Post written by Laura Cococcia. You can follow Laura on Twitter.
My friends often make fun of me. I’m that person who will go to almost any movie. I actually have a spreadsheet of those I want to see, those I have seen and those I need to see again.
As a side note, I do not watch TV and haven’t in three years, except for when I watched two Sunday marathons of America’s Next Top Model in January during a Chicago snow storm.
Please don’t make fun of me for that. There’s nothing else to do in Chicago when it snows.
While I was waiting for some of the movers to come today, I flipped through my stack of unwatched Netflix and found The Cake Eaters. It was released earlier this year, but for some reason, I didn’t make it to the theater releases.
After I finished watching it, I asked myself, “Self: How did I miss this movie?”
A number of poignant stories unfold throughout the film (directed by Mary Stuart Masterson of Some Kind of Wonderful fame), mostly around love, loss and life. I know that sounds pretty broad and could apply to many films, but I can’t give away the story, similar to previous book commentary over at Laura Reviews.
Before the hard core action film fanatics start rolling their eyes and say it’s a “chick flick,” I’m putting forth a TJCC Challenge. For approximately 86 minutes of your life, sit down with The Cake Eaters and watch it.
After, think about relationships in your life – friendships, love relationships, challenging relationships, your relationship with your dog. Whatever it may be.
And then tell us that you didn’t have a small glimpse (or large one) of perspective about how we often take people for granted.
Maybe it’s simply about being a bit more nice to our loved ones. Or giving some thought to those in our lives who have influenced our journey.
Here’s what I got out of the film: in our fast-paced, often materialistic culture (of which I am often a victim), we forget about the fact that relationships are our most important personal currency.
The flip side of the TJCC Challenge: If you don’t get a bit of perspective, then I’ll cook something fabulous for you and a loved one. Please note: Current cooking capabilities are limited to toast and oatmeal, but I also can add cinnamon to make it exotic.
Want to read more about The Cake Eaters before you commit to the 86 minutes? Check out the film’s blog. And, as always, let us know if you liked it. Or didn’t. Opposing viewpoints always welcome at TJCC. We’ll just talk it out.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Laura – I actually saw this movie a few weeks ago and I definitely agree with your assessment. The relationships truly spanned all types (family, love, friendship). Really made me think. Glad to see someone else liked it too.
Thanks Ben! I'm glad you liked it too!