Saturday, August 11, 2012

OK you old duffers, beware of the movie , Hope Springs



It's pretty well documented that this blog focuses on folks in their "sunset years" and with an emphasis, more often than naught, on being an over-60 athlete who refuses to be a couch potato and tries his or her level best to remain active. But just how active are we? When I say "we" I mean a little closer to home. In other words, I'm talking about just how much of a robot I've become. I start every morning with my better half (Suzy Q) having a cup of coffee, eating two eggs over medium and a slab of bacon. I pick up the morning paper out of the driveway, head back inside, pull out the sports page and hand the rest of the paper to Sue.

I proceed to dissect every box score, read every sports story from beginning to end. With a little twist that is! I've already been up for two hours and have surfed the Internet and have already read the same stuff online. By eight o'clock in the morning, I'm ready for bed! Not really. Fast forward to eight o'clock in the evening when the local news is done and maybe a one-hour rerun of CSI and then it's off to bed. I'm kidding a little here. I do realize I'm a little more active than that.

We take in a movie now and then, taking full advantage of the senior rates, of course. So, yesterday afternoon we mosey into the theater to see the new Meryl Streep-Tommy Lee Jones flick, Hope Springs. A great movie for the 60-and-over, AARP crowd. After about an hour and a half, I was squirming in my seat. Arnold, played by Jones, is a partner in an accounting firm in Omaha, Nebraska. Arnold has been married for 31 years and is still working, still providing the "good life" for his wife, Kay.

 Kay, played by Streep, is already up and has fixed breakfast as she slides some eggs, and one slice of bacon in front of her well dressed-for-work husband. Arnold reaches for the morning paper, the Omaha World Herald. He finishes the paper, gives Kay a kiss on the cheek, grabs his briefcase and leaves for work, knowing full well that he'll be back in eight hours in time for dinner and some meat and potatoes. After dinner, Arnold settles into his favorite recliner and watches the golf channel. It isn't long before Arnold is fast asleep and is then nudged by Kay. He gets out of the chair, turns out the lights and heads upstairs to bed.

This scenario, of course, is played out day after day with very little variance. What happens next in Hope Springs, is not for this blog to undertake, but take my word for it, the movie is a good one. There's a lot of laughs and they all aren't coming from Steve Carell, who plays a renowned couple's specialist in the town of Great Hope Springs. Carell actually plays the "straight man" in the movie, while Streep and Jones provide all the laughs. Take my word for it, you'll want to spice up your life after you sit through this one.    

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