Haven’t been blogging much lately. Not a lot going on I suppose. The More Human Than Human Anthology (2017, Night Shade Books) which includes my WE, ROBOTS novella might get translated into Russian. Considering the world is going ape shit for AI, this little story of mine is right on time. Besides this possible windfall in rubles, not a lot moving me these days.
Imagine my surprise then, when the new Netflix flick, A MAN IN FULL, blew me away. Jeff Daniels as blowhard real estate mogul, Charlie Croker, really shines. Compare that to his DUMB AND DUMBER TO role. Same guy. Seriously? And Tom Pelphrey as mealy-mouthed Raymond Peepgrass is so icky to watch, you can’t look away.
Other standouts include Bill Camp as a vindictive bank exec and William Jackson as an ambitious Atlanta mayor. Loved watching both these guys in smaller roles. It’d be great to see what they would do on the screen together. Could they go after bad guys and save the world? Yes, they could. I’m not sure who would be the straight guy, though.
Sarah Jones plalyed a typical blonde trophy-wife, but she showed some spine, enriching what would normally be a standard stereotype.
There are no good guys in this film. Croker is the protagonist and Peepgrass the antagonist, but really, you don’t root for either one of them. They’re both unlikable. I assumed the filmmakers were creating a Trump parody, but I couldn’t tell which side of the divide they were on. Croker is loud, rude, and somewhat dim. But he showed his lovable side throughout as he urged his personal attorney (Aml Ameen) to fight the good fight for his secretary’s husband (Jon Michael Hill), rotting away in jail on a trumped up charge. To be honest that side story seemed a bit forced. We get you, filmmakers, you’re trying to show Croker’s softer side. His femininity. Right.
The filmmakers were not so kind to the Peepgrass character. This one-dimensional angry man appeared creepy more than anything else. No subtlety whatsoever. Not sure if that’s the director’s fault or the actor’s. Either way, no redeeming qualities here.
Fortunately there was Jackson and Camp to break up the all too familiarity. But there weren’t enough surprises and fun scenes. There was that one with Croker wrangling a diamondback. And later he was seen in a pet museum filled with live snakes. No actors were hurt in the making of this film, I assure you. I’m not sure what all that was about, but it was fun to watch.
The film is a kind of detective story. With only bad guys, who is going to win in the end? I was baffled throughout. And then came the end, redeeming the entire exercise. That is when I realized this was an allegorical story. These cardboard characters are standins for a moral, or life lesson.
Kudos to Netflix for bringing out this kind of film. The modern American audience is too dimwitted to recognize the subtlety, the subtext. I can’t thank the producers enough for giving us a film with a DEEPER MEANING.
It’s not until the final scene when you realize what this film is about. It’s not about Trump’s bumbling in real estate. Nor some sort of plot against him. It’s about the polemic. The divide. The way we have gone too far off the deep end with our unquestioning loyalty to a party of choice, a world-view. We’ve lost our Americanity. We can no longer see those who disagree with us as Americans. We hate them all. And it will kill us.
Make no mistake, our political process is under attack. We used to at least respect someone who was on the other side, even if you didn’t agree. Not so, anymore. Because of that, our process will surely fail as we sink into civil war. You and your intolerance will be to blame.
Who do you hate? I suggest you cross the aisle and shake hands with whoever they are. Or we’ll all end up on the bedroom floor in a tacky mansion, the life choked out of us. Metaphorically speaking. I hope.
Thank you, Netflix, for the allegory. I get it.
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