A difference of opinion

“In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane.”
-Oscar Wilde

About a week ago I wrote a post saying that Clint Eastwood deserved an Oscar nom for his performance in Gran Torino. That post was met with disdain by Ray, a frequent LazyEye contributor who wrote:

“Brian, are you insane? Clint was better in ANY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE than this movie. Let's see ... he growls, he snarls, he squints. Basically he recycles William Munny from UNFORGIVEN, except without that character's depth or anguish.

I sincerely hope you're joking with this post. People should not receive Oscars simply for being old or respected.”

It didn’t stop there. Ray went on to write:

“The movie sucks, and Eastwood's performance is by-the-numbers. I'm so glad it's not up for anything major.”

Ray couldn’t let it lie and he weighed in again:

“Any reviewer who, after seeing this movie, says "it combines sentiment and shootouts" is a liar and completely wrong. This movie doesn't have any shootouts ... although it has plenty of sentimentality. The sticky, gooey kind that makes you want to take four showers.

The movie sucks, and Eastwood's performance is by-the-numbers. I'm so glad it's not up for anything major.”

Ray wasn’t done. He came back for one more body shot:

“@ Piper - I want you to disassociate yourself from anyone claiming this film is brilliant. Afterschool Specials have more realistic plotting and character developemnt. 

Anyone telling you that this film is brilliant is actually the Devil taking on human form in order to deceive you. Do not be fooled by their lies!!”

Here’s the thing. I don’t know Ray. He may have Roger Ebert’s credentials but to me, he’s just a guy who didn’t like a movie. (By the way, Ebert really liked Gran Torino.) And then I got to thinking, what if my post had 100 responses and all 100 of them were negative? It still wouldn’t have changed the experience I had in the movie theatre. I walked out satisfied that I got my money’s worth for the price of the ticket.

Did Ray write in FOUR times because he hated the movie THAT much, or was he trying to change MY mind? I really enjoy critical debate but in the big scheme of things, it doesn’t really mean that much. Oh and Ray, keep writing. We’re bound to agree on something.

Lazy Eye Theatre - Wandering Film Talk