Dumplin’ Movie

I'm doing this all on purpose, my purpose, and I'm loving every second! Hope you're following your dreams now and always ✨ #Dumplin pic.twitter.com/tUuLuopUGW

— Dolly Parton (@DollyParton) December 10, 2018

Because I follow Dolly Parton on social media (don’t y’all?), I started hearing about a movie called Dumplin’ that was coming out.  Dolly had done the music for the movie.  Ok, done deal, that would be the next movie night for the chick-flick movie bunch.

No, I had no idea what the movie was about.  It didn’t really matter because Dolly was saying to go see it.  Honestly, if there is one public figure who you can trust, it’s Dolly Parton.  I will write more about my deep, abiding love for Dolly another day, but I will tell you now that if you don’t have a great deal of respect and admiration for the woman, it’s only because you don’t know about the many wonderful things that she has done in her life.

Back to Dumplin’. This movie was produced by Jennifer Aniston’s production company and was released on Netflix with only limited theatrical release (so that it would be award-season eligible).  That meant that it was not showing in the greater Long Beach metropolitan area which made organizing a night out for the chick-flick movie bunch a challenge.

Shamelessly, I asked the group if anyone had Netflix and wanted to host us (I don’t have Netflix, I watch too much television already anyway – don’t judge).  La Flaca graciously offered to have us all over to her casita which was an extra treat since we got to enjoy her delightful holiday decorating as well.

It was a really sweet movie about awkward teenagers overcoming awkward teenager issues.  And Dolly hadn’t just provided the music, she also provided an underlying theme.  One of Dolly’s bon mots, “figure out who you are and do it on purpose” sums up the dramatic arc of the film.  I feel like I would like that quote on a t-shirt.

The only dubious element of the movie for me was how normal these teenagers were. I mean, they had after school jobs and drove cars and were responsible for their own participation in the activities that they chose to sign up for.  Sure, we did those things back when we were teenagers, but it doesn’t seem like that’s the way that kids now-a-days go about their business (I think that Mr. Man’s “back in my day” ranting is rubbing off on me).  I liked those parts about being a teenager and it was nice to be reminded of.

I found out later that Dumplin’ was adapted from a book by Julie Murphy.  Usually, if I’m interested in a movie that is based on a book, I will always read the book first.  Often, I tend to stop there.  Books can have a lot of layers that are hard to portray in film.  There are places in this movie that you can tell there is something more to the story.  I think that I will put this book on my reading list so that I can get into all those nooks and crannies.  I’m pretty sure that it will be a fun, quick read.

So, if you have Netflix and you’re in the mood for a sweet movie that will leave you feeling better about life when you’re done, I recommend that you check it out.  Or read the book.  Or both.  Dolly will approve.