Prague Journal

Monday, February 14, 2005.

Today is Valentine’s Day. The lines at the flower stands show just how much this American holiday has been embraced by the Czechs, who don’t need a special occasion to buy flowers. Today’s name day is Valentyn, so perhaps the holiday isn’t so American after all.
There’s a theater that shows American movies with Czech subtitles (most movies here are dubbed into Czech), so we went to see Sideways, Alexander Payne’s “comedy” about two 40-something guys on a raucous male-bonding road trip. The title – “Sideways” – is both the proper way to store a wine bottle and the angle one sees the world from when drunk. Rick says that even though the movie is an alcoholic send-up of the more vacuous features of California pop culture, its sweetness made it a perfect Valentine’s Day movie. Ross Anthony (Hollywood Report Card) calls it a “modern reconstruction of “The Odd Couple.” Josh Bell (Las Vegas Weekly) says it’s about “the plight of the middle-aged white guy.” I side with Ty Burr (Boston Globe), who calls it a “comic symphony of lies” and male self-deception. The movie is “often uncomfortable to watch, but it’s generous to a fault and to the characters’ faults, too.” Despite their behavior, it is hard to dislike either character. But I sure wouldn’t want to be involved with, let alone married, to either one. I recoil at the psychological cost that would be levied by trying to live with either of these men. I’m glad to have my current beau. He says he’s tickled to have me, too.

posted by JWinn @ 10:53 PM