Dan and Hannah Come Off the Trail and Visit the Wilma Theater in Missoula, MT

On hiking vacations and especially when the high for the day is 48 degrees in June!, Dan and Hannah think movies.  Back in the family-trips-West days in the mid90s, we saw Hot Shots Part Deux with Charlie Sheen (I have no excuse.) for a total of $6.25 for the five of us in Logan, UT.  A few years back on a cold June afternoon in Cody, WY, Hannah and I saw one of my personal favorites, Cinderella Man with Russell Crowe and Renee Zellwegger (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlbHzcH4VJY).  Rarely do we go out to the movies, but we do rent at Red Box for a dollar or at the Hannaford Grocery store in town for $2.  But today we are off to the Wilma Theater (http://thewilma.com/) in downtown Missoula for some cinematic delights.  Built in 1921 along the bank of the Clark Fork River in downtown Missoula, Montana, the Wilma building [is] commonly called the "Showplace of Montana." … Today the Wilma building, with its 1,066 seat Louis XIV-style theatre, remains a Missoula icon. It was the first modern steel-framed skyscraper built in Missoula. It houses two theatres (1 small cinema with 125 seats and one large 1,067 seat theatre), offices, and residential space.   It’s the kind of place that would show Sundance Film Festival winners.  Small time, artsy, not mainstream. http://www.sundance.org/festival/

The Missoulian, the local newspaper (http://missoulian.com/), informed us of the 7P showing of I AM (http://www.slashfilm.com/tom-shadyacs-trailer/) by Hollywood big shot producer, Tom Shadyac.  Tom directed such hits as Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Liar Liar, The Nutty Professor, Bruce Almighty, and Patch Adams.  Now I AM may not wow you as a title as it, too, left me wondering, but the title works really well as you will see by the end of this review.  The documentary-type film (though it flows like a real movie) is only 90 minutes long so it’s not going to kill you to give it a shot.  In fact, you’ll wish it were longer.   Without giving too much away, Tom has an accident that makes him rethink the choices he has made in his life.  He sets out to make a film asking brilliant people two questions:

1.    What’s wrong with the world?

2.    What can be done about it?

As someone who is truly brilliant, I ask you these two questions?   Use the comment section of this blog or send them to me by email for a future posting on the over60hiker blog.  (You may not want to read further if you are going to answer these questions since I’ve listed what Hannah and I said below.)

On our ride from Missoula, MT to Pocatello, ID I write down my answers to those questions for myself and ask Hannah for hers.  For me, we have leaders who don’t understand the necessity to work together.   My second thought to question #1 was the lack of tolerance for the religions of others.   Big picture sort of responses.  Not especially brilliant or even slightly brilliant, but they do answer the question.  I must get some credit for that.  Hannah offers up, we’re afraid, we doubt, we don’t trust, we don’t have faith, and we love conditionally.  Whoa, Hannah!  The meter leans towards brilliant here, especially when considering my response.  Clearly, she overmarried by at least six pay grades. 

Then we thought what can be done.  Before I can tell Hannah to just think of her responses she busts out with practice trusting, have faith, not being fearful and love unconditionally.   What can I say?  Her response speaks to my concerns.

Tom learns from his interviews that one rule of nature is that no living things take more than they need except one: Good ole humankind.  A tree just takes the nutrients it needs.  A lion kills one zebra not fifty.  Taking too much is a cancer.

Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others.- Saint Augustine, Early Christian leader and writer, and one of the Fathers of the Church (354-430 AD)

So the question for me is, Am I using more than I need?  We have two cars for the two of us.  Now that I am retired is one enough?  We’ve a big house now that our three kids have left the nest.  Can we share our house or should we downsize?

There is much more than this to the film.  He advises us to find out what makes your heart sing.  Remember the power of one.  Do something.  

In the end it’s important to answer this question correctly.  What’s right with the world?

Hopefully, you can answer I am.