#62 - National Velvet

Is there a term for something that is the opposite of a guilty pleasure? Whereas a guilty pleasure is something that is not good, you know its not good, yet you enjoy it anyways(pro wrestling, soap operas, crack), the opposite of that would be something that you know is good, yet you still hate it. Actually, I dont hate this movie, so I guess this isnt the best example. But I do hate the fact that I dont hate it. Let me explain. This movie is well directed and well acted, but it plays up on the sappy and cheesy at such a high level that I began to be torn. The dislike for the cheese was battling with the appreciation of a well made movie. I couldnt understand why so much sappiness was intenionally put into a movie that was created with such care. I got my answer at the end. This movie was made during the war and was sent overseas for the soldiers to watch. Got it. Anything to help soldiers escape the horrors of war. I can get behind that. Of course, I'm not a soldier in WWII, so I can still point out the bad stuff.

First of all, can we get some consistency in the accents? We are in Ireland. These are all Irish people. The dad's Irish. The mom's Irish. In fact, so is Angela Lansbury's character. Same goes for Mickey Rooney. As well as Elizabeth Taylor. Then why in the hell didnt they ALL have Irish accents? Speaking of Mickey Rooney, not a bad job doing a character I'm not used to see him play. I am used to the comedic Mickey Rooney, and you dont see that side of him, except for the scene when he gets drunk, then its a classic Mickey Rooney caricature. And while we are on the subject of short actors, let's talk about the little brother. By now, you should all be aware of my dislike for most child actors. This is not the case here. He actually does a good job playing the character. Problem is, I hated the character so much I still wanted to knock the shit out of him. Especially the scene where he goes into a temper tantrum. I think I ground a layer of enamel of my teeth in that scene. Speaking of teeth, I didnt need that part at the end about the kids tooth. If you have seen this before, you know what I am talking about. I'll spare the rest of you.

To finish up, let's talk about the big star. Of course I mean Elizabeth Taylor. So is so fresh faced an innocent in this movie, and already a very talented actress. Having seen very little of Taylor's work, I was amazed at how good she was at such a young age. The problem is that after about two-thirds of the movie you realiz that the youthful, innocent, far off gazing, dreamy eyed speech she gives is the exact same thing she does in EVERY SCENE!!!! I'm not even kidding. EVERY ONE!! No matter what, she is a little plug of positivity, innocene, and believing in your dreams. And you ask why I think this movie got too sappy? "I should like to ride horses." "I should like to ride horses all day." "I should like to ride horses down by old man Barleycorn's barn." UGH. And the scene that tops it all, is when she and Mickey Rooney show up at the competition. She gets out of the trailer. She starts to walk around with an overwhelmed look on her face. Finally, she gets to a patch of flowers where she closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and blissfully cries out, "HOR-SES!!" I almost vomited. Nevermind the fact that she was just in a trailer with her favorite horse in the world for over eight hours. No sir, what brings her more joy than anything in the world is being surround by the smell of other horses. Thats what clams her, the smell. Not seeing all the pretty horses. The smell. I know I get relaxed when I go to a kennel and smell Alpo and wet dog. Ridculous. Cheesy. Sappy. This very scene is why I am torn about this movie.