Tonight's date night was set up to be a fun-filled evening of entertainment (yay, $5 Tuesdays at our local cinema!) and fine Japanese cuisine at a sushi place I've been wanting to try. (We actually noticed a few locations of that particular chain last time we were in Montréal. I was excited to see that they'd made their way to Toronto as they seemed to be quite popular, if the frequency with which we spotted their logo in Montréal is any indication!)
Our evening wasn't exactly a comedy of errors, just a whole bunch of little things adding up to a kind of so-so night. Shall I
Exhibit A:
At the last minute I suggested watching a different movie, because the one we were going to see stars Bradley Cooper (not my fave actor), and I was afraid it would be lame. I knew we'd be taking a chance on seeing an "independent" film, but I've had a lot of good experiences with indie movies at this particular theatre, and the trailer looked pretty good. Trailers, however (as we all know), can be deceptive. (Cue sad trombone sound).
Exhibit B:
What was it about this movie?! The plot was solid if not super inventive. I mean, any story involving kidnapping, espionage, secrets from the past, corrupt governments, and the bond between a father and his daughter should have some riveting material, no? The actors, in my opinion, were expertly cast. Yet somehow, I didn't feel myself drawn to the characters or pulled into the story.
For one thing, there was basically no build-up to the "problem" the main character needed to "solve" - literally the second or third sentence of the movie was, "Your daughter's gone missing in Damascus!" Um, okay. Way to ease us in to the main character's life there! (And the guy who delivered that line, though supposedly close enough to the daughter to know her secret travel plans, never appears in the movie again. What the what?!) Other scenes (including the ending, which was pretty much as abrupt as the beginning) were similarly choppy; it's like the filmmakers were so focused on advancing the plot that they forgot to develop the story.
There was a fair amount of violence, too - not the shoot 'em up variety with a (Hollywood-style) typically high body count, but the more measured (and therefore intense) kind. Yet somehow, it didn't feel intense or compelling. (Not that I'm advocating for violence in movies, or trying to imply that it's necessary to make a story intense or compelling!) I don't know - the whole thing was just weird. I had that feeling of anticipation where you're waiting for something to take off, to get good, to leave you feeling satisfied. I kept waiting for everything to be pulled together. Aaand.... yes, I'm still waiting. (Wah wah wah wahhhh). Oh well, at least I enjoyed the soundtrack!
Exhibit C:
After a somewhat disappointing movie experience, you'd think we would have been looking forward to dinner even more eagerly. Except - I couldn't find the menu/brochure we received for the aforementioned sushi restaurant, which had some enticing coupons attached. Did I want to try out this new place (which just so happens to be strategically located across the street from the theatre)? Yes, please. Did I want to try it without said coupons? Not so much. So we settled for mediocre (but inexpensive) sushi from another place that was close by. Sort of a win? (At least for our wallets, I supposed.)
However, the evening did have a silver lining! Before dinner we stopped by Loblaws and picked up some potted organic herbs (basil, curly parsley, and thyme). Alas, they had no sage or rosemary. But that won't stop me from posting this:
Hope you all had a more terrific Tuesday than I did. But there's always the hope for a wonderful Wednesday, right? Right. :)
xx,
Kate
