Posted by babka at 170-215-212-108.nas5.nor.ny.frontiernet.net on March 11, 2004 at 23:48:53:
....and after needless worry about how dressed up to get, my friend
George and I walked from the subway, and saw the press crowded
around the red-carpet superbright gauntlet, got our tickets and found
our seats. Saw way-newslim Robert "ratface" Holtzman, beaming the
unmistakeable newfather beam. He said he'd lost weight on the
Atkins diet, and George, following the introduction, said it had prolly
been the Ratkins diet. To our right, in sparkly hose, sat Elyse Viola,
and down the row to our left , Laura Greenlee. Affleck in the aisle
signed autographs. Harvey Weinstein spoke of Miramax being the
joined names of his parents, and of Kevin and Ben as family. Kevin
led off by acknowledging the supporting cast, and following one JLo
joke (Kev said they would run the movie as soon as she arrived) and
Ben's nifty gratitudes to Kevin, Jersey Girl arrived, with many a
quandry solved.
[ As one who read the Fifth Draft laughing with tears streaming down
(and vice versa), I can only hope there's a book made of the movie, so
you all can see the Big Fishy scene, find out about man gravy/sister
sauce, the Arthur-Susan combo, and how Gertie's mother got her
name. But maybe that's what DVD bonuses are for.]
The concentrate of the Ollie-Gert love affair at the beginning, given
the necessity (under the very radar of the kill-bennifer press snipers
and the time crunch and the focus group druthers) of omitting several
of their other scenes, witty and tender - worked beautifully, I thought.
I thought the performances were pluperfect. The balance of
poignance and humor was exact. The diaper delivery man! The
receptionist at Angelotti! The Arthur-Ollie luncheon scene at the Hard
Rock is quietly revolutionary. Carlin's restraint - his brusque
love....Raquel's radiant naturalness....Liv's bountiful kindliness and
laughter....Ben's homerun wit and heartfelt anguish...
Root and Starr, together and distinct...every word given it's right
weight and spin.
And what a wonderful script! What swell characters! And what bliss
to be part of!
It touched my heart, and I had already seen it.
The dedication hit so hard.
Then the lights up, and the crowd movingb toward the exits. An
exceedingly glamorous woman, tall and thin and maybe blonde?
attempted to exit by a side door, and then thought better of it,
vanished in the throng. Too late I realized it was: Jen! Glimpsed
Harley, so grown up! Saw Gail, way busy. Liv holding forth in a circle
of admirers...looked for Raquel but never found her. People making
off with the J.G. posters/posterboards.
George really liked the movie. He and I made our way slowly (I was
wearing heels) to the Hard Rock Cafe where the music was so loud
my internal organs started to get down and boogie. We made one
pass round the place, upstairs and down, failed to find familiar faces,
with the exception of the wonderful boy betrothed so early to the
Jersey Girl - who didn't recognize me because my hair was down in a
kind of page-boy blow-dried for me by a divorced father named
Gerard, who was so happy, as was my postman, Bob, to know it was
a film he could take his children to.......and went out into what was left
of the night....
what a night! Thanks, Kevin, maya without end.
Tonight's a sad night, because my beloved calico cat, Mishu, may be
dying. I found her 11 years ago, wandering around the Chapel of St.
Michael the Archangel, a Byzantine Catholic tiny church on Mott Street
in Manhattan.She's at the vet's tonight, in case they can do anything
for her, and I'm having hard time with the grief. If you will, say a little
prayer for her? Thanks.
love to all