Dave and I had a date yesterday. First we walked in one of our favorite parks. Then drove a few blocks to The Eden Bar, a little gem of an outside restaurant that's been here forever. The covered part is attached to the Enzian Theater, which, as you know, is our favorite for artsy and/or Indy films.
After a late lunch we went inside to see Gloria Bell. This is the new film staring the brilliant, understated actor, Julianne Moore. The critics love Gloria Bell but the public - not so much. We both liked it but we're artsy kind of folk.
It's about an average, middle aged, long time divorced woman who is cheerful and loves to sing and loves to dance but is also on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She meets Arnold - played by the amazing actor - John Turturro - in her favorite bar where she goes to dance.
Both of them have grown children. Gloria's have their own issues and Arnold's are a mess.
Their romance is a quiet struggle. I was surprised that Julianne Moore, at age 58, had a couple of nude scenes. Pretty brave. But the most romantic part for me was Arnold reading her a love poem. It's indicative to me of how the whole film is done. He reads the poem in its entirety. It's long. I looked it up today. You can too. The first line is "If you were a nest I'd like to be a little bird."
The difference between the two of them is that Gloria is trying hard to make her life work. She attends all kinds of crazy women's workshops and works hard at having a healthy relationship with her kids and her mom.
Sweet, adorable, sad Arnold, on the other hand, is the poster boy for the "When Helping is Hurting" concept with his kids. He's sweet but he is a coward.
I liked the film's ending. Dave did not. I loved the scene where Gloria is weilding the paint ball gun. And I love the scene where she learns to dance alone.
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