Dumplin'

"Find out who you are and do it on purpose" - Dolly Parton

Damn, Julie Murphy. You wrote every fat girls story. I knew this going into the movie tonight, this cold December night I tucked myself into bed with a box of tissues, some pizza, and my cat. I was prepared. Ready to experience one of my favorite books on the "big screen", not to mention all the Dolly and Jennifer Aniston my heart desired. Well, Julie, I cried the entire time, mission accomplished, job well done. The movie is as bright, delicious, and strong as the book, with a little extra sparkle and zhuzh.

I hope everyone out there takes a minute to think about the fat girl inside of yourself, whatever that means, and think about fondly wishing her luck on her mission to finding out who she is on purpose.

Dolly Parton's wonderful songs (and her distinct voice) are the highlight of this film. That said, "Dumplin'" film feels like a low-risk, tv special, played at 8 pm. The script is overly-sentimental, and while the themes are worthy, the delivery felt flat.

Several characters who deserved to be fleshed out got the short-shrift. I'd like to see a more layered narrative of the lives of drag queens, apart from their entertainment value, but this film missed the mark. Even "Bo", the teenage hunk was reduced to a cardboard figure, imbued with cliched sound bites. Kathy Najimy (a fine actor) was given a perfunctory role, filled with animated actions.

If you want to see Aniston deliver a riveting portrayal, see the film "CAKE". Sadly, she is not believable in this role. Although "Patti Cake$ was not a great film, I enjoyed the performance of MacDonald more in that project. While "Dumplin" was not altogether terrible (most of the actors gave it their best), the script is in sore need of refinement and enriched characterizations.

7/10 - body positive YA book adaption lives up to the hype

Is this movie very original? Not at all. It follows the common formula of such self confidence movies. But it is lovely executed and I ended up enjoying every minute of it. It is very charming and positive. Positive not just in the main message (love yourself and be who you want to be) but also in the execution and how nice the characters are. Nobody is hateful and negative to others (except for that guy in the beginning who got what he deserved). There are no nasty jury who need to be proven something, no nasty contestants trying to sabotage you, actually no mean mothers. The only person one needs to prove something to is oneself. The rest of the women and girls are very nice to each other, which is so wonderful. And this is something that was kind of special in this movie.

Actors were also great. Jennifer Aniston is great at performing a loving mother who maybe has some misunderstandings with her daughter yet wants to do the best for her. Harold Perrineau is amazing. When I saw him first I had trouble to figure out who it is even though the face looked familiar. He is a great actor who is very different in every role I saw him.

So if you want to see some very deep award receiving movie, this is probably not the one for you. But if you want an entertaining and positive movie that will make you feel good about life than this is a good choice.

The movie is a good, heartlifting movie with good music and enjoyable characters. Unfortunately it leaves out a lot of major characters and a lot of the book plot. If you haven't read the book you will like it even more, irregardless it is worth the watch.