I Am Legend = I am Lacking

"By describing, we bring into being"
- George Herbert Mead

Dear Film Fans:

"I Am Legend" was today's entertainment.

We got there nearly an hour early and the theater was packed, which seemed ironic for a movie about extreme solitude (after the show, back on the street, all we could think was "Where are all these PEOPLE coming from?!", which is a testament to the film's visual impact).

Betty is so unused to seeing movies of this action/adventure/apocalypse type, especially from the third row! So every punch and careful sound effect and hairpin turn made her carom off the side of her seat.

Will Smith was appealing and Odyssean as a man always preparing to defend and clash, but also doing everything to show us the nearly unlimited potential of his situation. And he's been working out! It must have been a year of exercise for the twenty second shirtless scene.

Bimbo thinks this movie may actually have worked better as an HBO mini-series. It makes daily life seem quite rich, and many of the details were funny and thoughtful. And Betty liked the importance of social life that the film emphasized and toyed with.

Ultimately though, this movie is sacchrine and silly. It changes tone even technique drastically in the last 10 minutes (Betty thinks there should be an industry ban on last-minute voiceovers!) and winds down as a collection of cool images, not much more.

What did other people think? We are loathe to spoil the fun (and the tears! Betty's tears at halftime!), but please weigh in. We are interested in the earlier film versions of this story, too.