Sex, Football, and Murder

By Caitlin Graham

Is Mickey Rourke's face, in fact, a deflated balloon? Read on for Caitlin Graham's verdict.

Tony McNamara both wrote and directed his latest film Ashby, another coming-of-age movie in a time when a rite of passage apparently makes the best story. Tall and lanky Nat Wolff plays Ed Wallis, a teenager uprooted to Virginia by his recently divorced mother. Sarah Silverman and her lack of acting skills play June Wallis, Ed’s mother. June is anxious to start her new life with a new job and a new man, while Ed’s father, back in an unspecified location, is not anxious to be anything more than an absentee father making promises he doesn’t uphold.

Despite starting over, Ed is determined to make a name for himself at his new school. His goal is to fit in among those his new literature teacher refers to as “Ritalin-addicted porn freaks.” However, once he opens his mouth, out flows all his knowledge of Hemingway, and then comes his establishment as a nerd, already hinted at by his gawky appearance.  This stereotype is a hindrance, and keeps him from sharing his secret football talent with the world.

Ed doesn’t start to find his place until he meets fellow female nerd Eloise, played by Emma Roberts. Eloise is a science geek, complete with her very own MRI machine that allows her to study people’s brains inside her own garage. Mickey Rourke and his deflated balloon of a face play Ashby Holt, Ed’s neighbour, who also aids in Ed’s ability to thrive at his new school.

Ashby is an ex-CIA agent with only a few months to live, causing him to grow a conscience for things he did as a black-ops assassin. He uses Ed as an unsuspecting and unknowing accomplice in his plans to get revenge on the men who used the government to sanction the murder of an innocent. The only reason Ed becomes involved with his neighbour and his dark past is because his endlessly witty English teacher tasks his class to “meet an old person, talk to them, [and] write about it.”

After Ed and Ashby make each other’s acquaintance there ensues an expected series of events: Ashby murdering a couple people, Ed making the football team, June having sexy times with a guy from work, Eloise falling in love with Ed, and a montage of Ashby mentoring Ed in his ability to fight back against bullies. These clichéd occurrences, along with a smattering of sexual incidents that are more than innuendos, ruin the film’s attempt at being a more astute form of comedic and dramatic entertainment. Not even highbrow lines that include words like “umbrage” and “lexicon” can save it.

The only real thing this movie has going for itself is its character development of Ed and Ashby. Ed is seen as loveable through his shy and awkward behaviour, along with his incessant babbling, and the disappointment caused by his father. The fact that Ed is blind to his father’s behaviour adds to the audience’s desire to like him. In one scene he is even shown standing in the airport with a welcome sign, as his dad told him he was coming to his first football game, but he never shows up. Ashby is seen as loveable because a lot of his past is kept secret until the end. Most of what you see of Ashby at the beginning is the struggle with his diagnosis and his mentoring of Ed, even helping Ed see that his dad is a loser. Once Ashby starts going around shooting up a couple of rich people and using Ed as his accomplice, you can’t help but like him because the plot reveals that his wife died and his daughter committed suicide, which Ashby blames himself for.

The major problem is that this movie is coming two years after The Kings of Summer and The Way, Way Back were released. These films were highly rated, and also focused on the coming of age theme, of boys becoming men. Ashby certainly would be rated much lower if it had come out right on the heels of these movies, but seeing as it was released later it got away with a little more even though a much better film was expected. Despite taking a different spin from mundane, normal life, with the incorporation of assassinations and senior mentorships, the movie falls short of what it sets out to do. It’s not good enough that the evolution of Ed’s character is blatantly apparent. It’s desire to be of a higher standard of comedic entertainment, while maintaining a dramatic effect, would have been achieved if every character was written as well as the smaller role of the English teacher. 

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Caitlin Graham

Caitlin Graham prides herself on saying she graduated university without debt, after working up to six part-time jobs at a time. However, she can be classified as a glass-half-empty person with a tendency to be straightforward. She hopes to become a glass-refillable person after grasping a stable career.

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Impersonating Emotion, by Jack Blare

By Blair Scott

Impersonating Emotion (2015) is a collection of poems written by Canadian author, Jack Blare. The poems are heavily centered on the themes of pain; self-loathing; frustration; anger; alienation; drug addiction; mental health issues; complicated dynamics with friends; and love, as well as the loss of love. Blare’s intelligent, raw, and wittily-crafted expressions of life lived on the edge of drugs and mental health deterioration capture the essence of desperation. Although most of the poems reside on the dark, solemn side of perspective, a few are very subtle, yet heart-warming glimpses into hope that he portrays beautifully. One central dilemma that the reader can draw from his words is the tragedy of understanding one’s limitations, but not being able to control or stop the pain.

Blare tells his story through a candid lens that does not hold back any emotion; he does not filter what he has to say to the world; his friends; his family; his ex-girlfriend. The pain reveals itself like a mirror image of real experience, as if you are reading Blare’s personal journal.

The poems employ abstract technique without abandoning accessibility. The symbols and metaphors he uses are appropriate illustrations of his message, and heighten the reader’s connection with the emotions being expressed.

Blare cleverly draws on the poetic device of contrast, which helps to emphasize the catharsis of his expression; the reader is taken on a roller coaster ride of extremes. He also experiments with the French language in some poems, including “Roast the Pig,” and “Black November (Novembre Noir).” Although the translation does not reflect smooth English, it adds satirical playfulness to the book. In addition, he explores more complex, strict forms of poetry, such as the haiku, in his collection of poems titled, “Haikus for Hank Williams,” and “More Haikus About Death & Orgasms.” 

Blare desperately argues that finding one’s way in life is extremely difficult under the weight of daily drug battles and severe mental health struggles. The clarity of his arguments is often buried under layers of self-destructive torment and dismissive depression. His poems are cathartic expressions of his internal hunger for justice, and war against personal demons. He also argues that it is hard to be understood by those around you, emphasizing the stigma and blame projected onto him, and deeply internalized. He explains that it is difficult to balance the expectations of relationships with the reality of his suffering; from the poem, “Going Blank,” he says:

“Your dream of manicured lawns, shiny, polished mailboxes…

But I bleed silently under smiles, exhausting façade covering the pain hurt & anger.”

Blare feels that the pressures of society further contribute to the alienation and self-depreciation felt by a young man dealing with addiction, depression, and anxiety. We can conclude that drugs are a strong feature of Blare’s self-destruction, but the origin of his suffering resides in mental and emotional conflict.

Blare is highly successful in accomplishing what he set out to do with his poetry. His selected diction is seamless throughout; he has a wide-ranging, creative sense of vocabulary. But he also knows when to appropriately insert language that is more bold and to-the-point, such as swear words or simple sentence fragments that perfectly capture all that needed to be said.

The most notable success of his writing is his depiction of love and betrayal. Blare realistically depicts the blur of pain, anger, and confusion that he feels when he loses his love to one of his best friends. It is a highly controversial subject that raises a lot of questions in the reader’s mind regarding morality. The reader can feel the raw, unfiltered emotion during these segments, and the tone of his voice suggests a retention of these feelings from those that have hurt him.

 From “Positively Pill Box”:

“She & I, virginity, two & a half years

Of lies from both parties.

I was devoted…

Fuck fuck fucking her is my close friend.

I want it to end, I want to end! Get the fuck out of my fucking head!”

 From “Going Blank”:

“Two & a half years together wiped out in one afternoon.

I don’t want your fucking lead poison pity,

When I watch you go to fuck

One of my closest friends.

…Trying to kill the pain & strangle every memory of that two & a half years.”

Perhaps of all forms of writing, poetry is the most difficult to critique. After reading Impersonating Emotion, I gather that Blare is a seasoned writer with exceptional insight into how to depict the complex array of emotions that humans feel within and in relation to the world around them. Perhaps the work is not for everyone, on the premise that it details a lot of self-destruction, drug-use, and suicidal feelings. The only criticism I can draw out is the subjective nature of the content itself.

Blare writes his poetry with purpose and intention in a creative way that genuinely releases emotion. His poems contribute to a meaningful cause by promoting awareness of mental health issues and drug addiction.

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Blair Scott

Blair Scott is a Professional Writing student at Algonquin College, who loves writing poetry. In recent times, she has become interested in the analysis of various sources of health literature, and how consumers come to terms with this multitude of information. Blair currently works at a health food store, but aspires to become a freelance contract writer and editor.