We went to the movies for the first time in years one recent Sunday afternoon.
It had been so long; Yours Truly was surprised when the cashier flipped the register around and asked me to choose our seats from the map of seats. Assigned movie seating in Moose Jaw. Really!
The two rows we like were full so I chose the one below. It wasn’t to my partner’s liking. Dang.
Another change. Popcorn was $5 last time we went. Now it’s $7.25.
As we watched the promotions for coming attractions, we both yearned for the old days when a cartoon was always presented. She wanted to see Goofy. I wanted Bugs Bunny or the Road Runner.
The movie we chose is called A Man Called Otto, starring Tom Hanks as a curmudgeon. His son Truman plays the younger Hanks. His second wife, Rita Wilson, sings the soundtrack.
The main theme dealt with an issue most married people must handle — coping with the loss of a long time partner and friend.
His wife was Otto's life, curmudgeon that he was. Her loss left him working at his job like a robot and zealously self-identifying as the parking permit police patrol in his condominium complex.
Losing his job after a business merger turned him even more bitter.
Then a Latino couple with a hapless husband, pregnant mother and two pre-school girls moved in across the street.
The mother, Rita Moreno, persisted in friendliness, with her disarming smile and feisty repartee.
The movie deals with other current issues leaving the viewer alternately laughing and feeling sad. A number of the patrons, mostly grey-haired, were teary-eyed at one point or another.
Underlying sub-themes included treatment of seniors by their offspring, community neighbouring, LGBTQ+ prejudice, and greedy businesses.
My partner pointed out there were no F-words during the entire show.
Some swearing occurred like the scene when Otto, a reluctant baby sitter, spots a metal box-shaped structure in the middle of the kitchen.
What’s that? he asked
“That’s the #%& useless dishwasher,” explained the five year old.
Seeing this show on the big silver screen made us feel like we almost were part of the scenes.
We will be back. Those irritating coming attraction promotions hooked us on two movies: Women Talking, about life in an agrarian religious sect; and 80 for Brady, a comedy about four senior women attending the Super Bowl football game to see Tom Brady in what might be his last game. They could be Red Hatters.
Ron Walter can be reached at [email protected]
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
