Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Priority Payback

A few weeks ago, while convalescing from my painful injuries, I popped in the movie, Click and to my delight and surprise, found myself engrossed in this moving tearjerker. Known mostly for his goofy characters, Mr. Sandler flexed his acting chops in this funny/serious role and proves once again (thinking Spanglish here), he can go the distance as a versatile actor. Yes, there were humorous moments and silly sight gags (thinking fat suit), but the “Christmas Carol”-like storyline focused primarily on his workaholic existence and the unforeseen fallout that would result.

“As Michael discovers that the remarkable device has the power to muffle the barks of the family dog, zoom himself past an irritating quarrel with his wife, and even allow him to travel back and forth through time to different points in his life, the rush of being able to skip straight to the good parts in life soon leaves him feeling as if he's missing out on the total experience. Only when Michael begins to realize that the he has lost control of his life and the remote is now programming him does he finally learn that life is as much about the moments he'd rather forget as it is the moments he will always remember.”

What would you skip over if you could fast-forward your life and would the expense be worth the price? In skipping over the everyday hassles might we miss out on experiences that are intrinsic to our very existence? *hums Harry Chapin’s Cats in the Cradle*


I've long since retired and my son's moved away.
I called him up just the other day.
I said, "I'd like to see you if you don't mind."
He said, "I'd love to, dad, if I could find the time.
You see, my new job's a hassle, and the kid's got the flu,
But it's sure nice talking to you, dad.
It's been sure nice talking to you."
And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me,
He'd grown up just like me.
My boy was just like me.

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, son?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then, dad.
You know we'll have a good time then."

6 comments:

CruiserMel said...

Nice topic here. I'm going to have to give this one some thought and come back later on.

btw, I also loved that movie and was pleasantly surprised that he's actually pretty good at acting.

Circe said...

CM, it pleasantly surprised me as I'm not a huge Adam Sandler fan and really debated about putting this one in the queue.

Angela said...

I saw this movie several months back. I do think life is as much about the good times as it is the bad. I also think we need to experience both. I have had a rough life so far and even at the hardest times I don’t think I would skip over them. I think my roughest times have truly shaped the person I have become today.
If you would have asked me this question back in high school I would have told you I wanted to skip ahead till my vision was better (I am legally blind, lost most of my vision at age 17). If I did that I still would be skipping and missing out on my son’s life.
This movie touched me in too many ways. I liked it but can’t sit through it again unless I want to be depressed and cry.

thephoenixnyc said...

Nothing. I have seen enough movies and TV toknow that if I skipped everything the entire universe would go out of whack, my whole life would reverse and fast forward and get all fucked up and much chastened, James Earl Jones would appear to set me straight.

CruiserMel said...

Maybe skipping that awkward pimply time would be cool. I'm not sure pimples and being nothing but elbows and knees did me any good for my future. But then again, that's when I bonded with my very best friends. They're still my very best friends now. Maybe pimples are okay afterall.

Circe said...

They say what doesn't kill us makes us stronger and adversity besets everyone at some point in their lives. It shouldn't happen this way, but unfortunately sometimes it takes losing something of value to realize how much we should have appreciated it when we had it. Ah well...