Expired

"Do you think it is better to have something rather than nothing if you can't have everything?"

Expired (2007), starring Samantha Morton and Jason Patric.  A good movie.

This movie is about mediocrity -- whether one settles for someone just to have someone -- and it is also about seeing past people's off-putting patterns and habits. Morton and Patric play two socially awkward meter maids. Morton puts up with many of Patric's rude, arrogant and selfish behavior to make the relationship work. Maybe she does so just to have someone, but maybe it is because she sees that Patric, in his own way is trying his best.

In some ways, Patric's character reminds me of Adam Sandler in Punch-Drunk Love (2002), except without the self clarity. 


Every once in awhile, you see a movie with a scene matched with the right song. Below is only the song Story of a Dying Man by Chris Stills from Youtube.



Samantha Morton. She has an unforgettable face, and excels at playing characters with pent up, conflicted emotions bubbling under a somewhat calm demeanor. The first time I saw her, she was Jane Eyre in the 1997 TV movie. I remember thinking, finally, someone is being faithful to the book and has cast the right actress to play Jane Eyre, someone who isn't stunning, or gorgeous but plain looking. The next time I saw her, she was in the big leagues, playing a psychic genius alongside Tom Cruise in Minority Report (2002). And finally, what I remember Morton for is Code 46 (2003), a brilliant science fiction movie about genetic incompatibility between two lovers.