All In For "21"

Winna Winna Chicken Dinna!

Last night being Tuesday night Leslie and I went out for our date night (bad on me for not posting review on our excellent dinner with friends Susan and Dan at La Parolaccia on Broadway in Long Beach for our date night last week--we want to hit new place near us that is also Italian cafe style and then I will do a dish by dish comparison; back to the show..). It was movie night so we headed to the theater.

Tuesday night is a great night to go to movies. The ticket sellers and takers we have noticed are more mature than the ones we see on the weekend matinees with the kids, therefore more friendly, engaging and helpful. There are no lines at either the ticket window or the concession stand. The theater is almost empty. The advantage of no lines and no patrons is that you can take your time.

Typically for a 4:00 show with the kids on a Saturday or Sunday we know we need to get there about 3:40 to get in line for tickets and be able to secure four seats in a decent location (personal preference when with kids in a crowded theater is I want an aisle--many of these movies are from Z to ZZZ so I want to stretch out a bit) which means we see all the ads and all the trailers. We learned a couple of weeks ago that the actually movie starts twelve minutes after the posted time on the marquee. Thus a 7:00 movie allows us to hit dinner around 6:30 and stroll into the theater at 7:12 right as it starts. We can do this because not only are there no movie patrons on Tuesday nights but there are no restaurant patrons either.

Last night we saw "21" (official site here; IMDB site here). I had read the book "Bringing Down The House" that was the basis for the screenplay and was excited when they made it into a movie. The book is a great read and while there is some Hollywood license, the movie does a really good job of portraying the story. Kevin Spacey does not disappoint and the kid who plays the lead is very good at creating sympathy when needed. I happened to notice that Kate Bosworth who plays the female lead is somewhat easy to look at for a couple of hours. The plot moves, makes sense and there is no sudden non sequitor taking you into fantasy and ruining the movie.

The only thing that almost ruined the movie were the two jerks sitting a few rows back. With only ten people in the theater everything is magnafied, especially when those burping long and loud, talking in normal conversational voices as if they were watching in the privacy of their living room and otherwise behaving boorishly are directly behind you. Thankfully the theater was empty so we were able to move to seats well behind the jerks and enjoy the film.

One more observation pointed out by my hot date; it is easy to see the connection between the butt that is thrice as wide as mine and the extra large popcorn that you pour the fake melted butter over, then dump out the top half into a carry-carton so you can pour even more fake melted butter into the bottom half, shaking to ensure even coating of the latex like additive then pouring the original back on top. Of course the 64 ounce soda was diet.

Rating for "21" : Wide Awake Go see it.

To refresh the rating system

Wide Awake: Excellent, go see
Comfy on the couch: Good movie, worth the theater money or top of the Netflix list for home viewing
Z: Dozed off for a few minutes
ZZ: Slept through "critical" plot development/resolution
ZZZ: A $10 nap