Friday, April 13, 2012

Blue Like Jazz

What do you do with a collection of essays that becomes a book about the movie about the essays when you finally the movie based on the essays?


In the case of Blue Like Jazz, you give thanks. Then you wallow in the art. And you give thanks again.


Blue Like Jazz tells the story of Don, a sweet Texas kid who makes a rash decision that ends him up in Portland, OR, attending Reed College. There, rewards come when he asks questions he didn't even think about back home, and he quickly, subtly sinks into the distraction of this new, enchanting intellectual world. He falls for a girl who seems different from the rest. And somehow can't shake the feeling this candy-coated playground provides very little substance.


The movie shows snarky, irreverent humor, then startles with deft sensitivity and metaphor. In a world of pre-packaged, pre-marketed fluff, BLJ shows complex characters - flawed, angry, questioning.


At the end lies no easy answers; only hope, possibility, and a rough road from innocence to faith.


Go. See. It. Take friends.


See it again. Give thanks.



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