So How Was Your Thanksgiving?

My Mom told me that 45 minutes would probably be all my Dad, or the rest of us, could handle. I never would have imagined I'd want to leave after 30 seconds. 

My Dad had a heart attack in 2007 and things have been deteriorating ever since. It's to the point I don't even tell people my Dad is doing badly - because it's getting old. I mean - those of you who were concerned about how my Dad was doing in 2011 are probably wondering how much longer I'm going to work this. 

I haven't had the misfortune of watching many people deteriorate in my life. Call my lucky - but it also makes me naive. Every time I am convinced my Dad couldn't get any worse he manages to deteriorate even further. 

I thought it was bad when he couldn't do anything without a walker. I thought it was bad when he did a complete faceplant at the viewing of a friend of his a couple of years ago - making no effort to break the fall. I thought he had to be dying soon when he inexplicably got in a car and started driving around the neighborhood - slamming into two other cars and into a curb before police got control of the matter. When he drove his scooter into the wall at the assisted living facility it was bad. Seeing my Dad wearing Depends made me sad. But I'm only scratching the surface of all of the things that have gone wrong over the past few years. 

I saw him less than two months ago. It wasn't pleasant. He went in and out of coherency. At different points in the day he looked at my daughter and asked her point blank "how long have you been looking like a boy?" He got tired quickly that day - we were celebrating my Mother's Birthday. But at least he had moments of lucidity. 

There were no such moments on Thanksgiving. 

He's been removed from the assisted living facility and he's now in a place designed for Alzheimers patients - but NOT designed for patients that need the kind of care he does. 

The first thing I noticed was his spine - he was hunched over like a C. It wasn't like that 7 weeks ago - I would have noticed. He's 72, he looked past 90. He couldn't sit himself up. 

I didn't have to worry about him insulting my kids (albeit with no malice) - because I'm not sure he recognized them. He sat in a chair and yelled. "WOULD SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME" and we'd try and rearrange him and he'd say it was better and we'd sit down and he'd yell it again "I NEED HELP! CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!" and my Mom would tell him we're doing all we can and he'd yell at her like a baby "NO YOU'RE NOT, IF YOU WERE I WOULDN'T FEEL SO BAD." She told him we'd be leaving soon and he could sleep..."YOU'VE BEEN SAYING THAT FOR AN HOUR NOW - CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME?" There was no rationalizing - there was no conversation. He didn't understand that Jocelyn made National Honor Society or that Jojo made Honor roll. He didn't understand the music Jocelyn was working on for her philharmonic group - even though my Dad had been playing that type of music most of his life. 

He had scars and bumps all over his face - I assume from falling out of bed but I didn't ask. His color looked awful. 

It ended mercifully after 39 minutes. We took him back to his room - past an area where it smelled putrid because another resident had made a mess on the floor. This is NOT a low-rent facility mind you - there's just no way anyone could keep up. His room was nice - and it is a single room. But he's beyond appreciating anything. This is a man with zero quality of life. I wouldn't wish what he's going through on anybody. 

I'll never take my kids to see him again - they don't deserve to have such awful memories of their grandfather - and he doesn't seem to recognize them anymore. 

We left and had a nice dinner at a local restaurant. I was too shocked to process what I had just seen. I heard my Mom say that today was tame compared to other days - that she hears him screaming from outside the facility sometimes. That he's horrible with the staff and to her. I heard it - but it didn't stick. 

It didn't stick on Black Friday either. 

But today I finally broke down. I was making pasta and meatballs...I thought it would be nice to put my mind on something. Then I just started crying. 

I cried because my Mom is dealing with this pretty much alone - I feel like I should be doing so much more - but I don't know where to start. 

I feel bad because my relationship with my parents is so damn stiff. We don't hug - we never have. What the hell is wrong with me? Why can't I hug my Father or my Mom?

I'm sad because this can go on for a long time. His vital signs - their fine - his mind is gone...His body is completely failing him - but he's not facing imminent death. We could replay a similar scene in a year..in two years. And I cried because I just want to believe that there's a God that's going to spare him any more suffering - but there's nothing but silence at the other end of the prayer line. We have mercy on animals whose body is failing them - but we let people wither away for years. My Dad is leaving with no dignity. 

I cried because my Dad has never been a very happy man.

 He's hated himself - and he never learned to cope well with stress. He would fly off the handle so easily - but rarely was the anger directed at anyone in particular. He had a pure heart. He gave quietly and regularly to charities. He did a million thankless behind-the-scenes job for the church and never asked for nor would he accept praise. He wasn't a perfect Father - but who is? And this much is certain: I NEVER wanted for anything. 

He could speak to almost anything my Dad. He had a PHD in Astronomy but for the most part he hated mentioning it, he certainly never asked anyone to refer to him as "Dr." - because he felt like his career was a colossal failure. He paid his bills on time. He worked at jobs he hated because he had a family - just like a lot of people do. He was brilliant - smarter than I could ever dream of being. But his brilliance only made  him miserable - he always felt he should be more. He never felt comfortable around most people. He had few friends. He wasn't very good with kids - it's not that he didn't like them, he just wasn't comfortable talking at a lower level. He had trouble concentrating - so loud kids got him angry. He spazzed out at a few of my friends - but he always apologized. Still - I largely kept my friends away from home. It was easier than explaining that my Dad wasn't angry at anyone but himself. 

I wanted to talk to him for years. To tell him that I thought he did OK. That I never saw him take short cuts, that I never saw him do anything dishonest, that I admired his willingness to fly in the shadows. He put my Mom through seminary so she could have a second career. He put me through college without loans. He helped me more as an adult than I care to admit. I did OK when they passed out Fathers. I did damn well. He deserved to hear that. 

But I never said it - and for the life of me I can't explain why. And I cry hardest for my missed opportunity to do the right thing. 

On Monday a lot of people are going to ask how my Thanksgiving was, and I'm going to smile and say "it was nice." Because that's what you do. 

Why am I blogging this? Because when I looked at Facebook on Thanksgiving it hurt. The truth is I feel like I'm failing most of the time I look at Facebook but I've worked through most of my inadequacies. But this Thanksgiving - I just wanted to be living the life that so many people were portraying - I never know how "Real" the posts on Facebook are. 

I know I'm not alone when I say I had a pretty shitty Thanksgiving. I know that 75% of the world would trade life situations with me in a heartbeat. I know people have parents who are in situations similar to my Dad - or God forbid have sick children. 

And if you're Thanksgiving sucked - I'll say it once again. You aren't alone. 

I hope it helps in some way to hear that. 

Going Slumming or Doing Right by My Son?

Dear friends, old and new, 

I want to pick your brain on something. With that said I won’t be mad if you don’t reply. There are only so many hours in a day – and man I do know how they fly!!!

I’m also not so ignorant as to expect you to speak for anybody but yourself. You aren’t representing a race, a class, a gender, a Mom,  you’re representing all of those things and none of those things – mainly you’re representing you – a person I respect.

 As you probably know, my son plays travel soccer.  He’s good. Darn good.  Definitely among the top 5% or even 2% I’ve seen – and I’ve seen a lot. He’s got the stuff you can’t teach – he can fly.

The travel soccer world is white – lily white. It’s like the Suburban parents couldn’t stand seeing their kids getting beat out by minority children in sports like football and basketball so they decided to make high-level soccer as out of reach for the poor and lower-middle class as possible. There’s a simple reason why the US Men’s national team will never be among the world’s best – a significant amount of kids just don’t have access to the sport. (I won’t get into why the women’s team CAN be elite – but for now just keep it at the women’s landscape is a lot different and tailor made for the US. There’s no equivalent of NCAA soccer for women for other countries).

I coach my son’s team. I still don’t know how it came to be – except they needed someone.  I’m not a great coach – I’m always blown away at how little I know – but I am getting better. Still – I don’t feel qualified to be coaching the more talented kids on the team – including my son. They deserve someone with more knowledge.

We do OK. We win more than we lose. I’d say if there are three classes of teams in terms of ability we are in the upper-second tier. I don’t know if I have the know-how to get them to the highest tier. To sum it up – we get by on being a very athletic team and we have a couple of very good players. Skill wise – we lag – and that’s partly on me. I’m not trying to shirk responsibility but most of the kids learned bad fundamentals and are pretty stubborn about relearning how to do it the right way.

The kids on my team are good kids. I like them and care about them – they’re going to go on to be great men long after their soccer days are over.  I also like their parents. I’ve made a lot of good friends through this.

And yet ...

There’s a club in Allentown. For those of you who don’t know Allentown is the poorest city in our area – and one of the poorest in the state. A lot of kids in their club have cleats donated from other programs.  Up until this season they wore plain cotton t-shirts instead of the expensive jerseys of other teams (I believe a business bought their kids some jerseys).  A lot of the parents don’t speak English – and when one of their kids foul another player you hear a lot of grumbling about how” dirty” they play in Allentown – it’s crap – the “dirtiest” teams I’ve seen are the slow white teams who push because they can’t keep up.

They have all races represented.  Their coach is a strong black man who I’ve always seen carry himself with class. The type of man I was told to make sure I had around when I adopted Jojo.

A big part of me wants my son to play there.

It would mean a lot more commuting to practice – but that’s because where I practice now is so incredibly close.  It would mean removing my son from a team he knows well. It would mean Mary and I getting away from some great people. It might even mean some people feeling betrayed because I left them.

Not surprisingly, my son’s best friends in school are bi-racial. It’s almost like an immediate bond forms. I’m not sure who he considers his “best” friend now or if he even has a ranking system – but not  long ago his best friend was another bi-racial boy named Dashawn.  Dashawn is everything Jojo isn’t. He’s not an  athlete, he has a horrible time making friends because he tries so hard, he gets in trouble in school, not many people have much good to say about him. But Jojo has his back – he’s not going to end the friendship – it’s like they have a bond that is unbreakable.

I’ve never gotten the impression Jojo’s ever been excluded by white kids – his teammates all embrace him and the parents have always been good to him.  But he can play. I don’t think for a second that racism would take over if he couldn’t play – but sometimes I wonder if Jojo feels that way.  It’s an odd thing I really can’t describe – it’s like he doesn’t fully trust them. A part of him seems to wonder “what would you guys think of me if I couldn’t score?” He knows Dashawn doesn’t care – he knows his other minority friends don’t care.

While there are three other minorities on the team (two are Indian), there’s an economic gap between him and the rest of the team.  We do OK – we certainly aren’t anywhere near the poverty line – but nobody else on the team lives on “our” side of town.  I can’t afford team pictures all the time, we don’t have a $200 team bag.

I asked Jojo how he’d feel about playing for another team – and he didn’t hesitate to say that he was fine with it. Mary opined that Jojo would be up for whatever I suggested – and maybe she’s right. But I don’t think it’s that simple. He’s played with some of these kids since he was 5 years old. I gave him every opportunity – almost begged him – to say he’d be really sad to leave this team and his friends. I got no such indication. It’s almost like he wants to play somewhere else.

Jojo is a lot of things but “deep” isn’t one of them. He doesn’t know what day it is some of the time. It’s not that he’s stupid, he just doesn’t give a shit. He gets up in the morning and rolls with whatever the day brings him.

 But lately I’m starting to realize by things he says and does that he’s taking in a lot more than he lets on. I have to wonder if he’s starting to feel that as nice as his teammates are to him, that he really isn’t one of them. I don't know how he sees the world - I don' t know what it's like to be a minority. 

There are four middle schools in our district. Two are in the nicer box house areas, the one that Jojo goes to is in the middle class area but also takes kids from one of the areas biggest projects, and one is almost exclusively poor. Our team breakdown of schools: 75% go to the “better” Middle schools, 14% go to VERY expensive private schools, and Jojo and one other go to the lower/Middle-class school. The other kid’s house is on the market.  None go to the poor school.  Bethlehem only has one travel team – it’s hard to believe the talent is so skewed to one side of town. There is one elite academy team in the area and several Bethlehem kids are on it. Trust me when I say they aren’t raiding kids from Bethlehem’s South side either.

I don’t get it but I can’t escape it.  I want my kid to go to a poorer team – to a team where all the kids live in neighborhoods most people try to avoid. I want my kid to play on a team where they love just having a uniform and being part of something. . I want my son to play for someone who isn’t me – I want my son to have a black head coach.  I don’t know how to explain that to parents – many of which took a big chance on me when they had their kids sign on to play with us.  I consider many of these people friends – I like their kids. It doesn’t make sense to want to leave.  But it doesn’t make sense that Jojo is seemingly indifferent to leaving. He’s familiar with the Allentown team – we’ve played them a couple of times. They are about equal to us in terms of talent – they’ll be better than us with Jojo.

Is this about him or about me? Am I trying to carry on my little vendetta against what I think is a horrible system of US soccer? While Mary and I aren’t rolling in dough – we aren’t poor. We can afford cleats and the multiple tournament fees and camps that playing at this level requires. I don’t want this to be some kitchy thing I do to prove a point – another one of my bipolar benders I will regret in 3 months.

So I need validation – or I need a reality check.  Is it bigoted because I am tired of my son being on a team made up almost exclusively of rich white kids? Is it bigoted to choose one team because of the race of the coaching staff?

For some reason this decision is weighing on me – more than it should. Feel free to comment or PM me.   

Election 2016 Preview: It Will Be as Bad as You Think

Thank you Donald Trump for delaying the inevitable nightmare this election season is going to become.

Oh he’s an ass. But at least he’s different.

Trump isn’t a Republican, he’s donated heavily to Democrats in the past and he certainly hasn’t put any thought into a comprehensive ideology. He is racist – the asinine demand for President Obama’s Birth certificate told me all I want to know. His rants against Mexicans (and women for that matter) resonate heavily with a small part of the GOP. Most Republican’s aren’t racist – but  when you’ve got 30 people on the ticket it doesn’t take much to make you a “frontrunner.” The Donald is an entertainer with a shitload of money. Should this bender of his not end in a parade in 17 months  he’s going to parlay this into something only he could dream up (Congressional apprentice anybody?)

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is doing his part to try and liven up the snoozefest that is the Democratic race. What’s not to like about a guy who has no problem describing himself as a Democratic Socialist and who is one of the leading white voices on income inequality issues despite coming from a state that is essentially a living Gap commercial?

 He has a social media engagement strategy that any marketer would be proud of – his message resonates with Millennials, and minorities – not something you’d expect from a guy who could certainly be living a beautiful life on Lake Champlain. Bernie cares about poor people – and us true progressives love the man.

But he’s too far left. This country isn’t ready for a guy who has no problem describing himself as a Democratic socialist.

No my left-leaning friends – we are stuck with Hillary.

She’s not in her husband’s league as a politician and though she has a firmly Democratic pedigree she doesn’t appear genuine enough to have the kind of credibility with the “everyman” that Bernie has. The unwritten motto of her campaign is “it’s MY turn damn it!” A La Bob Dole, another cure for Somnambulism.

The main appeal of Hillary – besides the secret desire we all have that her husband will assemble a staff of supermodels to assist him in performing his first man duties – is that the mere mention of her REALLY pisses off Republicans.

We all have that friend who posts the memes from Fox News daily on Facebook and you bite your tongue in response because you know darn well they want to start a fight. (I do understand the irony of most of you having come to this link from Facebook). To many Republicans – identifying yourself as a Democrat makes you a commie pinko who sits around and collaborates with his friends for new and inventive ways to get money from Government. We don’t work. We don’t contribute anything, and we basically hate America.

And we’re stupid…don’t forget stupid…

And..who is this Bill?

So we’re getting a grand chance to piss off our “friends” and in the end we’re going to take it. Republican’s emboldened by their wins in mid-terms need to remember that it’s not only the gray-hairs that vote in the big one. She has a very realistic chance – despite her continuing blunders – to go back to the White House and leave many American’s stewing. History hasn’t been kind to black people – but black men made it to elected office and the voting booth before white women. It may be Hillary’s “time.”

The GOP isn’t going to stand idly by and let us have all the fun. Once amateur hour is over we’re going to have the ultimate dream matchup as Jeb Bush will get the nominee and Republican’s will be able to remind us that his dumber brother managed to get TWO terms.

And make no mistake – Jeb is the “better” Bush. He’s far more articulate and has a much greater grasp of the issues than President W. One major thing he has is that he won’t completely take the Latino vote off the table for the GOP. He’s a formidable candidate. He’s much more like his Father than his brother – and that’s a good thing. George Sr. is a brilliant man who got caught paying the bill his processor left.

Decent candidates? Maybe. One has to wonder why this job has to be so focused on two families – but the fact that Hillary and Jeb are on a collision course speaks volumes about where we’re at in this country: Both parties are set to nominate the person who the other side hates the most. There will be no dialogue on issues that actually matter. There will be no progress in uniting this horribly divided country. 

Mitt Romney was right: 47% of the people aren’t going to vote for a Republican – but the other side is there are a similar number who won’t vote for a democrat. 3 to 5% of the people have the true power in  this country – the marginalized and never addressed independents.

No I won’t vote Republican – I’ll explain someday.

But for now – I just want to get this blog going again!!

Soccer tournament this weekend – should be good for some material!

One of my favorite moments in movies

There are some scenes that  no matter how many times I watch it - I get chills. It's been almost 30 years since Dead Poets society came out. I used to cry when I watched it. Part of it was because I was kind of a mess. Part of it was feeling for the characters who could never be themselves.



I cried because I understood Neal's suicide - what was the point of living if you couldn't be who you were really were?



But this small scene maybe explains why Neal didn't get it right - that the human spirit can't be crushed.

Or maybe I'm just sentimental for the 17 year old boy who saw this in awe.

Dewey's Movie Reviews: Jurassic World

Okay, everybody knows this movie is making money faster than it can be printed, but is it any good?  

Yes, yes it is. 

 I was never that big of a fan of the original Jurassic Park--parts of it were too sentimental and over-engineered for me.  But I was keen to see what director/co-writer Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) would do with the franchise.  His idea?  Make a true sequel to the first film.  The park has become a going concern, a working (and safe) tourist destination.  But like all theme parks, there are stockholders to please, and the thrills need to get bigger and bigger (if you think this plot point is a satirical barb aimed at summer tentpole films, you would be correct.) 

 So, with the bottom line (and with a military arm of the In Gen Corporation in play), they have created a brand new dinosaur by use of transgenics--modifying and combining DNA from different sources to create a brand new animal--Indominous Rex.  

Park Director Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) is dealing with getting the I-Rex ready for display (they call it an "asset"), at the same time her nephews Nick and Gray are visiting the park.  Claire does not have time for them, and pawns them off on her assistant. 

 Meanwhile, animal trainer Owen (Chris Pratt) has had success training the deadly Raptors to obey his commands, and to treat him as the pack leader--a development that excites the military liason (played by Vincent D'Onofrio.)  Owen is skeptical about using the Raptors as soldiers, and he is really skeptical when In Gen asks him to check out the genetically engineered I-Rex.  

Before he can get a good look at the beast, the big monster tricks everyone, and suddenly chaos (and a really toothy, bad attitude, genetically modified dinosaur) is loose in Jurassic World.  Claire has to find a way to save her nephews, and the nearly 20,000 other guests at the park, as the I-Rex sets off a deadly chain of events.  Sure, we have seen this kind of thing before, but Trevorrow and his screenwriters have approached the "and then things get worse" credo with a great deal of wit, invention, and childlike enthusiasm.  

Anyone who ever had dinosaur figures and had them fight would have a lot in common with the filmmakers.  Pratt reinforces that he is a movie star--Owen is manly, fun, and fairly serious (he has some jokes, but he plays it pretty straight--and his performance here will do nothing to dispel those Indiana Jones rumors.)  Claire is more than just the corporate, cold businesswoman--she cares for her nephews (eventually) and has as many bad*** moments as Owen.

  I just had a blast with this film--it dodges a lot of what made the first film not work for me, and it shows such great command of action, and suspense (and some really horrible deaths--how did this get a PG-13?)  At the end of the day, a good summer film should be fun, but not insult your intelligence.  Jurassic World succeeds on both counts, as it is much smarter and fleet of foot than some are giving it credit.  

Grade:  A-

Deweys Movie Reviews: Ex Machina

And here is another story with robots, but very different. 

Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) is a young programmer at a huge tech corporation, and he wins a company contest--the prize being a weekend with the company's founder--Nathan (Oscar Isaac)--at his remote, isolated home.  Nathan is a tech genius, and it is like getting to hang with Steve Jobs and Stephen Hawking at the same time.  

Nathan is a bit of a drinker, and a little eccentric, and he drops a huge bomb on Caleb: He has been working on artificial intelligence, and he has a robot that he wants Caleb to meet.  As Caleb and Nathan debate and kick around the concepts of artificial intelligence, and the nature of humanity, Caleb understands that he will be running a Turing test on the robot--to determine if she has a personality, and is "human," and should be shown to the world (or if she should be scrapped as a flawed prototype.)  

Yes, the AI is a "she"--Ava (Alicia Vikander)--and she is a marvel.  A lithe figure that is part human (her face has perfect symmetry) and robotics (like she had rolled out of an Apple lab), Ava presents an alluring and otherworldly presence.   Caleb sits down with Ava, and he is drawn to her, and she to him.  He has many sessions to determine her emotional intelligence, and he marvels at her ability to draw beautiful pictures. 

 Meanwhile Nathan keeps running mind games on Caleb, and soon he begins to doubt his boss' intentions.  Rolling power blackouts effect the house, and Caleb has to make a decision on how much of a prisoner he wishes Ava to be. 

Writer/director Alex Garland has made a fascinating science fiction film here, steeped in intelligence--you have to keep up with the film; not just for the philosophical and technical debates of Caleb and Nathan (and Caleb and Ava), but in the plot twists, as everyone is hiding their true motivations and true intentions.  The film counts down to an inevitability, and I was somewhat let down by a more conventional ending than I was expecting, but movies don't get more intelligent and challenging than this one.  Gleeson is a fine young actor, doing great work here, holding his own with the force of nature played by Isaac (who may be my favorite actor right now.)  Vikander has a tricky role as Ava, and she nails it.  

Ex Machina is not a light exercise in cinema this one, but an incredibly rewarding one to the viewer looking for something more meaty than the average fare.  Grade:  B+.

Dewey's Movie Reviews: Tommorowland

Apparently, I was too much of a sucker on this one--as I fell for it hook, line and sinker. 

I consider director Brad Bird to be one of those genius filmmakers whom has yet to make a bad film--so I was pre-disposed to like this one.  Add to Bird's resume, that I was in the mood for a hopeful futuristic movie, using as a launching board the famous Tomorrowland section at Disney (Land and World), and with the participation of co-writers Damon Lindelof (Lost) and Jeff Jensen (Entertainment Weekly) and George Clooney, how could I not be on the movie's side?  The filmmakers took as their remit that we have fallen too much in love with dystopia and post-apocalyptic fiction, and where has the wide-eyed, hope-for-the-future, we-can-fix-this-world drive gone? 

 Inspired by Walt Disney's vision of a great big beautiful tomorrow, Tomorrowland tells the somewhat convoluted story of a group of dreamers that built--in an alternate dimension--a city of the future, where new technologies and new solutions could be created outside of the normal capitalist (and governmental) systems.  Young Frank Walker attends the World's Fair, determined to win the inventor award for his jet pack (which does not work exactly right.)  When the officious Nix (Hugh Laurie) rejects his jet pack design, a dejected Frank is given a special pin by Athena (Raffey Cassidy) a young girl who appears to be Nix's daughter.  This pin--when Frank rides the "It's a Small World" ride--transports him into Tomorrowland, where he perfects his jet pack, and joins Athena in inventing many wondrous things.

And then something goes wrong, and Frank is thrown out of Tomorrowland.  

Many years later, a fellow young dreamer--Casey Newton (Britt Robertson)--is fighting the forces of entropy in her own way.  Her father works for NASA and he--an engineer--is tasked with dismantling the launch pads; the space program is over.  Casey chooses to sneak onto the base to sabotage the equipment, and set back the attempts to take down the launch pad.  These actions put her in hot water with the authorities (and her dad), and then Athena--still appearing as a young child--gives her a pin like the one she gave Frank.  Whenever Casey touches it, she is shown visions of Tomorrowland (the special effects and editing here are awesome.) 

 Consumed with the promise of Tomorrowland, Casey finds herself pursued by killer robots, and Athena places Casey in the path of an older, very bitter Frank (Clooney.)  Frank has given up--not with inventing things--but on the future.  But Casey has a mysterious effect on his countdown clock (countdown to what?) and he takes a chance on her, helping her escape the robots, and making their way to Tomorrowland.  Can he and Casey save the future?  And why was Frank banned from Tomorrowland in the first place? 

 I have heard commentary that the structure of this film is a bit off, but man, scene to scene, this movie shows such imagination, drive, and wit, that I didn't care.  Bird and his co-writers have a very definite take on our fascination with dystopia, and roundly embrace optimism.  Clooney is very good as the embittered but still open to hope Frank, and Robertson perfectly embodies Casey's optimism and intelligence.  Cassidy is a standout as Athena--I won't reveal her role in the story, but Athena is a wonderfully funny and--eventually--touching presence.  I guess people were not in the mood to get lectured about the world, and our dour attitudes, but I found the film to be bracing, fun, and hopeful.  

Sue me; it worked for me.  

Grade:  A-

Dewey is a friend of mine who regularly shares his movie reviews - they are printed here with his permission!