Personality Soup

Apparently this little cinematic exercise has been making its way around the blogs. I noticed it over at Andy's Film Emporium, and clearly was left with no choice but to take a crack at it. It's an exercise wherein you list the certain movie characters who most represent certain aspects of your personality, adding up, I suppose, in theory to a Movie You. Here's mine:

The Michael Cera Freaked Out Face.

Michael Cera. Even though he's 11 years younger than me, in just about every film you see featuring him he is a bit harried and most crucially he always gets what I like to term The Michael Cera Freaked Out Face. My closest friends are treated to my own version of The Michael Cera Freaked Out Face probably more than they would like. In fact, one out of every two photos taken of me includes this face.

Robert Lewis (Ewan McGregor), "A Life Less Ordinary." A hapless guy with a pitiful love life and a crummy job whose one dream is to write The Great American Trash Novel. Nonetheless, he is genuine, good-hearted and only means well. In a fit of desperation he kidnaps Cameron Diaz, yes, but he gives her a blanket after he ties her up and cooks her dinner. And while it's folly to suggest I could ever, uh, bed Cameron Diaz, if I did and she improbably said "You were great" my reaction, 100% guaranteed, would be to look confused and say: "I was?"

Otis (Carlos Jacott), "Kicking and Screaming." Antsy, though occasionally testy, Otis is a neurotic who avoids confrontation at all costs (drinking a beer with food in it rather than risking offending the waitress).

Otis: "I can't change my habits. I'll be sleeping all day, awake all night."
Max: "It's Milwaukee."
Grover: "It's only an hour's difference, Otis. You won't even notice."
Otis: "I'll be hungry at five. I'll be ready for the local news at four."

Rob Gordon (John Cusack), "High Fidelity." It's not simply that I live in Chicago and am an obsessive and hyperbolic music fan but also that I recently caught a look of myself in a mirror and thought, "Oh my God, I'm starting to dress like John Cusack in 'High Fidelity.'" Which is to say I'm becoming just a bit of a hipster dufus. And I'm okay with it.

Sara Thomas (Kate Beckinsale), "Serendipity." Rest assured, the only person more obsessed with the issues of fate and destiny than yours truly, is Beckinsale's Sara.