It's Hard To Find a Friend

It's tough enough to duke it out in middle school when you're simply dealing with the typical adolescent bullshit, I can't imagine the added difficulties Vampirism must bring about. The main boy in Let the Right One In is sensitive, poorly coiffed and ghostly pale so you know he's got it rough but he soon meets a girl who lives in his building who is having a rougher go of it. Not only is she home schooled but she also needs to have constant intakes of fresh blood to help stave off pimples and the dreaded odor of rotting flesh.

It kind of puts things in perspective, doesn't it? Some complain about the horrible options for lunch at public schools while others wring their hands about the lack of funding for the chess team but when you see the trouble a 12 year old has in procuring new sources of the thick, red stuff, it kind of blows all those pedestrian dilemmas away. Too bad it wasn't more entertaining.

It was plenty entertaining. This movie got a lot right - the horrors of bullying, the silent awkwardness of post pubescence, the beauty of winter - but what I loved most about it was its adherence to some of the older traditions of vampire lore. At times, you'll think you're watching The Lost Boys with all the "invite me in" requests and freaky vampires climbing up walls and dropping on unsuspecting victims from high places. This is certainly a more meditative approach to the vampire story than Blade but I disagree completely that it was not entertaining.

You know me, I love Wesley Snipes. But even without his masculine presence, this movie lurched forward too slowly for me. Plus, all the genuinely agonizing emotions explored in the film kind of killed all the badassery going on. I give it a 5. It was bloody and gory and terrifying but also talky and moody and distant.

For me it struck just the right chord of pure enjoyment with deeper underlying themes. The actors were fantastic, the cinematography beautiful and the ending absolutely perfect. Check out this Swedish masterpiece soon before the English remake comes out later this year. Apparently, they plan to adhere close to the original but as Wikipedia puts it, some changes will be made to make it "accessible to a wider audience." Hayley Mills and Hayley Mills star in Let the Right One In, coming soon to a multiplex near you.