Movie Quote Monday – Warm Bodies
It’s another MQM first: this movie is still in the theater. You should go see it! Right now!
You guys, I loved this movie and I’m so glad I didn’t wait for the dvd. I hadn’t planned to see it in the theater because I was sure it couldn’t be as good as the previews looked, and I hate to be disappointed. But a few people whose opinions I trust said it was awesome, so I went. And it was.
Two of those guys called Warm Bodies a Zom-Rom-Com, and I guess that’s right. The basic plot is that a zombie called R meets a girl named Julie, a girl that he just can’t kill; it’s zombie love at first sight. As R and Julie interact, R starts to change and become human again. The comedy in this movie is what I think of as quiet humor, subtle and smoothly woven into the fabric of the film rather than big jokes and gags that make you laugh out loud. I smiled most of the way through this movie – for being a zombie film, it’s sweet and charming and funny. Having said all that, while I was watching I never thought of it in terms of romantic comedy.
The powerful impression that Warm Bodies made on me is that this is a movie about being human.
In many ways it reminds me of Stranger Than Fiction, which I suppose is technically a romantic comedy. But really, both movies make huge statements about life and what it means to really live. They just wrapped it all up in a sweet and quirky romantic story, with humor and characters you can’t help but like and root for.
There were so many quotes that I could pull out of this movie, and so many topics that we could explore. Warm Bodies touches on friendship, the power of love, the importance of nurturing one another, letting go of the past, not knowing who or what we are, acceptance, redemption, and the possibility of being so far gone that your life is irredeemable. One moment that made an impression on me is how R reacts when he sees himself from a human’s perspective. I mean, what would I see if I were faced with that “truth”, with literally seeing myself through someone else’s eyes? And a big part of the movie is how the changes happening in R start spreading throughout the zombie community. R and Julie’s connection is like an anti-zombie virus. It makes you think about the power we have to effect positive change in other people’s lives.
In the end, this is the quote that stood out to me the most:
Julie: I can see you trying. That’s what people do. They do their best.
To me, that pretty much says it all. We don’t always know who we are; we don’t always see ourselves very clearly. We don’t always act in loving and accepting and nurturing ways. But there is very little – if anything – that we can’t come back from, from which we can’t be redeemed.
It’s not the end of the world if we don’t always get life “right”.
We just have to keep trying. We just have to do our best.
♦
Items of Interest:
Warm Bodies & The Meaning of Life
– Clay talks about Warm Bodies’ “complex philosophical wanderings” (while in zombie drag and eating brains)
Film Review of Warm Bodies
– JR’s overview and thoughts on Warm Bodies (with movie posters and a clip of the first 4 minutes of the film)
Warm Bodies – a (Quasi) Movie Review
– Chad sees “hints of the Gospel story” in Warm Bodies (a great analysis)
Can People Change?
– Sherideth asks 5 questions about change and redemption (interesting answers in the comments)
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steadily skipping stones 