"Happiness takes no account of time."歡樂不覺光陰短,但時(shí)間的流逝常常帶來人類的終極焦慮。因此,人們關(guān)于逆轉(zhuǎn)時(shí)光的美麗遐想從未停止過,而這些遐想總是悲喜交加,五味雜陳。譬如影片《重回17歲》(17 Again),它既是一部輕松歡快、略帶科幻色彩的青春喜劇,又是一首溫馨動(dòng)人的浪漫戀曲,更是一則深入淺出、回味無盡的人生童話。
生活其實(shí)是一場無休無止的蝴蝶效應(yīng)。每個(gè)人在每一天都做著各種選擇,而這些選擇的結(jié)果如溪水般匯聚在一起,最終成為改變命運(yùn)流向的漩渦。
公元1989年,本片主人公Mike O'Donnell還享受著天堂一般的高中生活:17歲的他英俊瀟灑、球技高超,不僅是人氣超高的校草,更是重點(diǎn)大學(xué)早已相中的高材生。誠如他的教練所言:"The world is your oyster(世界是屬于你的)."
然而天意弄人,在一場事關(guān)Mike前途的重要球賽前,他的女友Scarlet來找他??粗鳶carlet欲言又止的樣子,Mike頓時(shí)心生疑慮。在Mike的再三追問下,Scarlet告訴了他自己懷孕的消息。這個(gè)突如其來的消息讓Mike一時(shí)間無法思考。球場上,思緒混亂的Mike無心戀戰(zhàn),終于在比賽進(jìn)行中丟下球,追了出去。
[Scarlet 詫異又驚喜地看著追出來的Mike。]
Scarlet: Mike, what are you doing?
Mike: Look, you and me, we are in this together, okay?
Scarlet: But the game! That's your future! You have ...
Mike: No, the baby is my future.
轉(zhuǎn)眼間20年過去了,步入中年的Mike被生活磨去了所有光彩熠熠的棱角,盡管當(dāng)年抱得美人歸,但是那之后的日子里,他卻無時(shí)無刻不在悔恨自己的選擇。他失去了進(jìn)入名牌大學(xué)的機(jī)會(huì),更失去了另一種生活的可能。今天的他身材發(fā)福、一事無成,有一雙兒女,他卻不懂得該如何與他們溝通,對(duì)愛妻當(dāng)年的如火熱情如今更是降到冰點(diǎn)。他極端消極的生活態(tài)度令妻子Scarlet忍無可忍,Scarlet最終向法院提出了離婚申請(qǐng)。
Mike: Look, try to see things from my point of view. I'm extremely disappointed with my life!
Scarlet: I never asked you to marry me!
Mike: Yeah, but I did.
Scarlet: Well, you don't have to do me any favor then. We're not gonna hold each other back anymore. Okay?
Mike: Scar ...
Scarlet: I'll see you at court.
痛苦潦倒的Mike回到母校,怔怔地看著走廊櫥窗中昔日籃球隊(duì)的照片,遙想當(dāng)年,感慨萬千。這時(shí),一位大樓管理員不客氣地將他從美好往事的追憶中喚醒。
Janitor: Mike O'Donnell! Mike: Do I know you?
Janitor: No, but I know you.
Mike: Oh, yeah?
Janitor: High school star, never quite lived up to (符合) your potential. Sooner or later you'll come back to your old school, stand there, and look at the picture of the glory days wondering "What might have been?" Seems to me you guys are living in the past.
Mike: Well, of course I wanna live in the past. It was better there.
Janitor: I'll bet you wish you had it to do all over again.
Mike: You got that right.
神秘蒼老的大樓管理員竟然有穿越時(shí)間的神力,他佯裝溺水,使前來搭救的Mike重獲青春容貌變回了17歲的樣子。沉浸在喜悅和新鮮感里的Mike忘了大樓管理員曾經(jīng)一針見血地指出,他正是一個(gè)活在過去的典型。
每個(gè)人都有屬于自己的光輝歲月。一帆風(fēng)順時(shí),生活會(huì)推動(dòng)我們的腳步,讓人滿懷希望、全力以赴地向前沖,只看到前方的光明。而挫折和失意一旦牽絆了腳步,我們對(duì)美好昨日的懷念便一發(fā)不可收拾,過分的留戀便成了前行路途上的阻礙。
大喜過望的Mike顯然還沒有意識(shí)到這一點(diǎn)。在好友Ned的幫助下,他重返高中讀書,成了自己的女兒Maggie和兒子Alex的校友(而Maggie和Alex對(duì)此事毫不知情)。Mike相信,他的"光輝歲月"即將重新上演。
然而,重新變得年輕或許和變老一樣艱難?;麨镸ark的Mike不僅要想方設(shè)法獲得Alex與Maggie的信任,以便近距離地指導(dǎo)和幫助他們,還得全力驅(qū)逐Scarlet身邊的情敵,更要應(yīng)付Ned(現(xiàn)在的身份是"Mark的父親")與校長Jane的糾結(jié)戀情中不時(shí)發(fā)生的小摩擦......總之,他的生活麻煩不斷,笑料也不斷。
當(dāng)然,作為一名高中生,Mike首先要認(rèn)真對(duì)待學(xué)業(yè)、球隊(duì)訓(xùn)練以及和同學(xué)們的人際關(guān)系。雖然身體回到了17歲,但是他的思想顯然還停留在中年時(shí)期,他與孩子們的"generation gap"體現(xiàn)在方方面面。健康教育課上,以Maggie的男友、頭腦簡單的籃球隊(duì)隊(duì)長Stan為首的眾人對(duì)愛情不負(fù)責(zé)任的態(tài)度令Mike倍感無奈??粗恢挥X中已經(jīng)長大的女兒,初為人父的點(diǎn)滴都浮現(xiàn)在Mike眼前,他不禁感慨萬千,向孩子們講述起生命傳承的喜悅--那種最無私、最美好的愛。
Mike: It's the first moment when you hold your baby girl, and you didn't know that anything could be so small or so delicate. And you feel that tiny heart beat and you know that you couldn't love anything more in the whole world. And you hope you can do right by that little girl, and always be there to catch her when she falls, and that nothing ever hurts her. Not a broken arm or a bad dream or a broken heart.
一番講述之后,有人被Mike感動(dòng),也有人不以為然。堅(jiān)持己見的孩子們就一定錯(cuò)了嗎?也不盡然。青春似乎不怕浪費(fèi),"平淡是真"在年輕人眼里等同于"平庸、碌碌無為",是他們最不愿意接受的生活方式之一。三十而立、四十不惑,每個(gè)年齡層的人都有他們看問題的獨(dú)特視角,每一代人都要經(jīng)歷年少輕狂的青春歲月。
球隊(duì)大勝的日子,個(gè)性叛逆的Maggie卻在為愛心碎,一個(gè)人跑到操場偷偷哭泣--原來,她早已被Mike講述的愛情觀打動(dòng),于是拒絕了Stan的無理要求,卻也因而失戀了。Mike為沒能保護(hù)好女兒而心痛,卻也為她的成長欣慰。
Mike: When you're young, everything feels like the end of the world. It's not; it's just the beginning. You might have to meet a few more jerks (性情古怪的人), but one day you're gonna meet a boy who treats you the way you deserve to be treated. Like the sun rises and sets with you.
Maggie: You really think so?
Mike: I know so.
與此同時(shí),Mike與Scarlet的感情糾葛也包含著另一道愛的難題。Scarlet承認(rèn)自己愛著Mike,但他們之間的問題累積得太久,她被傷得太深,看不到復(fù)合的希望,怦然心動(dòng)的感覺再也無法找回。然而,當(dāng)Scarlet看到容貌與高中時(shí)的丈夫完全相同的Mark,她愈發(fā)困惑,腦海中也不由自主地不斷回想起自己一直刻意逃避的過去。
[Scarlet 教Mark跳舞,Mark挑了一首歌。]
Scarlet: Why did you pick that song?
Mark: Oh, I don't know. It just, uh, kind of spoke to me.
Scarlet: Um, that's funny. That's the song that my husband and I danced to at our wedding.
Mark: Hm. A man of good taste!
愛究竟是什么?日出日落般的永恒守護(hù)?絢爛花火似的短暫綻放?愛一個(gè)人,是直接為她選擇"最好的"生活方式,還是該讓她親身體會(huì)人生的甜酸苦辣?該把她捧在手心里,不讓她有一次心碎的感覺?如果愛被瑣碎的生活磨滅了最初的光芒,又該拿什么拯救它?
或許影片高潮時(shí),Mark在庭審中"編造"的一封信可以作為對(duì)上述問題的一種回答。
Mark: This is a letter from Mike O'Donnell. He wanted me to read it. Scarlet, before you go through this, I want to remind you of September 7th, 1988. It was the first time that I saw you. You were reading Less Than Zero, and you were wearing a Guns 'n' Roses T-shirt. I'd never seen anything so perfect. I remember thinking that I had to have you or I'd die ... Then you whispered that you loved me at the home-coming dance, and I felt so peaceful ... and safe ... because I knew that no matter what happened, from that day on, nothing can ever be that bad ... because I had you. And then I, uh ... I grew up and I lost my way. And I blamed you for my failures. And I know that if you think you have to do this today ... but I don't want you to. But I guess if I love you, I should let you move on.
Judge: All right, son, you need to go now.
Mark被法官驅(qū)逐出了法庭,他沒有看到Scarlet放棄了離婚訴訟,也沒有看到她望眼欲穿地向Mark離去的方向張望,悵然若失。
愛是每個(gè)人生命中做出的必然選擇,不是嗎?
命運(yùn)輪回,當(dāng)回到17歲的Mike再一次參加一場關(guān)乎前途的比賽時(shí),他又看到Scarlet跑出賽場。相似的情景重現(xiàn),Mike突然明白,當(dāng)年自己放棄比賽并不是意氣用事,而是發(fā)自內(nèi)心的真誠選擇。他為挽留Scarlet再一次跑出了賽場。此時(shí),他也漸漸變回了中年的自己。
Mike: Scarlet! Scar...? Scarlet!
Scarlet: It is you.
Mike: Hi.
Scarlet: Hi?
Mike: Oh, I can explain.
Scarlet: You can?
Mike: No, not at all.
Scarlet: You didn't have to come after me again.
Mike: Yes, I did because I love you. You are the best decision I ever made. I just forgot, and then I fell off a bridge and things got pretty weird after that. But I'm never gotta forget again. Look, I ... I know that I've been in a bad mood for the last twenty years. But if you let me, I swear I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you. I thought I wanted a second chance at life, but now I know I just want a second chance with you.
Scarlet: Weird.
Mike: Yeah?
Scarlet: I missed you.
一切偶然皆為必然,生命的跌宕起伏是一次次微小波瀾的積累。Mike的生活中雖然出現(xiàn)了時(shí)光倒流,但事實(shí)上,他并沒有被送回過去,而是以少年時(shí)代的面貌改變了當(dāng)下的生活窘境,重新發(fā)現(xiàn)了自己選擇的意義所在,并真正為這些選擇負(fù)責(zé),從大男孩成長為敢于擔(dān)當(dāng)責(zé)任的男人??梢哉f,Mike正是所有經(jīng)歷過風(fēng)浪波折、逐步走向成熟的年輕人的代表,他的故事是我們每個(gè)人都必將經(jīng)歷的人生童話。
Albert Einstein說過:"Sometimes one pays most for the things one gets for nothing."時(shí)間使人成長又使人老去;時(shí)間可以帶來驚喜,也可能帶來悲傷;時(shí)間像指間沙,越想抓緊就越快溜走,又像窗外月,有著自己的運(yùn)行軌跡和陰晴圓缺,存在于人類的旦夕禍福之外,絲毫不以人類的意志為轉(zhuǎn)移......所有這一切,讓人們?cè)跁r(shí)間的力量面前贊嘆和癡迷,又深感自己的渺小和無力。于是,一代代人在文學(xué)和影視作品中將改變時(shí)間的美好夢想化為現(xiàn)實(shí),勾勒出一幅幅綺麗奇幻的圖景?!吨鼗?7歲》則直接把這個(gè)終極幻想植入平淡無奇的現(xiàn)實(shí),在真實(shí)與夢幻的交融中,悄無聲息地打動(dòng)觀眾。電影如夢。在我們開創(chuàng)出能夠改變時(shí)間的劃時(shí)代技術(shù)之前,不妨先試著改變我們對(duì)待時(shí)間的態(tài)度,多一點(diǎn)積極,多一份希冀。
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