My Favorite Super Bowl Ad: Good Old Clint’s Call for an American Resurrection

No, I’d rather not discuss the outcome of the Super Bowl, thank you very much. Instead, this New Englander would much prefer to discuss the most surprising and evocative ad of the evening: Clint Eastwood’s pro-Detroit, pro-America ad.

While some are calling it a subtle pro-Obama/pro-auto bailout spot (Chrysler was a bailout recipient), I like to look at it as an apolitical inspirational, pro-America spot. As the airwaves and political discourse is currently swarming with disingenuous politicians who seem like snake oil salesmen who haven’t been able to offer voters a reason to embrace them, as opposed to arguing why voters shouldn't embrace the other guys, this is the kind of ad, the kind of sentiment that people are looking for. “We’re all scared . . . because this isn’t a game,” Dirty Harry said.

Yes, we know that Detroit, which was held up as an example, isn’t a shining city on a hill. It has serious, serious woes that can’t be overlooked or shunted aside simply because some of the car manufacturers are making cars again (some of ‘em thanks to big bucks from Uncle Sam). But the guts of this ad, the meat of it, is hope. It doesn’t talk down to us and tell us the economy’s robust and happy and that there’s a chicken in every pot. It doesn’t prescribe nonsense answers that, when parsed by experts will be proven to be meaningless or unable to execute in the real world. It offers American grit from one of the living symbols of it.

“That’s what we do, find our way through tough times,” Eastwood said in a way that’s more believable coming out of his mouth than the mouths of all the candidates for president including the current officeholder, who used to be able to talk the labels off of tin cans.

While I was on Twitter during the Super Bowl, my Twitter feed was overflowing with plaudits for this spot because it offered something we all want to believe in: An American resurrection. Yes, we do want to make Dirty Harry’s day.

Matthew Broderick Spoofs 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' for Honda Ad

Two of my kids were sick this weekend so there was a lot of TV/movie watching, a lot of begging for Mom to wait on them and snuggle up next to them (while hopefully not coming down with whatever dread disease the kiddos had) and lot of complaints of the "I'm bored!" variety.

When I could take the whining no longer, I finally agreed to sit down with them yesterday afternoon and watch a movie, but only if I got to pick the movie. (They'd already watched The Zookeeper on On Demand while I read the Sunday newspapers and tried not to listen to Kevin James' kvetching.)

After scrolling through the list of On Demand films that were free -- The Spouse and I paid to watch Moneyball the other night (I recommend it) so I wasn't keen on paying for more movies -- I settled on Ferris Bueller's Day Off. It's tough to pick a film they'll all watch when the audience is comprised of two males, ages 10 and 13 who are fond of bathroom humor, and one female, 13, who likes smart gal comedies on Nickelodeon.

"This was made in 1986!" my 13-year-old son observed.

"What, is it in black and white?" asked the 10-year-old.

"I watched this movie when I was in high school!" I scoffed, not rising to the ageist bait.

I loved the walk down memory lane -- the film holds up well -- while my offspring were mildly amused, mostly by the antics of the principal and Ferris tricking his parents.

So it was serendipitous to log onto the internet today and discover that Matthew Broderick has made an ad for Honda, to promote the 2012 CRV, that revisits his most famous movie role. In the new ad, which is slated to air during the Super Bowl, he is the fortysomething celebrity Matthew, not the teenaged fictional Ferris, and he wants to take the day off from acting, as opposed to skipping a mind numbing day of high school.

My kids seemed more entertained by the ad than they were by the whole film. But it is a funny ad.

My Favorite Super Bowl Ad Amid a Sea of Mediocrity

Loved it, particularly as my two boys have, at one time or another, stalked things around the house while wearing Darth Vader and/or Storm Trooper masks and toting plastic light sabers.