Grosse Pointe Blank

I have a secret (not so much anymore) obsession with a surprising individual. John Cusack. He's not considered a big name star or anything, but some of his movies tend to strike a cord with me. High Fidelity (one of my top ten fav movies) for the music aspect. Say Anything, while to me is horribly acted, is a cult classic largely due to the scene where Lloyd holds the boom box over his head outside of Diane's window blasting "In Your Eyes". While I was never a Peter Gabriel fan, I don't know anyone in my generation who has not slow danced at an after school dance to this song in some sweat stained, teenage hormone funked gym. Furthermore, I can appreciate the nepotism in that his sister seems to show up in some obscure way in most of his movies. At any rate, the point I'm making is that he always has a scene, a line, an epiphany that just floors me and brings me into an altered and not necessarily untrue sense of reality. The timing seems to line up with some area of my life. Even if he's not the one delivering the line at the time-I still associate it with him. Always in the manner in which I wish I could be so eloquent and get my point across to an individual. Gotta love the movies. I mean think about it. Yes it's a movie, but these are real people writing this stuff. They think like this in real life. It just so happens that they make it larger than life and bank it. I used to watch High Fidelity,well high, and I would almost be brought to tears because of the irony of the subtext. It was always the scene where he leaves the reception for the death of Laura's father after he realizes how uninvolved he was in his own relationship, but all the while throughout the movie he pity's himself. He's sitting on a bench in the rain, in the dark, speaking out loud, but to himself really. "I can see now I never really committed to Laura. I always had one foot out the door, and that prevented me from doing a lot of things, like thinking about my future and... I guess it made more sense to commit to nothing, keep my options open. And that's suicide. By tiny, tiny increments". It's a great scene! He looks for answers in past relationships, never realizing until that moment that it was his fault and how unaware he was while the relationship was actually relevant. Gets me every time! Not necessarily in that it applied totally to me, but there is a lot of me in that quote. My initial discovery of this movie and some events of my life at this same time stood side by side. To me, he was saying he was numb. You only consciously realize how uninvolved you felt in the use of your arms, your legs, your words, after the numbness has subsided. I liken it to being in a mobile, upright coma. Being in a coma steals time from you and as much as you would give, you're unable to provide an explanation for what's been lost. That was me. That is why this movie meant so much to me. As movies go, it had the fairytale ending and they got back together. That's where movies lose me because I just don't know many stories like that. Perhaps my wishful side indulges for that reason and I can always hope. I would have loved for the person in which other parts of that movie were applicable to have watched it with me and our worlds just turned on its axis within those cleaver lines. I digress...

So, I'm flipping through the channels on my guide today looking for something good on T.V. and Grosse Point Blank is on. I don't know anything about this movie. I don't really recall it being in the movie theaters back when-'97 according to the info tab and the storyline seems somewhat boring and predictable. But for no other reason than who the starring role belongs to, it should be good. No doubt-30 minutes in, I get a line and it's a twist on a cliche. We all know this one "if you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it's yours. If it doesn't, it was never yours to keep", or always some variation therein. I personally always hated that generic consolation prize. Hearing it never actually made me feel better or even good for that matter. But for the fact that I am a sucker for love, there go I...eating that shit up. So here's the twist "If you love something set it free. If it comes back to you, it's usually broken". How damn brilliant is that?! Now THAT feels better!!! I'm not saying it has to be true. No more than the original quote may or may not be true. It's subjective. I think two people who lost their connection at some point, can reconnect and neither party be broken. To that point, further into the movie, the person who made this statement to John Cusack's character retracted it slightly after spending more time with him and said "I don't think you're broken, just mildly sprained". Well hell who ain't?!

Some people have a daily mantra, quote or bible scripture that they play over and over in their head throughout the day. Whether for personal inspiration or to share with someone you may encounter as your move throughout your day. Well, there's one more to add to the collection. You could stick to regurgitating a tired, thread bare cliche quote that will not land or if laced with the right cadence and perfect timing you could go with the twist. Whatever gets you through the day and isn't that what we're all looking for when we wake up in the morning...?