"God's Pocket" with Phillip Seymour Hoffman and John Turturro (2014)

In his directorial debut, actor John Slattery has done a very competent job of conveying the lives of some very incompetent people living in the town of God’s Pocket, Pa. Perhaps incompetent is too harsh a word to describe the characters in this novel by Pete Dexter; and a screenplay by John Slattery. It’s more as if the people in this story are victims of the world around them; as well as themselves.

Mickey Scarpato; played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman; is a man who dwells on the outskirts of the legitimate world. He has a legitimate business, but he is also willing to deal in stolen property; he respects his marriage, but realizes that the love he and his wife once felt is a thing of the past; and while he tries to look towards tomorrow, he is haunted by the events of yesterday and today. He is a walking contradiction.

His closest friend is an inveterate gambler named Arthur the “Bird” Capezio ,; played by John Turturro . His gambling debts are almost as bad as Mickeys, although he does hit a win for $15,000 at a time when Mickey could really have used the money. If only he had listened to Arthur on his “tip.”

As if his life were not in enough of a downward spiral his stepson Leon Hubbard; played by Caleb Landry Jones; is killed by another “day worker” at the construction site where Leon was working. He was a drug addicted bully who was known to break into homes and steal to support his habit. Mickey has spent years trying to ignore the boy’s shortcomings in deference to his wife Jeanie; played by Christina Hendricks; who adores the boy. 

But this time Leon has picked on an elderly African-American man who kills him; in front of the whole construction crew; after the young man tried to cut his throat with a knife. When the police arrive, no one tells the truth about how his head got caved in. They all swear it was an accident with a piece of equipment which caused the fatal head injury.

Jeanie is utterly destroyed; the people at the local bar all swear it’s a tragedy; but Mickey knows better. Meantime, while arranging the funeral for Leon he manages to lose his money on a race and can’t pay the undertaker. He bullies the man into providing the service on credit.

But the real corker in this film is the relationship which Jeanie forms with a local news reporter named Richard Shellburn; played by Richard Jenkins. He is an alcoholic; washed out and prone to having affairs with young interns with whom he cannot perform well.

When he is told by his editor to find a good story or a new job he quickly jumps on the local rumor of Leon’s death as being of a suspicious nature. This puts him into close and intimate contact with Jeanie as she struggles with the death of her son, as well as the failure of her own marriage, and it isn’t too long before they each find comfort with the other.

The reviewers all hailed this as a “dark, brash, black comedy”, but I see it in a much different light. This is a sad, but unfortunately somewhat true story; more so than most of us would care to admit. Many people struggle to find their place in society; through school, work, and raising families. Those are the lucky ones. They get to play the game. 

This story concerns itself with the ones who don’t quite fit in and how they attempt to get along in a game they either don’t understand; or would rather not play, but have no other options available. What do you do when it’s the only game in town?

"The Kings of Summer" with (2013)

This is the “new” coming of age film. It is a bit different than the innocence depicted in films such as “Stand by Me”, but in spite of that, the film is a pretty accurate reflection of today’s teenage perception of what it means to “become a man.”

The film depicts the reasons behind the decision by 3 teenagers to leave home and set up on their own over the summer. The three all have different issues with their families and the lure to be on their own is very strong. So, when 15 year old Joe; played by Nick Robinson; approaches his 2 buddies with his idea about building a home of their own in a clearing in the woods, they are ready to listen.

Joe lost his mother to illness a few years earlier and his relationship with his Dad is adversarial at best. Complicating things is the presence of a new woman in his Dad’s life; a relationship he refuses to acknowledge.

Joe has a severe crush on Kelly; played by Elin Moriarty; who is already in a relationship with some guy named Paul. After seeing her at school and being humiliated by her boyfriend Joe heads for home accompanied by his strange friend Biaggio; played by Moises Arias. Biaggio claims to be asexual. When the two cut through the woods on the way home they discover the spot where Joe decides that they should build a house. Joe wants his friend Patrick; played by Gabriel Basso; to join them.

Patrick has an array of survivalist books from which the trio makes plans to build their home. They pilfer materials wherever they can find them, dragging everything into the woods and actually building their home. Shortly after it is finished the three boys move in to begin their new lives.

Thinking that the boys have been kidnapped the town is searching for them frantically. The police know better; since the boys took money and tools from their parent’s homes when they left. It’s just a question of where they went.

The boys are learning that living off the land; while sounding appetizing; is not as easy as it appears. They find a small grocery store from which they are able to count on fresh meat each day, and so that becomes their main source of food. Hunting, fishing and cooking have proven too difficult for them.

As the days go by Joe misses Kelly more and more, and so makes arrangements for her to come visit them in the woods. She brings a friend along. Kelly has broken up with her boyfriend and Joe is still smitten with her. He is hoping that when she sees all that he has accomplished she will become his girlfriend. But instead she is attracted to Patrick and the two slip away together. This event causes Joe to have a sort of meltdown, which breaks down the bond between the 2 friends. Patrick destroys a portion of the house he helped to build and leaves. Biaggio wants to stay but Joe sends him away also. Now he is truly alone.

The police question Biaggio and Patrick; with Biaggio turning out to be the strongest of the two. He tells the police nothing. Joe, meantime, has run out of money to buy chickens at the food store and begins to actually hunt. He captures and kills a rabbit, but feels so badly about it that he cannot eat it. It has now been over a month since the boys left home, and Joe is the only one unaccounted for.

At this point Kelly tells Joe’s father about the secret location of the house and they head there to get Joe. The ending of the film involves a poisonous snake and a heroic act by Joe, which earns him the respect of his father. And although Kelly and Joe remain only friends, he comes away with a new understanding of himself, his father and life in general.

A very ethereal film in some respects, with intense acting on the part of all the principal players, this film illuminates the never changing angst of growing up.

"The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls

A few years ago I bought Sue this book for Christmas, intending to read it myself at a later date. That was in 2006. Last week I was at the Mooresville Town Library, I can usually be found there several times a week, pouring through the biographies on the rear shelves, and something seemed familiar about the first few pages, I could have sworn that I had read them before. And I had. When picking a book to read,I generally go by the cover, and if I like it I read the first page. If I turn the page to keep reading I assume that I have found a book which I will enjoy. It's a pretty good system that works well for me.

Upon arriving at home I told Sue all about this wonderful book and how it began. She gave me one of those wifely looks that roughly translates into, "What kind of idiot did I actually marry?" It was then that she informed me that we already own this book, and moreover, that I had purchased it. What can I say? When she's right, she's right.

This is a gem of a book. A memoir written out of the pain that comes from being raised in a dysfunctional family. And boy, was this family ever dysfunctional!

The book opens with Ms. Walls in New York City. She is standing outside of her building waiting for the doorman to hail a taxi for her when she sees a woman rummaging through a trash bin. It was her mother. Just how she got there, and how the author dealt with growing up with such unusual parents, is the crux of this beautifully written, no holds barred book.

The authors parents were exceptional people, there is no doubt about that. They teach their chidren to do math in binary numbers prior to 1st grade. They learn to read all the classics before they turn 10. They are children blessed with astute minds and a thirst for learning. They are also burdened with two of the strangest parents one could ever hope to conjure up.

Ms. Walls mother was an aspiring artist who would stop the car in the middle of the desert to paint a Joshua tree. The house was filled with flies because she felt that the chemicals in bug sprays were more dangerous than the flies themselves. This was previous to Rachel Carlson's "Silent Spring."

Mr. Walls was a mechanical genius, always on the verge of inventing something that would pull the family out of the poverty they lived in. His theories were all correct, and would be proven by others, with time and money that he himself would never possess. He was also a hopeless alcoholic.

Bouncing around from the deserts of Arizona to the hills of West Viginia, the family experiences many different hardships. Hunger was a constant companion. There was never any real Christmas holiday celebrated in the usual fashion. The children were almost feral in their lifestyles, roaming wherever they pleased, encouraged by both their mother and father.

The most striking thing about this book is the lack of shame, or even anger towards her parents, that the author feels about her unusual beginnings. This is no "poor me" book. Instead it is an exploration about what happens to the children of those adults, who are too busy fighting their own demons, to be "normal" parents. No matter how strange they may have been, they gave this author the "grit" that she would need to survive. That the author manages to find her own voice, and create a productive life, is a tribute to both her, as well as her parents.

A striking read that was in my house for the last 3 years, or so, and I had to get it from the library! I'm sure to hear from Sue on this one...