Six Feet Under

Starring: Peter Krause, Michael C. Hall, Frances Conroy, Lauren Ambrose, Matthew St. Patrick, Freddy Rodriguez, Rachel Griffiths

Created by: Alan Ball

Running Time: Approx. 1 hr. per episode



Ok, so technically this is a movie blog, and technically, yes, the subtitle of the blog is "a place for me to rant about films both new and old." Yes, that's all true.

But being the god of my little blogger universe, here, I'm able to make exceptions. And since there are some television shows that I've seen that have rivaled or exceeded the quality of many, many of the movies I've seen, I will occasionally delve into the realm of the small screen as well.

As I'm doing today. Six Feet Under was a television show that ran on HBO from 2001 to 2005. Lasting five seasons, the show dug deep [ha ha, get it?!] emotionally and psychologically, exploring the way we as humans tick and our relationship with death, and each other. Ultimately, what Six Feet Under did was, really, explore life, contrasted against the veil of death. It got to the core of the way we as a society and we as individuals feel about the ending of our existence. It was oftentimes funny, sometimes suspenseful and many times very, very sad. Oh- and it was absolutely fucking brilliant.

The series starts out on the day that prodigal son Nate Fisher, played beautifully by Peter Krause (most recentally starring in the TV miniseries The Lost Room) is returning to Los Angeles for Christmas to meet his family. His father and younger brother just happen to run a private funeral home.

On the way to pick Nate up at the airport, Nate Sr. (Richard Jenkins) is killed in a horrific car crash.

What we see next is a family that has drifted apart abruptly thrown together again, left to deal with the death of the family patriarch and what comes after.

Younger brother David (Michael C. Hall) also runs the funeral home. He's uptight, quiet, reserved- the exact opposite of his older brother. He's also gay, though no one in the family knows this yet. His boyfriend, Keith [Matthew St. Patrick], is about as far removed from the societal norm as you can expect- he's a black, gay cop. How's that for defying expectations?

Youngest sibling Claire (Lauren Ambrose) is just reaching the end of high school. And she's following the typical teen pitfalls: Drugs, sex, partying. The usual. She's rebelling and barely standing the rest of her family, who she feels pretty far removed from.

Then there's the matriarch of the clan: Ruth (Frances Conroy) is a tightly wound, conservative mother, who, when we first meet her, has a few skeletons hiding in her closet. You get the feeling that she tries to be the glue that holds the family together, and she tries desperately to keep herself engaged in her children's lives, even as they're actively pushing away.





There are also a couple of other supporting players here, besides the aforementioned Keith, who are worth bringing up, as they end up playing a vital role in the series.

The first is Brenda (Rachel Griffiths), Nate's fling in an airport utility closet that just might be more, is also thrust into this whole mess, meeting Nate literally hours before his father died, and becoming his impromptu emotional support.

Finally there's Federico (Freddy Rodriguez, whom you may remember as El Wray from Grindhouse), who, in the pilot, seems like he'll be a minor player as the "restorative artist" who prepares dead bodies for viewing in the home. He adds a much needed lightness to the Fisher home, and becomes a very vital part of the stories to come throughout the series.

So, now that we have all the characters out of the way (and, yes, I promise the amount of characters in this show don't get confusing) onto the show itself.

The Fisher family is a clan that, you get the feeling, all sort of follow their own path. They've never really been incredibly close, at least not in a long time. Yet they find themselves- conflicts, open wounds and all- in an extremely vulnerable place in the aftermath of Nate Sr.'s death. It's fascinating to watch their lives unfold, and watch the dynamic between them as they prepare one of their own for a funeral.

As you can imagine, this throws a huge wrench into each of their lives: Ruth married Nathaniel at 19, and has never known life without him. For the first time she will have to face the world alone.

David, struggling with his sexual identity and trying to make peace with his life, has always had his routine and the solace that comes with it.

Claire is going through the usual (and not so usual) teenage ups and downs, and now, at the young age of eighteen, must face a life without her father around.

Nate lives in Seattle, and you soon learn that, at the age of 36, his life isn't going the way he planned it. And now, it looks like he might be thrown right into the family business, which is the last thing he ever wanted or expected.

The synopsis I've given here doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of the psyche of these characters. They are written with such exhilarating detail, such finesse, that they become not just television characters, but complete, three-dimensional human beings.





You can also credit that, of course, to the actors, who are all top-notch here. In fact, I would go so far as to say that, as the series moved on and delved further and further into the stories and tragedies of the Fishers, the case produces some of the absolute best acting ever seen on television. They're so raw and so real that I found myself connecting with them more than I have with any other show- I really, truly started to almost think of these people as family.

Of course, huge kudos must go to creator Alan Ball, who, of course, famously wrote the terrific American Beauty. After seeing that film and Six Feet Under, I am convinced that the man can do absolutely no wrong. The characters he has created here are so rich in detail, so relatable, so likeable and complicated and real- that you can't help but fall in love with each and every one of them.

I would feel bad if I didn't include one disclaimer- the show can be slow at times. Reeaaallly slow. That seems to be the modus operandi with HBO shows.

But unlike, say, The Sopranos, which oftentimes would lead up to less that stellar climaxes, Six Feet Under almost always delivers. Yes, things don't really start to pick up until the last three or so episodes of the season, but the build-up is well worth it.

Besides, if you can appreciate a small character study, then you might very well enjoy even the slower moments and build-ups of the show.

Ok, that all being said- there are moments in this show, much like the infamous scene in American Beauty with the plastic bag blowing in the wind- where your jaw drops, and you just feel like someone finally put into words what you couldn't.

This show is so truthful, so brutally honest and yet compassionate about death, that you can't help but be sucked in. They don't pull any punches here, and some of the themes explored can be disturbing or incredibly sad [one episode in particular, when a baby unexpectedly dies, comes to mind.] They don't try to shield you from the subject matter, but they don't try to exploit it, either. This is a show that really wants to pull the veil of secrecy away from death and start a discussion. It really wants you to emotionally face the fear and the sadness and the loss of our finality, and explore every aspect of it. It would be insulting if they held back at all, and they don't. They treat you like an adult.





And that's part of what makes this show so great- it really does explore things in new ways, some of which haven't really been seen on television before. And it feels so real as it does it. There's no Hollywood fakery here. The characters often react just the way a real human being would react. People sob. Not just cry, in that fake, movie sort of way where one tear falls down their cheek- people sob, the way that real people sob. The way you would sob if you lost a loved one. The show really captures that moment, when your whole world seems to fall away, and you're left with nothing but a void of unimaginable sadness. It really tries to convey the way this feels- and not the way it's usually done on television, where things wrap up in a nice, neat little package- these issues, these moments, these situations are real, and our characters are going to have to deal with very real consequences from them.

When all is said and done, Six Feet Under really isn't about death. It's about life. It's about the ways in which our lives intertwine, and go in unexpected places. It explores life in its entire spectrum of emotion- from sadness to happiness; hopelessness to optimisim; heartbreak to beautiful, fulfilling love. It explores the bonds that hold a family together; the romantic relationships that sometimes work out the way we'd like and sometimes don't; and the way we view mortality- the way some of us fear it, some of us embrace it, and everything in between.

More than any other show on television, Six Feet Under beautifully explores what it means to be human. I can't tell you how many times I watched the show and just felt a chill run up and down my spine, the way it really seemed to tap into something that I had rolling around in my brain but I just couldn't quite put into words. That is the true power of the show.

If you're interested in watching the show, I would recommend a few things. First, it's absolutely, positively essential to start from the beginning. Just like a great film, missing any part of it would defeat much of the power of the show, and you'd really be missing out.

Secondly, stay the hell away from the Wikipedia entries, as they spoil quite a bit. And, if for some reason you just go crazy and buy the whole series boxset, don't read the little booklet that comes from the show, as it spoils a lot of plot points, especially the final episode of the show.

Finally, sit down, relax, and really pay attention to this thing. It'll suck you in and keep you riveted right to the end. Trust me on this one. You'll thank me later.

Hard Candy

Rated R for: disturbing violent and aberrant sexual content involving a teen, and for language

Running Time: 1 hr, 40 min

Starring: Ellen Page, Patrick Wilson

Rating: One and a half stars [out of four]

On DVD now



I'm going to begin this review with a warning: Due to the nature of this movie, it is almost impossible to write anything about it without giving away the very first twist. If you, for some unknown reason, actually want to watch this barely entertaining film and are afraid of spoiling anything, then stop reading now.

Other than the initial twist, I won't reveal any other spoilers.

Hard Candy is supposed to be one of those psychological, low-budget, no frills cat-and-mouse thrillers that keeps you captivated from the word 'go.' What it will end up doing, ultimately, is leave you scratching your head, wondering how such an intriguing idea on paper was executed so poorly.

Jeff (Patrick Wilson) is a 32 year old photographer who also happens to be a paedophile. He ends up chatting on the internet to the 14 year old Hayley (Ellen Page) who, infatuated with the older man, agrees to meet him for coffee.

Pretty soon they're back at his place, talking, flirting and drinking. It looks pretty bad for Hayley, and we fear that she may be Jeff's next victim.

Then something unexpected happens. Hayley, after warning Jeff about just this sort of thing, mixes him a drink. Pretty soon he starts to feel woozy. Soon after that he passes out cold. And soon after that he wakes up in a chair, his hands and legs tied down, leaving him completely vulnerable and unable to move anywhere. Looks like Jeff just messed with the wrong 14 year old girl.

Sounds intriguing, right? That's what I thought. It sounded like an interesting concept that could have played out in so many interesting and unexpected ways. What exactly does Hayley have in mind for Jeff? How will this affect our perception of Hayley? And, probably most disturbing of all, how strong are our convictions about this situation? Will we end up sympathizing with Jeff, essentially switching sides and empathizing with the enemy? Will Hayley turn out to be as damaged as Jeff?

Those are all very interesting questions, and in the hands of a filmmaker and writers more talented, those could have been answered in interesting and fascinating ways. The truth is, though, that after awhile, you really don't care about all that anymore. In fact, after awhile, you really just want the damned thing to end.

That's because Hard Candy isn't an interesting cat-and-mouse game. It tries to be, but it fails miserably. What we end up getting is Hayley, acting way beyond her age, mentally and emotionally torturing Jeff and Jeff screaming, crying and begging for her to stop. And that's pretty much all we get for the next, oh- two-thirds of the movie, at least.

You sit back and watch this unfold and can't help but have this feeling of, "That's it?" It's not that nothing happens in the plot, but what does happen just doesn't grab you the way you'd expect it to. It goes through the motions, sure, but there's nothing here that really keeps you riveted until the very end [or even the middle, for that matter.]

When the climax finally arrives, you're really too bored to care much what happens to these characters. We don't really find out what makes them tick, which would have been an interesting exploration [especially of Hayley's character] but director David Slade and writer Brian Nelson don't really delve into that. They're too busy teasing us with Hayley's ultimate, horrifying plan for Jeff. Which is too bad, because you get the feeling there are a lot of unexplored avenues that we could have delved into, instead of just skimming the surface of these characters' psyches.

That's not to say that there isn't some exploration into what makes these characters tick, but there's not much.

By the same token, it's not to say that there's no entertainment or suspense to be found in Hard Candy...just not much.