I don't want to say this was a wasted day, but not much got done around the house.
What I'm watching today
Troop Zero (2020, Amazon Prime streaming) - This is an endearing look at what happens when you're a poor kid in the 70s with a dream. Our main character, Christmas, wants desperately to explore the stars, and when an opportunity arises to be a part of the Golden Record recording done by NASA to put aboard Voyager, she jumps at the chance. This is a movie about people who are less fortunate, quirky, misunderstood, and just different who are surrounded by their collective peer groups that are comprised of assholes. The kids are all assholes, because the parents are all assholes. Christmas and her ragtag scout troop are bullied from all angles, and the disappointing thing about this movie is that there is ultimately no lesson learned by the bullies and no karma felt by the bullies. Sure, there are others within Christmas's inner circle who learn and grow; her dad learns to become a better parent; the macho father of the "girl boy" learns to accept and be proud of his son; a rogue scout leader decides to follow her dreams. Overall the movie is an average take on The Bad News Bears genre, but individual performances stand out. Allison Janney is still a national treasure even if this wasn't her most noteworthy performance. Jim Gaffigan transforms himself into a bumbling underdog defense lawyer with a Georgian drawl. But the star of the show is Mckenna Grace as Christmas who masters physical comedy as well as her close-ups. The ending will kick you right in the feelings, and if you stick around long enough there's a video montage of NASA crews preparing the Voyager probe for launch.
Comments
Post a Comment