2 more W's

Continuing on a W theme here. I saw two movies this week: "Wall-E" at the theaters and "We are Marshall" on cable.

"Wall-E" was wonderful. I hadn't read any reviews before I went to see it and I was mesmerized the whole way. I confess I kind of thought Wall-E was a physical rip-off of #5 from "Short Circuit" but he was a great character and I totally got sucked into his world. I cried twice. Well, I guess it was just once since my face was still wet from the first flow. The messages of the film, regarding consumerism, pollution, disconnection, were somewhat sledgehammered home but it's to be expected when you're aiming a movie at young children as well.

"We are Marshall" was...weak. I know this was based on the true story of a tragic plane crash where practically the entire Marshall football team and staff perished and how it regains its spirit by putting a new football team back on the field the next season, but, ugh, was Matthew McConaughey's character supposed to be so annoying? I feel like he showed up to play the Larry character for a "Three's Company" remake--he was certainly drenched in his signature 70s swingin' wardrobe. I'm assuming that McConaughey's vacant stares and goofy smirks when fielding questions about why he wants to coach this team are supposed to read as earnest optimism but I was left bewildered. Yes, I cried in this one, given the subject matter alone. I connected easily to Ian McShane's character as the father who lost his son in the crash and if I could have gotten inside more characters, I'm sure I would have been moved more. To that end, I rate this movie a C+. To this movie's credit, it was open about being a story of moving forward and opportunity. With the climactic winning game (oops--I guess I should have put Spoiler Alert), the narration shares that this is one win of nine over four YEARS. The lead characters do not go on to glorious NFL careers. Marshall doesn't even get a winning season until 10-15 years later. The triumph here is simply hope, which is a refreshing change from the slick and glossy endings we're usually fed from Hollywood.