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sOMEthiNG thOUGht-PROVOKiNG
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thE hUNGER GaMEs
thE VOW
Rated PG-13 (On DVD)
Rated PG-13 (On DVD)
You’d be hard-pressed to find a youngin’ nowadays who hasn’t had their hands on a copy of The Hunger Games, the wildly popular series of books by Suzanne Collins. For those unfamiliar with the novels (and who have obviously been living under a rock the past few years, like me), The Hunger Games takes place in a futuristic North America known as Panem. Divided into 13 districts, Panem is controlled by a harsh and brutal government–so brutal, in fact, that it has devised an annual event known as the “Hunger Games” in which one boy and one girl from each district must fight to the death. It is a show of the government’s power used as a source of entertainment for its upper-class citizens. Jennifer Lawrence plays the heroine of Katniss Everdeen, one of those selected to participate in this life-ordeath “game.” In a world plagued by oppression, death and selfishness, Katniss is a self-sacrificial hero who is steady with an arrow and willing to take risks to save those she cares for. She helps the less-fortunate, grieves for those who suffer, and stands up for the weak. Despite the violent world into which she’s been thrown, young girls would be hard-pressed to find a fictional female role-model as selfless and brave as Katniss. The concept of The Hunger Games may seem ridiculously far-fetched to a modern American audience, but this film’s message is clear: This is what
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happens when a society’s elite have no respect for the lives they consider to be somehow “beneath” them. This is the result of a culture becoming desensitized to the pain and suffering of others. One need only look through a history book to see this ring true. The film’s intense, often-cringe-worthy, violence may be too much for younger viewers, but The Hunger Games is a violent movie with a very anti-violence message. While using brutality and fighting to preach against violence is a very fine line, I believe this film has succeeded. It does not glorify it or feature violence for violence’s sake, but instead shows its devastating effects upon society. Admittedly, having never read the book, I find this film’s adaptation compelling and intriguing in its own right. It may be a bit lengthy at 150 minutes, and the handheld camerawork a bit jarring at times, but even still, there is little to complain about with Hunger. It has emotion, adventure, even humor (and a surprising amount of bizarre facial hair). In a film full of talented actors, Jennifer Lawrence is no doubt the highlight, pulling off an impressive lead performance with raw emotion. With a deep respect for human life, The Hunger Games is a gritty, intense, and moving story of a young generation’s loss of innocence in a not-so-distant future.
Based on a touching true story, “The Vow” is the tale of a couple’s love torn apart by a devastating car accident. Paige (Rachael McAdams) wakes up after the accident without any recollection of her husband Leo (Channing Tatum) or their marriage. Not ready to enter immediately back into a life together, Paige agrees to take things slow with her stranger-fora-husband and get to know each other all over. As Leo tells one of his friends with a heavy heart, “I gotta make my wife fall in love with me again.” “The Vow” urges us to fight for love and stay true to our commitments, no matter what the difficulty. As we witness in the film, Leo’s love for his wife is genuine and unconditional. He truly wants the best for her, even if that means giving her up. Despite the film’s touching moments and inspiration, it struggles to deliver a satisfying story. As much as I wanted to care about the life and relationship between these two characters, I struggled throughout the film to find a reason why. “The Vow” feels like “The Notebook’s” little sister, trying so desperately to follow in its footsteps and copy its success, that it loses sight of its own characters and the emotions they should be feeling. The result is a couple of wooden caricatures in place of genuine, original characters. If Rachael McAdams wasn’t so adorably cute, I probably would have lost interest
far before the end credits rolled. A script full of plot holes, numerous pointless characters, and a cliché storyline didn’t do much to help the film either. Add onto that, the fact that the film features some brief nudity and some harsh language, and this might be one some choose to skip. “The Vow” had the potential to offer a fresh and unique take on love, but ends up trite and full of unearned sap. Even for fans of the romance genre, this one just doesn’t cut it—no matter how sweet and cute Ms. McAdams may be.