"Riding the Bus With My Sister"
Quite possibly the greatest made for T.V. movie ever produced. Everyone knows that when actors want to show the world that they can REALLY act, they go for the "lovable retarded person who has as much to learn as they have to teach the world" role. And everyone knows that when they aren't particularly good actors in the first place, they just do the same role in a T.V. movie of the week instead of a theatrical release. It most likely goes back to Cliff Robertson doing "Charlie" based on the play "Flowers for Algernon", but who knows, it probably goes back even further. Micky Rooney did it back in the early 80's with a T.V. movie called "Bill". "The Other Sister" gave us, not one, but two stellar performances from Julliette Lewis and Giovani Ribissi, although I'm pretty sure that was an actual movie, not a T.V. movie.
But all those Olivier wannabes are mere grade schoolers putting on a show and charging the figurative Nickel when compared with the awesome power of the fully operational deathstar that is Rosie O'Donell in this fine performance that puts Leo DiCaprio to shame. Unfortunately for us all, the damn thing isn't available on DVD and most likely never will be. However, these guys...
http://www.tvgasm.com/archives/television_specials/000761.php
...have assembled a compilation of highlight clips from what can rightfully be called the "Raging Bull" of pandering, self righteous, bleeding heart noble retard films.
I use the word retard, because, quite frankly, these people aren't real. Far from it. There are real people who have real mental disabilities and are, many times, at a real disadvantage when coping with many of the problems of the real world. But they are actual people with three dimensional personalities and in many instances cope just fine with the obstacles of the world on their own. The characters in these movies...well they're just fucking retarded. One dimensional collections of cliches, imparting nuggets of homespun wisdom that they presumably are privy to because they are somehow purer souls than the rest of us.
That doesn't mean that these movies aren't enjoyable. Oh contrere, mon frere. They are some of the finest examples of fevered ego run amok ever created and are even more enjoyable than that other great T.V. movie genre, the "Lifetime's Woman in Peril" movie. Anyway, this started out as a bulletin post about finding clips from Rosie's movie, but now it's so long that I'm gonna have to make it a blog post...Oh well. I'll stop rambling for now. In the mean time I recommend further viewing:
Radio - Cuba Gooding Jr.
King Of The Jungle - John Leguizamo
Do the Right Thing - Roger Smith (a near perfect movie, that happens to also feature a near perfect charicature of a performance from Smith)
Do yourself a favor and just skip Rainman and Forrest Gump. Those guys aren't even in the same league. It was all downhill for Hoffman after the Graduate and Hanks was way better when he dressed up in women's clothes. Fuck that guy.
P.S. Remember that part in "Garden State' where Sam asks Andrew if he was the guy who played the retarded quarterback in that T.V. movie? Am I the only one who thought "Damn, I'd love to see that movie!"? I can just see Zach Braff in the role of a lifetime.
Enjoy the Rosie clip.
P.P.S. HOLD THE FUCKING PHONE!!!!
As I was searching for a pic to include in this post, I found a link to the Hallmark Channel web page where, GUESS WHAT? They sell the friggin DVD!!!! Alright people. Let me know if your game for a viewing party. Maybe I can come up with a drinking game. SWEEEEEETTTT!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment