Today I went to see two movies, which is something I haven’t
done for a long time. The second was to make up for the first.
“Sweetgrass” (7.6/10, according to imdb.com) is a movie
(ha!) about sheepherding cowboys in Montana. That’s it. There’s nothing else.
No discernible plot, almost no dialogue, no music, almost no sweeping vistas of
the majestic scenery. There are lots of close-ups of sheep, though, if that’s a
redeeming factor for you – it wasn’t for me. That’s $8 and 101 minutes of my
life I’ll never get back. The only thing worse than the incessant bleating of a
flock of hundreds of sheep was the inane dialogue – if I wanted to listen to
pointless conversation, I could hang out at the bus station for free. The
director, if indeed there was one, must have spent most of the time asleep or
drunk (which I would have been if I was involved). A Montana sheepherder’s life
is demanding, but dull and uninteresting – as was this movie.
“Chloe” (6.8/10) stars Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore, both
of whom I admire greatly. It was well acted, with good dialogue and an
interesting plot that took an unexpected twist towards the end. I can’t say too
much without spoiling it, should you decide to see it, but it definitely made
up for the previous disaster. And Amanda Seyfried is very easy on the eyes.
