An Invisible Sign (Bad Movie)

            An Invisible Sign is an offbeat movie about an awkward twenty-year old named Mona who, having been deeply affected by her father’s illness, is urged by her mom to get a job teaching elementary math (despite not having finished college). This movie is a bit difficult to describe. The first word that comes to mind is quirky. This is not your average feel-good romance. The characters are very strange, none more so than the main character, who seems to have an OCD-like disorder in which she is obsessed with numbers and punishes herself for liking anything by eating soap. There are many aspects of the movie that are downright odd (the animated sequence in the beginning of the film, for instance), and there were certain instances in which I laughed but I’m not sure I was supposed to. Additionally, the movie is corny and often ridiculously unrealistic (e.g. the school didn’t check on Mona’s credentials before hiring her, Mona brings an axe into her third grade classroom, etc.). Overall, this is definitely no cinematic masterpiece. However, it by no means deserves the 0% rating that it currently has on Rotten Tomatoes.

            There were actually many aspects of the film that I enjoyed. I appreciated its quirkiness, as it’s a nice change of pace from the standard boring inspirational movie about a woman who finds herself through teaching. In general, this movie was quite funny; it has a unique, rather dark humor. Additionally, although there is romance in this movie, I was happy that it took a back seat to Mona’s other personal problems. I was also glad there was a happy ending, which reminded me quite a lot of Matilda.

            From a technical aspect, this movie was generally a success. As I mentioned before, the animated sequence in the beginning was really weird, although I suppose it succeeded in setting an odd tone for the film. It has the general vibe of an independent film. There is also appropriate use of voice-over. Additionally, I liked the graphics that were displayed on screen—everywhere Mona looked, she saw numbers. Overall, this movie fits into the category of man vs. himself, because the central conflict was Mona’s internal struggles. I’m not totally sure about the main message of the film, but I think it had something to do with allowing yourself to be happy, and also with the idea that you can’t fix other people and they can’t fix you.

3/5