Due to a dear Colombian friend of mine (names have no place here), I've decided to saddle up and get back on the old blog horse. His entreaties rang true: "Don't you miss it?" I suppose I do.
So, well, I've seen perhaps 50 gazillion movies since I last wrote, but I'll highlight the latest one.
"The Kid with a Bike" -- directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne
Yes, a foreign film for those few who don't like to read subtitles. It's worth it.
There I was, fully prepared to see this film alone, having had to drag my Friend from some Brooklyn/writer-induced gloom to the netherland that is IFC theater in Greenwich Village. Oh, I could feel through the phone how desperately sorry he felt for himself for having to get on the MTA and stand through a film he was not "in the mood" to see.
Poppycock, is what I'd say.
He came, we went, and afterward ... what do my bewildered ears hear?
Me: "So, what'd you think?"
"I thought it was great!" Brooklyn Sir exclaimed.
Don't distrust me when I suggest a movie, fool.
The story starts off simply, if sadly: an 11-year old boy is denounced by his father in the most inhumanely way. The kid doesn't really get it -- he thinks his dad's just on a break, or is away to make some money for home for a bit. Well, no. Dear old Dad just doesn't want you, the child quickly learns.
Enter a quiet, compassionate hairdresser from "just down the road," her empathy for the little boy supersedes any thoughts toward her own happiness. She takes him in ...
Yet, our little abandoned boy is still a terror, and she has to determine whether he's worth it.
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