In The Area of Critical Commentary: "The Shape of Water"

When I first saw the trailer for "The Shape of Water" over the summer, I figured that this would be one that I was going to skip.  Just didn't have any interest in it.  Then it started getting critical raves....and Golden Globe and SAG Awards....and multiple Oscar nominations.  I still wasn't interested, and a lot of people I know said "forget it", but too many other people whose opinion I respect (ahem, that means you, Barb V.), said I really should see it. Also, a friend of Marilyn's who did like it said, "go into it thinking of it as an adult fairy tale." And, figuring that it was going to bring home a passel of Oscars next month, we both said "what the hell", so off we went on our Valentine's Day date this afternoon.

Still, I went into it prepared to not like it, and guess what?  I liked it.  We both like it quite a bit in fact.  The "adult fairly tale" advice we got was good, and I would tell anyone to go into it with that frame of mind.   And not to go all film-geeky on you, it really is a pretty movie to see.  Director Guillermo del Toro has been winning all of the pre-Oscar Best Director awards, and is the favorite to win the same award come Oscar night, and I guess that I can see why.

I won't go into the plot of the film.  If I did, you might be like I was and just say, "I pass", but I do recommend this one.  Is it the Best Picture of the year?  Not so sure about that in my mind, but it did lead the pack with thirteen Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Director (del Toro), Actress (Sally Hawkins), Supporting Actor (Richard Jenkins), Supporting Actress (Octavia Spencer), and Original Screenplay (del Toro and Vanessa Taylor), and all deserving nominees.

Also, for you fans of the old HBO series "Boardwalk Empire", two  alumni of that show have key parts in this one: Michael Shannon, whose character is similar to the one he played in "Boardwalk Empire", i.e., you don't like him, and Michael Stuhlbarg, who played Arnold Rothstein on Boardwalk.

Moral of the story: Always keep an open mind.  By doing so, I saw a movie that I rather enjoyed that I otherwise was prepared to skip.

Three Stars from The Grandstander.