🎬 Cure it with Movies: Improbable Friendships

Fact: we all have been tearing up watching the final scene of 'Up', where Mr. Fredricksen gives Russell the Ellie pin to mark their incredible adventure in South America. Their friendship was inspiring and heart-melting and left me full of optimism and, ultimately, happy!

Well, I've been wondering about that kind of friendship where a young boy ends up helping an older person and, by doing so, forming a strange but not less true friendship. As a result, I came up with this movie list, so if you're up for some improbable but deeply felt friendship all you just have to do is keep reading.

MOVIES

Finding Forrester (2000)

We have a brilliant but secretive author, a young man who wants everyone to think he's only good at playing basket, and a friendship that born because of an...home intrusion?

Fighting prejudices and stepping out of your comfort zone are the main topics of this beautiful movie starring the beloved late Sean Connery.

True Grit (2010)

An old sheriff with tons of problems and no desire to have a teenage girl around ends up helping her getting revenge over her father's death.

Hailee Steinfeld and Jeff Bridges are phenomenal in this wester from the Coen Bros. This is a movie that I still like to watch every now and then.

St. Vincent (2014)

Vincent is a cranky old man, rude and intolerant of almost anything. 

Oliver is a young boy, new in the neighborhood, and his pacific and calm nature makes him the perfect target for the school's bullies.

Vincent starts to take care of Oliver after school only because he gets paid for it.

What started as a 'side' job quickly transforms not only Vincent and Oliver but people around them as well.

Tutto Quello che Vuoi (2017)

'Anything You Want' is a beautiful and intense Italian movie about a reckless youth who suddenly starts working for an old poet, who has Alzheimer's disease. The two lived near one another and yet never crossed paths until now.

With Rome and its beautiful streets, the two will have conversations about not wasting time and the importance of being present for the ones we love.

Gran Torino (2008)

I'm a little ashamed to confess this was the first movie I've watched with Clint Eastwood and I loved it!

I don't know if you could label it as 'friendship' but sure is the bond between an old war veteran and the Chinese family that lives in the adjacent house is something that goes beyond being good neighbors.

This story is both brutally honest and thought-provoking, I definitely recommend you to watch it, if you've not done it already.

Scialla!  (2011)

The title is an Italian slang word and could be roughly be translated as 'chill out!' and it's also Luca's motto as he keeps saying it to the indolent professor he ends up living with.

The real reason why Luca's mom made him go live with a perfect stranger is a secret and there are going to be more fights than serene times, but the bond the two will establish is going to be more powerful than they could have even imagined.

Mr. Long (2017)

Similar to John Wick, this Asian movie is about a Taiwanese professional hitman who misses his chance to kill his target in Tokyo, Japan.

Wounded, Long is forced to run away and finds refuge in a degraded little town.

This movie is long and the dialogues are reduced to the minimum, letting the images and characters' actions do the hard work.

I personally liked it because it emphasizes all human shades so the viewer sees the ruthless killer taking care of a young boy while repaying the town's people for their kindness and hospitality.

Driveways (2019)

Accompanying his mother to clean and organize their late aunt's house, a young boy bonds with the old neighbor who's, for once, NOT a cranky man and sincerely wants to help the mother and her son as a way to get rid of past and painful memories and start fresh.

This is it. As we're approaching the Christmas season, I hope these movies will put you in the right mood and spirit. 

Ph: impawards.com & mymovies.it