Auggie Rose, written and directed by Matthew Tabak - 9.3 out of 10

Auggie Rose, written and directed by Matthew Tabak

9.3 out of 10

The story of John Nolan and his Transformation, Redemption, Epiphany or/and Resurrection – however you want to call it – could serve as well, just as we face a dramatic scenario ahead of us, the trauma of a calamitous pandemic and we have to make choices, change the way we interact – what comes after social distancing? – look at the world, meaning, our lives in a completely different light and find that we have done things wrong – in the extreme case of the hero of this film, he wants to change Everything – and find inspiration from John Nolan aka Auggie Rose perhaps, in that we get the courage to act decisively, find our calling

In The Time of the Corona Virus, just like in the Magnum opus, Love in the Time of Cholera, by the divine Gabriel Garcia Marquez, included on The Guardian’s Top 100 books of All Time - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/may/08/books.booksnews - we need to adapt, take some drastic measures and perhaps enjoy the time we need to spend in self-quarantine, at home, watching movies for which we may consider compiling a list…on such ‘to watch’ note, Auggie Rose could be inserted, though critics have either ignored or been less than enthused, with the exception of the Los Angeles Times by this compelling story.

The main merit of the film may lie with the seraphic, hypnotizing, serene, captivating Jeff Goldblum, who acts with majesty and also ease in the leading role of John Nolan, who might or might not become Auggie Rose, the personage that dies in the first few minutes of the motion picture, in a violent and stupid robbery, during which he gets shot, in a store where he was a kind of good for all hand – though he would later write to his pen pal that the owner was a generous man and gave him the position and had the kindness to name him assistant, to boost his self-confidence perhaps or just without a psychological intent.

John Nolan sells insurance and he would tell another character that he has done this for a long time – it seems that it had been for too long – and he has had to tell people to buy policies for various unforeseen events, in case of tragedy he would take care of them or the loved ones, but all he has ever done was to send them a check and not really empathize with them, their traumatic experiences or the ones left behind…

However, this insight into what looks like the remorse, the belated realization that his job has had little emotional impact or others comes later in the game and in the beginning, the audience and some participants in the narrative are more than confused by the attitude of the hero, their puzzlement giving place to a rising alarm, as the insurance salesman becomes ever more involved in the ‘case’ of Auggie Rose…

There is an absolutely understandable reason for the interest in this figure, for the assistant in the shop dies in the hands of John Nolan, as he was a customer in the store, when the killer shoots the poor victim, the insurance man was just there and then he tries to see what has happened to the individual, finding that the wounds have been deadly and then that there is nobody to claim the body and this is the moment when the survivor feels pity – now, we may have to meditate on that, for Milan Kundera, in his acclaimed chef d’oeuvre The Unbearable Lightness of Being http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-unbearable-lightness-of-being-9-put.html - explains that there is a difference between pity and compassion, we feel the former for someone ‘inferior’ and the latter for ‘an equal’

The story of John Nolan and his Transformation, Redemption, Epiphany or/and Resurrection – however you want to call it – could serve as well, just as we face a dramatic scenario ahead of us, the trauma of a calamitous pandemic and we have to make choices, change the way we interact – what comes after social distancing? – look at the world, meaning, our lives in a completely different light and find that we have done things wrong – in the extreme case of the hero of this film, he wants to change Everything – and find inspiration from John Nolan aka Auggie Rose perhaps, in that we get the courage to act decisively, find the calling…

As to finding the Calling, Positive Psychology has the way, as indicated by Harvard Professor Tal Ben-Shahar, who says that we have to look at what we Like, then identify the things we are Good at and finally see what has Meaning for us and where these domains intersect, that is the Zone where we would have our Calling…we would be in Flow as a result of that, for most of our lives and as to Flow, you should read the quintessential, classic Flow by another Giant of Positive Psychology, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi…the former illuminati used to joke about the name of the latter with his students, saying that if they can spell the name, they would get two more points at exam…

John Nolan becomes a private investigator in the case of the late Rose, unqualified, but obstinate, going to a prison where he finds little information, but he would still try and get more from the flat rented by the deceased, where he finds a pawn shop note and in consequence becomes the owner of a beautiful, smart parrot, Charlie – I have two macaws, Balzac and Puccini and they help or are responsible for the flaws of this scribbling – …the amateur detective also finds some emotional letters from Lucy Brown aka Anne Heche and he would decide to meet with the woman, at the bus station where they had planned an encounter, before Auggie would have died, something the correspond is not aware of.

Gradually, John Nolan takes the identity of the dead man, to console Lucy, another time because he is mistaken by a small time gangster, Roy Mason aka Timothy Olyphant, who thinks he is the ex-jail bird who can help him organize and then finalize a robbery, only to find that this is actually someone impersonating the late convict and with his negative, suspicious mind set, the scoundrel is sure that there is an insurance or some other scheme here, of which the false Rose would have to benefit from and he obviously wants his share, blackmailing and threatening, both the new Auggie and his ignorant girlfriend…

Although this is not a masterpiece of the magnitude of It’s A Wonderful Life, it is however a thought provoking film, and as stated twice, the example of the hero who thinks hard, sees that his life has not had meaning, when faced with death, he decides to change completely…reminding one of Dostoyevsky and his look at death.

When the genius had been condemned to death, he had three minutes left before the firing squad would shoot him and in the last moments he is pardoned – if it had not all been a strategy to make him reconsider his views – and he writes in his Magnum opera about what he saw in the last few moments, how important life becomes, what sublime intensity is drawn from this and much more…read his work to be elated and transcend