Terabithia and Me

"Bridge to Terabithia." A movie. I thought it sounded safe enough and "my" clients wanted to see it, so I loaded us into the van and drove off to the theatre. For those of you who don't know about the movie (don't worry--no spoilers here), perhaps a blurb from the NY Times might help:

“Bridge to Terabithia” is is a thoughtful and extremely affecting story of a transformative friendship between two unusually gifted children. The result is a movie whose emotional depth could appeal more to adults than to their offspring. Beautifully capturing a time when a bully in school can loom as large as a troll in a nightmare and the encouragement of a teacher can alter the course of a life, “Bridge to Terabithia” keeps the fantasy in the background to find magic in the everyday. — Jeannette Catsoulis, The New York Times."

A cute dog, a cute girl and a cute, artsy boy! What could be better?

Okay, that sounds simple enough. Safe for clients, enjoyable for me.

Well, I suppose I should have read additional reviews review BEFORE going to the movie. See that line in the review that says "appeal more to adults than their offspring?" That would have been a big clue that this movie might not appeal to the clients as much as me. (They would be more inclined to see that Ninga Turtle movie coming out.) Suffice it to say they didn't "get" a lot of the movie while I sat there sobbing. Geez. I didn't see it coming. (I say no more for those of you who haven't read the book and still will see the movie.) Worse, I kept dreaming about the movie all night last night. I kept waking up saying "Terabithia." I'm serious. Then, at 3:30 AM, I literally woke up thinking, "DUH! THAT's why they named it Bridge to Terabithia." I finally was able to sleep soundly after that. (Too bad that was only 1.5 hours...but, it still counts.)

Oh look: BULLIES! I love the "Bathroom Bullies." It brought bad flashbacks to bathrooms in high school--never go in the bathrooms (well, except in the bandroom, cuz the band bathrooms were always safe and clean and bully free.)

The other thing that kept me up at night was "who IS that actress?" (The music teacher, the one in the photo--dark hair.....)I know I know her, I know I've seen her in other movies, I know I enjoy her as an actress...but WHO is she and what has she starred in?" I hate it when I can't place someone. Sigh. A Google search is in order.

So, I go to Disney's Terabithia website and find out:

ZOOEY DESCHANEL (Miss Edmunds) is one of Hollywood’s most sought-after young actresses. Most recently, she displayed her charismatic screen presence in the comedy “Failure to Launch” with Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker; in the sci-fi classic “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” with Sam Rockwell, Mos Def and John Malkovich; and opposite Will Ferrell in “Elf,” directed by Jon Favreau, for which she received critical acclaim for her engaging performance and remarkable singing voice.
Deschanel made her feature-film debut in 1999 in Lawrence Kasdan’s ensemble drama “Mumford.” She then co-starred with Billy Crudup, Kate Hudson and Frances McDormand in Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous.” Other films include: “All the Real Girls,” for which she received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Lead Actress, “Abandon” for director Stephen Gaghan, “Big Trouble” for director Barry Sonnenfeld, “The Good Girl” with Jennifer Aniston and “Eulogy,” alongside Debra Winger.

I KNEW it! Failure to Launch! ELF! Damn, I have a short memory......but, I will now sleep better at night knowing this information....

As for the snowshoes, the wife's shoes FINALLY arrived....but now, the snow has melted and it's going to be 50 degrees today. I think she's ready to wear them around the house. I hope Keith Bischon, professional snowshoer and friend of the wife, can help the wife keep her spirits up. After all, it's bound to snow sometime next year....