Tonight, back to the cinema - I was thinking Tár, finally, in which Cate Blanchett is Oscar-nominated for her part as a driven, genius classical conductor. Looks nice and tense - no longer showing in Ireland, and is mostly showing in the daytime in London! Finsbury Park Picturehouse is the closest venue to me that's showing it in the evening. But since I couldn't catch The Whale this past weekend, I decided to see that tonight instead. Stars Brendan Fraser in an Oscar-nominated performance as a morbidly obese English teacher, looking to reconnect with his estranged daughter. Closest to me, showing in the evening, is in the Odeon Luxe & Dine Islington! Reclining seats, and service to your seat, with nobody under 13 allowed - sounded lovely.. I've booked, which is supposed always to be cheaper online than buying the ticket in person.
With a lateish start, I had plenty of time to do some overtime (eugh). Ah well, it'll stand to me. Indeed, walking there, I only just made it in time - and Google Maps confused me again, going AWOL just as I neared my destination, and telling me I'd overshot, when I hadn't. No, the entrance isn't that hard to spot! They do seem to have a subsidiary business next door though - make sure you go in the door corresponding to the "Luxe & Dine". Then, all I could see was a lobby with lifts and stairs, no signs - I gamely took the stairs down. Downstairs is a dimly lit seating area, and a bar where you can order - or you can just do it on the app. Towards the screens, an usher helpfully guides you to the right screen.
There aren't that many seats in Screen 4 - they're nice and wide, leather, comfy. And they all recline, which is lovely - sadly, only the foot section; the back doesn't move, which isn't as comfortable. Well, I ordered wine, southern fried chicken goujons (which come with a side of your choice - I had skin-on chips), and onion rings. The wine arrived at around the time the trailers started - and I really wonder what happened to the food. It eventually made its way to me maybe 10 minutes into the film - and I distinctly got the impression it had been left out somewhere, cooling. The chicken was lukewarm - the chips and onion rings were, frankly, cold. I ate most of it - the chicken was nice, the onion rings were nice, but the chips can best be described as awful. I won't be having hot food here again.. but at least I was fed.
Which is ironic, considering the subject matter - it wasn't lost on me that here I was, munching on fried chicken, as the fat guy on screen consumes a bucketload of the stuff. Honestly, by the end, when he's eating to punish himself over something, I was seriously glad I'd finished eating - what I was watching was gross. This apparently started life as a play, and hasn't strayed too far from its origins - pretty much all of the film takes place in the same room. Well, we're getting the perspective of a guy who finds it hard to get off the couch. Lots of food, and concerned characters coming and going. That was a problem with the film - so many characters come and go that the story seems disconnected. Again a function of its theatrical origins - it would worked well on stage, but in particular, on film I wished we'd met his ex-wife sooner, for instance. For such an important person in his life, she only gets one scene, and it's hard to get a sense of her.
His daughter is a sparky teenager, in whom he can see nothing but good, despite the fact that she's on the point of flunking high school. And this is the thing - he has an overwhelming, blinkered love for her that's utterly endearing. And is generally an all-round nice guy, determined to eat himself to death. Why this is, we find out gradually - but as reviews have said, he is the shining light of the film. He's the focus of almost every scene, and draws every eye when he's on screen. Brendan Fraser's performance is absolutely devastating. I haven't seen every performance that's nominated for the Oscars this year, but frankly, I'd give it straight to him on the basis of this. I find it hard to imagine anyone matching it. Go see, for his performance alone.
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