But before I begin, everyone should take a look at mark's site here. You know how people say they always want to do something new each and everyday? Well, mark is living the dream. http://markintentionally.blogspot.com/
Ok, let me start with the movie "Over the Top", which tells the story of a truck driver Lincoln Hawk (played by Sylvester Stallone) and his quest to take care of his son (played by some wimp) and win an arm wrestling tournament (if that makes any sense).
What I love most about this documentary is that there aren't any films that combine the bond between a father and son, and the huge sport of arm wrestling so fluidly, so vividly. But alas, there are some major plot holes that are peppered through this flick. For starters, the moves starts out Lincoln Hawk (what a fucking awesome name. if there's one thing you can count on with a sly Stallone movie; it's that there will be some damn good character names. I'll even list a few later) going to pick up his son (Michael)from his private school, a son he hasn't seen in years and years. The kid actually thought his father was dead. Obviously, when Lincoln first meets him, mike wasn't too thrilled to see his scumbag dad, and Lincoln gives excuses why he couldn't see his son. I also found it funny that when the son asks t see identification, Lincoln pulls out a marriage photo. I find it interesting that nowhere in this world BUT this military school does a wedding picture pass for identification.
And ok, you're a fucking truck driver whose job is to drive shit all around the U.S. (even though he doesn't make one delivery throughout the whole movie). I'm sure you could have taken a second to go see the damn kid while on the road, even as wimpy as he is. Even when he FINALLY goes to pick up his kid, the stop to eat at a local trucker rest stop. As Lincoln walks in to this place, everyone knows him, from the guy pumping his gas, the customers, even the waitress Martha. So with this being said, I can reasonably deduct from this info that Lincoln has been in this area quite a many o' times, yet never went to see his kid. What a deadbeat. I also find it interesting how alot of the competitors (including main rival, Bull Hurley) he runs into later in the movie in Vegas, all happen to be at this rest stop in the heart of nowhere all at the same time to get something to eat. What are the odds? Like I guess they all just happened to be there to eat that famous hanger steak that Lincoln so talks highly about to Michael. Also, maybe it's just me, but I've never been to a rest stop that had an arm wrestling table set in the back. Like ever.
Moving on...so anyway, his kid has got to be the fastest learner ever in history of mankind. he learns to drive a big rig one his first try within less then 2 minutes, then the first time he ever arm wrestled (and it was a much bigger kid) Michael beat him with just a few pearls of wisdom from Lincoln. And why the fuck doesn't anyone else in this movie use that damn "over the top" move that Lincoln and his son uses?????? It seems like a pretty simple, yet devastating move, yet no one uses it? This makes no sense. Like does Lincoln have it copyrighted or something? If I was in the honorable Universal Arm Wrestling Council, I would call for an investigation or something
And why does Frank Lopez (the grandfather) hate Lincoln so much? Through the whole movie the son tells him that his grand pop has told him that he deals drugs and all sorts of lurid things; he even tries to kidnap his son in the middle of his road trip. Like the guy is insane, and they never explain why. and even when the kid ends up at his grand pops house and Lincoln isn't allowed to see him by the grand pops guards, here's an idea Lincoln; instead of driving your rig through the gates and destroying the house and fighting the guards, and going to jail, it probably would have been a smarter idea to just call the cops and tell them "hey, my son's in there, and they wont let me see him. Please escort him out of there and bring him to me. Thank you" something tells me that this would have ended the situation in much more favorable results for Lincoln.
And I've never seen a movie incorporate the theme song from the movie so many times. Not only do they play the song "Meet me half way" (by Kenny Loggins. video below). like not only do they repeatedly play the song or the instrumental portion on a few scenes in the film, but there's at least 2-3 times where Lincoln hawk says to Michael his son "no one meets you half way, no one!", which is kinda ironic because the song is asking someone to meet them halfway across the sky. But let's not let facts get in the way
Since we are talking music from the movie, enjoy this little treat. Sammy Hagar's finest:
And why do at some parts of the movie people call Sly Stallone "Lincoln Hawk", then at other times he gets called "Lincoln Hawkes"? What's up with that?
Also, Terry Funk, known as "The Funker" makes a nice cameo as Frank Lopez's bodyguard in this movie. He should have won an Oscar. He's the only decent actor in this film.
And I'm in amazement that Lincoln's wife, Michael's mother in the film dies, yet no one seems to give a shit five minutes later. Like I can understand why Lincoln doesn't care, since he's a dead beat, but Michael is just an impressionable 12 year old kid, and it's like he forgets about it in the very next scene. Even the grand pop doesn't seem to give a shit either.
and back to the beginning again, when Michael first yells Lincoln that he never wrote to him or contacted him, Lincoln responds "but mike, I must have wrote to you a hundred times" later in the movie Michael finds all these letters hidden by the grandpop Frank Lopez, (Scarface reference, sure you can figure it out), and after mike finds the letters, he immediately wants Lincoln to be his dad again.
2 things about this situation:
1.) Why is Frank Lopez still holding on to these letters? What, he wants them as souvenirs or something?! There's nothing good that could come out of the fact he still has these letters lying around the house.
2.) Hey mike, yeah, it's great that Lincoln did write to you many times, but guess what? It still makes him a deadbeat dad who never ever visited you, but yet would go to the rest stop 5 miles away from your school quite a few times. Michael, from the heart I'm speaking here, doesn't go back with Lincoln. He's a deadbeat dad, he sucks as a father. Stay with Frank Lopez, even though he's evil.
And the kicker is that throughout the movie Lincoln talks about how he needs a new big rig. And whaddaya know, the grand prize at the arm wrestling championship in Vegas just so magically happens to be a new BIG RIG and $250,000. For starters, what the odds of that? It's like say I happen to get on a game show, and on the way to the studio for filming, my engine and carburetor in my car blow out. The once I'm on the show, the announcer says that the grand prize today is………………..A NEW ENGINE AND CARBURETOR!!!! Like what are the chances of this happening? And how pissed off would you be if you where on of the other contestants, only to find out you're playing for crap that you don't need or want? I would be pretty pissed. Like 95% of the contestants I bet have no use for a brand new rig, but it just so happens that it exactly what Lincoln hawk needs. Amazing coincidence. Yeah, the $250,000 is nice, but what the fuck would I do with a big rig if I won the 1987 arm wrestling championship? And how the hell do they even have that much money to award the winner $250,000 anyway? Are the coffers at the Universal Arm Wrestling Council that deep? Who would have thought arm wrestling is such a lucrative business?
So to recap, let's go over what I learned:
1. Turning your hat backwards (like a switch) immediately makes you possess superhuman strength.
2. As long as you write letters periodically, it's ok to be a total deadbeat dad.
3. There is no limit to how much crap you can fit into a 94 minute movie.
4. You can be a truck driver and do absolutely no deliveries, yet still have a job.
5. A wedding photo is good enough identification for strange men to pull underage boys out of military schools.
6. The world doesn't meet you half way, unless it's a song lyric.
7. It's not a smart idea to hold onto incriminating evidence like letters from you son in law to your grandson. It may come back and bite you in the ass at a later time.
8. There are not enough decent rest stops in the world.
9. If you have abandoned a child in your life for over a decade, arm wrestling is the quickest way to capture his heart again.
10. there's no such thing as a bad t-shirt
5 comments:
You know there is something wrong with you, right?
_Paul M
He wasn't able to go see his grandson because the grandfather went to extreme measures to keep that from happening.
Hawk probably didn't want to deal with it.
I just realized his kid's name is Mike Hawk. Get it, fuckface?
But more generally i think the problem with your criticism is that relies on the idea that its a realistic movie, and that it should feel realistic, but it's not. It's like criticizing superman movies because "who would believe that a guy could actually fly" or "who would believe that no one would recognize Clark Kent just because he wears glasses."
Now about the fact that he drives into the gates instead of just calling the police, with all due respect, that's such a smart ass argument! THis is exactly what I love about the character. He's not the intellectual type, he's driven by his emotions and he doesn't play around. When he feels revolt and frustration, it's pure, and it goes straight to the point. That's probably why the grand father hates him. He's so pure that he breaks all the conventions, and even the laws, but he only does it out of love, not because he's stupid or violent, just because he's so intense and true.
To conclude, I think the film is touching because it is a beautiful tale about love in a father and son relationship, and about what it is to become a man, what makes you love and be proud of your father, and how a man gets strength from the love of his son. It's universal too because it deals with issues that touch everyone. It's not only about manliness, but also about love, and being misunderstood. Being a tale, it's all about symbols, it doesn't really matter if you see the same people at the rest stop and at the arm wrestling contest, because all that matters is that the symbolism functions, and that you do get moved both by the relationship and by the character of Hawk. That's also what i think is the strength of sly, both in Rambo and over the top. He's really good at being this really emotional and wounded character. He doesn't show much and he's really tough, but you see all that sensitivity behind it, and i think it's jarring.
oops sorry about that. Anyway the missing beginning of my argument was to say that i think the reason he didn't go see his son remains unknown, and its actually better this way. We do get the feeling that it's too serious and terrible to even be told, that hawk is not the kind of guy to melt into tears and tell his son about that really tragic and hard life he's been through. We just get a feeling from the character that he's got a good reason, and it's too dark to be told. Also it wouldn't be consistent to have a character like hawk actually put into words something that has hurt him so deeply, in my opinion.
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