...and Disappeared. Or The Centenarian Who Climbed Out the Window and Vanished. Or alternative translations!
Yes, I've done the top-recommended plays on the Time Out page, so I'm back to films - and with a shake-up in the IMDB ratings, this was the highest rated film showing today that I hadn't seen and would be interested in! I'd seen the trailer, so was confident that I'd like it, and off I went to the Prince Charles cinema after work. Of course, that meant a crammed Piccadilly Line to Leicester Square - I didn't get a seat, and I was dripping in sweat by the time I got off. It didn't help that the weather has turned hot again - at least we got a respite yesterday!
Mercifully, there wasn't a queue, and I soon got my ticket. I didn't think I'd have to give the whole title, and indeed, trailed off as she went to ring up my order. I treated myself to a reasonably priced Sprite, which I drank while I waited for the upstairs cinema to open. This is the smaller of the two screens here, but still a decent size, with nice, reclining, leather seats. There weren't many there, and seating is unallocated, so it was easy to get a good seat.
This film is, apparently, based on a best-selling book. Well, it's a helluva yarn! It's a Swedish comedy. The title, helpfully, tells you what happens in the first five minutes. Our hero is a 100-year-old explosives expert, who ends up in a nursing home, where he's rather bored. So one day, he eases himself out the window and heads off. And, as you might imagine, he has many adventures. Mind you, he has form - we get a fair number of flashbacks of an eventful life, that have him involved in the Spanish Civil War, working on the Manhattan Project, meeting Stalin, spying in the Cold War.. and all because of his love of, and capability with, explosives.
Yes, it's completely over the top - as is what happens to him, and his bemused comrades, after he escapes from the nursing home. But it's deliciously funny - think of the kind of humour employed in Fargo. The one point where it falters is in the depiction of world leaders - Reagan, in particular, looks as though he's wearing a rubber mask, and I don't wonder we don't see him in close-up. Gorbachev ain't convincing either. The others I can't vouch for - I've only ever seen photographs. But you know, it's a small gripe about what is a very enjoyable film. Go see, give yourself a laugh!
Afterwards, I needed food - hadn't had time to eat before the film - but didn't fancy anything fussy. So, rather than the obvious option of Chinatown, I wandered round the corner, where I found a Garfunkels, and was well fed. Good food, really friendly service, not a bad price. Funny thing though - what is it with Garfunkels and drinks orders? Most places serve the drinks first - in Garfunkels, you're left waiting..
For tomorrow's film, it's looking like David, the story of a little Muslim boy in New York, whose Jewish pals think he's one of them. Showing in JW3, apparently a Jewish cultural centre. Well and good, as long as what happened to me the last time I went to see a film in a Jewish centre doesn't happen again..! (See my post on "The Lady in Number 6".) What worries me is they're geographically quite close, and may be run by the same people. Well, I'll go have a look anyway.
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