Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2002)

This is divided into sections each about an aphorism. Lawyer Troy (Matthew McConaughey) is celebrating a win at a bar with his colleagues. Then he hits a pedestrian and decides to drive off. Walker (John Turturro) is a physics professor who is cheating on his wife Patricia (Amy Irving) and she suspects him. Beatrice (Clea DuVall) is a maid but her sweet blissful nature is shaken after getting run over by Troy. Gene (Alan Arkin) is a cynical insurance claims manager with family problems and bitter at his happy co-worker.There are interesting stories and good performances. The cast is amazing. It aspires to be philosophically deep and meaningful. The meandering nature of the story telling leaves me wondering if the movie is actually saying anything. The rotating characters do not allow the tension to build. It needs to rebuild every 15 minutes. I wonder if the movie would be a lot better following one character and dropping the philosophical pretense.

Without counting the actual number, I am sure there were at least 13 conversations in this intriguing collection of character studies. It doesn't become clear until very late in the film that about 2 years are elapsing in the story line. The "one thing" (believe it or not) isn't sex, but happiness. The questions "why are we here" and "is this all there is" come up frequently. What makes life worth living? Is happiness a gift, or can it be acquired? Several characters experience ups and downs, while some seem chronically malcontent or skeptical. The ones who boast about having achieved greatness in their work soon become to doubt their accomplishments, while others are desperate to find a way to regain the joys they once knew. Coming to terms with mistakes made, as well as showing remorse for wrongs committed against others, each in their own way must conquer this one "thing".Along with effective acting from the entire cast, there are many other reasons why a film buff would enjoy this movie. Several brilliant camera shots, done in a mysterious stand-out color-scheme, are perfectly intermingled with the story to show reflection, a sense of deep thought. Outstanding editing, connecting separate scenes into a common idea, is clearly superior to most films.The sum of these characters spell out pessimism and gloom. Look for the middle-aged man with that undying optimism who has many scenes. When all others insist life is one big disappointment, this little guy will assure you that it really is just a bowl of cherries. We need more smiling optimists, and more films with that important message.

I'm giving this a solid ten even though it features a physics professor who seems to have little grasp on the subject beyond junior high level. At one point he angrily tells a student that there are "no if's in physics," possibly inspired by Tom Hanks' great line "There's no crying in baseball!" from A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN.The laws of physics are not set in stone. If they were, there would be no need to do further research and publish new textbooks. We could have "the" physics textbook like we have one times table.The First Law of Thermodynamics, the Conservation of Matter, had to be completely rewritten after the dawning of the atomic age. Students who had been forced to memorize this word for word had to memorize a revised version.Other than that, this is one of those movies that I get more out of every time I see it. And the older I get, the more I realize it's truth.If I had to put the topic of the conversations in one word it would be Change. Each of the characters have to cope with changes in their lives, some for the good and some for the bad. If there's anyone who can't identify with that, I don't know what planet they're living on.The way that characters meet up with one another by "chance" makes me wonder if the makers of CRASH are also fans of this movie.This is one of those movies that makes me thankful for home video. We have two nice big multiplexes in our area. But if you have eighteen screens and sixteen are tied up with big budget special effects spectacles (many of which, I note from the IMDb, have grossly underperformed this summer) there's not room for personal independent films.Nice work. I look forward to the film's makers' next project.

What's with these screenwriters these days? Was there some lecture in the late 90s saying "if you wanna make an ensemble movie - put a car crash in it" - Amores Perros, (and it's remake 21 Grams), Magnolia, Crash...etc. Among these and some of the lesser well known ones that have been released we have 13 Conversations About One Thing. If you liked any of the above movies, this will be your sort of thing. Certainly not the best of the bunch, but definitely an engaging watch, I actually appreciate the fact that there was no REALLY overly pretentious "oh look at this isn't it emotional" thing, it was just a well made film with some decent dialogue that kept things ticking for a few hours. In terms of the way it was made, the cinematography, editing, score, and acting were all of a decent standard. With special mentions for the always excellent Alan Arkin, playing a sort of watered down Homer Simpson to one of his co-workers Ned Flanders. It's not particularly memorable, but is definitely worthy of a second viewing and is a decent film I would recommend for people who do things like go to the Sundance Film Festival.