After the celebratory champagne has ceased flowing, after the multi-colored confetti has been cleared out of the city streets and after you’ve finally regained your hearing following a seemingly never-ending (but brilliant) fireworks show, all you’re left with is a thrice-revised New Year’s resolutions list and an odd feeling in your stomach. For a lot of people, January is perhaps the strangest month of the year. It is marketed as the month of fresh starts, new beginnings and optimism — but it can also leave many feeling lost and cloudy. And what do most of us do when we’re a bit fuzzy in the brain? We grab the biggest blanket in the house, wrap ourselves in it like a human burrito and firmly plant ourselves on the couch to commence Netflix menu scrolling. If January has left you in a funk, here are five films that will help pull you out.
Erin Brockovich (2000)
The inspirational film to end all inspirational films, this Steven Soderbergh-directed biopic is a sure-fire way to launch your spirits into space. (Arguably even more so than 2001’s Legally Blonde. Yep, I went there.) Erin Brockovich tracks the titular character (played by Julia Roberts) through an intense class-action lawsuit following research and investigation into energy corporation Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), whose negligence led to carcinogenic contamination of water and even lymphoma in one known instance. The case unravels into national news, and is forever known as the Hinkley, California groundwater contamination suit. While this film may not initially seem all that feel-good, it is when you consider the underdog theme (at the start of the film, Brockovich is an unemployed single mother of three) that leads to a triumphant, warm ending. Brockovich’s unwavering can-do attitude and resiliency will undoubtedly rub off on any viewer, and Julia Roberts’s slight, sweet southern accent will stick in your head for days. Erin Brockovich is the perfect pick to not only motivate you to right the wrongs you encounter, but also to follow a path about which you are passionate.
Man Up (2015)
This one is a total funk-buster for its heart and its humor. Man Up, the British-French film starring a wonderfully-cast Lake Bell (she dons a pretty damn believable English accent) and Simon Pegg (whom you may know from the Shaun of the Dead franchise), is a film that I have rewatched a good half-dozen times since I first watched it a few months ago. The premise is fairly simple: boy meets girl, they have a wonderful date and things end up in their favor. Except the boy in question meets the wrong girl, their date goes perfectly only until she reveals her actual identity and things get understandably messy along the way. The good news is that the film does have a heartwarming ending, like all rom-coms tend to have, that will leave you with a cheek-tingling smile. Lake Bell’s Nancy is a bit of a mess at the outset, but viewers soon realize that so is Simon Pegg’s Jack; as a whole, the film gives off a “nobody’s perfect, which makes it easier to be themselves” vibe. Man Up also astutely finds just the right mix of comedy and romance, delivering smart laughs and moments that will make you involuntarily sigh. You can’t not feel renewed with hope after watching this great and goofy film.
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Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
Calling all Wes Anderson fans! Yes, this yellow-toned foray into friendship through the frame of eccentricity made this list — and for good reason. Moonrise Kingdom, directed by Wes Anderson and co-written by Anderson and another famed filmmaker Roman Coppola, tells the twee tale of 12-year-old campers Sam Shakusky and Suzy Bishop who flee New Penzance island in favor of a great adventure — one of their own crafting. As in most Wes Anderson films, Moonrise Kingdom has a healthy dose of idiosyncrasies, oddities and whimsical musings, but what the film also possesses is a deep sense of morality and justice. Without spoiling too much of the film’s underlying mature themes, I’ll leave you with this morsel: Moonrise Kingdom might make you cry, in the best and happiest way possible. Anderson manages to weave a poignancy throughout his young characters, saving them from a danger that might have awaited them in their adulthood. Hopeful and harmonious, this 2012 film is not only a treat for your eyes, it’s one for your heart, too.
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Robot & Frank (2012)
OK, OK — here’s where things get a little more screwball-y. Directed by Jake Schreier in his feature-length debut (he later went on to direct the book-to-film adaptation of John Green’s Paper Towns in 2015), Robot & Frank is superficially silly. Plagued by quickly worsening dementia, ex-con Frank Weld (Frank Langella) is gifted a robot companion to aid him in everyday activities. Frank’s son Hunter (a dreamy James Mardsen) means well when he drops the nameless metal buddy off, and while he is initially wary of the robot, Frank quickly realizes that it can assist him in endeavors beyond the mundane gardening and therapeutic care it is designed to complete. Together, the odd pair embark on a series of petty crimes and cruises down quite streets until Frank is affronted with a troubling reality. Adorably playful with a sprinkling of spry sneakiness, Robot & Frank is terrifically acted and even more tremendously crafted. It is yet another film that settles effortlessly into the fine line between comedy and tragedy, and will leave you feeling full with positive emotion.
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Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)
Rounding out the haze-clearing list is this Colin Trevorrow-directed sci-fi rom-com. (Double whammy abbreviations are my weakness. Give me the weird mash-up films!) Starring Aubrey Plaza as recent college grad Darius, New Girl‘s Jake Johnson as writer Jeff and Mark Duplass as outsider Kenneth Calloway, Safety Not Guaranteed speaks to the weirdos. After discovering an advertisement in the paper calling for individuals interested in going back in time, Jeff begs Darius to come aboard his team who begin investigating the mysterious classifieds post. What follows is an unexpectedly heartfelt story of romance and the unbelievable that is all-around cute, a little crazy and a lot uplifting. Safety Not Guaranteed is a film that seems low-maintenance and humble, but ends up being a stellar one filled with charm and broader themes of dreams, hope and what it means to be an adult.
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