Littlerock Movie
As much I tried to enjoy this movie, and for as sympathetic as I felt others were in their experience with Littlerock, I came away feeling unmoved, and let down. In some ways the problems I had with this film serve to summarize why I hate movies, and why I watch so few of them: inattention to detail. Why were the characters listening to LP records and cassette tapes? Was the film supposed to be set in the 1980s? Apparently not, since Cory uses a cell phone early in the film. I may have missed it but there was no explanation as to why everyone in the cast favored LPs and cassettes, versus CDs or digital formats. If that seems like a small point then maybe it is, but it nevertheless leads me to assume and hunt for other discontinuities. The two Japanese tourists are heard writing letters home, suggesting they made this trip with no means of communication. Yet Atsuko is once seen with a modern-looking laptop which would presumably have some means of connecting to the Internet. A friend of mine who attended this same showing said she saw numerous intrusion of the microphones entering the screen. I did not notice that but I believe her when she says she saw them. The most inspiring scenes, for me, came when the two tourists made the trip to Manzanar. Even this, as interesting as it turned out to be, came with so little context that it was almost surprising. They had mentioned Manzanar early in the film, and maybe I would need to it again to verify this, but I do not recall being told by the characters what Manzanar was. I had never heard of Manzanar, and only learned what it was when the characters got there. The closing scene raised my hopes that at least there would be a quality payphone moment of note to add to my collection of payphones in film, but alas, the scene was just annoying. Nevertheless, I liked all the actors. I can’t think of a single dud player in this film. I simply wish Littlerock was more solvent.
