Speak

I used to be a contender, but recently I've been choosing sleep over movies. And really, a lapse in my rate of movie-watching is OK. I can't believe I watched 15 movies in the month of March. One or two movies a week should be more my speed.

I'm almost embarrassed for liking this movie, like I wasn't supposed to or something, but I must admit I was really impressed by it. It was not at all what I expected, but in a good way. The one surprising thing that was a little disapointing (and only because I think the netflix synopsis made a little too much of it) was the fact that Melinda isn't all that mute. I mean, she is quiet sometimes, but she talks an awful lot for a mute person. OK, so netflix did specify that she was "selectively mute," but I think the emphasis of the movie is more on speaking (hence the title, right?) than on not speaking. But I love how Melinda discovered art as a way to express herself.

The people in this movie are real. They're human. They're not slick Hollywood portrayals, they're not silly caricatures, they're not too much or too little. Some of the characters may be stereotypical, but none of them are false or overblown. Every person in the movie, from the normal ones to the most eccentric, changes in some way throughout the story. Melinda's parents, who are slightly clueless, aren't ridiculous the way most parents of teenagers are shown in the movies. And it's not just the characters; the story itself is completely real. The only thing that rings a little false is Melinda's seemingly sudden transformation at the end of the movie, after telling her ex-best-friend her big secret. I guess I shouldn't look at it as so sudden, since theoretically the change occurred over the entire school year, but it seemed like it happened all at once on the last day of school. That's my only complaint, though. Excellent movie.