It’s my turn to host the Monday Movie Meme, after Dale at Smurfin’ the Web had us on Pirate duty last week. I spent the weekend trying to move my blog to a new host, which was finally completed yesterday but the process left little time for me to devote to playing around with the topic that I had in mind. So, I’ll save that to work on for a later meme and keep this week’s theme as simple as cake: Turn the Page.
Share on your blog or in the comments section, movies about characters whose lives are changed due to external or internal circumstances. Here are my selections for this Turn the Page meme.
Friends with Money
One grumpy main character in this film is lashing out on people for no reason at all due to early menopause while her friend swaps a teaching career to become a maid. All the while, a disastrous home remodeling project alienates the neighbors of one couple who are in an already strained marriage. The drama, however, seems to be overshadowed by the fact that most of the main characters share one thing in common -- insecurity.
I Can Do Bad All By Myself
This Tyler Perry movie starring Taraji P. Henson is about a single woman named April who works as a nightclub singer. April’s drunken, self-centered escapades are interrupted when three young children who claim to be April’s niece and nephews are dropped off on her doorstep. She immediately revokes any sense of responsibility or interest in caring for these children and her life kinda takes a huge turn as they find the whereabouts of a missing, elderly relative.
Despite being a fan of most of Mary J. Blige's music and linking some of Henson's performances in other films, Adam Rogriguez (aka the dude from "CSI: Miami" on CBS) is the only reason why I watched this film -- and paid attention to it all the way through. He is one fine sonofagun!
White Material
Shouts out to Couchfest Films for recommending this movie to me! A woman who manages a coffee plantation in Africa tries to keep her business afloat in the midst of a civil war. After losing the majority of her workforce, the main character hires new laborers but faces resistance from her ex-husband, who is making shady business deals behind her back because he wants to flee the country with everyone else.
She is in danger throughout this whole movie and has a gun pointed at her more than once but still keeps on truckin’ -- I don’t know if it’s because of courage or hope -- or if she’s just too plain stubborn to understand what is happening in the world around her. Add to that, a lazy son who goes off of the psychological deep end, and you have another reminder of why it’s so hard for some people to adapt to new circumstances and how some people deal with pressure well, while others are no help to anyone -- not even themselves, and end up causing more problems than being part of the solution.
What movies have YOU watched where the main characters undergo some type of change or transition?