Do you know who I am?

TCM is showing Mister Buddwing early on April 7. James Garner stars as a man with amnesia, who can't remember his identity, and goes through a series of women trying to figure out who the hell he is. It's worth watching -- once -- because it's so ludicrously bad.

I can't help but thinking that a lot of the movies in the "Who am I? Why am I here?" genre don't quite live up to their hype. Another one that comes to mind is Random Harvest, in which Ronald Colman plays a World War I veteran who gets amnesia twice. The first time, he can't remember his old life, and falls in love with Greer Garson; the second time, he suddenly remembers his original life, and can't remember who the hell Greer Garson is. Writing someplace else several years ago, I referred to movies like this as the type of movie that screams "chick flick", and won't shut the hell up. I suppose movies like that could be good -- some chick flicks even won Oscars -- but Random Harvest is so turgid that it makes me want to run from the room screaming.

For something more modern, you could try The Bourne Identity, but it's a typical conspiracy theory-styled spy movie, in which the entire Establishment is up against this one poor put-upon guy who can't even remember who he is. Personally, I find such movies to strain credulity to the breaking point.