A Sociological Observation

Denis and I recently watched the movie Big Fish. This is the one in which a young man visits his dying father and wants to get to know him better. The father has always told tall tales - his life stories embellished till they are unbelievable and his son wants to know the truth. Well, Denis really enjoyed this movie. It seemed to me that he liked it an inordinate amount compared to the quality of the plot. This supports my developing theory about movies that men like.

Now we all know what kind of movies are "Chick Flicks". Romantic comedies - men generally watch them to humor us, movies that focus on relationships between women - a la Ya Ya Sisterhood. But what kind of movies do men gravitate toward? Stereotypically, movies for men are action movies. But I think there is another category out there. A small number of movies that are made with men in mind and get to the heart of the male experience.

The first movie that started my theory here was "Wrestling Ernest Hemmingway" with Robert Duvall and Richard Harris. Denis recommended this movie to me while we were still emailing long distance. He told me that it was one of his favorite movies of all time. So I rented it. It is about two aging men who meet at a diner and strike up a friendship. This is not an action movie; it is all about the relationships in their lives. At the time, I coined it a "chick flick for men".

Another recent movie in this category would be "In Good Company" with Dennis Quaid and Topher Grace. A movie about an older executive who finds his company being taken over and led by a man half his age. It explores the differences between the two men's values and approaches to their work and lives. Again, Denis really like it, and so did I, but he reacted to parts of the film differently than I did. He laughed in some spots and I didn't get the joke or think it was that funny.

So what do you guys out there think? Have you seen any of these three movies? What did you enjoy about them? Does anyone have a nice catchy name that we can call them? Do you have any titles that would fall into this category of film?