Sweetbreads Anyone? – WARM BODIES

by Le Anne Lindsay, Editor

Actually, I found out sweetbreads are not sauteed brains; but rather the thymus gland or pancreas of a calve. It’s still a disgusting proposition in terms of delicacies, unless of course, you happen to be a zombi, in which case, everything is good from the toes on up. Now an interesting new zombie fact is revealed in Jonathan Levine’s (The Wackness, 50/50) creature feature Warm Bodies – and that is, by eating your victim’s brain, you get to experience their memories and for a moment, feel almost alive again!

Nicholas Hoult plays a very credible and adorable zombie, who’d you’d never believe is British, and who I didn’t recognize as Beast from X-Men: First Class. He can’t remember much about his former life – being alive, other than that his name started with the letter “R” and that his hoodie suggests he was unemployed. 

Even though R is among the walking dead, his inner dialog and narration is quite lively and funny. He introduces us to this post apocalyptic world of the dead who roam a defunct airport terminal in search of any living creatures to feed upon.  These zombies are aware of the existence of other predatory creatures called Bonies, skeletal hellions who for the most part leave the zombies alone, but viciously hunt for human life. 

We don’t really need to know what caused more than half the population to become either Bonies or Zombies, because this is not really a Sci-Fi flick; for all intents and purposes, Warm Bodies is a young adult, Twilight saga-ish romance, complete with it’s own Bella. Teresa Palmer
who plays R’s love interest Julie, embodies Kristen Stewart, in looks, mannerisms and vocal patterns.  Without the annoying, angsty, overly cool thing Stewart gives off.  

I assumed the casting call went out over the wire for a “Kristen Stewart type” to play the role of Julie; but actually found out Levine had wanted to cast Teresa in his 2008 pot comedy, The Wackness, and although he ultimately went with another actress, he always kept Palmer in mind.  READ The Misadventures of the Horror Chick blog for a good interview with Jonathan Levine.

So, back to the brain eating – The few remaining human survivors, at least in this area, are lead by Julie’s father (John Malkovich) he sends a group of young survivalist, including Julie, out to scavenge for supplies.  They get attacked by zombies, including R, who is mesmerized upon first seeing Julie, but then becomes obsessed with her after eating her boyfriend’s brains whose memories are filled with Julie. It’s a short lived role for James Franco’s brother Dave Franco, but his brains serve as an awakening in R, and in turn, R’s love and protection of Julie serve as a hopeful plot device for the rest of the movie.  – It’s really a cute flick!

For me, it also poses a philosophical question – If a zombie were to come and eat your brains right now, would you be feeding his lost soul, or making him wish he were dead?