Two Summer Entertainments That Deliver

Give me art over entertainment any day. In fact, my days are spent doing my best to create and consume art.
In art, something deep calls to something deep within us, something profound is explored, experienced.

Art affects us in ways we’re not even aware of—nor will even ever fully understand. We’re usually pretty aware of what entertainment is doing to us—even when we willingly suspend disbelief and gladly give into the manipulation.
Art feeds the soul. Entertainment offers escape, diversion, short-lived pleasure—like a big slice of key lime pie.

Still, there’s a place for entertainment (I happen to love Florida’s official pie). Entertainment, like dessert, makes life sweeter, and that’s no small thing.

As far as entertainment goes, you could do a lot worse than “The Hangover” for laughs and “The Taking of Pelham 123” for thrills.

In “The Hangover,” two days before Doug Billings wedding, the four men in the wedding party hop into his soon-to-be father-in-law’s Mercedes convertible for a 24-hour stag party to Las Vegas.

Phil, a married high school teacher, has the same maturity level as his students when he's with his pals. Stu, a dentist, is worried about everything, especially what his controlling girlfriend, Melissa, thinks. Because she disapproves of traditional male bonding rituals, Phil has to lie to her about the stag, telling her that they are going on a wine tasting tour in the Napa Valley. Alan, Doug’s future brother-in-law, seems to be unaware of what are considered to be the social graces of the western world.

The morning after their arrival in Las Vegas, three of the four men awaken in their hotel suite with an amnesiac hangover. The suite is in shambles, the past twelve hours are a blank, and Doug is missing. As Phil, Stu and Alan try to find Doug by piecing together clue by clue, they go on a journey of discovery, of debauchery, that’s both disturbing and hilarious.

As adults, we have the need for fun, for escape, for freedom, no less than children—and probably far more. Entertainment, like trips to Vegas, provide this. But we need more than just an occasional movie or getaway. We need to incorporate an atmosphere of carnival in our daily lives, learning to enjoy ourselves along the way—not live in little boxes like prison cells we try to escape from any chance we get. We should sing and dance and celebrate everyday for the gift it is—enjoying the pleasures of our bodies and souls, of art and music and literature and charity, and the good company of other partying pilgrims. If we do, we’ll have far less to escape from, and we’ll begin to understand Jesus’ vision of the Kingdom of God as a party.

If waking up in Vegas isn’t your thing, perhaps I could interest you in a ride on the subway.

Before this recent collaboration, director Tony Scott and actor Denzel Washington teamed up on “Crimson Tide,” “Man on Fire,” and “Déjà Vu.” And while “Pelham” isn’t anywhere near as good as their best, “Man on Fire,” it holds up well enough next to the others.

In “The Taking of Pelham 123,” Denzel Washington stars as New York City subway dispatcher Walter Garber, whose ordinary day is thrown into chaos by an audacious crime: the hijacking of a subway train. John Travolta stars as Ryder, the criminal mastermind who, as leader of a highly-armed gang of four, threatens to execute the train’s passengers unless a large ransom is paid within one hour. As the tension mounts beneath his feet, Garber must use every resource and ounce of experience he has in a battle to outwit Ryder and save the hostages.

Walter Garber, flawed, everyman though he is, acts heroically, and speaks to that which is heroic in us all. He challenges us to rise to the challenges we’re given, extending ourselves on the behalf of others—the very definition of love. Does that mean there’s nothing more heroic than a life dedicated to love? I certainly believe that.

You won’t find anything original or groundbreaking in either of these flicks, but what they do, even when overly familiar, they do well. And though technically, only “Pelham” is a true remake, there have been so many buddy/bachelor party/Vegas movies made that “Hangover” might as well be. Regardless, it works—both movies do. “Hangover” is laugh-out-loud funny and “Pelham” is edge-of-your-seat exciting. Neither film rises to the level of art, but both do what they’re intended to. Dare we ask more of light studio-produced summer entertainment?