Stanley Tucci plays the lead as Professor Ted Swenson whose mind is filled with Altzschmerz. As you can gather from the title he becomes predictably becomes entwined with Addison Timlin’s character Angela Argo who shows great promise as a new literary voice in her draft of a novel called Eggs.
Excerpts from Eggs are read by Argo and are really wonderful to hear as she pull you in as the underdog with literary taste. In class we se her talent is not appreciated by her peers (partly as they’re not that bright and partly because she had recently given a damning review of one of her classmates.) It is only through the ear of Professor Swenson that Argo gets the recognition she deserves.
“The room spun until it threw me onto the floor.”
Argo writes “terribly obscene” poetry according to one professor who taught her. And sexual fantasies continue to weave into her newer work Eggs. Swenson generously accepts her request to read early chapters of the draft which we all know is begging to be role-played in reality. It begins fine enough but talks a walk into a path best untaken. The impending involvement feels unnecessary as the only point of attraction is Argo’s literary voice. The Professor is so starved of cerebral stimulus that the first exposure to it lures him into an inappropriate and unnecessary brief entanglement. It’s up to the viewer to wander if they saw any seduction or manipulation at play in the film. Your answer is very telling as to whether that last line made you think of Swenson or Argo.
The film unfolds predictably and it can be somewhat frustrating as you know it’s all so avoidable. Their bond is ultimately irrelevant and I saw it no physical or cerebral attachment seemed present. There was no romance, no seduction or rapport. Argo writes great prose. There’s the art and the person and the person (character) is not as appealing as her prose. Also the dynamic is completely inappropriate educators must never overstep the line with their connection to their students no matter what their age difference is or qualities that could be a foundation for a even a friendhsgoiip. Educators educate it is as simple as that. It doesn’t even matter if a student is infatuated with a professor, the educator always has to say no and draw a line and put a wall in place.
I got to hear the word snafu in the film. That was a highlight. That was a word of the day for me. And helped distract me from the college hook-up witnessed mintues previously with nudity I didn’t expect to see.
Near the end as Professor Swenson admits: he slept with her words. But it’s no excuse. Ted is just a fool. But I could not feel anything for him no annoyance or anger because again it just comes back to that word unnecessary.
Professor Ted is pressured to write a memoir which he feels is a redundant medium as he explores much of his life in the guise of fiction. The whole brush with the forbidden is redundant. And I guess it goes back to the same lesson: damaged people are dangerous they know how to survive. It’s a shame because he has such a wonderful marriage which is a rare depiction in film. Later on his wife delivers some great lines near the end.
Despite his brain being the source of his power his d*ck leads to his downfall. So I guess women are more powerful.
Addison Timlin is a wonderful actress. I had only previous to this seen her in a small part in Chronically Metropolitan but she carries the scenes well, is wonderfully engaging and her voice has a warm and soothing feel as she reads extracts of her novel. She is one the most pleasant film discoveries I’ve seen in a while. I’d really like to see her in more Indie films. Stanley Tucci is always great to watch and great to see in the central and leading role.
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