Spectral

Rating: Null/10 (2 October 2007)

Sometimes a movie just grabs you.
This one is formulaic. I have not a shred of respect for the artists involved, not a one, not a shred. And yet it works for me.
And it works even though I am deeply engaged in all sorts of self-referential and "ironic" structures. This story takes itself serious. There is humor of a sort: Whoopie Goldberg is convinced she needs to be funny, so does her jackanapes thing, but that's IN the story, not of it.
It may take a special sort of talent for people to seem like they really are taking things at face value. Demi does this particularly well  something her former husband just couldn't do.
What happens for some is that the foundation story is so strong, the yearning so overwhelming that we join in. All the business about money laundering and threats is basically background noise to make things move while we can steep in this notion of love and loss, sustained desire.
I admit I cried. It may be because I watch tons of clever movies and simply need a place to pour out.
I'm not sure about the development of popular songs in film. "American Graffiti" was more than 15 years before. The excuse for songs there was that kids listened to the radio. Still here, we couldn't accept a song as simply part of the score. We had to be introduced to it as a record being played in the story, during that erection scene. Afterward, it could be recalled, but only after that literal insertion into the world of the story.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.