Happy Accidents

So we have been reading Exiles on the Korrektiv Summer Reading Klub. The reading has been very stimulating and I have greatly enjoyed the book.

The discussion at Korrektiv turned to who should be cast, should the book ever be made into a movie. While Rufus from Korrektiv thought that the part of Gerard Manley Hopkins should be played by the fine American actor Casey Afleck, I thought that he might be better portrayed by a Brit, and suggested Sean Biggerstaff (if you haven't been living under a rock this last decade you have seen him as Oliver Wood in the first two Harry Potter movies at least).

I had seen him originally in a beautiful movie directed by Alan Rickman, and starring Emma Thompson and her mother Phyllidia Law called The Winter Guest. He was about 14, and stole every scene from the other kid.

What I found out from his IMDB sheet was that he had made an indy film in 2006 that was all the rage but because of Gradual School I didn't watch many indy movies that year. It went right under my radar. Anyway, I went over to the local Blockbuster here in paradise and thanks to our dear friends here who have a card I checked out Cashback and mrangelmeg and I watched it last night.

The basis of the story is that Ben, the main character breaks up with his girlfriend and it causes him to have insomnia. Since he can't sleep at night, he gets a job on the night shift of a grocery store where he learns to see the beauty of the world around him in his attempt to simply make it through his interminable eight hour shifts without going insane. In the process he meets another woman who helps him to see that there beauty and hope in every moment of your life, you simply have to be aware of them and take advantage of them.

So, thanks to being aware of even what might seem to be the most insignificant piece of information that came through my processor this week I had a very interesting evening watching a movie that I really enjoyed.

And I still think that Sean Biggerstaff would make a better Gerard Manley Hopkins than Casey Afleck.

Pax