I know it's because he chooses interesting projects, but the last couple films I've seen him in, he's portrayed widowed men dealing with fatherhood.I had Martian Child on in the background while I ate lunch and did some work today. I intend to sit down and watch again with TFMD and/or the kids. It's a good film, and a character I identify with -- even more so than the character he played in Grace Is Gone. In this case, he plays a widower who was once an outcast child and now makes his living in escapist entertainment, trying to raise a child who is "different" while trying to maintain a career and beginning to find a romantic connection again.
Sound familiar?
I'm going to check my office for any hidden cameras.
9 comments:
I like John Cusack. I do not however think I saw those movies. I don't know if I'd want to...quite yet.
They are not always easy to watch. I kind of have to brace myself anytime I watch a film with themes of spouse/partner loss.
Both Grace Is Gone and Martian Child are worth seeing. Martian Child is very uplifting overall.
I loved martian child. I could totally relate. If my son was interested in the fact that he is from mars, which he is not. :)
OH! And I love John Cusack and his movies. Except the record store one..don't know why, but couldn't get into it.
The "record store one" was High Fidelity. I liked it as a romantic comedy vehicle for Cusack, but it wasn't a good adaptation of the book.
I loved The Martian Child. My son Trevor has Asperger's Syndrome and when he was small...yeah, we dealt with our own set of "oddities".
Overall, I don't think there's much out there that involves John Cusack that I DON'T like. He's one of my favorites.
---Nix
I too loved the Martian Child.
My only problem with it is that they changed the father in the original autobiographical book from a gay man to a widower.
It made the film more commercially viable but changed the focus from that of two "alien" members of society finding happiness & love with each other.
Interesting that they changed the character from gay to a widower, and *that* made it commercially viable.
From my perspective as a widower, aside from the general sympathy vote, I think the line in the movie is right on, about how widowers aren't even on the totem pole - they're in the dirt *under* the totem pole. We're seen as damaged goods. Heck, we even have our own actuary tables for insurance.
Not that I would trade places with any of my gay friends, seeing the discrimination they face on a daily basis. I guess it's pretty much an apples to oranges comparison.
Thanks, I had forgotten the name of the movie and was too lazy too google it, apparently. :)
That just frustrates me, no end, that they changed the character from a gay dad. Because as EVERYONE knows, gay men cannot be good dads. *goes to email hers*
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