Solo and the Master

I connected with two very old friends that I’ve never met yesterday. On the surface that statement makes no sense until you understand the extent my imagination will go to enjoy both the written word and, of course, cinema. I come to regard favorite authors (and their characters) as old friends whenever I acquire one of their new book to read. In the same fashion movie characters are graded as stalwart companions of my youth and later. This latter category is greatly assisted in the sequel crazed environment Hollywood has dwelled for the past couple decades.

The wife, I, and Keene Friend took in Solo, A Star Wars Story last night. Han Solo emerged in the original trilogy as the surprising star, out shining both of the Skywalkers, for most fans. This was due mainly from the undeniable screen presence of Harrison Ford. Alden Ehrenreich is certainly no Ford but is serviceable although I found myself searching for the sparkle you expect from Han. The film labors to establish Solo’s origins and I found myself squinting at the screen for the first fifteen minutes which were murky for some, I’m sure artistic, reason. We had a group of Star Wars fanatics in the row in front of us who would clap excitedly whenever a piece of Star Wars lore appeared, such as Han’s blaster. I guess that makes me a geek also because I understood each time what they were clapping for. The film truly takes off when Han and Chewbacca meet, hilariously. This was a true action adventure with some startlingly effective action scenes. The cast was uniformly awesome especially Donald Glover as Llando. I could truly imagine him evolving into Billy Dee Williams. I’m sure they’ll be some who will pick at this for a variety of obscure reasons but it was a lot of fun as I found myself silently clapping along with my fellow geeks in that row in front of us.

My other old friend has been a boon companion for even longer than Han Solo and whenever I refer to him it is as the “Master” for the well-earned awe his work always renders. Stephen King’s latest book, The Outsider, will not dim his star in my pantheon of literary heroes in the least. He takes a heartbreakingly tragic, all too common, everyday situation and injects the supernatural to send the creepiness meter off the scale. A young boy is brutally murdered in an Oklahoma small town and the local baseball coach is almost immediately arrested due to a mountain of evidence pointing at him. The coach however was clearly more than a hundred miles away when the murder took place and can prove it. The Master brings his characters to life as they eventually come upon the well-hidden trail leading them to a nightmare creature. He even brings back one of my favorite characters from the Mr. Mercedes series of books, Holly. She’s called in to help and provides a well-needed push for the investigators trying to figure out what they’re facing. I once again bow in the direction of Bangor, Maine where the Master has lost nothing off his fastball.