Faith Is the Antithesis of Proof (13 Conversations About One Thing)

I recently organized and brought in Dr. Alan Zimmerman to speak at my company. For those of you who aren't familiar with his work, he's written such books as Pivot and Brave Questions. Zimmerman has drawn on his own personal experiences to formulate a universal truth - positive attitude leads to personal success and happiness. As I watched this movie for a second time, I thought about Dr. Zimmerman. I believe he would have liked this movie quite a bit. 13 Conversations is split into 13 vignettes - to which we assume will be about one thing. Our movie opens with Patricia (Amy Irving) smoking near an open window in her apartment with a table set for two - seemingly waiting for someone. Her husband enters - wet. "I forgot my umbrella he tells her," before saying anything else - before greeting his wife - before showing her some small gesture of appreciation. Walker (John Turturro) selfishly takes over a conversation his wife begins and diverts it to reflection about a recent mugging which left him with a black eye. He proclaims that he's looking for happiness - which is what anyone wants. We then move to a bar focusing on two people that seem to be in different places - certainly not together. Gene (played masterfully by Alan Arkin) is sitting at the bar by himself with his head down with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Troy (played by Matthew McConaughey) celebrates with several coworkers for successfully prosecuting someone. The two men engage in a conversation about lady luck. One man does not believe in it and the other believes that luck is contextual and what you make of it. It is with this premise that the movie continues and flows showing the interconnectedness of everyone to one another. If we take the lawyer's blind view of luck, fate or attitude - we ignore the fact that luck or fate is directly influenced by attitude. This story supports that philosophy.

'Conversations' is a very quiet movie, literally speaking, in that it is a movie about discussion, coincidence, and happenstance. I've always been a fan of a story told in a series of vignettes. I like the sections supported by titles and I also enjoy the way the characters become narrators or storytellers as the film progresses.

The quiet provides its audience with reflection - reflection of things done and not. We're thrust quickly into judging characters of this movie for anything from laziness to happiness to negligence. Though the movie focuses on thirteen conversations, the characters with which it focuses on is considerably less. Though there are really only about six people that these stories center around, those conversations lead to events that change the people involved - whether they realize it or not. Arkin's Gene seems to be the voice that carries these vignettes - if not from what he says then for what we know he's considering. The movie unfolds like life - moments of calm in the chaos. Whether those moments last seconds or years is something that is presented to us as if we're living within those moments.

He said, "It's a multiviewer." It's worth watching both to watch the tremendous cast and script. Jill and Karen Sprecher deliver the "One Thing" to us so that it feels very personal, because as the two of them worked on the script, it was personal to them. This is the type of movie that you could watch in a class and talk about it for days with your fellow students. This is one of the movies that makes you feel watching independent film is so worthwhile.