Up to 11pm Special

Since seeing Midnight Special, I have been asking people what they thought of the ending of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Those old enough to remember said it was disappointing. To which I say: me too and it's a bit like this new movie, Midnight Special.

Up until the last twenty minutes it is a tight, tense and unpredictable thriller with convincing understated acting. But then it seems as if the writers and sfx budget ran out of puff. True, some may find the climax of the film a satisfying ending and you will only know if you see it... But if you are like me at all, you may well be saying: really... is that it?

One of the narrative tensions in the film pivots on reconciliation: will two key characters find enough common cause to help them find some peace between each other, or not? True reconciliation is a beautiful thing to see and better still, experience. Hatchets can be buried and the past put behind us.

Sometimes though, animosity and anger run very deep, so deep that reconciliation seems impossible. Good leaders can make the impossible, possible. Through a combination of supreme patience, resolute focus on the goal and an earnest search for the common ground, leaders can make this happen. Sometimes, for the sake of a business, it really needs to happen.

How good are you at making the impossible, possible?

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Blog 165: in my 2014/15/16 series of blogs about leadership ideas to be found in the movies of our time. You can read here as why I began doing this (with updates at the end of 2014 and 2015). Please subscribe to this blog if you want to read more. Thanks. Click the label 'film' to see all the others.

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