An American Carol

An American Carol

My wife and I just got back from the theater. We had to drive a little farther than normal because it is only showing in four theaters in town, none close to home. The theater we saw it at had it in only one of their 20 houses, and it was one of the smaller houses, probably 250 seats.

They were 98% full, or close to it - a mostly older crowd. I don't think I saw anyone under the clichéd age of 30.

Interestingly, the first trailer shown was for Oliver Stone's "W". The crowd actually boo'd - then laughed about the spontaneous response. Somehow I don't think this was the target audience for "W".

An American Carol is laugh-out-loud funny in a lot of places, and it skewers every Lefty trope, meme, archetype, and shibboleth. It's not Airplane!, but it has got the funny.

Except in one scene near the end.

John Voight plays George Washington (briefly) in the film. That part isn't funny. I'm sure the critics will call it mawkish. The scene is not mawkish, and I won't post a spoiler other than that.

On the 0-10 scale, I give it a solid 7.5. It's worth your money for the entertainment. It's also worth your money to tell the dealmakers in Hollywood that if they want to make money, they ought to cater to the audience that has it.

As the lead characters said in one scene, "What about the soldier who rapes the young Iraqi girl and murders her family?!?" - "Brian DePalma. Straight to video."