When Brenden Met Trudy

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=80 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="04000500dvldtc.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>Reel Movie Critic.com</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Reel Movie Critic.com"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id1905.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Taste of Others"><U>The Taste of Others</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1906.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Time and Tide"><U>Time and Tide</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1904.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tomcats"><U>Tomcats</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1902.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Too Much Sleep"><U>Too Much Sleep</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1898.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Time Code"><U>Time Code</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1900.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Time Regained"><U>Time Regained</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1901.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Turn It Up"><U>Turn It Up</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1897.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="U571"><U>U-571</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1903.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Two Family House"><U>Two Family House</U></A>   |   <B>When Brenden Met Trudy</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="041d2c00dvldtc.png"> <div> <B>Home Page for</B></div> <div> <B>      </B><A HREF="http://newbookdiscounts.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://newbookdiscounts.com/"><U><B>Books</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>           </B><A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelforless/id364.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelfor"><U><B>Travel</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>                </B><A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/"><U><B>Movies</B></U></A></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>                   </B><A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelforless/id361.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelfor"><U><B>Great Web Sites</B></U></A></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="1345d8460.png" border=0 width="216" height="326" ALT="Bitmap Image" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=400 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> When Brenden Met Trudy</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="444" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="438"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="438" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="575"><div> When Brendan Met Trudy ***1/2  ( R )</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="575"><div> Reviewed By George O. Singleton</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="549" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="545"><div> We're all sheep…just different flocks</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="580" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Brendan: Peter McDonald</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Trudy: Flora Montgomery</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Edgar: Uncredited</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Director: Kieron J. Walsh</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B>30 Second Bottom Line</B>: A romantic comedy about a schoolteacher and his lover, who claims she is a teacher, takes us on a unique journey when we discover that she might be a terrorist or a thief. </div> <bR> <div> <B>Story Line:</B> Brendan (Peter McDonald) is a schoolteacher who is bored with his life. To spice it up, he goes to art films and sings in a local choir. He's having a drink in a pub one day and is approached by Trudy (Flora Montgomery). He appears to be a dullard and she is a lively young woman, who tells him, as they are getting to know each other, that she is a Montessori teacher. They arrange to have a date at a movie theater and Brendan is bitterly disappointed when she stands him up. </div> <bR> <div> Later they do meet again, and it's clear that they have different tastes in films; she tells him that her movies must not be serious "…nothing with Emma Thompson in it…and in color." She couldn't care less about the director or the cinematographer. Soon they are infatuated with one another and Brendan is enjoying the best sex he's ever had. His next step is to take Trudy home to meet his family, to show them that he is not an odd ball in the family who cannot find a lover.</div> <bR> <div> Trudy is someone other than who she appears to be. Her regular midnight departures after their lovemaking, combined with news reports of radical masked women who castrate men, causes Brendan to suspect she is a terrorist. By this time he is either in love with her or darn close to it. He is distant with his students at school and appears to have a major case of being P whipped. When Brendan learns what Trudy does in the middle of the night, he becomes a changed man.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Tell Me More About It</B>: This is potentially a break out comedy, that could be the come from nowhere hit in 2001, that <I><B>Croupier</B></I> was last year.  There are numerous original and very funny scenes, such as how Brendan reacts when he thinks that he may be castrated, and his mother's use of the MF words at the dinner table when Trudy visits.</div> <bR> <div> When Brendan meets Edgar (a Nigerian who is eventually deported) at a party, for the first time he becomes a politically active person. This enlightenment, in addition to his passion for Trudy, truly changes him at the core. </div> <bR> <div> I was captivated by the sexiness of Trudy because she is not beautiful in the typical movie star or model sense. She has a charming smile that first makes Brendan like her, and when he gets to know her, he develops an intense passion, which he has never known before. </div> <bR> <div> After seeing so many mind numbing and empty comedies from Hollywood, it's really refreshing to follow the characters in <I>When Brendan Met Trudy.</I> It's intelligent, along the lines of <I><B>The Tao of Steve,</B></I><I><B> </B></I><I><B>Croupier</B></I><I><B>, </B></I><B>and</B><I><B> </B></I><I><B>Chuck and Buck</B></I>. Trudy may not be a schoolteacher or even have graduated from high school, but she is smart enough to look Brendan in the eye and say "I'm not just anything," which speaks volumes about her self-image.</div> <bR> <div> The comedy is not "in your face," but walks a humorous line, such as when Brendan's sister states her pleasure at being a step beyond the blue collar working class, so much that her BMW has a sticker which reads "Middle class and proud of it." </div> <bR> <div> Like all romantic comedies you know they will get together in the end. But believe me, this is more down to earth than even good romantic films such as <I><B>What Women Want</B></I> and <I><B>Family Man</B></I>. That becomes clear when Trudy tells Brendan that the next time they are alone she expects "an almighty ride." As he is thinking about this while walking away, he jumps into the air, clicks his heels, and day dreams about a happy future for them, just as you do as you leave the theater.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="591" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> R (sex; nudity; drugs; violence; language)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> George O. Singleton © 2001</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> <A HREF="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com"><U><U>George@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> Mini Filmography </div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Peter McDonald: <I><B>The Opportunists</B></I></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Flora Montgomery: <I>A Certain Justice</I></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Kieron J. Walsh: <I>The Perfect Blue</I></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="286"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="286" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>