Santa Fe

Gary Cole, Lolita Davidovich, Sheila Kelley, and the rest of the cast of this movie about a former cult member trying to integrate back into mainstream society should drop this film from their filmographies. I was hoping for a good movie since it did have such a talented cast, but this movie stunk the whole way through and all the way around.

I loved all the cast and the original storyline. I found much to laugh about in the movie, much to think about (and that's rare in most U.S. films for me to find both in one movie). I plan to buy the movie now that I've seen it. This movie definitely merits re-viewing. The lack of cynicism was refreshing, too.

Standout characters for me were Paul, Eleanor, Paul's sister, her mother-in-law, Paul's daughter (seemingly the most intelligent person in town and with a cute French accent). I enjoyed getting a picture of how Santa Fe looks as a town since I've never been there.

Paul's love for his daughter is a stand out feature, and Gary Cole makes him a very appealing, very human sort, warts and all. Eleanor's quandary is also interesting to see. Lolita made me see the view from the other side of being worshiped.

I recommend this movie to any adult looking for some light, intelligent entertainment. I see it as romance for grown-ups.

I read this as a story that tries to demonstrate a simple model of mental illness. To me it speaks in sign language, but it is a straight forward language.

Another story that used such language was maybe Donnie Darko, but a lot of the ingredients there, if one was to find something helpful to such as Donnie, were upside down, near impossible for a tied up individual to be able find as helpful. The commentary on the D C version of Donnie is interesting but to me it is fantasy fiction. True, Donnie and his father are much more heavily chained than the people in Santa Fe. That could be why the sign language there feels hidden.

*

An important hidden ingredient with this and such as Donnie Darko 2001+ and The Ballad Of Jack And Rose 2004 could be error correction pressures generating increased error. That defining these stories.

Here, if I read between the lines, most of this story is due to that. His attempts to regain his path, all the flow and detail of that, including the marriage of the Mayor. I overdo it.

In this particular story the error correction finally leads towards positive results. True, there is near disaster all along the way. With Donnie and his dad and Jack and Rose they need help to - firmer ground? - via a better path. They have an urgent need for firmer ground. Big babies can have a problem.

*

I understand, a guess, that the UK is trying to solve the problem of big babies. A national cleansing. Since around 2003 the streets seem a lot cleaner as far as obvious human debris is concerned. I see that from the debris side so I do not notice all that much, I notice a lot of pressure for which there is 'no hiding place' and a lot of it seems official or accepted by officialdom. I no longer can read the local newspaper very often, but the issue of 12-12-06 mentions a gang of children damaging buses. I assume that big babies will get the blame for that.

I assume this relates to beliefs that encourage governments to create the underclasses and their lifetimes in hell. The Tit For Tat concept from the artificial intelligence worlds, explored as the heart of Mean Girls 200-4. Heathers? Hellmouth? Law and popular culture that encourage anarchism in fools, is that mental health? I understand England to believe so, yet tourists here will likely not experience this aspect to be much different than elsewhere?

The England that I know is Cammie's Ballad and Daveigh's Donnie, yet some will experience it as Tina M's Santa Fe or Lindsay's Life Size or better.

Okay, that makes it sound more like a bunny than a drama, but I *did* enjoy this film. The cast chemistry was very nice, and the story quite interesting from a psychological point of view. Where do you draw the line between loving someone and loving the *idea* of someone? Between learning from a 'guru', and immersing yourself so deeply that you don't even *have* a self anymore? Between giving advice and trying to control the other person's life according to what you believe they're doing? Each character explores some level of these questions, and the result, altho interspersed with a few improbable, and sometimes silly, moments, is a rather nice blend of all of them. Cole and Davidovich especially bring a very sweet charm to their roles and to the relationship between their characters. If you want something midway between sappiness and all-out drama, that leaves you feeling satisfied at the end, I recommend this

I was intrigued by the subject matter of this film: the relationship between religious and romantic obsession. Not everything gelled, and the tone of the film at times veered uncomfortably between comedy and melodrama, but it's a bold effort that in many respects pays off. The casting, down to the smallest role (note Jere Burns as the chiropractor and Richard Schiff as his patient!), is exemplary. And there are some genuinely funny and touching sequences. I recommend this film.