my most anticipated film for the past 6 months. i saw it.
and i loved it.
and as i was watching it, i was thinking "my goodness this reminds me a lot of forrest gump." then afterwards found out it was from the same screenwriter. then found out some critics were giving it grief for lack of originality due to its gump like similarities.
but after thinking about it, and texting about it with a comrade of mine, i decided i don't care. i don't care if screenwriter eric roth took the same formula that worked so well with gump and used it here. and you know why i don't care?
because it worked. and because i loved the movie.
i recently saw charlie kaufman's new film, Synecdoche, New York. and guess what? it confused the hell out of me. i wanted to enjoy it, because he's one of my most favorites, but i just couldn't. sure, it was extremely original. sure it was innovative. but did i enjoy the experience? no. no i didn't. as much as i hate to say it, i didn't.
but yet here with have this extremely original idea (for which credit must be given to f. scott fitzgerald) with a very unoriginal overarching story line, that i absolutely loved.
so i say, that as much as originality helps, it is not the end all of film making. if it ain't broke, don't fix it. i think eric roth got that right.
so go see it. please. it's a beautiful film. and don't compare it. don't think it's like this or that. just view it for the wonderful film that it is.
and also enjoy the character who gets struck by lightning seven times.
