Flipped

Filmmaker Rob Reiner sits right below me in Dodger Stadium. My season tickets are in the loge. His seats are in the field level, but with the exact same sightline. Whenever I see him out at the ballpark, I'm tempted to shout down to him. And thank him for some of the wonderful movies he's made.

The Sure Thing, which is one of his first and one of my alltime favorites.

This is Spinal Tap.

Stand By Me.

The Princess Bride.

When Harry Met Sally.

On other nights, I want to yell down and ask him what the hell he was thinking when he made...

A Few Good Men, which is grossly overrated and features some of the cheesiest overacting in film history.

The Book of Us.

Alex and Emma.

The Bucket List. See description above for A Few Good Men and apply it here as well.

Yep, you can see the extremes. Rob Reiner's film portfolio as a director is wildly erratic. You enter a theater for one of his movies and you'll be either wildly ecstatic or grossly disappointed.

Okay, Rob, I've seen your newest production "Flipped." I'm calling down to you from the loge.

"LOVED IT!"

"Flipped" is another coming-of-age snapshot from the late 50s and early 60s and please don't dismiss it out-of-hand just for that. Somehow, Rob takes a tired premise (or, in this case, a children's book) and makes it fresh and organic. Because, as trite and overdone as the plot is, I had no clue where it was headed next.

"Flipped" is sappy but thoroughly enjoyable entertainment. A ninety minute film without a wasted moment and, compared to three-hour-long junk like "Avatar" and "Inception," Rob's movie appears to be a master class in economical screenwriting and editing.

The film tells the tale of two pre-teens growing up across the street from each other somewhere in Michigan during the Kennedy years. Bryce and Juli are what you would call middle school sweethearts, but start off at opposite ends of the universe. Pivotal moments in their youth and their relationship are told twice, once with Bryce's narration and then again with Juli's narration and viewpoint. When you watch them connect and then almost violently disconnect over and over and over, you wonder how anybody that age remained friends.

Even smarter in the script co-written by Reiner are the parental characters essayed by the likes of Anthony Edwards, Aidan Quinn, Rebecca de Mornay, and Penelope Ann Miller. There's not a Barbara Billingsley or Hugh Beaumont in the bunch. They drink. They argue. They make snide comments behind their neighbors' backs. They're authentic. Believe me, I saw it all in my own house and my childhood neighborhood. As an added bonus, John Mahoney also shows up as Bryce's grandfather and this actor never does anything wrong. Again, the people are real. The emotions are ones that you indeed may have felt at one time in your own life.

Reiner naturally peppers the soundtrack with all those memorable hits of the late 50s and early 60s. This might be one of the last movies to feature a parade of music from that era. As filmmakers get younger and younger, we'll soon be treated to nostalgic looks back at the music of the 80s and, gasp, the 90s. At that point, I may stop going to the movies altogether.

I was dreading the end of the film, primarily because I was convinced that Rob would make the cardinal mistake of showing us the kids as adults. But, almost miraculously, he probably knew that was not the way to go. You are focused on Bryce and Juli as you knew them for the previous ninety minutes. Less was more. The wisest choice a film director ever made.

So, back to the loge and my imaginary conversation with Mr. Reiner...

"AND, ROB, THE STREET SIGNS FOR 'BONNIE MEADOW ROAD?' THAT'S WHERE ROB AND LAURA PETRIE LIVED. YOUR DAD'S SHOW. I GET IT."

Another small gold nugget in a bullion of a good movie.

Dinner last night: Cold cuts and deli salads.