Two Great Movies - Jeff Bridges and Sigourney Weaver in Stories of Pain and Evolution

I was gratified to see Jeff Bridges get an Oscar for Best Actor. "His Dudeness" was long overdue. Yesterday I went to see "Crazy Heart" (2009). I can see why his colleagues voted for him. An accomplished actor delivered the best performance of his life. I was mesmerized. It was not Jeff Bridges up there. It was Bad Blake, the alcoholic country singer about to hit bottom.

It was a realistic story about a familiar theme - the downward spiral of addiction, the horror of hitting bottom, and what can happen next. It was also a fascinating behind-the-scenes look into to the modern-day CW music industry. Very cool.

The film reminded me of another wonderful film that achieved very little acclaim or distribution - a British-Canadian production called "Snow Cake" (2006) starring Sigourney Weaver and Alan Ricks. I will go out on a limb here and say that this was the best movie I've seen in the last few years. Keep in mind that I'm very selective about the movies I choose to watch, and I watch over 100 movies a year. 

I was captivated by the script, the acting and the story. How do you play an autistic adult? Sigourney Weaver pulls it off, the finest acting of her career, an Academy Award-level performance. The story is about a British man who has left prison for accidentally killing the drunk driver who killed his son. On his way to visit the mother in Canada, he meets a bizarre free-spirited young woman. That day, their car is hit by a sixteen-wheeler and the woman dies. He survives and decides to deliver her belongings to the mother, a severely autistic woman who lives alone. How he relates to her and the others in the tiny town is the story. The characters evolve in subtle, believable ways. 

I didn't want this movie to end. I wanted two more hours, maybe four. Why the unusual "Snow Cake" title? Watch the movie and find out. You'll be glad you did.

Post by Dennis E. Coates, Ph.D., , Copyright 2010. Building Personal Strength .