"Don’t Forget About the Elderly"
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What You Need To Know:
MAN IN THE CHAIR has some redemptive elements and a marvelous performance by Christopher Plummer. The movie condemns modern society’s love affair with youth. Through Cameron, Flash and the others once again find purpose and joy, and Cameron, once an angst-filled teenager, finds peace and purpose as well. MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution, however, because of strong foul language and a pagan worldview.
Content:
(PaPa, H, B, C, LLL, V, S, N, AAA, D, MM) Strong mixed pagan worldview with some humanist elements including several quotes from Nietzsche, some moral, redemptive elements including teenager finding respect for elderly people and teenager’s relationship with his parents is restored; 41 obscenities and 17 profanities; violence includes teenager rides his bike over popular boy’s car, teenagers fight and dogs shown being put to sleep; sexual content includes older woman is flirtatious with various men and mention of adultery; nudity includes some cleavage and woman in bikini; very strong alcohol use includes multiple scenes of liquor, alcoholism, drunkenness depicted; cigar smoking depicted; and, strong miscellaneous immorality includes breaking and entering, trespassing, vandalism, car theft, destruction of property, and rebellion.
More Detail:
MAN IN THE CHAIR is the story of the unlikely friendship between a drunken old man, Flash, played by Christopher Plummer, and a rebellious young teenager, Cameron, played by Michael Angarano, who find an unlikely bond in their love for classic movies.
After Cameron enters a high school film contest, he follows Flash to his home at the Motion Picture Residence for the Elderly, a colony of aging filmmakers tossed aside by the industry. While there, Cameron learns that Flash is a retired Hollywood gaffer and the only surviving crew member from CITIZEN KANE. So, he begs Flash to help him make his student film.
At first, Flash tells Cameron to take a hike because he would rather drink than help some young teenager. Soon, though, Flash and several other retired filmmakers at the residence hall get excited about the idea of making a movie again. While working with all these legends from the movie-making industry, Cameron learns of the plight of the elderly in retirement and nursing homes. He decides to make his movie a documentary about abuse in the nursing home industry.
MAN IN THE CHAIR has a tour de force performance by the magnificent Christopher Plummer. The movie illustrates but certainly does not glorify Hollywood’s love affair with youth. Flash tells Cameron, as he frees elderly dogs being put to sleep, “We live in a throw-away society.” From dogs to divorce to the elderly, Flash tells Cameron that our culture throws away anything that is no longer young, beautiful and successful. Through Cameron, Flash and the others once again find purpose and joy, and Cameron, once an angst-filled teenager, finds peace and purpose as well.
This movie has some redemptive elements. The story is well told and the performances are wonderful. However, on the cautionary side, the movie has a lot of foul language. It also depicts drunkenness and alcoholism in several scenes, as well as vandalism, stealing and other miscellaneous immorality, along with a mixed pagan worldview, including some humanist quotes from philosophers such as Nietzsche. Although the movie contains some redemptive tones, it never fully addresses issues such as respecting the elderly from a truly biblical perspective. Marred by objectionable content, MAN IN THE CHAIR requires extreme caution.