Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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MAY 3-9, 2017 UCW 21 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM The Boss Baby (97 minutes) is marketed as a family film. Like most films aimed at children, there are dark mes- sages lined up just below the surface, waiting to be decoded. I wasn't dying to see it. But, since the only other alternative was the eighth film in the box office gold franchise about those guys who like to drive at unreasonably high rates of speed while also in a state of extreme anger, and I managed to avoid the previous seven films, it was a point of pride that I find something else to review. The film starts off with the voice of Tim (Miles Bakshi) narrating over some vintage-inspired animation. He tells us that, according to his parents (voiced by Jimmy Kimmel and Lisa Kudrow), he has an overactive imagina- tion. The animation helpfully blends together his perceptions of what is hap- pening with what is actually happening … so if he is pretending to fight under- water monsters, he is actually holding his breath in the bath. This establishes that Tim is an unreliable narrator, and the story that follows is most likely a product of his rich fantasy life. Might I suggest that, with only minor rewrites, this could work as a child's tale of ter- ror? Because there are some really hor- rifying elements at play. Before the arrival of Boss Baby (Alex Baldwin), Tim gets three stories, five hugs and a special song ("Blackbird") before bed every night — in spite of the fact that both his parents work at high-level jobs at a pet company. You see, the clues that this is a fantasy are there right from the beginning. And, before I continue, why would parents sing "Blackbird" to their child every night? It's one of the saddest songs in the entire catalog of songs by The Beatles. And I held that opinion before the YouTube video made everyone cry. You know what song I sing to my baby daughter at bedtime? "The Shankill Butchers." Much less likely to make someone cry. Anyway, one day the Boss Baby arrives in a taxi, wearing a suit and tie. He asks his parents about this and they respond that it is cute and he looks like a little executive. Soon after, Tim, attempting to get his parents' attention, waits forlornly in bed for a single story or a hug — only to find his parents are both singing "his" spe- cial song to his new brother. I have two kids, and that is messed up. Either Tim's fantasy life includes writing dialogue for his parents (in which case, why does he have them prefer his baby brother to him?) OR his parents really think it's a good idea to completely ignore Tim and let him think they love his baby brother more than him. At one point, they are arguing about who is taking the business trip to Las Vegas and who is staying home with the new baby, while Tim sits sadly at the table, realizing that parental love is tenuous and easily lost. It is heartrending — and, for the record, if my husband and I had to make a similar choice, we would be figuring out which friend was free to babysit. Because when you are stuck at home with two small, screaming, hyper little squirrels whose idea of fun is waiting until you blink, then figuring out the quickest way to get on top of the roof and play Superman, the walls start closing in just a tad. Kids, if you ever read this, Mommy loves you! The themes only get darker from here. It turns out babies are at war with puppies, because there is only so much love to distribute in a family, and puppies are starting to get more. Boss Baby was sent to Earth to stop the worldwide launch of the cutest puppy ever — because otherwise, the puppies will win. When this mission is accomplished, he will get a promo- tion and disappear — and his parents will forget he ever existed. I could probably write a thesis deconstructing the 20 kinds of messed up contained within the past paragraph, but instead, I will suggest that when picking mov- ies to enjoy as a family, maybe don't pick one that emphasizes how kids get ignored when new babies arrive. Now showing at Patriot 14 + IMAX. Why would North Carolinian Elizabeth Kostova, who is a New York Times No.1 bestselling author, set her action-packed novel in Bulgaria? I will give you an answer in a min- ute. But first, a little bit about her new book, The Shadow Land. The book's main character is a young North Carolina mountain woman, Alexandra Boyd. On her first day in the country she meets a small Bulgarian family group. They tell her they are on the way to a beautiful monastery and suggest she consider visiting it later. After they part ways, Alexandra finds she has a satchel that belongs to the Bulgarian group. A young taxi driver called Bobby befriends her as she seeks to find the satchel's owners. In the satchel is a wooden urn, containing ashes and inscribed with the name Stoyan Lazarov. She and Bobby report the incident to the local police. The police give them an address for Lazarov. First, Alexandra and Bobby rush to the monastery and search for the Bulgarian group, but find no one. As they prepare to leave, they realize they have been locked in a room. Alex- andra thinks "nothing in her previous experience had prepared her for the feeling of being suddenly locked in a monastic room with a stranger five thousand miles from the Blue Ridge Mountains, holding an urn containing the ashes of another stranger. In addi- tion to being tired and afraid, she was suddenly a thief, a vagrant and a prisoner." Although they escape from the mon- astery, they cannot escape a growing awareness that they are being fol- lowed and possessing this urn has put them in danger. Nevertheless, the next day they go to the address provided by the police. The house is empty of people, but photos and papers there confirm the urn's owners had lived there. A neighbor gives them another address elsewhere in Bulgaria. Before leaving town, Alexandra and Bobby adopt a stray dog, which becomes an important character with a major role in one of the conclud- ing scenes. Kostova introduces other people, including an older, wealthy businessman-turned-politician named Kurilkov and known as "The Bear." He is seeking to win the next election on the promise of "non-corruption." There are growing and inexplicable dangers: van- dalized cars, threats, mur- der and kidnapping. Only if the urn contains some valuable secret can there be an explanation for the unset- tling situation. An explanation of the urn's secret and its dangerous value becomes the spine on which Kostova builds the book's surprising and violent resolution. On that same spine she attaches another story, that of Stoyan Laz- arov, a talented violinist, lover of Vivaldi, loving husband and father, who ran afoul of Bulgaria's post- World War II brutal communist dic- tatorship. He was confined for many years in a torturous labor camp where work conditions and weather almost killed him and destroyed his health and his prospects for a fulfill- ing musical career. At the work camp, he met two men, one a friend and fellow inmate and the other a guard who becomes a heated enemy. Both characters play a major part in the book's dra- matic conclusion. Why, then, did Kostova set this book in Bulgaria? Explaining her fas- cination for that nation, she writes about her first visit when she first came to "this mysterious country, hidden for so long behind the Iron Curtain," and she felt, "I had some- how come home." Kostova's novel takes her readers on a tour of Bulgaria: its mountains, its cities and villages, its forests and seashores. Her poetic descriptions of Bulgaria's landscapes and people made this reader want to see for myself the country she loves so much. D.G. MARTIN, Host of UNC's Book Watch. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly. com. 910.484.6200 Cookies Are for Closers The Boss Baby (Rated PG) by HEATHER GRIFFITHS HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910 484-6200. A North Carolina Mountain Woman's Adventure in Bulgaria by D.G. MARTIN