Meet My Son
My Rating: 3 stars

The perfect movie for anyone who's ever had to deal with overbearing relatives--relatives who are so eager to see your love life take off, that they just can't help setting you up on blind dates with just about anyone with a pulse.  You see, Brian's an eligible bachelor, so his mother Mae and aunt Rose can't figure out why he can't seem to find the right girl to settle down with (so that he can get about his business of making them some grand-babies, of course!).  They've scoured their home-town of Birmingham, Alabama, high and low, but just can't seem to find a gal that he clicks with.  It's only once Brian sinks into a depression after his "roommate" Dennis moves out, that they start to suspect that Brian may be gay.  But, instead of letting this little pitfall derail their plans of finding true love for their boy, they simply switch gears and hit the town in search of single gay men--with plenty of hilarious missteps along the way, of course.

I saw this delightful film at a screening for DC's Reel Affirmations Film Festival.  The full festival is in October, but they also offer these great monthly screenings too, so that people don't forget about the festival during other times of the year.  The people who run this organization are real pros, and they know that there's nothing better to drum up a little off-season interest than by showing a little skin.  And since this is an LGBT film festival, it's going to be tightly-toned, oiled, muscly, boy skin . . . in exotic, little bikini-briefs.  And, I can assure you that their marketing theory worked, because the theater was absolutely packed.  (On a weeknight in the middle of March, no less!)  This film is a thoroughly enchanting, entirely gratuitous romp through the gay dating scene.  It's an exciting, if a bit alarming, new scene for a couple of newbies like Mae and Rose, and they get a crash course in all the basics.  There are new things to learn at every turn.  You see, they're traditional Southern girls, so at first, they don't know a thing about where to rustle up a quality husband for their Brian.  But, they've heard that that internet thing might be a good place to look. Only about five, terrifying minutes on Manhunt teaches them that they'd probably better try a different approach.  So, a dance club, it is!  At least there they can talk to some real people, and use their sweet, Southern charm to shake them down for all the information they'll need.  It's a riot.  Anyone who's ever had a Mae or Rose in their life will find it particularly hilarious . . . or it'll give them flashbacks and the night-terrors.  One or the other.  But's it's a great movie nonetheless.  If you see this film on the docket for any of your local film festivals, make sure to go.  Otherwise, you'll have to wait for DVD.

Sweet Moves

Movie: Ip Man
My Rating: 4 stars

So, this movie is really cool.  I don't even have anything snarky to say about it this time.  Unless it has something to do with the poor guy who gets his leg broken at the crotch while doing a hyper-extended, front-split kick.  That's no way to go.  But it does serve the purpose of showing us what a bad-ass, martial arts master the guy who did it to him is.  That'd be the Ip Man.  And the best part about him is how casual he is with his awsomeness.  He's a wealthy dude with a beautiful family, and since he's never had to work a day in his life, he figured, why not become a Wing Chun master?  Martial arts were apparently quite the hot fad in the 1930s.  And he does actually become the undisputed master in Shan.  But he's not lording it all around town like all the other hot-blooded youths.  No, he'd rather sip tea with his lovely wife and son, and if the challenges just so happen to come to him in his home, well than that's fine by him.  Although, given that most of these Wing Chun throwdowns happen in the front parlor, Ip Man's wife isn't all that pleased with the arrangement.  They're practically burning through her collection of fine vases and lacquered curios.  Plus, it's never generally a good idea to give violent young men a reason to start loitering around your house.

But all good things must come to an end, and in the case of Ip's domestic bliss, it comes in the form of the invading Japanese army.  From what I hear, they spoiled more than a few people's good times.  But, when all his property and income is confiscated by the invading army, and with the way the economy generally performs rather poorly when a country's been occupied, Ip is left with very few options for feeding his family.  There's hauling coal, but that only earns him a daily meal.  And then there's taking the bait, and degrading himself by entering invading General Miura's appalling martial arts "tournament."  This competition is really just a sick diversion for the jaded soldiers, since these weary Chinese coal miners, who have been on a starvation diet for the last several months, really don't stand much of a chance.  But, with the promise of a small bag of rice if they win, there are always enough hungry souls who will sign up for the humiliation.  Ip would like to defend their honor, but that's even going to be pretty difficult for him on his one-potato-a-day meal plan.  How will he ever do it?  I know the suspense is killing you.  But the ensuing battles are pretty crazy.  More-so than usual.  And there’s a fair amount more blood than usual.  I'm not really used to seeing that in these martial arts films.  But, I guess what impressed me most about this movie, is that it's actually based (loosely?) on the life of a real guy.  One of the original Wing Chun masters--and actually the guy who taught Bruce Lee all his tricks.  I hadn't realized that until the very end when they started playing the little "Where Are They Now?" photo montage.  I guess with my brutal work schedule, I haven't had the most time in the world to pay attention to details like these.  Oh well.  It's a pretty cool movie.  You should check it out.

Just What I Needed

Movie: Cedar Rapids
My Rating: 4 stars

That Ed Helms is the epitome of the chipper, scrubbed-face, small-town Midwestern boy.  So this movie--a story about a simple guy, getting his first taste of the decadence and glamor of big-city living when he visits Cedar Rapids, Iowa for an insurance agents convention--was pretty mich made for him.  This movie is uproariously funny--and surprisingly raunchy for a story about good, honest folk who go for clean living and Christian values.  It's mostly just the language, though.  That John C. Reilly has sure got a filthy mouth on him!  He's the big man on campus as this particular convention, and he just loves the attention his crazy, drunken antics earn him.  Aside from that, the rest is pretty tame.  Oh, except we are treated to a fair amount bare, pasty-white, middle-aged butt-cheek.  Sigh.  And more droopy white briefs.  I can't seem to escape those, can I?  And Ed Helms does take a hit off a crack pipe (offered to him by a prostitute) that he thinks contains marijuana.  (That's really gotta hurt in the morning.)

All this makes the movie sound like just another one of those awful, stupid-humor movies that's all about farts and penises and drunk men.  And, I have to admit, there is a fair amount of all those things, but there's also so much more.  Because unlike some films, that's not where the jokes stop.  The humor is actually a lot more nuanced than that.  Because, you see, Ed Helms falls in with the cool kids at this conference, and they are committed to teaching their new disciple all he needs to know to be one of them.  And, the overall humor is sort of a commentary on what passes for cool amongst these unsophisticated, hard-working, middle class folk--and in quite and endearing way, too.  It's not mean-spirited at all.  John C. Reilly is the foul-mouthed drunk who gets Ed to loosed up a little.  Isiah Whitlock Jr. is his more straitlaced roommate, and is his first introduction into male friendship.  And, Anne Heche is the fiery, hard drinking minx who gets Ed to stop pining for the callous cougar that's been stringing along his sweet, little ass, and start thinking about real romance.  I don't think I've ever laughed out loud so much at a movie before.  The whole audience was doing the same.  That's how outrageous this movie is.  It's definitely not one to miss.

Sheesh

Movie: Whip It
My Rating: 3 stars

That Ellen Page is irresistible.  I'll watch just about anything she's in . . . even if it's another one of those schmaltzy, girl-power, self-esteem pieces, directed by Drew Barrymore.  Those movies are ok, but they're just as predictable as all the half-baked romantic comedies she phones in about once a year.  And this film follows the same formula as all the rest of her confidence-building films: misunderstood (but beautiful) geek learns the value of being herself, that she doesn't need boys to really be happy, and about the joys of sisterhood--all with the guidance of a quirky group of more-experienced ladies (if I call them "older" ladies, it makes them sound 60).  Ellen’s not at the top of her game, but then again, neither is the crazy band she’s fallen in with.  She may think they’re pretty intimidating when she first meets them, but with time, she learns that they’re just as lonely and awkward as she is.  Maybe they can all learn a lesson from each other, and come out of the experience as better people!  We've seen it all before, Drew.  

But this movie does have a little bit more going for it than just that sentimental drivel.  It does have a bunch of tough chicks in mini skirts, beating each other up in the roller derby--black eyes, skinned knees, and ripped fishnets.  That's worth something right?  Just a bunch of rough-and-tumble ladies, trying to have a little fun by smacking each other in the jaw, while traveling at high speeds.  Although, somehow I always found myself way more interested in the bad-guys here.  Juliette Lewis just seems way more believable as the jaded, world-wise, derby-gal than Drew Barrymore or Kristen Wiig ever could.  She’s a rock-hard, mean bitch in a sport where that's a good thing.  The rink isn't the place for those googly-eyed, goofy smiles that Barrymore is known for.  It's a place for dirty tricks and throwing elbows.  Oh well.  At least that plucky, little Ellen Page is perfectly adorable as she picks up a trick of two from these "tough" gals.  She's like the female Michael Cera with those big, bewildered eyes, her sweet stammer, and that effortless, hipster style.  And, try as I might, I just can’t find it in my heart to criticize this group when they finally get their act together and start to be a little bit successful at their chosen hobby.  Good, wholesome fun.  That's what this movie's about.

Classic Horror

Movie: A Tale of Two Sisters
My Rating: 4 stars

You know what I like about Korean horror films?  All the ghosts are real.  They’re not just the product of sick, deranged minds like they are in American films.  No, these are actual, physical entities that have the power to haunt human beings, and affect the course of their lives if they so choose.  It’s a totally different point of view from American psychology, which always tried to explain away ghosts as just the figments of an active imagination run wild—simply a nightmare that may have the power to drive an individual crazy, but not much else.  Now, I don’t actually believe in ghosts myself (although sometimes I’m afraid of ‘em) but I say to heck with conventional wisdom.  Let them be real—for a little while at least.  And let them wreak havoc on the poor souls they’re attached to in this world.  That’s the main difference between this Korean film, and its American remake.  Both films feature a pair of beautiful, teen sisters, their aloof (and frankly clueless) father, and the family’s neurotic, insecure, new stepmother.  And, these four souls spend that majority of the story just trying to figure out how to live with each other without killing one another.  Because, it seems like each of them hates all the others.  It doesn’t help matters that the eldest daughter is more than a little emotionally unstable.  But, where the films diverge is that in the Korean film, one sister carries an actual cloud of tormented spirits with her wherever she goes, whereas in the American version, that girl is just crazy.  Crazy’s not nearly as fun.  Or, at least I’ve been exposed to so much of it by this point, that I’m just weary of the theme.

Even though this is a scary movie, the cinematography is pretty gorgeous.  Director, Ji-woon Kim, manages to capture all the decaying beauty (and the menace) in this family’s old country house.  Of course, we all know that these old country houses are also inherently sinister, and are the perfect setting for a good ghost story.  Although, I actually found this movie to be pretty tame by Korean horror film standards.  They’re usually just bloodbaths.  And, the film’s promotional posters suggest that this one will be no different.  Of course, there’s a little blood.  But this story is really much more about shaky nerves, and a family’s slow descent into madness rather than your classic, hack ‘em up thriller.  And, that’s a good thing, be cause I think I needed a little break from the really scary stuff.  It’s not because my nerves have been wearing a little thin lately.  It’s just that, judging by some of the awful movies I’ve been watching these days, I think I may be starting to become a little desensitized to these horrifying stories.  Yikes!

Great Book, Bad Movie

Movie: The Road
My Rating: 3 stars

This is one of those instances in which watching the film version of a story is so bitterly unsatisfying after having read the book.  It seems only natural to be interested in the movie adaptation of a book that you really liked, but it so often ends in disappointment.  I experienced that same crushing defeat with Blindness.  It's pretty rare for things to turn out the other way around--with the movie being superior.  But, when it does happen, the results are so spectacular that it fosters new hope in my heart, and I become open to checking out these adaptations once again.  Take Let The Right One In for example.  The story was already pretty compelling, but director, Tomas Alfredson took it and turned it into a masterpiece.

But, in the case of The Road, I was lured into a trap (but let's be honest--I was mostly lured in by Viggo Mortensen).  The story is your classic, post-apocalyptic journey, where the main characters, a father and young son, are on a never-ending search for food, warmth, a safe place to sleep at night, and most of all, hope.  But, what makes this story different from all your Mad Maxes and your just about any zombie film, is that most of the drama takes place in the main character', the father's, head, creating conflict from his personal fears and uncertainty.  It's told from the first person perspective, so readers are in just as much suspense as he is.  And, the story actually gets very tense and stressful at times--like when father and son's hunger drive them to search for food in a house they hope is abandoned, but is probably still inhabited by a band of those roving cannibals that pop up in post-apocalyptic stories so often.  We can feel his terror at the prospect of being trapped inside with some of these unsavory characters, and feel the adrenaline coursing through his body as he scours his mind for an escape plan.  It's a very visceral experience.  But, unfortunately, this sort of inner turmoil is very hard to capture on the screen.  It's hard to depict what's in someone's head, so the closest this film comes is merely turning this very emotionally charged story into a simple survival tale.  I do like those, but they're a dime a dozen.  Who needs one more?  The film doesn't fail because of lack of effort or resources.  It's clear the studios poured tons of money into this film, and the production value is excellent.  The problem lies in the nature of the narrative.  I think adapting this book was probably a pretty poor decision.  Unless, of course, the movie studio was just trying to capitalize on some very famous names, and a very recognizable title.  But they're not that calculating, are they? :o)