Movie review: Americanizing Shelley

ModernConservative.com ^ | Christopher Cook

[connell]

There are lots of different kinds of moviegoers, but there seem to be few kinds of movie critics.

I guess that's to be expected, but I must tell you that by and large, I am not a big fan of movie critics. I have a dear friend who studied theatrical criticism in college, and he assures me that there's more to it than I think, but I still struggle with a general dislike for the field. Most of them lean left politically, which is bad enough in itself. Moreover---how on earth can you watch movies for a living, six times a week or more, and not become a little jaded and spoiled?

Of course, being spoiled is not the exclusive attribute of critics. I have heard fellow moviegoers---who live in an era of unprecedentedly impressive entertainment---issue some of the most spoiled and absurd complaints about movies. War of the Worlds, a movie about an invasion by a horrible alien species and the near extinction on mankind was "too tense." And lots of people didn't like Peter Jackson's unbelievably impressive King Kong. Sometimes, I'm just not sure what people expect.

Me, I like the diversion. I like to be swept up in the narrative, to be transported. These days, my work schedule allows me to see very few movies—almost none. But I do enjoy movies when I actually get the chance to watch, and I was so pleased to have been asked to a press screening of Americanizing Shelley, which is beginning its theatrical release on May 4th, this Friday.


So, as you can tell, I am not a film critic. I dare to hope that I'm not jaded or spoiled . . . and I think that is EXACTLY why you should listen to me about Americanizing Shelley.

I am not going to use the standard structure for writing a review. I'm not going to use any buzzwords like "delightful romp" or "stand up and cheer."

And I'm certainly not going to give the end away.

I'm just going to tell you how the movie made me feel, and if you want to feel what I felt, then you should go see it.

Rather than spend a lot of time writing a synopsis of the plot, I will give you the synopsis from its producers:

In the vein of “Bend It like Beckham,” and “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” “Americanizing Shelley” is a contemporary 'Pygmalion” like comedy, set in LA, featuring an American country boy and a Himalayan village belle, thrown together in this “Middle America” meets “Middle East” charmer.

Responding to a challenge thrown by the CEO of a Hollywood management company (Bridges), “Americanizing Shelley” tells the story of a wanna-be Hollywood player from the deep South, who sets out to Americanize an Indian girl straight from the Himalayas.

As he creatively teaches her all about the American way of life and what it takes be a Hollywood celebrity, he ends up learning a thing or two about his own life. Their clash in cultures soon gives way to understanding, unity and love as they begin to see the world through each others eyes.

That is an entirely accurate description.

The film starts off in the Himalayan village of the heroine, and it's funny from the first moments. And truly, the fun and humor stays solid from that point until the very end. I have noticed in the past that occasionally, a comedy will start off really strong and funny, but as it moves forward, the humor seems to run out of steam. Not so with Americanizing Shelley!

The hero is a nice guy, and as such, most of us "nice guys" feel for him. The antagonist is a total smarmy jerk, and we're not fond of him AT ALL.

Most would say that this movie was a little over the top. And yes, it was . . . wonderfully so! The antagonist has a little extra shmear of smarm and villainy. The filmmakers put the pedal to the metal on the seemingly zany mores of Shelley's Indian family. And of course, the entertainment industry is shown in all its absurd glory. (That said, I have worked in the entertainment industry here in Los Angeles, and they do a fine job of being over the top themselves---no dramatization needed!)

But as I say, the over-the-toppitude of the film just makes it more funny!

The pacing was very quick. The total run-time is about 90 minutes---short by today's standards. But I think that works too---the film unfolds in a way that is quite peppy, keeping the flow upbeat. There's really nothing superfluous.

Okay, I've heard that every critic has to find something negative to say, in order to keep credibility. So here goes.

There were no surprises.

My wife is the type whose brain is constantly chewing on a film until she figures out what's going to happen. Often, she knows very early on. I, on the other hand, must be some kind of moron, because I almost never know what's going to happen until it does, or maybe just seconds before. Maybe I'm not a moron, maybe I just allow myself to be swept away in the story, and my critical faculties get swept away too. Yeah, that's the ticket. With Americanizing Shelley, I may not have known ahead of time what was going to happen, but I also was not surprised by anything that did happen. There were no Rod Serling-esque ironies. No M. Night Shyamalan-twist endings.

And who cares! If I want that, I'll watch an M. Night Shyamalan film or a Twilight Zone marathon. Irony, depressing reversals, and unexpected twists were just not what Americanizing Shelley is about.


One of the things that drives me crazy about---and away from---movies these days is the relentless left-leaning bias. It's in almost everything. Heck, they manage to squeeze it into made-for-TV SciFi Channel movies about giant mutant insects. My wife an I watched a re-run of that 1998 version of Godzilla recently, right up until the point where we realized that the filmmakers' entire goal seemed to be to make the American military appear to be bumbling, incompetent fools and the French military to appear slick, competent, and brave. Bias, with the added absurdity-factor of having no relationship whatsoever with the fabric of reality! We turned it off.

Well, for those of you who love our country, and who have an understanding of why America is---not "could be," but IS---so wonderful, then Americanizing Shelley is for you.

Lines like "This is America, and you can be whatever you want to be" probably seem chauvinistic to lots of people on the left, and too syrupy for those who lack any sentimentality. But it has the virtue of being true. And the character who said it was black, which adds all the more poignancy to the statement.

And later, when Shelley realizes the truth in it, she does say, "Here in America, I'm free." And she truly is.

The most touching moment in this vein, however, has to be the Thanksgiving scene, when she says, "thank you for showing me what Americans are really like." When you see all that leads up to this line, you'll appreciate it all the more.


There are also interesting bits of wisdom found in Americanizing Shelley. One that struck my senses was when one character admonished another that sometimes the trick is not "having what you want, it's wanting what you have." There's a lot of truth there, a truth that may not always be heard in a successful society such as ours, where our urge for gratification can be easily over-indulged.

For those of us who live in Los Angeles---and especially those who have worked in the entertainment industry---the film's send-up of Hollywood and the industry is especially funny. Sometimes, I'll meet immigrants here and I'll ask them, "have you seen any other part of America?" If they haven't, I make the point in earnest to them that Los Angeles is NOT America. Yes, I know it's part of America, but you know what I mean.

But you don't have to live and work here to appreciate the film's portrayal of Hollywood's silliness, not at all! The truth is, most people out there in real America KNOW darned well how silly Hollywood is. And, amusing as the film is for us Angelinos "on the inside," in the end, this film is for the people out there in the rest of America.

So there you go. That's my movie review. I'm still not sure how I feel about this movie criticism thing, but I had fun writing it. And I really had fun watching Americanizing Shelley, and so will you. And perhaps the highest praise of all that I can give this film is to say . . .

I left the theater feeling happy.


For more information, go to the film's website.

[Paul Heinzman]

Could be this year’s sleeper. Lots of Americans are starving for a movie that makes them feel good about being an American.

[TolucaLakeConservative]

You are right, this was a really sweet film. It was so funny and uplifting, too - just good entertainment.
It was also refreshing in that it portrays Americans (although not Hollywood)...in such a positive light! The audience that I was in, seemed to enjoy this movie a lot.

[higgmeister]

Amazing!   I liked it so much, I looked it up on IMDB and found the link to this review here, to add my comment.

[nutmeg]

.