Hmm, where to begin. I was on a plane. I knew that I didn't want to sleep for another couple hours. And, I wasn't up for reading. That pretty much sums up why I watched this movie, because no other set of circumstances would have induced me to do so.
This film can pretty much be summed up by the moralism: "Family life is the greatest life you can have." Everything in the movie leads up to this point, and it is painfully obvious from the get go (hey, look at the title). The concept is interesting, because who hasn't wondered "What if I went back and did things differently?". The premise here has Nicolas Cage's character transported into the life today that he would be leading if he hadn't dumped his girlfriend to go to London on his stepladder to being the head of some major corporation. This involves a couple kids and a house in the burbs. The whole condition of this change, however, is that he is stuck in it until he realizes that this is the life he absolutely wants, deep down inside. Then, in the end, it all gets taken away and he has to figure out what to do. The wrap-around, which sends him in the end to the old girlfriend's apartment, is utterly pathetic and absolutely unrealistic.
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing wrong with love and intimate relationships, and even people seeing their lives somehow fulfilled by having children. For me, I just get sick of the idea that this is the ONLY way to live a fulfilling life, which is really the message of the film. I also do not honestly believe that this IS a fulfilling life to live, because people are not defined by who they reproduce, but by what they do themselves. This film really raises to the level of highest merit the idea that you completely bend your life to such a set-up. Not that this guy's life was worth a spit to begin with, his type should be fed to starving animals. But, moralistic pictures like this are best avoided, for fear that they might pique one's frustrations at the problems of this society enough to force you into more drastic measures.
I suffered through this film so that you don't have to. I would never subject myself to this film again, and my already low respect for Cage just dropped lower ("Face/Off" was a plus). Next time I'm on a long flight, I'll have to keep this film in mind when I make my decision about whether to watch or not. There are some films which just should NOT be seen.
This film can pretty much be summed up by the moralism: "Family life is the greatest life you can have." Everything in the movie leads up to this point, and it is painfully obvious from the get go (hey, look at the title). The concept is interesting, because who hasn't wondered "What if I went back and did things differently?". The premise here has Nicolas Cage's character transported into the life today that he would be leading if he hadn't dumped his girlfriend to go to London on his stepladder to being the head of some major corporation. This involves a couple kids and a house in the burbs. The whole condition of this change, however, is that he is stuck in it until he realizes that this is the life he absolutely wants, deep down inside. Then, in the end, it all gets taken away and he has to figure out what to do. The wrap-around, which sends him in the end to the old girlfriend's apartment, is utterly pathetic and absolutely unrealistic.
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing wrong with love and intimate relationships, and even people seeing their lives somehow fulfilled by having children. For me, I just get sick of the idea that this is the ONLY way to live a fulfilling life, which is really the message of the film. I also do not honestly believe that this IS a fulfilling life to live, because people are not defined by who they reproduce, but by what they do themselves. This film really raises to the level of highest merit the idea that you completely bend your life to such a set-up. Not that this guy's life was worth a spit to begin with, his type should be fed to starving animals. But, moralistic pictures like this are best avoided, for fear that they might pique one's frustrations at the problems of this society enough to force you into more drastic measures.
I suffered through this film so that you don't have to. I would never subject myself to this film again, and my already low respect for Cage just dropped lower ("Face/Off" was a plus). Next time I'm on a long flight, I'll have to keep this film in mind when I make my decision about whether to watch or not. There are some films which just should NOT be seen.