Burning Bodhi

source: Burning Bodhi

The premise of the film seems to be a 'millennial take on a reunion of friends after the passing of one of their own', ala 'The Big Chill'. Along these lines, its thoroughly unoriginal. I'm not a millennial, so maybe I'm missing something, but these characters are pretentious, narcissistic and just plain dull. These kids are supposed to be early to mid-20s, but they talk and act as though they've seen it all and done it all, and are now jaded and cynical. In the real world it doesn't work that way. But, that's a common thing we see in millennials, attempting to appear to have knowledge and seasoning well beyond their years. Anyhow, the ensemble cast is uninspired. Kaley Cuoco is way out of her league in these sort of dramatic roles. Cody Horn is exceptionally bad here. Apparently Cody Horn had a role in seeing this disaster made. She loved the script and her dad is head of Disney Studios, so there you have it. More nepotism in Hollywood.

Really, Matthew McDuffie has done a rather brilliant job at giving color, depth, and delineation to a generation that seems inchoate to their elders and "betters." Mr. McDuffie has portrayed an anti-Shavian universe with more subtlety than is at first apparent. The characters in his film, like many of their generation, have lost adequate vocabularies in which to describe the milieu in which they move. Their conversation is bereft of wit, allusion to history, literature, or anything else beyond their small frames of reference. No, these are not the entrancing beings who populate the worlds of Wilde or Shaw; they take no delight n conversation, betray no appetite for repartee. These young women and men communicate by way of texts, and must function in such a joyless dimension that a funeral for a friend, with its slap of shock and grief, must be transformed into a "funeral" Still this writer/director has shown these same young people to possess wisdom beyond their years, sweetness, and tolerance of the self- involved, Irresponsible generation who raised them. McDuffie has managed to capture this universe with a deft touch and a compassionate eye. My only criticismis that Andy Buckley, who played a corporate CEO so flawlessly on The Office, is far too patrician a type to be shown in a tee-shirt and five o'clock shadow.

I'm being kind by saying this is a good portrayal of how immature & self absorbed many young people are nowadays. if this was the aim of the movie- then they did a good job of it- but if not, it was a POOR movie. we all die- whats the big deal about it? whats the need for all this self absorbed drama? esp the guy- he seems to be making a big deal about things that many of us simply take in our stride very frequently. if we had to deal with things the way he does, them we would all be under strong prescription medication. the movie takes itself too seriously, unlike garden State which had humour in it.

Burning Bodhi