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Top Gun

Several years ago my then co-worker now friend T came to the company Halloween party dressed as Goose from Top Gun. She was accompanied by a client who was dressed as Maverick. Everyone was in splits seeing the duo and the joke was lost on me. T told me that I needed to watch the movie - no assimilation into America is complete without it. I made a mental note of it but never quite got around to remedying the omission. And then a couple of days ago, Top Gun popped up as a recommendation on my Amazon Prime. Having nothing better to do that evening, I decided to watch the movie. Half way through I was so bored I took a break to cook dinner and wrap up some chores. I figured I need to watch it to end the end to see what the fuss was all about. Sadly, I did not quite get it even at the end. 

The dog-fights were fantastic, choreographed to perfection but the story-line and acting of the whole cast so anemic that it could not hold the string of dog-fights together. No matter what the situation, the conversations between people was relentlessly lackluster - it was like no one could work up any enthusiasm for the part they were playing. This is not quite a war movie so probably unfair to compare to some of the ones I love - Full Metal Jacket, Platoon and Apocalypse Now. The Bridge on the River Kwai is at a whole another level of greatness - a movie I have watched a couple of times with J because the lessons to take away from it are very different by age. Top Gun felt closer to Grease than any of these movies and maybe for that reason, I came away confused. After all these years, I am no closer to the cultural assimilation that my friend T had wished for me. Her Goose get-up at that Halloween party was spot-on though. The client made a fine Maverick in her Ray-Ban aviators and exaggerated swagger.

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