I Wish, I Wish... Hanna and Certified Copy

Why is it so difficult for me to just enjoy what a movie has to offer instead of wishing for what it could have been?

Case in point #1:  Hanna

If there wasn't my revered Joe Wright (Pride and Prejudice) and Saoirse Ronan--who owned the film, I would have walked out of the theater and said, "Okay, whatever." But they were there and I walked away vexed. Instead of living, by proxy, Hanna's experience, I was continually sidestepping the plot holes, pretending not to see them (Hint: spoiler Homing beacon? Huh? end spoiler). I wanted more Ursula Le Guin's character Tenar from The Tombs of Atuan. "It was very strange. Living, being in the world, was a much greater and stranger thing than she had ever dreamed." I have to admit that I am not an action film aficionado--no crossing the t's or dotting the i's here. Bring on the handheld!

#2 Certified Copy

I rarely get to go to a bona fide art house cinema and was thrilled to be there. I watched and waited and wished to love it. I must have fallen asleep for a while because when I opened my eyes, they had shifted in their chairs and were now discussing how he snores when he sleeps. I was mortified to think that I might have just foreshadowed to the audience around me that piece of dialogue. Here I had beautiful actors, beautiful scenery, beautiful languages, but the self absorbed dialogue was no more interesting than what I hear around me on a typical day. The film left me as cold and detached as William Shimell's character.