“Girl movies.” “Chick flicks.” Call them what you will; I hate ’em. I do. Truly. But when my boss offered me pizza, soda, popcorn, and a pre-screening of October Baby … well … who could resist? (The way to a man’s heart, and all that …)
So, I gathered my Papa John’s, my Coke Zero, and my plastic cup of popcorn, and I watched the movie. … And I loved it. Did I laugh? Yes. Did I cry? All over my man card, yes. (Thank heavens those things are waterproof!) Did it leave me with a lesson? Absolutely.
Here’s the synopsis from the October Baby website:
As the curtain rises, Hannah hesitantly steps onto the stage for her theatrical debut in college. Yet before she can utter her first lines, Hannah — unscripted — collapses in front of the stunned audience.
After countless medical tests, all signs point to one underlying factor: Hannah’s difficult birth. This revelation is nothing compared to what she then learns from her parents: she was actually adopted after a failed abortion attempt.
Bewildered, angered, and confused, Hannah turns for support to Jason, her oldest friend. Encouraged by his adventurous spirit, Hannah joins his group of friends on a Spring Break road trip, embarking on a journey to discover her hidden past and find hope for her unknown future.
As a father, October Baby made me want to run home, wrap my arms around my daughter, and tell her over and over again how special she is and how much I love her. This is one of those onion petal movies — so many lessons and reminders, layer upon layer. And it was all well done and well executed.
I enjoyed the acting, because it was believable. John Schneider did an excellent job as the father in this movie. No kidding. And Rachel Hendrix as Hannah — the tension between the two of them as father and daughter, well, it reminded me of my daughter and … ummm … Let’s just say it was realistic and leave it at that, shall we?
The biggest thing for me was the reminder that we’re all human, and we’re all in need of forgiveness, because we all do stupid stuff that really seems like the right thing at the time, but later on, when we discover we’ve only made a grand mess of things … it’s just nice to know that our mistakes don’t have to define us.
That’s probably all I can say without giving you some spoilers, so, to the men, I say, “Go see October Baby.” If you’re married, take your wife. If you’re dating, take your girlfriend. Laugh when it’s time to laugh, and when it’s time to cry, don’t fight it.
If at all possible, go and support this movie on opening night, March 23. A big opening at the box office will send a message to Hollywood that they can’t ignore. For what it’s worth, it’s my intention to support this movie with my hard-earned dollars on March 23, even though I’ve already seen it for free. It’s that important.
So man up, guys, and go see October Baby. And if you have to, just remember that it’s allergy season. You can blame your red, puffy eyes on that.