We watched Juno at the hospital the other night. It was an adequate distraction from continuing seizures of the muscle tremor variety, Dancer Daughter’s, not mine. Juno, the character, is definitely a distraction. She distracts an older guy from his marriage, distracts her parents from giving her a major lecture when she reveals that she’s pregnant, and distracts her boyfriend into falling in love with her all over again. She does all this distracting by being bold, brassy, and vulnerable all at the same time, a neat trick if you can pull it off. The movie is quite well-acted, and watch for the way the movie works on your sympathies, causing the viewer to change from sympathizing with one character to rooting for another with subtle revelations that make you feel as if you should have known all along who’s the good guy and who’s the idiot.

We also watched Sabrina, at home this time, the old version with Humphrey Bogart, William Holden, and Audrey Hepburn. Cheesy, and yet . . . Fickle Miss Audrey/Sabrina can’t make up her mind which brother she loves, and she’s not supposed to have either one since she’s the daughter of the chauffeur, and they’re the heirs to the family fortune. No one could possibly be as young and naive as Sabrina is at the beginning of the movie. And no one could gain so much sophistication from a couple of years at a French cooking school. Still, the unspoiled and restrained screenplay belongs to another era, and a better era, I think. Sabrina and her employer/love interest are alone at night in the boardroom, and not once do they even begin to unclothe. Could such a scene be filmed nowadays?

Teens now are still vulnerable and young and even naive. But wise-cracking Juno is the vulnerable teen of the twenty-first century, and all the Sabrinas are, if they still exist, relics. Probably homeschooled.

Last but not least, after reading all the many reviews and opinions, pro and con, I finally got a chance to see Prince Caspian this afternoon. Everything has been said, and better than I could, so all I can say is: I liked it. Very much. In fact, I like both the book and the movie. The movie is not quite as profound, leaving out some of the spiritual contents of the book, but the movie had its own charms and its own lessons. For instance, one learns from Prince Caspian’s actions that perhaps revenge is not so sweet and also not so honorable. And there’s are lessons that shine through in both book and movie: growing up is bittersweet, Aslan/God often (usually) acts in unexpected ways, follow what you know to be right even if no one else goes with you.

I thought the character of Trumpkin could have been a bit more well-developed. I liked Susan, the Warrior Queen, and I didn’t mind the kiss at the end at all. What with the preceding disclaimer that Susan was 1300 years older than Caspian, I thought the kiss was almost sisterly. Mr. Lewis, opinionated professor that he was, would probably have been unhappy over some of the changes made in the transition from book to movie. However, the author has already been released from this world and has released his stories to the world, and I am happy that the movie was made, that it turned out so well, and that Narnia now has many more Lovers of Narnia because of it.

More wise thoughts on Prince Caspian, the movie:

Amy Hall at Stand to Reason: “Here’s my main criticism: The filmmakers still don’t get Aslan. They’ve made him a character rather than the character. Because of certain changes here and there, he lost the authority he should have radiated and didn’t inspire the awe that Aslan should inspire.”

Phillip at Thinklings: Edmund Rocks.

Amy Letinsky: “Many battles are waged in the film, more than are written in the book, and a clear theme emerges: when you use Aslan’s strength, you win the fight. But when you rely on your own cleverness and strength alone, you’re destined to fail.”

Leave me a comment, and I’ll be happy to link to your review or thoughts on any of these three films.