Autumn Evening

Sometimes I feel myself slipping into a complete and utter funk. I wish I had the ability to sit down and just have a good cry and get over it, but I don't. I apt to wallow until I am able to kick my thoughts of despair.

Last night I felt myself slipping. I thought in order to kick this mood, I would go watch a movie that I knew would make me cry. I thought crying about someone or something else might help put things in perspective. I chose "The Boys Are Back," the story of a sports journalist, Joe, played by Clive Owen, who finds himself being a single parent after his second wife dies of cancer. Joe has spent his life traveling the world covering sporting events arriving home to play with his six-year-old son and deliver "pressies," but has never had to really discipline his son. Joe's teenage son from his first marriage also arrives from overseas wanting to get to know the father he has only know from afar. Joe caves under the pressure of being a single parent to two boys he doesn't really know while dealing with own grief and non supportive in-laws.

Joe creates a "just say yes" philosophy, trying to make up for the loss of his wife and his inadequacies as a father. Ultimately, as you can imagine, this does not work. However, the film goes about showing this in a creative and non-cliched way. Joe seeks to build a family with his boys that will not crumble under the strain of everyday life.

In the end, this movie did not quite create the tears I thought it would. The story focuses on moving on with life rather than grieving. I walked away from the theater satisfied and in a little less of a funk.