Source Code: A movie review

There is probably little else in life that evokes as much emotion as the thought of death.  Whether thinking of our own inevitable deaths or the unfortunate deaths of others, the uncertainty surrounding “what happens next” has spawned countless Hollywood interpretations and sci-fi theories grounded in nothing other than avid imaginations.

The sci-fi suspense flick, “Source Code” with Jake Gyllenhaal follows a similar route of questioning offering an eerie interpretation of one “life after death” scenario.  The protagonist, a former Colonel (Carl) stationed in Afghanistan, awakens on a train in the body of a man he’s never met (Sean), sitting in front of a woman he’s never seen, who claims to know him.  Within minutes, the train explodes and the Colonel (who is now Carl, not Sean) is transported back into his body and briefed on his mission.

Throughout the movie, one is left wondering about the Colonel’s existence—is he or isn’t he alive?  What about the body he inhabits for eight minutes during every recurrence?  Is the “Sean vessel” alive or already dead?  Amidst this confusion about mortality, the sci-fi premise surfaces with the idea that following death, every person has an eight minute window or “halo” of life that can be reassigned to another individual, alive in mind but for all intents and purposes, dead in body.  Confused yet?

Once the life and death situation is somewhat cleared up, the movie becomes a straightforward suspense thriller where the audience roots for the good guy and boos for the bad guy, who is, thankfully, not your typical racially-profiled lunatic.  While the movie doesn’t pretend to impart any deep or lasting moral messages, I couldn’t help but take something out of the fascinating view of death that was presented. 

The fear, the apprehension, the questions, the concern and the pure ambiguity that surround death are among the greatest commonalities that connect us as humans.  As a Muslim, I’m often asked about my religious views on the topic.  As do the other major monotheistic religions, the Islamic view of death includes a Heaven and a Hell and a Judgment Day that precedes the Hereafter.  While the issue of death is often seen as a morbid one that many people feel uncomfortable discussing, it is an inevitable reality that deserves further pondering. 

Muslims strive to live each day in preparation for a “forever” afterlife with loved ones.  This makes “morbid” thoughts more bearable with the conviction that something more has to follow this brief life.  Unfaltering faith in something greater than us humans is helpful in reconciling any doubts about death. 

Knowing with full confidence that there is something bigger that connects us all--something greater that holds sway over our lives-- helps somehow ease the impermanence of earth.  An inherent belief in life after death creates significance in the lasting marks that we might leave on others and provides a form of reassurance that our “halo” will continue to glow for longer than the movie’s proposed eight minutes.  In the end, we can only hope that long after we are gone, we’ll be remembered for whatever legacy we have left behind—forever kept alive in the hearts of people we’ve touched and in the minds of people we’ve known.

          --Suzy Ismail

Tangled, a movie review

5 out of 5 stars  (Contains no spoilers)

“Mommy, can we please, please go see Rapunzel?  She’s a princess.” My daughter looked up at me with large, imploring eyes.  And in a flash I was back at the old Landis Theater in Vineland, NJ  with my mom, my own little grade school self staring wide-eyed at Sleeping Beauty on the big screen.  Back to the present, my daughter bounced on the balls of her feet like a baby robin as I thought to myself…a new Disney princess movie?  I’m so there.  Time to keep the tradition going.  I raised my hand to my daughter and she slapped me a high five.    

Far from an original concept, Tangled is the age old story of boy meets girl (an equation I shall never tire of, so long as I live).  In this particular story, the boy is a scoundrel and the girl is a princess  (Han and Leia minus the Millennium Falcon).  Again, not a unique idea.  However, this movie was executed so brilliantly, with perfect pacing, that no one will remotely care that this is a recycled plot (or that it’s a cartoon, for that matter).  

From the previews, I was pumped up for some good old-fashioned slap stick humor.  Figured even my boys would get a chuckle.  And Tangled certainly did not disappoint.  I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard.  That was what I had come for.  That was what I was prepared for.  I was NOT prepared to cry.  Yeah, I cried at a Disney movie (not a first by the way—I got a bit choked up when Belle leaned over the Beast and whispered ‘I love you’).  But this?  Tears were streaming down my face.  I had a “please don’t let my husband see this or I am so going to get teased” moment.

And it wasn’t just me.  At a certain scene (you’ll know it when you see it), the entire theater, made up of mostly children, fell silent except for sniffling.  And then a sweet, little voice rose from amongst the crowd and asked, “Mommy, why are you crying?”  And then we all laughed.  I was not the only lachrymose mommy. 

What did I love about this movie?  

Finally, a strong heroine I can enthusiastically cheer for! As a reader of Young Adult fiction, I’ve been so frustrated lately with the lack of good, strong female leads.  And I finally found one.  Ironically, a cartoon character.  Don’t get me wrong.  Rapunzel is sheltered and sweet, but she’s not one to cower in a corner and wait for the guy to save her.  No, a number of times, she saves him.  Refreshing!

It’s a redemption story.  I am a complete and utter sucker for a story of personal restoration.  I mean, come on, we’ve got a scoundrel here.  Of course he needs to be redeemed.  And it was done so magnificently.  Amongst the sea of predictable plots of Disney movies, there’s a part in Tangled where I turned to my husband, with my mouth agape and said, “I didn’t see that coming.”  And my highly intelligent husband admitted he didn’t either.  I LOVE THAT! 

Bottom line:  There is nothing I disliked about this movie.  Nothing.  I cannot say this strongly enough:  Go see this movie.  GO NOW.  Run like the dragon form of Maleficent is chasing you down.  You can thank me later.  Oh, but whatever you do…do not forget to tuck a tissue in your pocket.  J

          -Suzi Ryan

Life As We Know It (movie review)

I had the very unusual, not-often-does-it-happen, chance to watch another non-kids’ movie last week.  The movie was “Life as We Know It” and the rating from my end, at least, was definitely two thumbs up.  Completely contradictory to the critic reviews online, the movie was pleasant enough, leaving me with a warm and fuzzy after-feeling like one of those must-cuddle-with-Snuggie-and-cup-of-coffee-in-hand holiday movies.  Not to mention the cute actor who could easily turn quite a few heads (I’m talking about the baby in the movie—although the leading man wasn’t half-bad either).    

So, what gave this movie with the same ole’ romcom storyline a compelling enough hook?  The entire premise of the movie is based on the idea of countering unexpected change.  Change, when you don’t see it coming, can be scary, but often leads you towards paths you never dreamed you’d follow.  Deviating from the usual and the expected course, whether you want to or not, can be incredibly cathartic and literally life changing.  With a little divine intervention, the unexpected can be the exact track you were meant to follow in your life.

I don’t want to fill this post with spoilers in case you decide to check this movie out, but suffice to say that one of the most compelling aspects of the movie is the message that good things often come after tragedy--- even if it takes you awhile to figure that out.  There is a common Muslim saying:   “With hardship, comes ease.”  It’s a little like the grey cloud/silver lining proverb but takes that concept a step further by mandating that you need to look for the ease in order to identify it.

The nicest part of the movie, without a doubt, lay in its predictability-- even though it was ironically all about change.  There is still something to be said about finding comfort in familiarity bred by a movie that sticks to the winning formula of “guy gets girl” or “girl gets guy” after quite a few travails that are overcome by love, patience, and acceptance.  Now that’s one nice feel-good Hollywood ideal not in need of any changing at this particular moment. J   

     -Suzy Ismail

The Social Network

I’ve been on a self-imposed Facebook ban for the past week and a half.  Ironically, the ban was not put into place because I was spending too much time snooping into the lives of friends and acquaintances or because I am clueless as to how to set privacy settings or protect pictures from unwanted eyes. 

No, I went on a Facebook strike after watching “The Social Network,” which may or may not be a somewhat dramatized version of how the pervasive social medium came into existence.   I always thought that whoever started this phenomenon had to be a megalomaniac bent on some form of world domination.  But, since I never cared enough to look into the history behind it, I never realized that Facebook was actually the brainchild of a drunken Harvard student, young enough to be my kid brother, who set out one night to hack a bunch of dorm pages and create a terribly demeaning and demoralizing misogynistic site to get back at his ex-girlfriend who dumped him due to his social ineptitude. 

And from this lofty beginning the story just got worse.  Not only did Mark Zuckerberg begin his social networking site with bad intentions, but he moved on to steal the full concept of a college connections site from his classmates and then continued his unconscionable efforts by eventually cutting out his start-up partner and only friend from any profits once the company made it big.  Many lawsuits later, Zuckerberg, with plenty of money to spare, received nothing more than a reprimand and a nominal settlement penalty that was undoubtedly a mere drop in the proverbial bucket of billions that his company is worth.

Did the movie provide an entertaining documentary look into the making of this current cultural trend?  Uhh, no!  It was disturbing at most and shocking at best.  From the extremely risqué scenes of drunken and drug-laden college behavior across the nation’s top ivy leagues, to the implicit individualistic idea of getting ahead regardless of the cost, the movie just left me feeling devoid of any sympathy for a brilliant man who’s made billions at the expense of others. 

While some might argue that ideas are everywhere and success comes to those who choose to do something with their ideas, I think there are simple human morals that need to dictate who benefits from which ideas.  It seems like what started out for me as an innocent movie review appears to have turned into a ranting social commentary blog post. 

At the end of the day though, there must be some truth to the fact that ill-intentioned ideas can be used for good, like the Facebook posts about different fundraisers, awareness campaigns, or information posted that could actually benefit others.  Even things like keeping in touch with long distance friends or family or celebrating milestones, events, and other successes seem to be a great way for using a network that could go either way.  And with that mental epiphany, it’s time to end my ban and hop into Facebook again in order to “like” my blog post in the hopes that my ramblings might prove interesting to someone out there in cyberspace. J            

  -Suzy Ismail