Big Eden...

[fajrdrako]

I couldn't help thinking of Northern Exposure while watching the movie Big Eden with maaseru. It's a low-key romance about an artist, Henry Hart, who comes to help his ailing grandfather in a small Montana town, where he again meets up with his high-school boyfriend, and with the quiet man who runs the local store, Pike Dexter, played by the gorgeous Eric Schweig.

It wasn't as romantic as I'd hoped, but it was insidiously endearing. Before the end of the movie, it seems everyone in the whole town is trying their hand at matchmaking to get Henry and Pike together, which made me wonder in what universe a town in Montana is so ebulliently gay-friendly. There was a whiff of wish-fulfillment fantasy about it. George Coe plays Henry's grandfather, an old man of such kindness and charm that everyone should have such a grandfather.... and I, who never knew my grandfathers, felt quite envious.

It took me a while to figure out what I knew George Coe's face from. He played Clark Kent's grandfather in Smallville.

Henry seemed passive and indecisive about his life, which I don't find endearing. I wanted to give him a good shake. But the movie charmed me anyway.

Comments

[jkluge.livejournal.com]

which made me wonder in what universe a town in Montana is so ebulliently gay-friendly.

A lot of people seem to miss this, but it always surprises me a little bit, because I *don't* think of myself as quick to pick up on subtleties (therefore I assume this can't be subtle): the title. Big Eden? It's a vision of what the writer/director *want* that small town in Montana to be: all the best qualities of a small caring community, without the prejudices. They want us to watch the movie and see an "eden" -- a paradise where this story is possible.

I adore Big Eden. I'm so glad you enjoyed it, too. And Eric Schweig is a total hottie. I recently rented another movie he starred in, Skins.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

the title. Big Eden? It's a vision of what the writer/director *want* that small town in Montana to be

I still don't quite get it - I didn't understand the title. I thought it might be an American phrase I was unfamiliar with, liek the phrase 'Big Sky' being applied to the prairies. Do you mean the place was an analogy for the Garden of Eden? Thinking that way made me just think that there would be a serpent and they'd all get kicked out.

I did like seeing a place that was so idyllic, though. Once I got past my own aversion for living in the country. The gorgeous scenery helped there.

And it really is a lovely, lovely idea that a town could be so prejudice-free.

I have been in love with Eric Schweig since The Last of the Mohicans. I haven't seen him in much else - I'd like to see him a lot! He should be on my sexy-men list, which (I am happy to say) is getting longer and longer.

So what was Skins like?