Getting to Know You
Getting to Know You is a Two Left Shoes production. I currently own no less than 20 TLS movies, one of which is a very good movie by the name of Some Girl with Juliette Lewis, Jeremy Sisto, and Giovanni and Marisa Ribisi. TLS is a production company who entered into contract agreements to be exclusively available at Blockbuster, which is why I own so many.
One would not really expect most of the movies TLS releases to be top entertainment, but they have a certain quality. They have a tendency to cast actors in their movies who give fairly decent performances. Most TLS productions are not seen by the masses. They are reserved for those who either pick out one actor and watch all movies that they are in, or those who have a discerning eye and dare to give an Independent a try.
Getting To Know You stars Heather Matazarro of Welcome to the Dollhouse fame, Bebe Newirth (TV's Cheers, Say Anything), Mary McCormack (Full Frontal, K-Pax), Chris Noth (the infamous Mr. Big from Sex and the City), Michael Weston (Garden State, Coyote Ugly) and a very young Zach Braff. (A-ha! You knew there was a reason I watched this movie, didn't you?)
The nostalgia of watching these characters at a bus station in upstate New York and hearing the announcer say the word "Binghamton" (where I grew up) was a nice little treat for me. Also, I could appreciate the irony of Zach Braff's character going to Rochester (where I attended college) to study medicine- although whether he would turn out to be a doctor like Scrubs' JD remains to be seen.
The movie depicts a day in the life of two teens who were raised by former-star-turned-alcoholic parents. The mother, Trix (Newirth), has been committed to a mental institution, and admittedly, one is reminded of a Sunset Boulevard's Norma Desmond type of character. The teens go to the bus station where they will say goodbye, the brother, Wesley (Braff), off to Rochester for college and the sister, Judith (Matazarro), off to her father's home in Rome, NY. While waiting for the bus, an overprotective Wesley sits and studies while Judith meets Jimmy (Weston), a runaway who has never been out of NY state, but who's hobby is travelling. The two sit and talk and Jimmy makes up wonderful stories about the people in the bus station. The movie turns into a mosaic of 2 short stories that get intertwined with the life of Judith, Trix, and Wesley and the horrors of alcoholism.
Overall, the movie runs pretty slow, and in the end, stick-to-it-iveness pays off, but not handsomely. The story comes to a sweet end, with all being forgiven, and eventually you realize that everyone's going to be okay. Contrasting Braff's innocence and brains with Weston's rebelliousness and creativity, mixed with the feelings both have for Matazarro, makes it a pretty good all-around story.
One would not really expect most of the movies TLS releases to be top entertainment, but they have a certain quality. They have a tendency to cast actors in their movies who give fairly decent performances. Most TLS productions are not seen by the masses. They are reserved for those who either pick out one actor and watch all movies that they are in, or those who have a discerning eye and dare to give an Independent a try.
Getting To Know You stars Heather Matazarro of Welcome to the Dollhouse fame, Bebe Newirth (TV's Cheers, Say Anything), Mary McCormack (Full Frontal, K-Pax), Chris Noth (the infamous Mr. Big from Sex and the City), Michael Weston (Garden State, Coyote Ugly) and a very young Zach Braff. (A-ha! You knew there was a reason I watched this movie, didn't you?)
The nostalgia of watching these characters at a bus station in upstate New York and hearing the announcer say the word "Binghamton" (where I grew up) was a nice little treat for me. Also, I could appreciate the irony of Zach Braff's character going to Rochester (where I attended college) to study medicine- although whether he would turn out to be a doctor like Scrubs' JD remains to be seen.
The movie depicts a day in the life of two teens who were raised by former-star-turned-alcoholic parents. The mother, Trix (Newirth), has been committed to a mental institution, and admittedly, one is reminded of a Sunset Boulevard's Norma Desmond type of character. The teens go to the bus station where they will say goodbye, the brother, Wesley (Braff), off to Rochester for college and the sister, Judith (Matazarro), off to her father's home in Rome, NY. While waiting for the bus, an overprotective Wesley sits and studies while Judith meets Jimmy (Weston), a runaway who has never been out of NY state, but who's hobby is travelling. The two sit and talk and Jimmy makes up wonderful stories about the people in the bus station. The movie turns into a mosaic of 2 short stories that get intertwined with the life of Judith, Trix, and Wesley and the horrors of alcoholism.
Overall, the movie runs pretty slow, and in the end, stick-to-it-iveness pays off, but not handsomely. The story comes to a sweet end, with all being forgiven, and eventually you realize that everyone's going to be okay. Contrasting Braff's innocence and brains with Weston's rebelliousness and creativity, mixed with the feelings both have for Matazarro, makes it a pretty good all-around story.
posted by Susan at
10/07/2004
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