(Display Name not set)March 2006 Archives

It took almost a full seven seasons of "The West Wing" for writers to finally address what I think is the most romantic storyline in this show's entire run: Will Josh and Donna EVER get together? I mean, for real this time? As "The West Wing" draws to a close for good (sniff, sniff), I am anxiously waiting to see how the relationship between these two "friends" and colleagues resolves (or doesn't).

Viewers have watched as the tension between these two characters has been building for years, with flirtation, stolen glances, sighs, clever banter, and even long hours of intense devotion at hospital bed sides. I've heard of Christian couples waiting until they reach the altar for a first kiss (but then again, they tend not to date that long beforehand) and boyfriends and girlfriends waiting a full year before they lock lips, but SEVEN years? I have always felt that Donna and Josh have taken their chastity thing a bit too far.

The answer to my question was at least partially addressed and sealed with a kiss during the episode "The Cold" when--hooray, hooray--as Donna knocked on Josh's door to deliver fantastic news about the polls for Matt Santos, and in Josh's happiness he grabbed her and finally gave her the on-screen kiss we'd all been waiting for (well some of us at least, since I know many out there are still rooting for a return of Mary-Louise Parker's women's rights character, Amy, not only to the show but a place at Josh's side.)

And (most) viewers rejoiced! The question burning my brain now is, where to from there for Josh and Donna?

Unfortunately, and in typical "West Wing" fashion, post lip-lock viewers so far have only seen Josh and Donna briefly hem and haw about the meaning of this new drama in their long-term relationship. Is their long time relationship destined to end with only a kiss and confusion? I wondered sadly, as the credits rolled after last week's episode. Yet, evidently it will not, since scenes for this Sunday's upcoming episode, "Election Day," included a glimpse of Josh and Donna in bed together.

Hooray? Personally, I think they deserve a little more romance than a one-night stand, but I'll just have to wait and see. I think I'll set my expectations high and hold out for a marriage proposal by season's end and just hope for the best (and that, as much as I love Mary Louise Parker, that pesky Amy won't return to ruin it all....).

Before he was the 40-year-old virgin, Steve Carell had a hilarious cameo role as the competition news anchor to Jim Carey's Bruce in "Bruce Almighty." Now, Universal Pictures plans to release a Summer 2007 follow-up called "Evan Almighty," with Carell as its central character.

"Evan Almighty" will see the return of Morgan Freeman playing the part of God, who informs Evan (Carell)--an anchorman-turned-politician--that a flood is coming so he must build an Ark in the style of Noah.

In my opinion, Carell's few minutes on screen during "Bruce Almighty" completely stole Jim Carrey's thunder. That, together with Carell's recent successes in "Anchorman" and "Virgin," makes me think that "Evan Almighty" will be a Summer '07 must-see.

Now we are beyond the second episode into the premier season of HBO's new family drama "Big Love"--and I am disgusted. I blogged earlier about my concerns for what looked to be "Big Love's" attempt to "normalize" a polygamous relationship--and after Episode 2, my fears have been confirmed.

Poor, poor Bill Hendrickson! He's popping the Viagra to keep up with all three of his wives, who are just dying to bed him as he makes his nightly rounds. And though Barb, Nicki, and Margey bicker and fight over who gets him when and how much, they still submit to what Bill calls "the principle" (polygamy within their breakaway version of Mormon faith) and his God-like rule over the family finances, home life, and sex schedule.

Whether it's Carmela's staying in a seriously problematic home life on "The Sopranos" or the three "Big Love" wives who negotiate whatever power they can grasp, TV's message about women and religion lately seems to be: Just do the best you can with what you got! Grin, bear, and work with it.

I find that seriously depressing and unsatisfying. While I cringe at times watching Carmela's sacrifices, Barb, Nicki, and Margey just take the cake on "Big Love."

Dedicated "Sopranos" fans were shocked last week by the end of episode, the surprise shooting of Tony Soprano by his Uncle Junior (who's gone a bit senile in recent years). Last night's follow-up show focused--of course--on the aftermath of the shooting, as experienced by both Tony, through a series of coma-induced dreams, and as experienced by his family in their intense grief at the possibility of loosing him.

After last season's downward turn in Tony's character--when he was forced to live without Carmela's constant presence and her capacity to keep him at least somewhat grounded despite his criminal tendencies--I can't help but wonder: Is this shooting the beginning of Tony's path to redemption? Is his suffering in a hospital bed a painful penance for his sins? Is Tony's spilling of blood--something that often happens on the show to others but never in any significant way to Tony before now--a kind of Jesus-like giving of his own blood as payment for his past digressions and even those of his captains and heavies?

Two significant things in last night's episode raised this question for me. First were the dream sequences Tony experienced. In his dreams, Tony was a regular salesman with no criminal past who's stuck on a sales trip trying to get back to his perfect-sounding family. In other words, Tony's fantasy is of being a regular guy, not a mobster who is continually juggling his role as a hardened criminal and dedicated family man. What will happen if he comes out of this coma? Will Tony express the same desire to turn away from mafia life and set himself on a straight and narrow path like in his dreams? Will this near-death experience allow him to finally free that sympathetic, caring man we can all see glimpses of here and there throughout the entire run of "The Sopranos"?

The second significant moment came from Carmela, whom I've always regarded as the moral compass and central religious figure on the show. Carmela recalls, while weeping at Tony's bedside, when several years earlier, while she and Tony were fighting she told him he was going to hell. Tears fall down her face and onto her husband's body as he lays there in a coma, and Carmela tells Tony that he's a good man, that he's not going to hell, that she is sorry for ever saying that. Are Carmela's confessions, her forgiveness, and especially her tears a kind of "christening moment" for her husband? A renewed welcoming back into not only her family's life, but also a baptismal renewal for his life and path in general?

Maybe I'm too optimistic. But maybe there's hope for Tony yet.

Within seconds after the opening credits of "Thank You For Smoking"--the new film directed by Jason Reitman, based on the novel by Christopher Buckley, with an all-star cast including Robert Duvall and William H. Macey--the film's central character, Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart), a successful pro-tobacco lobbyist, explains in voice over narration: "I front an organization that kills 1,200 people per day."

As the film progresses, Nick's blunt self-awareness and string of self-associations and rationalizations about his job are never-ending. His alliances include membership in a group he refers to as "The M.O.D. Squad"--M.O.D. standing for Merchants of Death--which meets regularly for dinner and drinks. The group has a membership of three, and Nick tosses off the group's name with a chuckle, as if it's quaint. Nick's role is as the "Merchant" representing Big Tobacco, while his two fellow "Merchants" represent the firearms lobby and the alcohol lobby, respectively.

In one of Nick's stand-out moments, which is touching and reflective (insert sarcasm here), his son asks him about his job and whether or not any average Joe is qualified to be a tobacco lobbyist. Daddy responds to his son's question with complete sincerity and a straight face: "No. It requires a certain moral flexibility." "Moral flexibility," of course, is one way of describing life as the "front man" for a product that kills 1,200 people a day.

And yet, throughout the film, Nick Naylor somehow retains a kernel of sympathy from the viewer.

How does he do it? Perhaps it's the father-son relationship that gives Nick's character its redeeming quality, despite all the moral problems I have with his character and job. His dedication to being the best dad he can possibly be is evident throughout. He approaches fatherhood with all the tenderness, love, and effort one can hope for from a weekend-divorced dad, albeit in a rather offbeat, unusual manner (since most dads are not sincerely trying to instill disturbingly distorted pro-tobacco, lobbyist-tactic moral lessons into their kids). The father-son dimension in this narrative is amazingly well-developed and crafted, making the viewer care and empathize in a way that reminded me of Tony Soprano's character: He is a man who wants desperately to be a good family man, yet who commits all these reprehensible acts.

Or maybe it's simply the comedy factor, since this film offers many laugh-out-loud moments, not least of which includes Nick's son's attendance at a school called "St. Euthanasius." Rob Lowe puts in a few hilarious moments as a ridiculous Hollywood executive who dons a kimono when he's alone. The humor overall is certainly dark, but not so dark that you feel disturbed leaving the film. Which perhaps is the biggest part of the problem: Nick Naylor as a character manages to charm--even seduce--the audience, with his regular-guy, dedicated-dad persona, in such a way that you almost want to forgive him. You almost want him to win--despite his horrific allegiances. Which means that somehow if you end up with the least bit of sympathy for Nick, you are de facto sympathizing with Big Tobacco and the firearms and alcohol lobbies by default.

It's amazing what a persuasive character can do. Or is it just that there's a little redemption in everyone--no matter what they stand for?

Fans of HBO's "The Sopranos"--the award-winning mafia family-crime drama that many claim is the best show on television--will finally satisfy their long-awaited desire for a new season this Sunday, March 12th, at 9 p.m. It's been almost two years since...

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