Cloverfield

Finally, they get one right.

Most people say they watch movies to escape real life. If that is the aim, then the movies Hollywood is dishing up these days are perfect. Very few have any grounding in reality. And therein begins the problem.

So a young girl goes to see a flick that features a shy, slightly-less-than-beautiful girl somehow lands the great-looking guy. And by lands, I mean in bed. Sans marriage ring. All is well.

A young guy goes to the movies and sees an ordinary dock-working deadbeat dad not have a good relationship with his kids, but ends up saving the world from invaders from outer space. All with the white of an egg.

Yep, everyday stories, at least in my neighborhood. Happens all the time.

Or not.

Thus you may begin to understand why I am not much of a movie person. Or when I find one I really like, it is something that fades into obscurity fairly fast. The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill But Came Down A Mountain is a great movie that I will bet a Braum's milkshake you have never heard of, let alone seen. How about Joe Vs. The Volcano? Harvey? Marty? (Wow--when was the last time I watched Marty? Great, great movie about real relationships. Another one they got right.)

Anyway, last night I took our 14 year old son, Mark, to see Cloverfield at the Dollar Theatre (on Tuesdays, only 50 cents!). After twenty minutes I figured this would be either a brilliant movie or horrible. No middle ground.

Decision: Brilliant.

(Warning: This movie is "shot" from one handheld camcorder. There is a lot of movement of the camera, just like when your mother-in-law tries to shoot video at a birthday party. More, even. It is like the ride at Kings Island where you go into a round room and place your heels, butt and head back against the wall. Then the room spins and the floor drops out. Your objective is to not puke, 'cause it will go all over everyone. Same kind of feeling with the way Cloverfield is shot...)

If you don't know the premise, you are led to believe that what you are watching is a homemade video tape found in the area of US-477, formerly known as Central Park. I won't go through the plot--there are plenty of places you can read about that--but do know that this is not just another monster destroying NYC flick. This is about real life for today's young adults. Yes, there is an allusion to sex outside of marriage. There is profanity--a lot of it. There is drinking to excess.

Like I said, reality for young people today. (Both in and out of the church, I might add, but won't elaborate now. Later.) It was not glamorized. As a matter of fact, the guy who had sex with a girl who had been his friend for a long time is told by his brother, "You are not worthy of her." The brother is in the middle of explaining just how unworthy he is when the ground shakes--literally. But the rest of the film follows the one who took advantage of his friend the girl as he attempts to rescue her because he knows he has not treated her right.

Very good.

One girl drinks heavily at the front end of the show, doing her best to get drunk as quickly as possible. When all monster cuts loose and the party turns into an evacuation from New York City, this girl has trouble escaping harm. So we see the effects of alcohol abuse. We are not told, we see. Much more powerful.

Again, very good.

The profanity? Well, to tell the truth, if I had been in the attack these kids were, I would have said my fair share of Holy $#!* as well. Don't tell me if the Statue of Liberty's head--all twenty five feet and several tons of it--came hurtling through the air at you, you would just say My Goodness.

So, maybe not great, but at least real.

At the end of the show, Mark was not moving. He stared at the screen. We got up, walked out--he was just staring ahead. Said nothing for about ten minutes. (I remember when I saw The Deer Hunter, I didn't talk for nearly an hour. Very powerful show.) I could tell he was really moved by the show. How? Not sure. But knowing him as his father, I think I can look into his head fairly clearly.

Mark did not see actors. (As a matter of fact, the acting was not very good. But the non-acting was great! I really bought into this as a "real" video.) He saw people not much older than he in "real" situations. OK, the monster thing is not real, but don't we face monsters most of the time? Like when Mark does not know if he wants to walk with Jesus and be made fun of, or if he wants to cuss and drink and make fun of Christians himself. This is the kind of thing he is walking through right now, and it is threatening to tear up his insides. He is looking to evacuate, but he also feels pulled to go back and help that part of him he knows is right. In this way, Cloverfield really hit home with him. I recommend you check it out if you haven't already..

Joe Bob Briggs would give it at least three kung-fus.