Thursday, November 23, 2006
The Polar Express
- Who's watched: M & G
- Mentions: None
- Commentary: We've owned this movie for almost exactly a year, now. I'm not surprised there are no mentions of it in any of the journals. Last year, during a period when my Christmas Spirit was fairly high, I bought this movie on the strength of a recommendation of a friend who, knowing how much Mom likes Christmas and movies, thought she'd love this one. Last year, though, both of us were underwhelmed by the movie. Although it's only 100 minutes, Mom said, at the end, "Well, I'm glad that's over. It seemed to go on forever."
I wasn't particularly thrilled with the animation. I remember seeing the first movie made in this style of animation, a science fiction piece in which Ed Harris was one of the stars. There was something disturbing for me, watching a movie whose intent was to be so animated it appeared to be real and yet wasn't. It was this same effect that bothered me about this movie.
Interesting to me that Roger Ebert loved this movie. Of course, on his behalf, Mom and I aren't children. Perhaps that's the problem with us. Except that, neither of us don't like movies designed for children. We both, for instance, love Pee Wee's Playhouse. Oops! Maybe that's the problem!
At any rate, we decided to put it in our "to be traded" pile. Every time I accessed the pile during the ensuing year, though, I left this movie alone. I decided to try it on Mom this year, just in case, before I took it in for trade. This was a good decision. We decided to watch it last night. I told Mom we were watching it with an eye to whether or not we would keep it. I don't know whether she remembered this. What I do know is that she was thoroughly involved in the movie, this time. It even kicked off what I expect will be a Thanksgiving weekend of watching all our holiday movies (which are few, at this time). I was still so distracted that I chose to perform chores and advance Thanksgiving dinner prep. But, Mom was thoroughly satisfied; so, I guess it's a keeper; and now I'm entering it on our list.
Update 7/31/21: Well, obviously, we didn't keep this forever, or, perhaps (I don't recall), I didn't keep it forever. I probably chucked it to the library after Mom died, but, frankly, I don't remember. I might have traded it in during the two years left of Mom's life.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Tom Hanks Hero Boy Nona Gaye Hero Girl Peter Scolari Billy the Lonely Boy Eddie Deezen Know-It-All Michael Jeter Smokey/Steamer Leslie Zemeckis Sister Sarah/Hero Boy's Mother Dylan Cash Boy on Train Brendan King Pastry Chef
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2004
Directed by Robert Zemeckis.
Labels: animated, Christmas, pseudo-cgi-animation, tom-hanks
