comfort movie

aside from being my comfort movie... this shit is really good

My wife and I have been together for eight years.  In those eight years we have only had cable for two, those were the first two years we lived in Los Angeles.  We decided to ditch cable when we moved to a different apartment in order to save money, the digital change over had occurred during that time and so we were left without television channels at all.  We survived the way we always had, Netflix and our ever expanding collection of DVD’s.

Luckily neither of us has a problem with watching the same movie or T.V. show over, and over, and over again.  Occasionally we will feel the loss of not having six hundred channels of real housewives, pregnant teenagers, dancing has-beens, and those unclassifiable bitches who’s fame I can’t explain, to freely surf.  When this happens we have a magical tool called the internet where most T.V. can be viewed on the thirteen inch screen of my Macbook Pro.

Within our vast DVD collection we have each developed favorites that we could watch anytime, anywhere and they make us feel instantly better.  These may not be the best movies in the world, they may not even be a good movie but like a security blanket they wrap around you and protect you from any negative feelings.

Step Brothers is my comfort movie.  After what feels like 200 viewings I still find it absolutely hilarious, I laugh at all the appropriate moments and for the 106 minutes that it graces my T.V. screen nothing can go wrong.

I thought about this last week when I found out that my temporary work assignment, that I was hoping would become my permanent work assignment, would be ending.  After this Friday I will go back to the world of resumes, cover letters, references, and interviews.  To cope with this I will slip Step Brothers out of its cardboard case, pop it out of the holder, and slide it into the DVD player.

It will comfort me as I bombard Craigslist with a barrage of resumes and “please hire me emails.”  When I’ve finished watching it once through I will start it all over again and enjoy it as if I was watching it for the first time.

I don’t believe that there needs to be a psychological reason behind every comfort movie, but after thinking about it there might just be an explanation for Step Brothers being mine.

If you’ve not seen it (if not what the hell is wrong with you?) the story is about two 40 year old men played by Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly who still live at home.  They essentially are two me who never or refused to grow up.  Still supported by their parents  they don’t have jobs, or bills, or any other adult duties to perform.  Even their aspirations are childish as they attempt to build their dream company “Prestige Worldwide.”

I will openly admit that often the laziest parts of me will become jealous of their lives, eating microwaved Nacho’s for breakfast, wearing a Chewbacca mask around the house, or just having a treehouse where I can keep all my vintage Hustler magazine collection.

I usually watch it when I have my own adult duties and responsibilities to fulfill, when their weight has begun to stress me out.  How could I or any have any worries when hearing Will Ferrell say “I smoked pot with Johnny Hopkins.  It was Johnny Hopkins and Sloan Kettering, and we were blazing that shit up every day.”

Think about your comfort movie or T.V. episode.  You may never have realized it but I bet you have one.  Tell us what yours is in the comment section or post it as a comment on our facebook wall.

posted by: brian snider