Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Idée d’jour

Those who are awake live in a state of constant amazement.
— Jack Kornfield [Zen Calendar, ©2004 Workman Press]
There is a line very similar to this in the movie Joe Vs. the Volcano.

There's a lot of reasons not to like this movie - it's much too clever for it's own good. But it's one of my favorites. Approximately the first third is one of the better depictions of the stiffling nature of the bureacratic life recorded on celluloid.

The theme is a fairly common Hollywood trope - carpe diem [Seize the day]. I suppose it's popular because it's one that folk so easily forget. If we were fully awake and alive even 95% of the day, we would not need to be reminded to wake up. If we didn't need to be reminded, we would not likely find these reminders so charming.

Joe Vs the Volcano is also noteworthy as a Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan romance that folk don't normally remember when thinking of Hanks/Ryan romances. It also is one of the few films I know that dares to reflect Ryan's full range as a comic actress - she plays three different roles, and seems to be having a lovely time doing so.

It's not a movie for all tastes. But, it can be a terrible lot of fun, if you give in to its whimsy.

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