I’m 36 years old today. I have a lovely wife and a daughter who is absolutely brilliant. I also have a mortgage, about twenty pounds I need to get rid of and I get up to pee at least once a night.
I feel old.
Now, I know 40 is the new 30, so they say. At least for some. Others, 40 is 40, no matter how hard they try to ignore it. And really, I don’t have an issue with getting older. But man, sometimes you just feel age creeping on you. Maybe it’s hearing people use crazy slang words or talk about today’s pop stars. Or maybe it’s hearing a song from the past and realizing, ‘jeez, that song was ten years ago…fifteen even’.
That’s how I felt watching Channing Tatum in 10 Years, a sort of Big Chill/Grosse Pointe Blank for late 90’s/early 2000 high school grads.
Filmed in 2011 and recently released on DVD, 10 Years is a high school reunion story featuring a wonderful cast that includes Tatum, Rosario Dawson, Justin Long, Max Minghella and the increasingly awesome Kate Mara (she of American Horror Story fame and sister of Rooney). You’ve got your obnoxious drunk looking to make amends, the girl that two best friends want to bed, the long lost lovers and the success stories. The tropes aren’t completely original, but the performances are all extremely strong.
But man, watching this film made me feel old, especially when Fatboy Slim’s Praise You is played as a song that was popular for these guys when they were in high school! I was in what, second or third year university when I was dancing poorly to that song while drinking watered down beer at the Dance Cave in Toronto.
I feel old.
These characters are younger than me and my friends, but the truth is, regardless of your generation, our experiences wind up being shared just based on how our North American society works. We all love the music we grew up on, we all wonder what happened to our first loves, and we’re all trying to find out how we got to where we are today. 10 Years may not be the movie for my generation, and it may have left me shaking my head as I counted the days until today, but it’s definitely a film that manages to resonate outside of its demo, just like The Big Chill and Grosse Pointe Blank before it (though admittedly, it’s not quite as good as either).
Now, if you’ll excuse me, Old Man Burns has to take a nap. And maybe spin some Fatboy Slim.
God, I feel old
absolutely loved this post and the video. Andy, you’re only as old as your inner child. Now go play.
I’ll do it, Marie. I just need someone to help me get off the couch.
Happy Birthday Andy!
Just watched this movie on the weekend. Kind of made me wish my High School did a 10 year reunion.