Let us praise the makers of the Criterion Collection, for they have ended the misery of thousands by finally bringing us a DVD of Noah Baumbach's 1995 film Kicking and Screaming, and it is wonderful.
If you don't have any clue what I'm talking about, then please go find a copy now and watch it. Rent it if you have to, but you're going to want to buy it eventually. This is one of those films that, like certain novels or TV shows that are not widely known, once you discover it you wonder why you didn't know about it before, and you'll want to go back to it again and again.
Kicking and Screaming (this one, not to be confused with this crap) is a post-college, what-do-I-do-with-my-life-now film, but told with such a wonderful voice and humor that at times is ridiculous and yet so true. It was the first film I remember where the characters actually talked like I talked with my friends, or at least how I like to think I talked with my friends, because it was the first film I saw where the characters used cultural references the same way many of us who grew up in the '70s and '80s use cultural references – as a short cut for communicating something greater. Anyone who has ever had trouble referring to the sequel of anything without calling it "____ Two: Electric Boogaloo" knows what I mean.
This movie has a small romance at its center that is told in just enough detail to be touching without being mushy, but the sentiment it is laced with such a dry, irreverent humor that there are jokes and references made you just miss until you watch it again and again. Unfortunately, for the past 10 years, this film was only available in a full-screen VHS edition, so that anyone who owned a copy would eventually wear it out from watching it so much. My wife, who first gave me a copy of the film, has dwelled with me so often in the little world Baumbach created that it became a shorthand for us, and we still quote to each other on a regular basis.
I don't want to over describe this film. It has the dry tone of Whit Stillman's Metropolitan without the pretentiousness, and a fantastic cast, including Chris Eigeman, Josh Hamilton, Olivia D'Abo, Parker Posey, and a perfect Eric Stoltz. But really, it's Carlos Jacott who steals most of the film; he's uniquely funny and if this movie had been a hit, he would have been a really big star.
You can find reviews and such online if you want that. If you're familiar with Baumbach's other films, like his Oscar-nominated The Squid and the Whale, you'll find some similar themes here regarding divorce, thoughts on writing, fidelity, etc.. But this is a lot more funny. And knowing about this movie and appreciating it makes you part of a little community that is also in on the secret, you feel part of something special, and you want to spread the word.
So that's what I'm doing: go forth and buy this film and watch it with your friends. You will not be disappointed, and your life will be better for it.
"Cougars!"
As a former NYC resident, I know that the sort of things this group does are the sort of ideas that most people can appreciate, and the fact that there is a spirit of fun behind what they do - trying to give their unsuspecting audiences a break from normal, or at least creating a moment that they can tell their friends about.
