Those Who Can't, Write

This week's objet d'eBay, a DVD of the fairly forgettable The Confession, is of note mostly because of the irony geyser offered by having Alec Baldwin near the title at the same time his new book is prepared for release.

The crux of the movie is whether Baldwin (as attorney for Ben Kingsley, a murderer who killed to avenge the death of his son) will tell the truth or risk losing the trial. The pit of idiocy from which emerges Baldwin's new book, A Promise to Ourselves: A Journey through Fatherhood and Divorce, includes his divorce from Kim Bassinger that has made many attorneys wealthier, as well as his own inability to control his temper, even when leaving an insane message for his daughter — for which he has been rightly publicly drawn and quartered.

Although Baldwin promises practical advice in his new book, one can only assume that whatever the merits of his message for father and others, they will be lost to the cacophony of criticism over the merits of the messenger to be delivering them.

Line. Bottom. Good actors don't always make for a good movie. Good messages don't beatify bad messengers. Do dad, don't talk dad.