Tuesday (#564)


Today, Monday, I reluctantly saw TUESDAY, which doesn't mean anything.  I say reluctantly because it stars Julia Louis Dreyfus in a deeply dramatic role.  I describe this movie as an allegory but I'm not really certain it is.  It certainly is a fantasy or fairy tale with more symbolism than I recall seeing in a movie for a long, long time.  I am only guessing that it takes place in England because two characters, Julia's daughter and her caregiver, speak with an English accent.  Julia and her daughter live in a large home.  Daughter obviously suffers from some serious disease (unnamed as far as I remember) whose main companion is s grotesque parrot-like bird with s nasty-looking beak.  This mysterious creature is capable of transforming itself from a sparrow-like size to one of eagle or larger proportions.  If I'm not mistaken, the bird is the symbol of death and is trying to prepare the daughter for it.  The bird also insists that the girl try to prepare her mother for it, knowing she will die on Tuesday, but mom is having none of this.  The bird not only comes in all sizes; it also speaks in a difficult to understand gravelly baritone voice and grunts a lot.  The only other character in the movie is a black caregiver who adds nothing to the film and is really extraneous.  Critics praised the Dreyfus performance loudly.  I thought she was loud, manic and hysterical, and most other real actresses would have done a better job. The daughter was the better actress. I liked Julia  better as Elaine on Seinfeld!  And it should go without saying that 82% of critics gave it a thumbs up, while audiences (53%) joined me in wondering what the heck was going on.

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