Every so often, I love to curl up and watch a good movie. This afternoon, I chose “Griffin and Phoenix,” the PG-13 film starring Dermot Mulroney and Amanda Peet. It’s a very thought-provoking story about a man named Griffin who has terminal cancer, but is determined to live each day to the absolute fullest. When he meets Sarah Phoenix, he keeps his secret from her, not wanting to cast a shadow on whatever time they might have to spend together. As their relationship progresses, he learns that she has a secret of her own, and they spend the rest of the movie nurturing each other and being there for each other as the end draws near.
I found this movie poignant on several levels. First, my father passed away from cancer not quite a year ago, and so I was already primed and ready to cry for the man in the film. But there were several moments throughout the story that showed the depth of the human heart and what two people who are really in love will do for each other.
In one scene, Griffin and Phoenix are waiting for the doctor, and a woman who has been sitting by the bedside of her terminally ill husband comes into the waiting room for a breather. She tells them about the life she’d had with her wonderful husband, and how when they met, he had the sexiest legs she’d ever seen. Then she paused and said, “He still does.” We understand that to her, they are the most sexy legs in the world because they belong to the man she loves, even though he is now in his sixties and terribly ill.
The movie is a PG-13, as I stated, and there are some adult themes throughout, although nothing graphically portrayed. It’s definitely not a children’s movie, or a teenager’s movie, but I do recommend it for adults, especially for husbands and wives to share together. It reminded me over and over again that life is about love, and that we should take every minute of every day to love those around us and to share our thoughts and our feelings with our partner every chance we get. We should celebrate every moment. We should look for ways to make life special for those around us. Each day is a gift, love is eternal, and the more love we show, the more beautiful our eternity will be.
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