Wow, what a fun movie. Minnie Driver couldn't have been more sweet in her role as Grace Briggs. The interplay between Marty O'Reilly (Carroll O'Connor) and his card-playing buddies who were all widowers was a treat to the memory circuits of how America used to be. Oh, maybe the atmosphere of O'Reilly's Italian restaurant still exists somewhere in America, but I haven't seen it in all the places I've been in this country since my childhood and teenage years in Pittsburgh–you know, the kind of restaurant when you go in people greet you with a smile and bring out more food than you can ever eat, all at a decent price. The kind of place with people singing, waiters smiling with a service attitude, families with children eating together, even musicians singing and playing guitar for your entertainment. Yeah, I miss those kinds of restaurants. As a matter a fact, I now drive 20 miles one way for a close proximity to that kind of atmosphere. And oh, I forgot the story plot...it was wonderful.
Without giving the story away, sometimes in life what seems to be the greatest tragedy can turn into the greatest blessing. We have a teaching in Continuing Fifth Epochal Revelation about particles and that we leave a bit of our particles behind wherever we go. When you see the story you'll understand the particle lesson. And isn't it refreshing to see movies with happy endings?
I'll close with this: I could even taste the spaghetti and meatballs. One waiter in a local Sedona "Italian" restaurant once said to me in an ostentatious manner when I asked for spaghetti and meatballs, "We don't do meatballs here." The three others with me agreed we should leave as fast as we could.
~Van of Urantia*MPAA = Motion Picture Association of America
