Second Time Around

Is it possible to go back home again? To recapture that feeling when you watched a particular movie that zapped you right between the eyes because it encapsulated both your inner thoughts and worldview? Almost 20 years ago, one movie really sang to me: "Lord Love a Duck." Before "Heathers," there was "Lord Love a Duck," a dark comedy centered on high school life that playfully skewers just about every American institution. Could this movie still have the same effect on me since I've grown up? Yes and no. When I first saw this flick, I was completely focused on the Roddy McDowell character whose quick cynical take on the world ensnared me. (Christian Slater played the same role in "Heathers," but he gets blown away at the end.)

Upon this viewing, I realized how little screen time McDowell actually has and that Tuesday Weld's character, who is dying to be popular, fills the screen. Overall, the movie is not the greatest this time around. Perhaps I've become less cynical, or, now when I think of it, perhaps more. This film was made more than 40 years ago, and Americans' values are more vacuous than ever. In other words, biting satire, unfortunately, doesn't change a thing.