beorhouse Review of The Fantasticks

The Fantasticks (2000)

A New Kind Of Villain For The Oldest Human Story

[9/10 · 7 November 2017]

A wonderfully cast and colorful film about the wickedness of the world and how, if we are not careful, we can lose not our innocence, which none of us has anyway, but our purity--our holiness. The villain who steps into the lives of the four peaceful people on the plain is at first hard to discern. Is he evil? Is he neutral and only having fun at the expense of the unaware? Or, could it be? Maybe he is actually something like a guardian angel who saves the young couple from ruin by allowing them to see the world from the safety of the stage--as actors playing parts instead of actual victims of real-life thieves, prostitutes, drug dealers, and--in the girl's case--psychic vampires. This one really sets well with me. It is unique--nothing else like it that I am aware of. I'd definitely see it again, and again, and maybe even again.