Movies

Placid Lake's life has never been normal. From his early years when his mother sent him to school in a dress to challenge the other 5 year old children's 'preconceived notions of sexuality,' he should have guessed that fitting in was not going to be easy.

Fortunately for Placid, Gemma, the crayon gobbling scientific genius in awe of no one but her father is also having a few 'blending in' issues. They develop a firm friendship through the years during which their own peculiar parents attempt to drag them up and hurl them into adulthood, and they both discover the binding passion between them is a desperate bid for the elusive … 'Normal life'.

The Rage in Placid Lake is another gem to which my eyes were opened by the power of recommendation (thanks Scottie). It is that same recommendation that I now gladly distribute.

You may or may not have ever heard of Australian Indie Rocker Ben Lee. I cannot say that I am familiar with his catalog of music, but I can say that he was very entertaining as Placid Lake, our young protagonist who struggles to see how, or even if, his pure-bred individuality fits into today's conformist society.

Placid Lake is a rebel without a cause born of wildly outlandish parents who seem not to have their feet firmly planted anywhere near reality. His parents promote every activity for Placid to develop his own identity and to buck the system. After an accident, Placid wakes up in the hospital with a new-found drive to legitimize himself in the eyes of society; he wants to get a job selling insurance. The sharp contrast between his upbringing and his epiphany added cozy comic-relief to an intelligent story about the importance of "self."

The role models in Placid's life were polar extremes. He has his pacifist parents, who spend a little too much time disrobed around the home, and he has his manager at work, who is lost in middle management and has seemingly lost his ability to produce emotion.

The conversations that Placid has with his manager were my favorite aspect of the movie. Yes, his perspectives were narrow and extreme, but the points he made were poignant.

I also enjoyed Placid's best friend, Gemma. Gemma is a beautiful and intelligent young lady who is pushed urgently by her father to stay on track to someday make incredible breakthroughs in modern science. I like how she was written into the story in a way that Placid was able to do soul searching on behalf of them both. She was a first-hand witness to his journey into corporate monotony, from which they both learned valuable lessons about the direction of their lives.

Go ahead; see The Rage in Placid Lake. You won't be disappointed (well I hope not anyway!).

| Buy it from Amazon | Discuss it |