What is your escape movie?

When I was in high school, I paid to see Little Big Man five times. This was a big deal because I came from a family where people just didn’t do that kind of thing. You saw a movie once (with the exception of The Wizard of Oz, of course). Then, when the movie showed up on the Sunday Matinee on NBC six years later, you watched it again. But such was my LBM mania that I finagled five showings and I loved every one. The movie helped me escape the ever present angst of being a high school freshman.

A few years after LBM, I went to work in a theatre. My dream job. I could watch a movie and escape several times in a row without paying, and eat all the popcorn I wanted. There was nothing better than working at a movie that had little or no promotion, and therefore little or no audience to bother me, and discovering a sleeper. Ice Castles comes to mind, as does White Line Fever and several really bad comedies. These were movies that made me forget college for a few hours and there were times I truly needed to forget college.

Then came my escape-from-grad-school mini-series, Pride and Prejudice—the 1980’s BBC version on Masterpiece Theatre. I fell in love with it on the first episode and then watched faithfully, week to week, waiting impatiently for the last installment. Then, just as that installment began, a neighbor dropped by…and wouldn’t leave. The stress of grad school returned. In spades.

Two years later, the same Pride and Prejudice was on Masterpiece Theatre again. I was no longer in college, but I still needed a little pick me up, so again I faithfully watched every installment and then, deja vu…I can’t remember who stopped by for the last episode that time, but again, I had to watch while making polite conversation and restraining myself from rude behavior. (I should mention, this all happened prior to video recorders and Tivo.)

I now own that version of Pride and Prejudice on DVD and finally got to watch the last episode without interruption. I now watch it whenever I need to de-stress. My daughter also owns it. The stress of college life has been such that her DVD actually wore out and I had to get her another copy for Christmas last year. Many a time over the past few years, she’s called me close to tears, and I’ve prescribed ice cream and Pride and Prejudice. My son, who lived with my daughter at the time, knows the movie by heart. He has an opinion on who does and doesn’t make a good Mr. Darcy, and he also has opinions on Wickham. My daughter thinks her brother is going to make a very good husband because he understands the therapeutic value of Pride and Prejudice.

So, what’s your movie prescription? Do you have a movie that just makes you feel better? Or maybe a book?