I like happy endings, but sometimes not. Sometimes I want truth. And truth isn’t always happy endings.
I wanted both “Up In the Air” and “Crazy Heart” to end happily. “Happily” would have meant that the man and woman got together. But that wasn’t the truth for either movie. And I respect the screenwriters and directors.
My nephew Daniel Joyaux is a movie afficionado and writes wonderful movie reviews. Here’s what he says about “Crazy Heart”: “I absolutely loved this movie. I’m happy they didn’t end up together, felt it would have been a cop out to have everything tidy and happy at the end. I was surprised at Colin Farrell’s ability as a country singer, considering he’s an Irishman with a think brogue.
“There was a specific line from the movie that just broke my heart, and I think it was one of the best lines of any movie I’ve seen this year. It’s right after Bridges and Gyllenhal sleep together the first time. He says to her, in his whiskey-soaked drawl: ‘I feel I oughtta apologize for bein’ less than you probably imagined me to be.'”
As Daniel said, “there’s so much truth there, in that line.”
So much truth in that line.
I suspect that we all worry about that sometimes. Am I a disappointment to you – as a friend, as a life partner, as a sibling, as a service provider? Perhaps I should apologize for being less than you may have imagined me to be.
Moments of sometimes thinking like this, worrying about this. Or more than moments. Too many moments. Surely a great sadness.
