Abbreviated comments due to this late entry..Aug.27

Rating: 6/10 (27 August 2006)

I've now read comments ranging from our external reviewers ;where are James Berardinelli and Roger Ebert when I want them? from July through August 26..We went to see the flick last night, after weeks of my procrastinating,due to the apparent' content. You've had prior opportunities to read summarizations of the plot,so I'll skip this.Personally, I did not laugh during most of the flick, whereas many in the audience laughed or giggled in many of the scene appropriate moments, including my partner,leaving me to wonder why I felt 'emotionally flat' with a few exceptions. I enjoyed seeing Alan Arkin's role as Grandpa, but realized later how absolutely despicable his character was, and how several ,but few critics, point out how naive or ignorant the parents were of exactly what Gramps was doing behind closed doors in their home, and with their daughter. That Gramps was addicted to profanity, sexual fantasies, and heroin seemed only an ' annoyance' to the family. That they had NO clue what dance "routine" he was teaching Olive, and seemingly what won her acceptance into the Sunshine contest in Redondo Beach is 'unbelievable',if not incredibly ignorant, given the source of the routine. As several pointed out, there is the obvious comparison to, or subtle reference to Jon Bonnet Ramsey, and her Mother's motivation to relive or recast her own dull life by grooming her daughter for a Beauty Contest which robs children of their innocence,and which arouses vile passions in some Karr's to exploit more than the momentary fame and fantasy. Horribly, this Satire portrays Grandpa's foisting his aged,drug induced fantasies upon the only 'innocent' character in the story, Olive, while all others, so obsessed with overcoming their own feelings of failure and inadequacy , eventually succumb to the Passion of getting Olive to Redondo, to enable her to become a winner, not losers, as they are, and ,in so doing, fulfill Gramp's dying wish, to have his Granddaughter become his real,live Fantasy Tramp; as he warns his grandson, to fornicate with every young girl he can before it's too late, seemingly the ultimate lesson he has learned from his dissolute life and the guiding principle he gives to his posterity. One might just wonder if behind 'closed doors', behind the parents' backs, he did more than teach Olive a 'trampy dance routine.' And this is the legacy he bestows on his family, which unites them in their 'humorous' efforts to rush Olive to the Sunshine of Redondo Beach, or is it to the "Little Miss Bitches" contest. Or, possibly the above is all 'sour grapes', since I could not exalt in the laughter of witnessing a family's descent into the despair of worshipping 'false idols'. YES, optimistically, we may foresee a brighter future for the Hoover's, if Mama, Papa, Uncle, son and daughter have learned anything from their travail-travels, and from burying a decrepit Old Addict, or will the Hoover's have to await a Roosevelt to imbue 'social responsibility' into their morally and apparently financially bankrupt lives.. My, My! Wasn't this a hoot? But go to see it anyway, and judge for yourself, exactly what is some damn funny in this tragic tale..