January 21, 2001

Pam and I went to see Finding Forrester today. It was a matineacute;e. That's what we planned; she got lunch and I got the movie. I had seen some previews of it and thought it would be interesting, as we talked about it, a preview came on HBO, which she too found interesting. That's what we decided to see.

Naturally, you get most of the plot from any resonably good preview. In fact, one may argue that most good movies are ones where you may enjoy even after knowing the contents. The Princess Bride, for instance, is such a movie, where part of its charm lies in its inherent little nuances where one just doesn't tire of. Such is the case in Finding Forrester.

If you haven't seen it; I highly recommend it. This movie may eventually rank among my top ten. I'm not, for a moment, saying that it should rank this well with everyone, but the movie spoke to me, in a similar way that If You Could See What I Hear.

The movie is centered around the relationship between William and Jamal, the novelist and his protégé. It walks a delicate balance between the two characters, where one may play the teacher in some situations and others where their roles are reversed, yet this is approached in a tangible, believeable way. It adds dimension to each character instead of numbing our senses with characters who are paper thin.

The movie focuses more on Jamal's characters, for his struggles are more immediate. One of the reasons why I found it so appealing was simply that I identified with Jamal. Confused and undecided about his future, he goes from day to day quite passively. He plays basketball with his friends and purposefully under-performs in class, in an effort to fit in. In his quiet times, he writes and does it well. Throughout the movie you see him struggle with soaring to his potential and staying with what is familiar. It was his first exchanges with William that put it in perspective.

Maybe one may argue that in real life transitions are not that sudden, but having gone through my fair share of them, I realize that they are simply understated in real life. I only wish that I had a voice such as William's when I was younger to help me with my struggles.

I found that in most respects, the conflicts concerning either ethnic, social, or economic are very real and appropriate to current times… certainly to the degree where one might numerically justify the prejudice. Through the movie, you see Jamal struggle with this continuing friendships with his old friends, which were accomodating but also seemed a bit regretful.

The one aspect of this movie that I found a bit naïve was Jamal's relationship with Claire. I have found that Asian are among the most accepted minorities, and still I struggle through both finding my identity not only as Chinese, but also as American. Still I have found some resistance when it comes to mixed couplehood. I can only imagine that this gap is even wider between African-Americans and Caucasians. Maybe the movie is trying to be subtle in its portrayal… Maybe it lists it as one of the many struggles that Jamal endures… Maybe most people have become this tolerant to mixed couples.

And naturally, I found the fact that they spoke about writing a sheer joy. I once had aspirations to become a novelist. Right now, I reserve my writing to this page and keeping you people entertained… and I'm not getting a cent. What a bargain!

It's really a bit amusing since I struggle with certain elements of style, and the moment when they're mentioned in the movie, I could not help but to smile. I, for one, am a believer that you can express yourself well and still follow good grammar. Although I may still be dissuaded from that belief.

All in all, it was a well-balanced portrayal of Jamal's life. It doesn't fixate too long on any one aspect of his life… whether it be his relationship with his friends, William, his family, Claire, or his professor, yet it finds a way of giving you a taste of each in a real, tangible way. It's delicate, not over-bearing.

What are you waiting for? Go see it!

January 21, 2001