"Atlas Shrugged", critics shrug

A blogger's life is truly wonderful. While people are put there doing things, creating things and working towards the American Dream we're sitting here in the basement in our pajamas, middle of the afternoon eating Cheetos and Chef Boyardee while scouring the Internets looking for something to write about, without having to actually experience it or even adhere to basic journalistic codes of asking questions.

I am therefore perfectly suited to write about the Tea Party's venture into Hollywood, that plastic celebrity world where the liberal agenda reigns supreme. Enter the Tea Party and their venture into the film world with their paean to rugged individualism from their Goddess of everything that is good about America, Ayn Rand and her epic struggle of individualism against the socialist dystopia of Washington in 'Atlas Shrugged, Part I'.

Judging from the reviews and the opening week gross, an anemic $1.7 million the film fails on both levels. By all accounts the dialogue is turgid and the message is about as subtle as a 2x4 to the back of the head. The context of the book is the ultimate Tea Party nightmare, a Washington where social justice is mandated by fat cat politicians who're in the process of passing a law allowing no one to own more than one company while our brave heroes keep slogging on chasing the American Dream by doing it all themselves.

Although the story is set in 2016 the our heroes are building railways and making steel. Steel, like Elvis left the building a long time ago ad now resides in Asia and other parts. Rail isn't exactly cutting edge except maybe for high speed passenger rail which Tea Party adherents have managed to kill wherever they can.

The acting, the characters and the dialogue are so predictably wooden the movie fails at even being mildly entertaining. The message is laid on so thickly it could pass for a Russian propaganda film from the 30's. As one of the old Hollywood tycoons famously said, 'If you want to send a message use Western Union,' or even better become a Fox News commentator.

Will we even be subject to part 2 and 3? Probably; they're hoping that true ideologues will buy the DVD for prosperity. If they really wanted to make a film about the American Dream and the ideals of 'rugged individualism' The Social Network does it infinitely better in the context of the times, not the context of the 1950's

Disclaimer: I haven't seen the movie and have no intention of wasting any money on it but the reviews are all that I need to know what it is. Here is a taste in the trailer.