Cynthia and Yvonne's last Road Trip to Disney World
Hello! This is our report about our trip to see On the Edge in Austin, Texas. Our apologies for taking so long to get this down, but we’ve both been incredibly busy over the last few weeks. Yvonne started class and is working full time and my grandmother died a few weeks ago. We have been meaning to get this review out for a long time.
We just wanted to let you all know what we went through to get there and what we thought of the movie.
The review itself was written by Cyn. I (Yvonne) didn’t write a review of my own, because Cyn and I pretty much think the same way. We agreed that she would write a review and that I would add my thoughts whenever I felt it was necessary. Those thoughts will be in BOLD and RED letters. Hopefully, it won’t be too confusing to anyone!
I think this is Yvonne's way
of saying we share a brain. About the only thing we don't agree on is the Dallas
Slugs (Dallas Stars for you non-hockey fans).
**~~**
When Yvonne informed me that the movie would be showing only four hours away from where she lived, I immediately said that we had to attend. My best friend of 18 years lives in Austin and my Aunt and Uncle live in San Antonio, so it seemed like a great way to go see the movie we’ve all been waiting to see for a long time, and at the same time get to do a lot of visiting. The problem lies in that I live in Kentucky, and in addition to that, I had just started a new job. I didn’t know if my boss would be thrilled at me taking a day off, but we decided to go ahead and plan the trip out just in case I could get off.
Not to mention that I had to get off work as
well. My boss isn’t very strict about giving me time off, but we’re in the
middle of our busiest time, so it’s harder for either one of us to take time
off.
I was worried about airfare and with just reason. Most tickets from my state to Yvonne’s were over 500 dollars, which was a bit pricey for us. However, during a random check of fares I found a perfectly cheap ticket that would leave from the airport closest to my wilderness Kentucky home and went to the airport closest to Yvonne’s house in Dallas. I bought the ticket based on the first dates given for the movie and Yvonne and I did the dance of Joy.
A very big dance of Joy it was too… Cyn and I
don’t get too worked up over much of anything, but we’d wanted to see this
movie ever since we learned about it some time ago. Realizing that we were
finally going to get to see it was wonderful for us.
The first date we were given was Friday, August 17th. We planned the trip around that date, which had me arriving in Dallas the Thursday before the last day of the movie (8-16) so that we could drive to Austin the next day and have plenty of time for the last showing of the movie. Two weeks later, we found out that the theater in Austin was not going to show the movie past Thursday night, which was the date of my arrival to Dallas. We tried everything we could think of from changing my departure date/time (which had change penalties and fees of over $900) to me trying to get a new ticket and fly directly into Austin, meaning that Yvonne would have to drive down alone from Dallas and pick me up at the airport in Austin. Any way we looked at it, we always missed the start of the last show time by minutes.
And let me tell you, if I had to drive to Austin
by myself, it would have pretty much put us way behind schedule anyway, since I
have no clue where anything is Austin is. I’ve lived in Texas for 13 years,
but I have never gone to Austin. Outside of Flute Solo competitions at the
University of Texas at Austin, that is, when I was in high school.
After resigning ourselves to the fact that we would be in Austin on the day after the last day of the movie’s showing, we consoled ourselves with the fact that we did our best to see JJ and his latest movie. We were very disappointed, but there wasn’t much else that we could do to get us there a day early. We told ourselves that it was okay, and that no matter what, we would still see each other and get to visit, which is important because we usually only get to see each other once a year. Yvonne planned out a great weekend for us. The weekend consisted of us seeing Big D, going computer shopping and eating cheesecake (my favorite activity) and we resolved ourselves to not obsess over the fact that we were going to miss the movie.
I have to point out that the timing of the
movie’s showing corresponds to the hottest month in Texas. I think the average
temperature, with the heat index added in, for the week before Cyn’s arrival,
was 105. I’ve lived in Dallas a great number of years and I’m very much used
to the incredibly hot weather that we have here. Cyn, however, is not used to
it. She thrives when the temperature is in the 40s and 50s .She always said that
she would NEVER come to Texas because it’s way too hot and dry here. But she
decided to come anyway, during our hottest month, when we had a chance at seeing
Jonathan’s new movie. The fact that we were not going to be able to see it
made that much more of a difference and added to our slight depression :o).
Strangely enough, a few days before I was set to leave for Dallas, I called the airline company one more time to see if they would let me take an earlier flight than the one I had bought a ticket for. This time, I was told that I could go standby on the same day and they wouldn’t charge me anything for taking an earlier flight if I managed to get on. I would have to take an additional day off work, but there was a chance that I could leave early Thursday morning instead of late Thursday night. Yvonne and I did our dance of joy one more time, realizing that the worst thing that could happen was that I would get to the airport at 5:30 AM only to sit there all day (if all flights were full) until my original flight left at 5 pm. We would still miss the showing, but at least we would have tried every last thing possible.
My boss gave me another day off with no problem, and my mother begrudgingly agreed to get up at 4:30 AM and drive me an hour to the airport. She had just seen Skeletons in the Closet, which is the only movie that she’s EVER asked to watch twice. She even said that JJ was nearly as good an actor as Gregory Peck, which is the biggest compliment I think she’s ever given any actor. Of course, no one outside of a few of our friends understood why I was going to fly over 1300 miles and drive four more hours to see a movie.
My friends didn’t understand either. I told my boss what Cyn and I were doing and why, and she was surprisingly cool with it. She even gave me alternate routes to take when we were trying to have Cyn fly into Austin and me drive down there. She also let me have the extra day off that I would also need, even though I knew that she needed me there to help with orders. It was a fun thing to do, though!
After 2 hours of sleep, I was in the airport early Thursday morning, dazed and confused and happy to be on the flight to Chicago, where I would again have to wait standby for a flight to Dallas. Having gotten the first ticket, I arrived at O’Hare to a wonderfully gloomy morning. I lived in Chicago for a year and I adore the city. I am still amazed that I restrained myself from getting on the El, going to town and shopping instead of heading for muggy Dallas. I called Yvonne to give her the good news, only to wake her up because of the time difference. The airline gods were with us and I actually arrived in Dallas at the earliest possible time, which was 10:30 Thursday morning, instead of my original 8:30 PM arrival time. This was important because we knew that the movie was showing at 4:20, 7:20 and 9:20 and we wanted to see the movie as many times as possible. After many mishaps with the rental car people (trust me, if you are UNDER 25 you do not want to rent a car. They charged us more to add Yvonne as a second driver than the total rental itself. But seeing how I had no sleep and wasn’t forming coherent sentences, Y really needed to drive.)
Thank goodness that I drove too. Cyn would have
crashed us into a barrier or two, since I-35 South was littered with
construction from Dallas almost to Austin. But it does suck to be under 25.
They’ll rent to me, but charge an arm and a leg for it.
We swung by Y’s house to get her stuff and see her home. I finally got to see where she lived and her computer. I have been dying to get my hands on her computer for over a year because it desperately needed to be worked on. I had a new hard drive that I was going to install into her machine, and I was looking forward to finally getting to tear her computer apart.
Yvonne drove us the entire way to Austin. It was during this four-hour ride that she informed me that she’d never driven on a long trip before. That might explain why she was attached to the outside lane the entire way there.
Hey, now… how was I supposed to know? I drive
30 miles to and from work every day on various Dallas freeways and the only way
to get anywhere is to drive on the left lane. How was I supposed to know that
you don’t do that on long distance trips? I had never driven more than 45
minutes at a time before that. And let me tell you, when I got to Austin, I felt
like scratching my eyes out. They were so tired and very blurry. I don’t
recommend long distance driving to anyone!
We were so giddy about finally getting to see OTE. I mean, we’d heard about this movie forever and we were finally going to get to see it. Not to mention that just getting to talk to each other in person is a treat for us. We cranked up the U2 and talked the entire way there.
We got to Austin around dinnertime and met my childhood friend and his boyfriend for dinner. They took us to the place were the Bush daughters got busted for drinking. I have to say that this place has great food. Yvonne the Mexican expert loved it too. Wanting to stay sober, we did NOT drink like underage Bush girls but rather ate quickly and rushed to the theater.
Ohhh, the restaurant was EXCELLENT. If you’re
ever in Austin, go to Chuy’s. They have the best Tex-Mex food. I’m usually
very critical about Mexican restaurants, because I can get the authentic thing
from my brother’s mother, but this place rocked!! They had the best Taco
Salad. Anyway, enough rambling about food…
I have to say that the place where the movie was shown was awesome. Each theater has a different theme. We saw one that had an Egyptian theme, while the theater OTE was showing had a Gothic feel to it. I mean, think Wyndemere guys. It had faux concert walls (Yvonne checked them out) and huge gargoyles. Y had to make sure that I didn’t try to make off with one, since I have a small collection of the critters.
It was hard, I tell you. She kept eyeing the
gargoyles throughout the opening trailers.
I am so glad that no one was sitting near us. We were giggling like little girls in anticipation of the movie. I mean, Y was practically bouncing in her seat.
Okay, so when I get excited, I get excited. And
we were so freaking exhausted already from our trip that we were just happy to
be there!
The review
Let me say that everything we went through to see
this movie was well worth it. On
The Edge is a great movie and Jonathan is simply brilliant.
I mean, the scene in the car with Cillian literally made the 1300-mile
flight and 4-hour drive worth it. I
think this will be one of his more memorable scenes for years to come.
I have to say that I am not a great movie fan. I like
movies, but I don’t know directors or actors or production stuff. So,
if some of my terms are lame or incorrect, I apologize in advance.
I have friends who direct and act and I know they are cringing at this
review, but these are just our thoughts and feelings about the film.
First off, Yvonne and I both reacted the same to most
everything in the film and we have the same general opinion about it, which
isn’t surprising since most of you know we share a brain.
Believe
me, it stopped being strange or freaky after the first year we knew each other.
Now it’s just a fact. That’s why you’re only reading one review and not
two. Our opinions on it were pretty much the same.
I think that the acting was great. I am going to use
the actor, rather than the character names, to avoid any confuse with Cillian/Jonathan
and JJ/Toby. Cillian (outside
of the George Jefferson walk, which annoyed me through both showings) is a very
talented actor. He did a nice job
with the material and really seemed natural in this role.
Jonathan’s role was easily the most empathetic.
While I was happy to see Jonathan get so much airtime, I would have been
even happier to see his character get more of the film’s focus and have the
love “triangle” fade into the background.
The first thing, besides the accent that I noticed,
was that Jonathan had absolutely NO mannerisms that I was familiar with.
After watching him for years on GH and seeing all his work repeatedly,
Yvonne and I were stunned that he seemed like another person all together.
Gone were all the familiar expressions and mannerisms that we had seen in
the past. It was truly awesome to see him so immersed in a character.
There was only one half second, in the car scene with Cillian, that I
thought I saw something familiar, but it morphed into a different reaction all
together. I was very excited at this, because to me, so many actors rarely shake
actor traps and mannerisms. It’s like I never forget the actor and get into
the character. But once the first
few scenes were over (and I got used to the accent) I forgot about Jonathan and
focused on Toby.
The accent was great. In the beginning, Jonathan’s voice was so soft that I
couldn’t make out what he was saying, but then as the film went on, the accent
seemed to get stronger and stronger. I didn’t even realize that he was
“doing” an accent because it was so very natural and blended well with the
other actors. I really was
impressed with Jonathan’s ability to create such a realistic character while
maintaining a different accent and a different set of mannerisms.
I
have to whole-heartedly second that last opinion. Most actors have a hard enough
time acting their part with their own language, diction and familiar manners. It
was absolutely amazing for Jonathan to deliver such a strong and convincing
performance, all while perfectly executing an Irish accent and completely
different mannerisms.
As for the film as a whole, I have to preface this
part by saying that I have a Masters in Psychology, which makes it difficult for
me to watch or read anything that deals with psychological areas.
I tend to get over involved and technical, which makes it hard to sit
back and enjoy the film. That said, I think that OTE
could have been put together better from a technical point of view.
I would have been happier if we had gotten more character development for
Toby and if there had been more therapy scenes for the group as a whole.
There was very little information given to us about
the facility they were in, except that those who were residents had to wear
pajamas and Dr. Figure (the shrink) didn’t give out drugs.
I wanted to see the kids explore their feelings more, or express a deeper
level of angst than was shown. It was hard to remember at times that this was a
mental facility and not a dorm. And
yes, I wanted to know if Toby’s family visited him, if he was making any
progress in his therapy and what his general condition was.
That information, coupled with more Rachael/Toby scenes would have made
the ending better for me.
It seemed like there were some scenes involving
Jonathan/Rachael/Toby that were missing or had been cut out of the film. I would
have liked a few more establishing what kind of relationship that Toby and
Rachael had and how they were impacted by the arrival of Cillian’s character.
The ending was hard to take for me. Not because I
didn’t buy it, but because I totally disliked the person over whom it was
being done for. Rachael was one sick puppy. To be clinically correct, she had
serious issues and in my opinion was definitely in need of serious
psychotherapy. But it’s very hard
to empathize with such a character. However, the fact that Toby obviously felt
so much for the girl really broke my heart.
I wish we had gotten more scenes between these two to further develop and
explain the relationship.
Here
is my two cents on the whole Rachel/Toby thing: It was highly underdeveloped,
which made the climax so unbelievably empty and cruel. I am a strict believer in
character development, and this movie was sadly lacking. JJ did wonderful with
the material he was given, but that didn’t make up for the fact that the
character itself was not explained very well at all. The writers could have done
so much more with the three talented actors they had, but sadly, did not
deliver.
That said, this was a great film, with beautiful
imagines and a nice plot. Any film
that allows us to see Jonathan express such a wide range of emotions is a
keeper. I can’t begin to tell you
what a great job he did with his role. The
acting was superb and the nuances that he brought to the character really made
the film. I can honestly say that I
wouldn’t have liked the film nearly as much if Jonathan had not been playing
Toby.
Ditto
for me!! Then again, that seems to have been the case with the last few movies
that Jonathan has made.
A few comments about some of Jonathan’s scenes
The first time we see Jon, he’s in pajamas and a
robe. He makes this joke that the
shrink totally misses and gets the group laughing. I loved the look on JJ’s face when he made the joke and
realized that the shrink didn’t get it. It was funny in a “who’s the crazy
one” kind of way.
The scene with Toby and Cillian breaking out of the
hospital and going for a beer was great. I
loved seeing how Toby changes his clothes and adds that wonderful jacket to his
pajamas. And oh my, we get to see
him be bad in this flick. I mean, he smokes and he holds beer in several scenes.
There was just a wonderfully endearing quality to
Toby, a sense of adventure and empathy that radiated from him during the entire
movie. It made you want to know more about him, and in my opinion, it totally
diverted attention away from the main character played by Cillian.
Yvonne and I both loved the little move that JJ did
in the street after they eluded the men chasing them. I can’t really explain
what he did, but it had this lovely little body wave quality to it that was
cute. It was funny in a flippant,
yet non-confrontational way.
The much discussed car scene is the best part of the
movie. I just can’t say enough
about it. Yvonne and I talked about it for days.
Toby and Cillian’s character are sitting in a stolen car, discussing
why they were in the hospital. As
Toby tells the story of his brother dying and how his last cup of tea stayed
warm longer than his brother’s body, you
could literally see people holding their breath in the theater, hanging onto his
every word.
This has to be one of the best scenes of JJ’s
career, up there with the rape stuff with Tony G. on General Hospital and the
last few scenes of Skeletons.
We get the single tear falling perfectly down his cheek, yet the accent
never waivers a bit. I can’t even imagine how JJ managed to give that emotional
of a performance, while keeping the accent perfectly level and completely real.
The poetry scene was very touching.
Toby takes a moment to read Rachel a poem he’d written for her.
The scene was so great. JJ’s accent was perfect, as was his body
language. You could tell that he was crushing on this girl, and that he’d
written this eloquent poem for her, yet didn’t have the ability to tell her
about his feelings. They hug at the
end of the scene, and you can just sense that Toby is trying to soak up the
girl’s very essence. It’s
almost as if Toby is trying to save both of their lives with that hug.
There are several great JJ moments in the film. I
loved seeing him hotwire the car, and to see him doing so many “bad” things
like curse, drink and smoke was different too.
The bowling scenes are hilarious. I mean, as a horrible bowler who once
threw the ball backward toward where the people were and not down the lane, I
could totally relate. I mean, you get one outing a week from the nuthouse, and
it would have to be doing an activity I suck at. I just have to say that I KNOW all the ladies will LOVE the
bowling scenes. Great wardrobe
choices…lol.
The scenes toward the end of the movie build to a
feeling of dread. You know something is going to happen just by the music and
the interactions between the major characters. I loved the scene where JJ sees
Cillian and Rachel together. You
can see the pain emanating from his body. We
also get to see him do this little dance move that is too cute for words.
Jonathan’s last scenes are great. I just can’t express how wonderful he is
in this movie. All that was missing
from his last scene was a song by the Cure.
I have to say that I WAS surprised by the ending.
Yvonne kept saying what she thought was going to happen, which did, but being
Mary sunshine that I am, I was CONVINCED that the movie was building to a ending
to lead the viewer into a false sense…so at the end you’d be totally
surprised. I was wrong. Very wrong.
Mary
Sunshine I am not, so it was easy for my brain to go in the direction that the
movie would eventually head down. I kept telling Cyn, but she said that it
wouldn't happen, that they wouldn't do it. I love being right...
:o)
There is some really good acting in this movie.
Cillian definitely has a bright future ahead of him. He’s got a bright stage presence and an interesting manner
about him that makes him interesting to watch on film. I don’t know why he walked like George Jefferson at times
in the movie, but it’s the only thing about him I didn’t like.
I would have liked to have seen more of Steven Rea as he’s always
great. There are some minor
characters that really add to the movie as well, like this old lady who has her
spot by the window and Nick, who is in therapy with Toby and Jonathan. I also
thought Jonathan’s older brother was good too.
The last thing that I want to say is the soundtrack
is AWESOME. I have NEVER seen a soundtrack that so adequately reflected a
movie’s tone and action so well. I was so amazed by the music and how it
accentuated the movie’s actions and emotions. I want to get this soundtrack
asap. The last song that is played is brilliant. I can’t remember the name of
it, though I actually told someone on the list a few weeks ago, but it’s a
great soundtrack.
We got to see the last two showings of the movie. The
guys at the ticket counter thought we were a bit strange seeing the same movie
twice in a row, but heck, we weren’t going to not see this film back to back.
It was an awesome experience. I can’t wait to see it again.
We spent the rest of the weekend running around San
Antonio (we saw the Riverwalk and the Almao) and we went back to Dallas a day
later. Needless to say, we drove around the state of Texas a LOT and had tons of
fun.
I got to meet Yvonne’s charming father and finally
got my hands on her poor computer. You all should have seen the look on her face
as I took the poor computer apart bit by bit. It was too funny. She looked
shellshocked. I think she was
amazed when I put it back together and it actually booted up. Of course the rest
of the upgrades I did didn’t work, but that’s another story.
Actually, it would have been more fun to have a picture of Y's face. She was horrified at her precious computer in pieces. Of course the fact that there's a hammer in the picture might explain her horror.
I hope that you all get to see the movie. It is such
a great film.
It is
a wonderful movie! I don't understand why it is not being widely released. I
think that a lot of people would enjoy it, if only they had a chance to watch.
