Did anyone else want him(Mr.church) to secretly own Jelly's??? Like in lieu of taking care of Charlie's mother ....boss man bought the bar for him...that would have explain his income alot better...the whole part at the end when "jelly" came to the funeral just seemed awkward and off...
sharea lot about this movie seems awkward and off if you really think hard about it, that's probably why it's generated next to no attention.
shareI liked the non-dramatic resolution of the Jelly story. I saw dude walking up and had expected him to be Church's dad.
Even before then, I'd expected another blow up, then make up after Church would confront Charlotte after him seeing her in Jelly's, but the respectively quiet final matchbook scene finished the arc. However, I never thought she'd do something as simple as going through his drawers.
One of my weird attractions to this film is having so many seemingly forecast cliches not resolve as expected. I'd even thought Church might have been involved with Richard, but that also went no where despite the later hint dropped about Church's sexual orientation.
I think the author of the story wanted to be vague concerning Mr. Church's life away from his day job of cooking for the mom(s) and daughter(s). Maybe in real life the author never really knew him except as a cook who came and went. I would have liked to have seen a bit more with at least a scene or two of him playing in the club. I know he said he did not get paid for playing when his piano skills were revealed.
I found that all the money he saved by clipping coupons to be far fetched. Not having to spend full price for food is a good thing but the money still had to come from some place even if his record keeping was absolutely accurate, coupons don't generate cash.
Also, Mr. Church coming home drunk most every night and passing out did not seem like something he could do and always be up and cheerful at breakfast time with all of the gourmet ingredients organized.
Him being charitable over his life time was a fine idea but owning the bar could have helped to solve the money mystery. The author could have made up something such as him being a chef at a fancy hotel to have his character be something more than a stranger who came and went.
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Books and movies are usually better than real life.
I have a similar life story, my father passed away suddenly from liver failure, then my mom passed away after battling cancer for 12 years. Suddenly I'm left tackling the mortgage on the house they bought together, and I am clipping coupons every week and struggling to save every penny to make ends meet and not lose the house. If you consider that Mr. Church saved $6.00 with the coupons the first time he went shopping...
I just assumed he shopped at least 2 or 3 times a week. If he saved $6.00 every trip, let's say he saved $15.00 a week. 52 weeks a year, for about 9 years I think, by the time he gave Charlotte the money? That's about $7000.00. Maybe that's all she needed with the grants she might have gotten for college. It didn't even raise a red flag with me. College tuition in the late 1970's was nothing like it is today.
As for his boss Jelly showing up at his wake, I thought that was a nice extra that didn't even have to be in the film. If I had one yearning at that point, it was for Charlotte to invite Jelly into the house to go through the personal belongings of Mr. Church and give some insight into his private life.
But the final scene with Charlotte's daughter making breakfast to the sound of jazz music on the radio, that was more than enough closure, and made the movie feel more natural. At least in my life, closures don't usually come from the sources I think they would. The movie had a very natural tone.
I love feel-good movies. This was the best of them, and the only one that had me sobbing from beginning to end! Easily in my top five movies of all time.
There's no sense in thanking Eddie Murphy for playing probably his best role of all time in this film. From his current podcast interviews, he doesn't use a computer or the internet, and never reads anything about his work. We just have to be happy that he did another movie. He really is Mr. Church. When I look at the movie poster, I don't see Church. I see Murphy, playing himself. But that's just me :)
My interpretation was that his benefactor left him a sizable fortune; he intimated that to Charlie at some point, but wouldn't go into it. (That was a NICE house Mr. Church lived in, however plain the neighborhood.)
The benefactor ALSO put aside money for him to cook for them for six months, covering all their living expenses, medicine, and anything else for her and her daughter. BUT.....the story about the coupons was a lie. MR CHURCH saved money from HIS inheritance to pay for her college himself. If you watch Murphy's eyes, you can tell he's lying to Charlie, but he wants her to believe it was her mother who payed her way through college.
That was the beauty of this movie, to me.....the secrets were left untold to some extent. Charlie believed her mother paid for her college to the very end, just as Mr Church wished her to. He wanted her mom to be her Hero, and he was always careful NEVER to overshadow her mom. He loved her mother deeply, and he wanted her mom to be honored. The wonderful ending for me was that Charlie never found out how much Mr Church helped her; she just knew he did, and she loved him.
And Keal.....I'm sorry you had to go through that. I know it was rough. I hope life is better for you now.
shareThanks! I appreciate your concern, and I'm glad I've gone through it. I'm now waiting to help my friends as time goes on and they lose their parents. As far as movies are concerned, it makes shows like Mr. Church so much more emotional, and so much for enjoyable. My parents would have loved watching it :)
shareGreat insights on this beautiful, subtle movie. You all have helped me understand it a bit more... and that secrets in the mix can add flavor to life through the process of discovery and promise of mystery. All the best to you all in this precarious new year of 2017. :)
shareWhat a great post!
"Do you even remember what you came here to find?"
Yes I felt it would have been a much better movie if they had developed Church's character better. Things didn't really add up like they should have.
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