Evening

One of the benefits of being a stay-at-home mom is freedom to spend leisurely afternoons after I get Griffin down for a nap. Usually, I'm running around the house cleaning, or doing something that feels productive, but occasionally I allow myself to enjoy the luxury of free time. I just finished watching a fabulous movie called Evening. This was actually the second time I've seen it, I watched it several months ago on cable. It's one of those movies that I just sorta happened upon randomly, and turned out to be the kind of movie that has really stuck with me. It has it all, laughs, tears, romance, and heartache. The whole cast is amazing (especially dreamy Patrick Wilson, sigh). Glenn Close, Toni Collette, Natasha Richardson, Vanessa Redgrave, Claire Danes, Meryl Streep. The funny thing is, the girl who plays Meryl Streep's younger character looks just like her, and the whole movie I'm like, "Man, how'd they do that? She even talks like her!" Turns out it was her real life daughter. Now if you see it, I'll save you the distraction of being so amazed at the perfect match.

The movie is about an old woman who is nearing death (I told you there would be tears), and the memories she is sorting through. So most of the movie is a flashback to a wedding weekend in the early '50's. As I'm watching it, I had the thought. Why don't women wear great hats anymore? I think that's a style I could have gotten into. I think of all the fabulous pictures of my grandma and great-grandmothers, and they were always wearing these beautiful hats. Could you just see me, all decked out in my heels, gloves and pearls wearing some stylish hat? Haha! Maybe not, but I totally would have done it back then. I wear a baseball hat a lot, but I don't think it's quite the same thing. I think we need to bring hats back! Ladies, who's with me?

Well, I won't go on and on, because it's not as interesting having this one sided analysis in blog form. I love having that feeling after watching a good movie, or reading a good book, that you've just been impacted in some way by what you've just experienced. I'll spend weeks sometimes just processing through the story and the characters and how my life has been affected. This movie was based on a book by the same name, and I am so going to pick that up after I finish reading the one I'm on right now. If that ever happens. I'm reading One Hundred Years of Solitude, and it feels like it's been 100 years of solitude since I started it. And I'm still only half way through! It just goes on forever! I'm not ready to give up on it yet, but it's a struggle. Actually there's a funny story about that book that I'll tell in another post, because this one is getting ridiculously long. Some people rely on this blog to get them through long hours at work, so I don't want to blow all my good stories in one post. Plus, this is a Friday evening post, so I need to save some good stuff for the week while said people are actually working. So, more to come later in the week. Until then, if you're looking for a good movie to curl up to during this Easter weekend, try Evening. It's not earth-shattering, but it's good stuff.