Wonderful film with more than enough holes in the plot to generate an entire afternoon's worth of spirited conversation and debate. Thought-provoking, or merely sleep-inducing? Who's to say? I am. I prefer the former... (The first one)
1. Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson) faked his meltdown during and after the deposition. It was a desperate way to get out of not having to be honest in court.
2. At some point, Arthur fancied himself to be Jerry Maguire. He wanted to go run off with Anna and have a kid who constantly recites facts. Why else would Arthur have a thousand folders made, complete with cardstock covers? Because he'd go back and forth between moments of hubris and cowardice. He envisioned himself as a savior marching into the court room after everyone read his manifesto. But then he thought: "What if they don't like it?... Yeah, screw that. Let's just put that receipt here in this kid's book and forget about it."
That's why Michael found the receipt.
3. Henry Clayton (Austin Williams) had a better legal mind than his father, Michael. Henry knew all the rules to his new role-playing game. But it's not just a game. No. It's life. Not the game, Life. Henry's a prodigy. He was constantly telling his father: "You gotta know all this stuff if you want to be successful in this new world," and Michael didn't care. Which sadly, was clear to Henry.
Meanwhile, crazy Arthur was busy highlighting passages and writing detailed, non-medicated notes in the margins. That's why Arthur was talking to Henry late at night on the phone. To get life advice. Nothing creepy about life advice.
4. Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton) was so busy orchestrating murders and concealing her company’s involvement producing carcinogens that she forgot to put anti-perspirant on one of her armpits.
5. Arthur's love of fresh, baked bread was real. This
can't be adjusted. He'd think to himself: "I wonder what Shiva the God of Death ate. Probably some kind of bread. Hey, I know a bakery through the alley that makes the greatest bread. I should go buy as many loaves as I can carry." So he did.
8 CAPSULES (out of 10 CAPSULES)
During a press conference yesterday, the United Nations named George Clooney as its latest peace envoy. His duties will include giving lectures about the current state of the world's gay animal population. Clooney gained notoriety playing the hunky handyman, George Burnett, on The Facts of Life, and as Sparky the gay dog on South Park. Clooney said, “I’ve been involved with projects that highlighted censorship in journalism, nuclear proliferation and did a number on the Batman franchise. And that's been rewarding. But do you know how many gay animals there are in the world? Exactly. You don't. I do. I had a pet pig. He wasn't gay, but we shared a bed together."
