Happythankyoumoreplease (Movie of the week)

courtesy http://www.gstatic.com

I know this is not one of the hottest movies of the year. Partially because it’s in fact an old movie, it was released in 2010. And sadly it’s also not on the top list either. Perhaps it’s too heavy for some people because it talks about real life and stuff that goes around it. Perhaps, people prefer sci-fi film more than a film that portrays a real life. Not that I despise sci-fi, I think it’s an art and people can and should express their artistic values in the ways they feel happy with. 

Personally, I think “Happythankyoumoreplease” is just one of those underrated movies who happen to struck me to the core of my heart. As an audience I do have some criteria that would make me love the movie immediately. Being of them, and also happens to be one of the themes of this movie, is a film that talks about a process of writing or the life of an author / a struggling author. I don’t why, but this kind of story always, I mean, always, wins me. Well, I do know why, I am obsessed with writing and I do struggle to get some writing done. Not blog-kind of writing, more like, a real book kind of writing. Man, you just don’t know how many unfinished draft are there in my PC. It’s just so difficult to finish a book. And knowing that there are people out there who experience the same struggle as you is just so comforting. Meaning that there is a process in which all writers-wanna-be people go through. This is quite tricky. This process I’ve been talking about, is no easy one. Not everyone can survive with it. If we’re not strong enough, it can screw you over. 

The second criteria, which is slightly personal for me, is the element of New York. Everything with New York in it is just so addictive. Coming from a person who has never been to NY, it’s a little weird, right? But who doesn’t have a dream city, a city that has been built in your mind with this ideal and even perfect quality. For me that dream city is NY. Don’t worry, I know what you people are going to say, “NY is not as you think it is” or “You will be disappointed once you go there” etc etc. Actually, I have learned to accept the fact that NY is not perfect. In fact, the perfect-less-ness of NY that makes me love it. I used to have this crazy idea in my head, that once I graduate university I will go and live in NY and become whatever I could be. I could be a cook, I know how to cook. I just need to learn more variants, that’s suitable for NY tastes. That’s before Trump became a president. Now I don’t even know if I want to go there. 

Interestingly, this film also contains a great deal of discussion over the idea of living in NY itself. So there is this couple who lives in a new way of life (I would say). They love each other, but they don’t want to get married. Very new, right? They say, they are just not that kind of people. For the woman, she doesn’t believe in the idea of marriage simply because she comes from a long family with a history of divorce. Their other polemic is that the lover thinks that he has an opportunity in LA, and he wants her to come with him. But it’s impossible because she hates LA. She thinks LA is toxic. Just like me who has a dream city, for this character, she has a nightmare city and that’s LA. They got into this huge fight over the idea of moving to LA and staying in NY. I love her line when she says, “NY is home. And you want me to leave home?” (I am smiling while writing this. It’s so beautiful)

Literature, real life in NY (fictionalized life), and art are is just killers. This film has it all, which makes me love it even more. As I said before, this film displays the life of a struggling writer who’s writing did get done but didn’t get published. So writer kind of life, right? There’s a funny and smart plot regarding this writer’s life. So one day he was on his way meeting a publisher, when he met a little child who’s separated from his foster mother in a subway. Turns out that child did it on purpose, he has a problem with his foster family. It’s not clear what the problem was, but it makes him not wanting to go back there. So, he kind of illegally let him stay with him. Over the course of his stay, the writer finds out that the kid has a talent. He is a good drawer. One day the writer confides in the kid that his life is too smooth which makes him unable to make a great writing. “You, on the other hand,” he said “has a handful of material”. And I think, he did write a story based on that kid. (I find it very funny and smart).

Anyhow, I talk too much about this film. I think I’ve said everything I wanted to say. Highly recommended. I want you to watch it immediately. And I hope you all like it. If you like this one, you may like another movie written and played by the same person called “Liberal Arts”.