cranky old man and still come off as charming, why Mr. Freeman does it, and does it with style.
This is a heartwarming story directed by Rob Reiner about the healing effects of community in small towns, the distress divorce places on the entire family, and that no matter how beaten down you are from life's curve-balls, there is always a way to come back from them. It may not happen speedily, but it can happen.
I laughed more than I thought I would with this movie; I laughed six times out loud, mostly at Monte's cantankerous one-sided conversations with Ringo/Spot the dog. There was one eyeroll, and it probably wasn't deserved, but the dream sequence under the moonlight brought out the worst in me.
This is the type of movie I typically like to craft to... clever dialogue, interesting characters, and no action or fight sequences to distract me away from my work. In the middle there is a moment of conflict between Monte and one of the daughters, but it felt slightly sudden and contrived... not much, but just enough that I wondered if I'd missed some of the buildup that would explain a sudden outburst of anger and disappointment, or if there was just a slightly over-trimmed scene.
Either way, this is a nearly-perfect film, and considering the director and cast I am not surprised. I give it four and a half stars out of five. If the waltz in the moonlight hadn't been ever-so-slightly awkward, and Finnegan's anger hadn't seemed so out of the blue, it would have gotten a perfect five from me.
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