Sunday, October 3, 2010

Temple Grandin and Get Low

I don’t know if others have had the experience of weeping through Temple Grandin, but this movie really got to me. Besides loving Claire Danes and thinking she is amazing in this movie, I cheered on her subject, Temple Grandin, a brilliant autistic woman who overcame her fears and achieved her goals. Because of her intuitive understanding of animals, she able to make cattle lots more compassionate for the cattle. She also has been able to explain what it is like to be autistic. This movie is definitely one that tugs at your heartstrings (which normally I hate in a movie) but the combination of Claire Danes’ great acting and Temple Grandin’s remarkable life, makes this movie well worth watching and a genuinely inspirational story.

I also saw Get Low about a grizzled hermit who emerges from the woods and declares he would like to plan his funeral and attend it. Robert Duvall is the crusty old guy; Bill Murray is the potentially shady funeral director; and Sissy Spacek is the old girlfriend. Holding the movie together and giving it some perspective is the young guy named Buddy played by Lucas Black who works for Murray’s character. For me, his reactions to the events of the movie was the most interesting part. The movie had a few genuine original moments but was mostly pretty forgettable.

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