9-14-2002: DAY NINE (*SNIFFLE* THE END)

Well, that was that. Today was the last day of the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival. Party's over, people. Move along, nothing to see here. The streets and theaters are empty or in the final stages of emptying, folks have headed home and nightspots have resumed closing at closing hour. My post-festival sickness (a wonderfully rich, well-incubated head cold) is now in full swing, and part of me is a teensy bit grateful that the festival-ing has drawn to a close because I don't know how much longer I would have been able to maintain my pace.

As with years past, the final Saturday of the fest was somewhat lacklustre in terms of the abundance, and quality of, its cinematic offerings. Basically, there's not a lot to choose from, and what there is (especially by the afternoon) leaves something to be desired. The festival gets more and more top heavy every year - with all the Big Important Movies premiering in the first three or four days - which means by the last day the pickings tend to be a little slim. This year was no exception.

I was, however, pleasantly surprised by my first film of the day, In America (working title), director Jim Sheridan's newest drama about an Irish immigrant couple (Paddy Considine and the ubiquitous Samantha Morton) who move to New York City with their two young daughters (Sarah and Emma Bolger). It's set in present-day and it's a solid tearjerker, which is always nice first thing in the morning. Nothing like a set of red, puffy eyes to get the day off to a right nice start. Mind you, my eyes were likely red and puffy on their own, since my congested head meant I spent much of the day sneezing and sniffling anyway. The movie was totally predictable - I knew about a third of the way in how the remainder of the film would play out - and I felt slightly manipulated, but I still recommend it.

I had my end-of-festival encounter with Mouthy Martha this morning, by the way. I was all set to steal her coveted seats but, much to my delight, someone else had already done so! Mouthy and her clan had to settle for somewhere else to rest their butts. When I walked past her towards the washroom, I made sure to slow my step and think angry thoughts in her direction. I know she felt it and I'm pretty sure I saw her quiver out of the corner of my eye.

My second film, an Argentinian drama (?) called Suddenly, was hard to pin down. I didn't really like it, and I think it stems from my inability to buy its initial premise: two teenage (?) girls kidnap (!) a third... and then it turns into this bizarre little holiday adventure. Huh? Admittedly, I don't know a whole lot about life in Argentina, but I'm pretty sure kidnapping isn't SUCH a routine event that its victims would behave as the one in this film did. So, since suspending my disbelief didn't really happen, it was hard for me to get past the opening sequence and get into the subsequent events in the film... or to stop obsessing over the fact that the kidnapped girl seemed to forget rather quickly that she'd BEEN KIDNAPPED. I also wondered if the phrase "it loses something in the translation" could explain why so many people in the theater were laughing uproariously at various points in the film while I sat silent. The subtitles didn't seem to indicate something funny was being said, so I figured maybe the subtleties of the language meant Spanish-speakers would "get" the jokes and I wouldn't.

Who knows.

Better Luck Tomorrow was the curious title of my last film of the day and of my festival experience for the year. It's an MTV Films production about a group of Asian high schoolers in California as they get up to all kinds of hijinks - some legal, some not. It was the first film for its writer-director Justin Lin, and apparently caused some debate (over its ending and portrayal of Asian-Americans) when it premiered at Sundance earlier this year. I'm going to guess that the discussions stemmed from the film's uneven and, at times, inexplicable story arcs, and its seemingly devoid-of-remorse characters. Dunno. It was an okay movie, but it wasn't as energetic or engrossing as it promised it would be.

And then... there were no more. The lights came up and it was all over. I heaved my well-stuffed knapsack over my shoulder, did my annual post-festival walk past all the festival venues and then headed home.

I'm still in a bit of a daze, so I'll post my final thoughts tomorrow after the festival awards are handed out. Until then, and because there's a band of severe thundershowers heading this way that will mean logging off for the night very soon, I'm going to go visit my new best friend - Nyquil.

X-)

— Vickie

CELEBRITY SIGHTINGS:

Jim Sheridan, Paddy Considine, Sarah and Emma Bolger

ROGER EBERT SIGHTINGS:

Zip. See ya next year, Rog!