OK film fans, it's late on a cold and snowy Friday night, perfect weather for starting a fire, grabbing a blanket and enjoying a little quality couch time. On a night like this I usually would go with a more serious drama, something that really pulls you in and demands your attention. But it's been a long week and the drive in the snow has only made me tired so I'm going to settle for one I've seen before.
Bodies, Rest & Motion is a slice of life Generation X slacker film from the early 90s I saw when I was young, restless and unburdened by life experience. I saw it originally after an unusually bad break up in my 20s; it struck a nerve and has remained a favorite of mine. Converted from a play by Roger Hedden, who also co-wrote the 90's slacker film Sleep With Me which contained Quentin Tarantino's finest acting moment (hint: it's about Top Gun - jump ahead 38 seconds and you'll see), it tells the story of four twenty something's whose lives are intertwined yet heading in different directions. The title refers to Newton's first Law of Motion and it explains a great deal about the characters we are about to see.
Nick (Tim Roth) has convinced his girlfriend Beth (Bridget Fonda) that they should leave their dead end jobs in rural Enfield, Arizona behind and get a fresh start in Butte, Montana, "the city of the future." Beth decides to follow simply because she isn't very good at creating her own path. He waits until the last minute to spring the news on his neighbor Carol (Phoebe Cates), Beth's best friend and Nick's ex, who he had moved to Arizona with originally. Carol is a bit more dynamic, more assertive than Beth and in it we can see both a connection between her and Nick as well as the source of their breakup. Sid (Eric Stoltz) is a painter who meets Beth in traffic and then coincidentally shows up to paint her house before the new tenants move in the next day. Sid has never left his home town and has no desire to. His explanation is that "if you stay in one place, then your luck knows where to find you."
Unfortunately for Beth, Nick is an overbearing, selfish and feckless punk who fancies himself an adventurous rogue. The day before he and Beth are ready to pack up and move he bolts to Montana without her, grinning like a fool as he drives into the desert. Surprisingly, he calls Carol and makes her break the news to Beth. Beth panics, realizing that she is alone and must move out by the next day. Unsurprisingly, Beth makes a poor choice, gets a little stoned with Sid and ends up in bed rather than focusing on her situation. Sid is ecstatic the next morning while Beth is distraught. The conversations they have that follow are some of the most heartfelt, honest and incisive you will see on film.
As you can tell from the description here this is not a story about big significant moments nor is it an escapist film. It is however free of cliches and filled with subtly effective acting and characters facing realistic dilemmas with believable outcomes. Much like The Shape of Things this film retains much of its play like qualities. It's a dialogue driven film interested in revealing character flaws rather than solving them. If you're looking for a traditional spoon fed ending you will not enjoy this film. But if you're in the mood for a play and you can't make it out to the theater, say on a snowy night like this, Bodies, Rest & Motion can fit the bill.
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