Lady Business

Movies: Bridesmaids

I had very high expectations for Bridemaids and I am happy to report that the film met, and even exceeded these expectations. I haven't laughed so hard in a movie theater since The 40 Year Old Virgin--a movie I tend to compare other comedies against. Bridesmaids is being hailed as one of the few comedies with a predominantly female cast that gets right balance of raunch and heart--and I personally feel that director Paul Feig, writers Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, and producer Judd Apatow hit the bullseye with this one.

Here are a few reasons why I loved this movie so much:

1) It isn't really about weddings.

Sure, Bridesmaids is about a woman whose best friend from childhood is getting married and all the wacky shenanigans that occur during the pre-wedding activities. But this plot is secondary to the overarching themes of the film: 1) Female friendships and jealousy, 2) Getting your life back on track when everything has gone to shit, 3) Learning to respect yourself. While other wedding movies are about, well, weddings, Bridesmaids is about so much more.

2) The movie gets women, and more importantly, respects women--even when those women are behaving terribly.

God, this is so important to me. There are so many freaking movies out there, supposedly "by and for" women, that are just complete shit. They make women look like shrews, control freaks, wedding-obsessed, baby-obsessed, man-hungry, you name it. I want to make clear that I understand the need for mindless entertainment and I know these films aren't real, but the fact of the matter is, movies like The Ugly Truth do not respect women (or men) and do not take women (or men) seriously. These movies follow the path of least resistance and appeal to the lowest common denominator. And movie moguls are shocked--shocked!--when they don't do well in theaters.

Bridesmaids ain't perfect. The movie isn't outrageously unique or feminist, but I felt that it allowed women to just be women. Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, and the others, for one thing, look real--with wrinkles, curves, normal hair, etc. They are not bland, indistinguishable starlets--they're actresses who look like actual people on the street. For another thing, the emotions the characters experience (jealously when an old friend makes a new friend; ambivalence toward a sex partner who is hot, but treats you like crap; refusing to admit you made a mistake, etc) are emotions EVERYONE WITH FEELINGS has experienced. And even though the characters come off as ridiculous, petty, or manipulative, Bridesmaids validates these feelings and offers real solutions. There are other movies where the love of a good man (or woman) is enough to turn the heroine (or hero) around, but Bridesmaids doesn't offer pat answers. There's a scene in the film where one character, Megan, kind of starts wrestling with Annie (Wiig), who is hitting rock bottom in life. Megan says to Annie "I'm your shitty life. I'm trying to make you fight for your shitty life". It's a silly scene, but it makes a great point: Annie is at rock bottom not because a man doesn't love her, or because she's not rich, but because she made bad choices and then just gave up. The solution isn't to find a man or get a new job--it's to "fight back". To fight for self-respect and to be grateful for the things she does have. This is one of the most positive and realistic messages I've seen in a mainstream film in a while. It's not unlike The 40 Year Old Virgin (and other Judd Apatow films, which I will defend to the death), in that Andy's problem isn't that he needs to get laid, but that he needs to be open to life and embrace the person he is. Wiig's character Annie is the same way--she's the one responsible for her problems, and she needs to "be the solution" as well. And Bridesmaids reassures us: it's ok to be a fuck-up. That's normal, and life can get better if you want it to and are willing to work for it.

3) The comedic performances are brilliant.

Bridesmaids has a great cast. Not everyone is a fan of Wiig, and I understand why. She seems to play the same character over and over on SNL. But in Bridesmaids, I found her character to be relatable, funny, and three-dimensional. I know it might be a controversial opinion, but I think Wiig can act when given the right material (and since she wrote the screenplay, I would hope that this is the right material for her!). Maya Rudolph is understated and sweet as Annie's best friend, Lillian, who is happy and excited to be engaged, but also mourning her single life and single apartment. Rose Byrne plays Helen, Lillian's "perfect" new best friend who comes across as a manipulative friend-stealer, but redeems herself in the end (that's another great thing about this movie--the "bad girl" isn't punished, but forgiven and accepted as she is. What a freakin' concept! Did Jesus write this movie?!)

All of the supporting actors are hilarious. Jon Hamm has a plum role as Annie's occasional sex partner (can't really call him a "friend with benefits" since he's hardly a friend at all), Ted, who is hot and rich, but immature and treats Annie like a blow-up doll. Melissa McCarthy plays Megan, the groom's outspoken, plus-size sister. Where Megan could have easily been fodder for fat jokes, the writers (and McCarthy, who is awesome) elevate her character. Megan is the voice of reason--and one of the few characters who has her life together. She also gets some of the best lines. The bridal party is rounded out by Ellie Kemper from The Office as a sweet, innocent newlywed with a Disney obsession and Wendi McLendon-Covey from Reno 911! as a cynical married woman with a vulgar sense of humor and dismissive attitude toward her three sons and husband. There's also Annie's other, better love interest--Officer Rhodes, a mind-bogglingly cute Irish cop who actually cares about Annie as a person. The cast works well together and is just a delight to watch.

4) This is my kind of humor.

I have a thing for raunchy comedies--the raunchier, the better. However, I only like dirty comedies if 1) the jokes are actually good and not just some phoned-in bullshit, and 2) The movie has a heart. This is probably why films such as Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, and the above-mentioned 40 Year Old Virgin appeal to me. They're outrageous, clever, and absurd, but they're about relationships. And they're not mean. This is important. I hate mean comedies. I just can't get into It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and have tired of Family Guy for this reason--while these shows are definitely funny, they leave me feeling down. Don't get me wrong, I do have a taste for dark humor--but dark humor is an art. Meanness is just laziness. Bridesmaids has some over-the-top humor, including a scene where the gals all get horrible food poisoning while trying on fancy bridesmaid dresses. And yes, there are endless four-letter words and descriptions of sex. But the jokes feel fresh, and the sex talk feels like an actual conversation I'd have with a friend. Bridesmaids made me laugh until I had tears in my eyes, but left me feeling upbeat about life. It pokes fun at the characters but doesn't eviscerate them.

Overall, I have to say that Bridesmaids is one of the best movies I've seen this year, and definitely one of the best comedies I've seen in a looong time. It may not appeal to everyone, but I would recommend that everyone go see it and give it a chance. Female-led movies need your support, and this is a good one. If you are a woman, if you have a woman you love in your life, or, hell, if you just like comedies--go see it. You probably won't regret it.

5 out of 5 stars

Oregon Trail to Hell

Movies: Meek's Cutoff

There are movies you go to for a good time, to be entertained, or to escape from reality. Meek's Cutoff is not one of them. Kelly Reichardt's sparse, bleak film is not meant to entertain or, I would argue, even "teach" the audience anything. Instead, Reichardt uses the medium of film to create a controlled, subtle artistic experience that, while not terrifying, has a persistent, lurking feeling of dread about it. Not exactly a popcorn movie.


Meek's Cutoff takes place in the Oregon desert in 1845. Eight settlers are making their way across the state, presumably to the Willamette Valley, and have chosen Stephen Meek--a showy braggart--as their guide. Meek claims to know a shortcut, but as the party travels further and further with no water in sight, they begin to realize that Meek probably doesn't know what he's talking about and may be leading them to certain death. Along the way, they capture a lone Native American man. Some of the party believe this man can lead them to water, while the others believe he will lead them into an ambush. So the driving plot of the film is 1) we need water and 2) whom do we follow and trust?

The barebones plot line allows Meek's Cutoff to be a showcase for acting. There are nine actors in the film: three married couples, plus Meek, plus the son of one of the couples, plus the Native American.
Bruce Greenwood chews the scenery as the flamboyant Meek, a Mountain Man-type with a grizzled beard and thousands of stories of questionable veracity. Michelle Williams gives a performance of quiet power as Emily Tetherow, the most outspoken of the three wives, whose wariness of Meek grows into outright hostility. In addition, Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan play a young couple who grow increasingly paranoid by the Native American in their custody. This is especially true of Kazan, who gives voice to the hysteria that must be part of all the settlers' thoughts.

Watching Meek's Cutoff takes great patience as it is incredibly slow-moving. Reichardt lingers on all the actions the settlers take, from starting fires in the early morning to lowering their wagons down a steep hill, and nothing is rushed. Much of the film is dialogue-free. All of this adds to a sense of helplessness and claustrophobia. In a world where we expect immediate answers and quick, easy solutions, the lives of the pioneers appears terrifying--not only because of the tangible dangers the settlers faced, but because of the crushing uncertainty. They are in the middle of an open desert and can see for miles, but if they pick the wrong path they will all die a slow, horrible death. To me, Meek's Cutoff is a horror film where nature is the killer and man has no one to blame but himself.

4 out of 5 stars

And much of Madness, and more of Sin

Movies: Witchfinder General

Witchfinder General is a 1968 Vincent Price film that, with intense cruelty, violence, and a deeply nihilistic view of mankind, proves difficult to watch over four decades later. Set in England in 1645, the film takes place during a time of brutal violence. Not only was it the height of the English Civil War, the persecution of supposed "witches" was in full swing as well. Price plays Matthew Hopkins, a pious witch hunter who travels the countryside with his assistant/henchman John Stearne, rooting out witches (for a price) in the towns they visit. After stopping in Suffolk, Hopkins and Stearne learn that a local priest, John Lowes, is accused of witchcraft. They accost him at his house and stick needles in his back, looking for the "devil's mark", while taking obvious pleasure in his pain. Meanwhile, Lowes' niece, Sara, begs Hopkins to let her uncle go. He says he's willing to listen to her testimony...in her bedroom later that night.



Meanwhile, Sara's fiance, Richard Marshall, is off fighting for the Roundheads. When he returns to find John Lowes executed and Sara completely distraught, he takes off after Hopkins and Stearne, vowing to kill them. Needless to say, things don't really turn out well for anyone in the film. The final scene, in which Hopkins has captured the young couple and forces Marshall to watch the torture of his beloved, is truly devastating and shows how violence and bloodlust infects and destroys everyone it touches, torturers and victims alike.

Released under the title The Conquerer Worm in the United States (the title comes from a poem by Edgar Allan Poe, which has no direct relation to the film), the film was shocking and controversial in its day. Critics argued, much as they do with certain films today, whether the movie glorified violence or honestly showed the horrendous consequences of violence in the name of righteousness. To be certain, the film has an exploitative feel to it. Screaming victims, mostly women, are shown being drowned, hanged, tortured, raped, and burned alive. Yet the film does not revel in their suffering. Rather, it presents a grim picture of unchecked sadism in the name of religion. Its violence isn't elegant or sexy or glamourous--it's merely brutal and unrelenting. And the characters' feelings of desperation and hatred are palpable.

Witchfinder General isn't fun or pleasant, but it is a good film with a damning message: violence is like a virus. It's catching, and it can infect an entire community. Those who perpetuate it may have the upper hand at first, but they too eventually become victims of their own cruelty.

4 out of 5 stars

Plastic Fantastic Girlfriend

Movies: Lars and the Real Girl

Lars and the Real Girl, not unlike 127 Hours, is a film with a reputation that precedes it. 127 Hours became known as "that movie where the guy cuts off his own arm" and Lars, to those who have heard of it, is probably known as "that movie where the guy falls in love with a sex doll".

And like 127 Hours, Lars has a deeper message. Human beings are unpredictable. They have scary and confusing emotions. Interacting with them can be a chore. But the rewards of being part of a community is worth the time, commitment, and sacrifices of dealing with other people

Unfortunately, in order to get this message across, Lars and the Real Girl asks its audience to suspend its disbelief A LOT.

Now, I know that the argument can be made that Lars fits squarely into a category of films inhabited by fare such as Juno, Little Miss Sunshine, Garden State, and even the films of Wes Anderson: movies that are ostensibly set in "reality", yet do not quite resemble the world as we know it. Instead, in this magical world of quirky comedies, people are much kinder and understanding of eccentricities than they are in our actual world. People say profound things and make grand gestures for love that would seem insane and unbalanced in the real world. Lars and the Real Girl takes place in this idealized vision of the world. But I was never able to fully accept what the film wanted me to accept. Let me explain (spoilers ahead!):

Lars (played by Ryan Gosling) is an odd loner of a young man. It's all too common to diagnose fictional characters, but it seems clear that Lars is somewhere on the autism spectrum--probably someone with high-functioning Asperger Syndrome. He prefers to be alone, hates to be touched, doesn't read other people's emotions and body language well, etc. Yet he holds down an office job (where he has to share a cubicle with an annoying coworker) and attends church. It seems as though Lars has the hardest time dealing with the people closest to him--i.e. his brother and sister-in-law, who have to wheedle him into joining them for dinner. But maybe this has to do with Lars's sad past: his mother died when he was a baby and his brother left home as soon as he could, leaving Lars with his depressed and lonely father. Ok, so far so good. Pretty believable.

Then Lars decides to order a sex doll online and begins to treat her as if she is real. Her name is Bianca, she's in a wheelchair, she's from Brazil, etc. It's never clear whether Lars actually believes Bianca is real or is just playacting. But if he actually believes she is real, then that puts Lars in a whole other category of mental illness. One that wouldn't make for a very fun movie.

Lars's brother is shocked, embarrassed, and terrified when he finds out about Bianca. He and his wife take Lars to see a psychiatrist (Patricia Clarkson), who tells them "Bianca is in town for a reason" and to basically play along until Lars has worked out whatever issues he needs to work out. The sister-in-law decides to humor Lars, although the brother still thinks Lars needs to be institutionalized. But soon, the whole town is going along with it (this film takes place in an unnamed Northern/Midwestern small town where everyone knows everyone else's business). The town accepts Bianca as a real out-of-town visitor and even invite her to parties and offer her a volunteer position at the hospital. Soon enough, Bianca's social life is busier than Lars's!

While I could buy that Lars's closest friends and family might pretend Bianca is real, by the time the entire town is attending Bianca's "funeral" (after Lars works out his issues, Bianca mysteriously gets sick and dies!), including a burial in the local cemetery, I was rolling my eyes.

The other thing that I found unrealistic is that at the end of the film, it's implied that Lars now has a real, human love interest in the form of Margo: a flighty, cute girl from Lars' office who waits patiently for Lars to be ready to date actual women. Call me callous, call me cynical, but there is no way a girl would knowingly date a guy whose last big relationship was with a human-sized sex toy. I mean, should Lars even be worrying about dates at this point in his life? Shouldn't he be continuing therapy and slowly integrating into the community before he tries to have a romantic relationship? I mean, you don't go from paddling in the kiddie pool to jumping off the high dive in a day!

I guess when it comes right down to it, I found the premise of the film to be amusing and intriguing, but unbearably shaky. It is nice that the filmmakers were able to keep Lars PG-13. I can only imagine the dark corners other directors could have taken such a film. Instead of a gross movie about a weirdo with a sex doll fetish, we get an uplifting, light film about the difficulties and struggles of forming and maintaining relationships with other human beings. And although I would totally watch a movie about a weirdo with a sex doll fetish, it was nice to see the lighter side of things for once.

3 out of 5 stars

The Carny from Cornell

Movies: Water for Elephants

Based on the best-selling novel by Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants is pretty much the perfect movie to take your mom to on a hot summer afternoon. It's also a good date movie. Pretty costumes, pretty lead actors, and a pretty, strictly PG-13 scene of forbidden love-making. Hooray!

Set in 1931, Water for Elephants is about a young man (Robert Pattinson, sweating but not sparkling) who finds his destiny on the rails, like so many other down and out men in Depression-era America. His character, Jacob Jankowski, is one exam shy of finishing veterinary school at Cornell when he gets the news that his parents died in a car accident. Heartbroken and just plain broke, Jacob (understandably) skips finals and hops the nearest train to wherever. It turns out that the train is actually a traveling circus--the Benzini Brothers--and that circus seriously needs a vet to care for its overworked animals. Jacob didn't go looking for destiny, but destiny found him anyway.

After Jacob gets the approval of the circus's unbalanced owner, August Rosenblum (played by Christoph Waltz...more on his performance later), he is accepted as vet to the animals and charged by August to train the new star attraction--Rosie, a 53 year old elephant that August bought from another circus gone belly-up. August's wife, Marlena (the gorgeous Reese Witherspoon), a stunt horse rider, will learn to ride Rosie. August hopes that this larger than life act will bring in revenue the circus desperately needs. So Jacob and Marlena must spend a lot of time together training Rosie. And this stirs up August's jealousy.

The main issue I had with Water for Elephants is that it never goes quite far enough. This film seems like it should be bursting with passion, emotion, desperation, and atmosphere. We have America in the middle of the Great Depression and Prohibition--a time that (presumably) had an air of "live for today" since you might not know where you'll be or how you'll feed yourself tomorrow. Especially when we're talking about rail riders and roustabouts, who really had nowhere to call home. We also have a forbidden love between a gentle man and a beautiful woman. We have a beautiful woman's manic-depressive and violent husband. We have the circus, for God's sake! Yet despite all the possibility, Water for Elephants seems too clean, too passionless, too inoffensive. And the ending, when it comes, happens too quickly and ties everything up in a neat little bow. It's a little disappointing...

...With the exception of Christoph Waltz. Waltz proved he could play a unique (and very fun) brand of villain in Inglourious Basterds as Hans Landa, the snakelike Nazi officer who passes you a glass of champagne with one hand and punches you in the gut with the other. His character August is similar--one moment August is generous, friendly, even sexy (it's easy to see why Marlena fell in love with him), but the next moment he is uncontrollable, sarcastic, and very dangerous. And he rules his circus with an iron fist. Unlike Landa, August does not rejoice in evil for evil's sake. He is clearly mentally unstable. In one devastating scene, he beats Rosie the elephant bloody after she fails to perform at a show. Afterwards, he sits in his room, sobbing that now Marlena will "leave him for sure". His need to control Marlena, whom he treats as a prize possession, emerges in destructive, counterproductive ways, and ultimately drives her away from him. Although I doubt this will go down in history as Waltz's greatest role (I'm excited to see which roles Waltz will take on in the future), he at least adds some color and danger to an otherwise safe film.

Witherspoon is pleasant enough, but this is a bit of a throwaway for her. She's been far better before, and this is definitely a cut-and-dried damsel in distress role which doesn't call for her to do much other than look pretty and frightened in turn. I'm glad Pattinson got sweaty, dirty, and bloody for this role. I'm honestly not sure whether or not the kid's a good actor. His reputation as Edward Cullen precedes him and clouds peoples' view of him. Hopefully now that the Twilight series is coming to an end, Pattinson will be able to take on more serious, adult roles and work on his acting chops.

On paper, Water for Elephants is a movie I would love: I love period films set in the 1920's and '30's, I love the old-timey circus, I love swing music and speakeasies and the idea of riding the rails to destiny. And though I enjoyed the film, I didn't swoon. If you want a period film about forbidden, backstage love, I'd recommend Tipping the Velvet, a British made-for-TV movie about two women who fall in love in the Victorian era circus/vaudeville scene. That film is truly sexy and also has heart. But don't watch it with Mom...



3 out of 5 stars

A Woman's Place is in the Umbrella Factory

Movies: Potiche

Potiche (loosely translated as "trophy" or "trophy wife") is a wonderfully wacky French comedy starring two legends of French cinema: Gerard Depardieu, and the lovely Catherine Deneuve. The film takes place in the colorful world of 1977--a time of revolutions, for women and union workers. Deneuve plays Suzanne Pujol, an upper-class woman of leisure and much-obliging trophy housewife to the condescending Robert, who runs the umbrella factory Suzanne's father owned before he passed away. Suzanne seems contented in her life of luxury: she jogs in the morning, lets the "help" do all the cooking and housework, and spontaneously writes poems in a little notebook she carries at all times. She even humors her gruff, sexist husband ("Well, in my opinion...", she says, to which he barks, "Opinion? What opinion!?").



But Suzanne is about to "come down from the shelf", as the movie's tagline alludes. After Robert is held hostage by strikers at the factory, Suzanne must go to the mayor, Maurice Babin (Depardieu) to negotiate her husband's release. Not only is Babin and old enemy of Robert's, he's also Suzanne's one-time lover from long ago ("I'm no longer a hot-blooded truck driver", he sighs).

But once Robert is released, he suffers a heart attack that forces him to stay in bed and away from the factory. Babin encourages Suzanne to act as the factory's temporary leader, to the shock of her husband and children who believe she is not fit for the job.

The main issue I had with Potiche is that it meandered a lot. It didn't have a clear, concise plot arc. The final 20-30 minutes seemed like they belonged to an entirely different film. I suppose you could argue that this makes the film more realistic, in that life doesn't always follow a linear path...but I don't think Potiche was aiming for realism. I think it was aiming for farce. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what tone the filmmakers were going for. I can say that the film is lighthearted, despite serious topics (women's lib, adultery, heart attacks...oh my!). But even though it was a comedy, and there were certainly some pretty funny moments, it wasn't exactly gut-busting either. The most fitting adjective I can think of to describe Potiche is pleasant. I had a good time, but I left the theatre thinking more about what I wanted for dinner than about the movie itself.

Still, the film is quick-witted, colorful, and filled with great performances all around. Definitely worth a slot of your Netflix queue.

3.5 out of 5 stars

The Race Card

Movies: Lakeview Terrace

Directed by Neil LaBute, Lakeview Terrace is basically a showcase for Samuel L. Jackson to act like a badass. But not a cool badass, like in Pulp Fiction. Just a crazy, racist badass.

Jackson plays Abel Turner, an LAPD officer and single father, who is chagrined when he finds out that an interracial couple (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington) have moved into the McMansion next door. He begins a campaign of terror in attempts to get the couple to move away. It starts out relatively innocent (refusing to turn off the security lights that shine directly into the couple's bedroom window) and quickly escalates to psychotic (slashing tires, hiring a goon to break into the couple's house).



The film is obviously attempting to say something about race relations in LA, but instead of using a scalpel to dissect the intricacies of a very complex and sensitive topic, LaBute and the screenwriters use a sledgehammer. Abel's racism is beside the point--even racists can conduct themselves with a little control and dignity--his main motivation isn't the fact that he doesn't like to see white men with black women, but that he is certifiably insane. And violent. And has the entitlement (and gun) of a power-hungry cop.

I like Neil LaBute. His plays and films are often as insightful as they are biting. In the Company of Men, which he wrote and directed in 1997, is a cynical and ugly look into male competition and cruelty. His play/screenplay The Shape of Things explore the bottomless capacity people have to manipulate one another and to allow themselves to be manipulated. It's dark stuff, and god knows I don't want to live in a LaBute screenplay, but Lakeview Terrace is ham-fisted and half-assed compared to his earlier work (and yes, I realize LaBute didn't write the screenplay for this film). Lakeview Terrace is Crash, only with one storyline instead of 12.

As for entertainment value, Lakeview Terrace is moderately thrilling. I did like the chemistry between Patrick Wilson and Jackson. Wilson's character, Chris, is a nice, white, liberal guy who has obviously never been seriously challenged by another man. Jackson, of course, plays the ultimate alpha male--absolutely secure and unyielding in his worldview. Once Chris realizes that he can't talk rationally with Abel, he must step up to the plate in a way he hasn't before. It's an interesting dynamic.

But at the end of the day, Lakeview Terrace is just another film about a nutcase terrorizing innocent people. It promises to say something interesting about race and/or masculinity, but fails to deliver.

3 out of 5 stars

Trapped in the Black Lodge

TV: Twin Peaks season 2

The second and final season of cult television show Twin Peaks gets a bad rap for "sucking" after they reveal who killed Laura Palmer in an episode at the midpoint of the season. While I don't feel that the show became an abyss of suckiness after that revelation, it certainly became uneven, with pointless and annoying subplots spinning out in every direction. And while the last few episodes were, in my opinion, a return to form, the finale left a myriad of cliffhangers and unresolved plot points, giving the show an intriguing and frustrating air of an unresolved murder.

Twin Peaks struck me as being bizarrely paced. The first season is a mere 8 episodes long. The second season has 22 episodes, but Laura Palmer's killer is revealed in episode 14. So it's almost as if the series is 1.5 seasons, rather than 2.  Instead of following and resolving the main plot arc, i.e. "Who killed Laura Palmer" in one, continuous season, which would have made sense--they spread it out over two seasons and then added a bunch of extraneous stuff for the rest of the series. I really don't think this was David Lynch's intention. I read somewhere that he and co-creator David Frost wanted to go the length of the entire series without revealing Laura's killer and just letting the mystery hang there, open to interpretation--but were pressured into solving Laura's murder by network executives. In addition, I think it's pretty obvious that Lynch had plans for a third season that simply didn't get carried out since the show was canceled because of declining ratings. In a way, this adds to the show's mystique: the finale is so abrupt, strange, and dramatic that it's hard not to wonder where Lynch would have taken the show if he had had an extra season to work with.

Rather than review season two in a narrative manner, I'm going to fall back on the classic bulleted list:

And be warned, here be spoilers.

Things that worked well:

* Supernatural/bizarre elements handled well: As in the first season, Lynch is able to introduce strange characters and occurrences in a nearly seamless, believable manner. In the first episode of season 2, Cooper is visited by a giant who takes his ring and gives him three cryptic clues. In another episode, the spirit "Mike" speaks through the character Phillip Gerrard. In other episodes, the malevolent otherworldly spirit Bob makes terrifying and dramatic reappearances. I firmly believe that only David Lynch could pull this kind of stuff off. In different, and even equally talented hands, these supernatural elements could have come off as silly and over-the-top. Somehow, David Lynch makes it work. The season finale, in which Cooper is trapped in the Black Lodge, is incredibly weird and frightening in a way that can only be described a "Lynchian". He manages to tap into some part of the human psyche where fear dwells and express that primal fear through images and sounds. I don't know how the guy does it, but he makes it work.

* The revelation of Laura's killer and the death of Maddy Ferguson: Even though Lynch and Frost were apparently pressured into revealing who killed Laura Palmer, it's clear that they both knew who the killer was from the get-go. <SPOILERS> Even in early episodes of season 1, the strange behaviors and reaction of Leland Palmer seem to be pointing quite baldly to the fact that he killed his daughter (that he was inhabited by the spirit Bob was not quite so clear until season 2). And talk about a character without a motive! While some characters (James, Bobby, Dr. Jacoby, Benjamin Horne, and even Donna) had feelings of jealously (sexual or otherwise) toward Laura and other characters (Leo Johnson, Jacques Renault) are obviously sadistic sociopaths, Leland Palmer was not violent and clearly loved his daughter. His reaction to her death--the white hair, the freak outs, the crying hysterically, the dancing whenever a swing/big band song comes on--points to something not being quite right. As it turns out, evil Bob took possession of Leland at a young age and forced him to rape and kill his own daughter. In addition, Leland/Bob kills Maddy, Laura's cousin who looks very similar to her, perhaps as a way to relive Laura's death...or even just a way to torture Leland further. The whole "possession by an evil spirit" premise works well within the world of Twin Peaks--a place where the natural and supernatural worlds seem to be intimately entwined.

* Super Nadine and Ed and Norma's romance: I hated, hated, hated Nadine--Ed Hurley's wet towel of a wife--in season 1. But after her suicide attempt in the season 1 finale, Nadine awakes as a completely different being altogether: she has regressed to her late teen years and thinks she and Ed are still in high school. She also has super strength, for whatever reason. At first, I thought this was the dumbest plot line ever. But as Nadine falls for teenage Mike (not to be confused with spirit Mike) and his "cute buns", giving Ed the possibility of finally getting together with his true love, Norma Jennings, I changed my tune. I found the story line to be funny and charming.

* Major Briggs: This guy is awesome. "What do you fear the most?" "The possibility that love is not enough." Right on, dude.

* Leo Johnson's coma and return to sentience: One of the most frightening and upsetting scenes in season 2 was when Leo comes "back to life" after being in a vegetative state and chases Shelly down with an ax.

* Audrey Horne's conversion to being a good girl: Here's another character than annoyed me in season 1. Audrey Horne came off as a bitchy, spoiled brat in the first season who decided to help Cooper find Laura's killer only because she had an inappropriate crush on him. By season 2, it seems that she really does want to help--and it lands her in a classic damsel in distress scenario at One-Eyed Jack's, leading Cooper to raid the joint and save her. Afterwards, she grows so much. From immature brat to nearly grown woman in a business suit helping her dad's Stop Ghostwood campaign. It's a shame she ends up asploded in the finale.

* Dale Cooper's continuing awesomeness and subsequent fall from grace: I love truly good heroes who aren't also preachy goody two shoes. They are fewer and further between than you might think. Dale Cooper is a man of such character, though hardly perfect (he slept with Windom Earle's wife! Bad choice, Dale). You can tell that this guy really is on the side of good--and not in an annoying "I'm better than you" way. This is what makes his demise all the more painful and ironic. In the amazing finale, he follows Windom Earle into the Black Lodge to save Annie. Earle asks for Cooper's soul in exchange for Annie's life and Cooper immediately and unthinkingly agrees. But then Bob appears and tells Cooper that Earle does not have the authority to ask for his soul. Bob tells Cooper to leave, and he does with Annie. We think for a moment that Cooper has actually escaped, only to realize that Bob in fact has taken possession of Cooper, while the "good" in Cooper (his soul) remains trapped at the Black Lodge. Thus, Cooper is vanquished through an act of self-sacrifice and love. Quite a way to end the series.

Things that didn't work so well:

* Ben Horne goes crazy: Once Ben Horne went nuts and began reenacting the Civil War, I started fast-forwarding. I did like the post-insane "good" Ben Horne that followed though.

* James and the femme fatale/James' death: Ok, seriously, what? This is hands-down the most pointless plot line in a season filled with pointless plot lines. James leaves town for a while and meets a sexy woman who is involved in a plot to murder her husband and make James the patsy. He outwits her before the cops can get him, only to drive away on his motorcycle again, right out of the show and to certain, untimely death. Fun.

* The whole Josie Packard/Catherine Martell/Andrew Packard/Thomas Eckhardt thing: Again, why? Who cares? Is ANY of this stuff believable, even in David Lynch's world? Why would Josie agree to be Catherine's servant? Why would she return to Twin Peaks? Why not run away and go into hiding. And WHAT in the HELL was up with her death/transforming into a drawer knob?!

* Annie Blackburn: Only a woman this boring could be pure enough to be a love interest for Coop. Worth losing your soul to the Black Lodge for? No way.

Things I am neutral about: 


* Windom Earle: On the one hand, he brought a much-needed plot arc to the second half of the second season. If "Who Killed Laura Palmer" was the driving mystery of the first 1.5 seasons of Twin Peaks "Who is Windom Earle and How Will Coop Stop Him" was the driving mystery of the last part of the series. On the other hand, Windom Earle was not quite as compelling as I thought he would be. Cooper speaks of him as if he were a mad man and evil genius of legendary proportions--but he turns out just to be a crazy kook, living in the woods. No subtlety and no class.

* Who is the father of Lucy's baby: Dick Tremayne is hilarious as an arrogant British dandy and Andy is so sweet and gentle. But, again, I didn't really feel this plot line.

* Harold Smith: Another interesting character with too thin a plot line. What a creeper, though.

And that's about it. Overall, Twin Peaks deserves its reputation as one of the most unique and well-done shows ever to hit the airwaves. But it definitely jumps the rails and/or shark in the second season, only to build up to a nail-biting and haunting conclusion.

Episodes 8-15: 4 out of 5 stars

Episodes 16-19: 3 out 5 stars

Episodes 20-25: 2.5 out of 5 stars (truly the low point of the show)

Episodes 26-29: 4 out of 5 stars