Socal Woman
Sixty Six Scores A Goal
Armond Richards |
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 I am lucky. I am blessed. I have felt love and I have known love. I have felt accepted, like I have belonged to something larger than myself. There is a point in every person’s life when they have that piercing, chilling sense of being in this world alone. I have had the good fortune of surrounding myself with people who will uplift me beyond that drowning sense of despair.
Others, however, have not had their faith in humanity so handsomely rewarded. Some have went out into the dark and abandoned with no means of light. They find themselves blindly searching for anything that could lead them away from that depression. Luckily for Bernie Reubens, his upcoming bar mitzvah is the illumination that promises to guide him out of the shadows of obscurity. Unluckily for Bernie, England has made it into the World Cup final the same day that he becomes a man.
In Sixty Six, Bernie Reubens (Gregg Sulkin) feels that his life is less than optimal. His father Manny (Eddie Marsan) is a reserved, neurotic man who only seems to embrace life when he is on the dance floor. His older brother Alvie (Ben Newton) treats him like a second-class citizen. His mother Esther (Helena Bonham Carter) rarely has time for him because she is busy trying to keep the whole family sane. The year is 1966--hence the title of the movie--and this is the year Bernie turns 13. For a young Jewish adolescent, this is the ultimate year because this is the year of the mitzvah. Finally, Bernie will get a chance to be the center of attention for his whole family, his entire extended family, a multitude of random friends and vast quantities of acquaintances.
 However, there is competition for England’s affections this year. The World Cup has come to the UK and England is the underdog. The English football team rides the enthusiasm of its countrymen and make it to the finals to be played on July 30, the same day of Bernie’s bar mitzvah. Rather than attend Bernie’s bar mitzvah, most of his party guests opt to cheer on the English team in the tournament of champions. It is up to Bernie’s father to restore Bernie’s faith in those who are supposed to love him.
I have a special affinity for comedic films coming out of Britain over the last couple of years. I would normally hate to use the word dramedy, but this is what British comedy films have been as of late: a unique, near-perfected blend of sweet laughter and bitter reality that provide a well-rounded film. Paul Weiland, who also directed such films as Made of Honor and City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly’s Gold, presents the eternal questions of love, purpose and belonging in Sixty Six. For a coming-of-age tale, the film gives a wonderful cornucopia of complex characters, more complex situations and, if you add that to the infinitely complex nuances of humanity, audiences get a film that does its best to explain how we become who we are. The only thing I feel the movie lacks is the absence of a love interest. I completely understand that love must be found within the home before it can be appreciated abroad. It just seems to me that the whole point of becoming a man is to find a woman. Who knows? Maybe there will be a Sixty Six part two. Sixty Seven?
 As I said before, I am lucky to have been a part of something larger than myself. I truly hope everyone has felt that sense of belonging, whether they get it from their family, their employment, their friends, race, religion or any other of the countless groups, organizations or clubs one can belong to. I also hope that, like Bernie, any faith you have in those you love comes to reward you more than you ever thought imaginable. After all, what are we if we are not a part of a “we,” “they” or “us?” In those dire straits, when we find ourselves in the “I” category, remember one thing: it is through our humanity that we belong with everyone else.
Sixty Six is now playing at Laemmle’s Royal Theatre in West L.A. and Laemmle’s Town Center 5 in Encino.
For more information, visit 66thefilm.com.
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