I went to the cinema on Friday. This meant pushing myself to go out. On arrival at the station there was a train problem with overhead cables between Stansted and Cambridge which meant that my train, much removed from this location, was firstly delayed and then eventually cancelled. I had set off from home to catch the delayed train because I already knew it was delayed and timed my journey accordingly, all was well. By the time I reached the station the delayed train notice had changed to cancelled. I thought I would have to abandon my trip because one cancellation may mean more cancellations because of the knock-on effect of the first one. I walked back to the car. As I sat in the car mulling over what to do, it was already too late to cancel the cinema ticket so I was going to get into trouble for a no-show if I didn't turn up, I sat staring at the live-train screen and noticed that the train following an hour later was NOT cancelled. I decided to wait for it and I would still arrive in time for the start of the film. So I sat in the car for a while and then walked to the station and sat there and chatted to a man who had been at the station to check on some major works that have been going on for some months in his capacity as the works accountant. He was making his way home. We discussed the over-run of the works which have caused a lot of frustration for local people with road closures and diversions. He lived many miles away and appeared to have little concept of the disruption to life for locals. The time passed faster chatting to the man and soon the train came.
The film I went to see was called The Invite and I arrived with 10 minutes to spare. I had planned a coffee before the start and an hours writing but that had to wait.
The Invite is described as a comedy but it was more of a drama/comedy with more emphasis on the drama for me. It stars Seth Rogen, Olivia Wilde, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton. It all takes place in one apartment and mostly in one room. It was previously a stage play and one can easily visualise it thus.
It opens with a quote from Oscar Wilde " one should always be in love. That is the reason one should never marry".
Joe and Angela's (Seth Rogers and Olivia Wilde) marriage is on the rocks. He once had a rock band and is now teaching music. She doesn't appear to work but studies wellbeing and yoga etc. They live in the apartment which used to belong to his parents. This embarrasses him presumably because it illustrates his failure in being able to buy their own apartment.
Angela has invited the newish neighbours from upstairs to come for dinner. Joe appears to have either forgotten or never knew they were coming and Joe and Angela argue about this at length.
Enter the neighbours, Hawk and Pina (Edward Norton and Penelope Cruz). They are cool, calm, adjusted and confident. And they are sexually adventurous and talk of things that Joe and Angela have never spoken out loud about. The noisy sex from upstairs is cooly talked about by Hawk and Pina.
The rest of the film is you could say, history. However it takes some twists and of course Joe and Angela unbelievably start talking about how they could be a little bit adventurous when Hawk and Pina say they have sex parties upstairs. The tonal shift comes in the last act when it becomes both hands on and reflective. The casting is spot on and Cruz was amazing but so were the others. It was funny in parts although I did not feel like "laugh out loud" as some of the audience did. I was glad the film was no longer than it was because there is only so much talk about sex that I can take. It was just, for me, on the precipice of boring when it came to an end so it was ok. The ending was a little bit wishy washy.
I think if your marriage is going through this kind of almost on the rocks, hanging by a thread, you may not want to see this film or you should be prepared with plenty of diversions. The couple next to me had: the man, one coffee, one bottle of Cola, one can of fizz (I heard the ring-pull and it surprised me because of the other two beverages he had), and a kind of fast food lunch. He put these all on the seat table in front of him and to the side. The girlfriend/partner/wife had her phone on and she looked at that a lot. I noticed he asked her to stop doing that and she did for a short while then she started doing it again during the film. He had a wrist internet google thing which flashed silently every time he received a notification. It was on his wrist nearest to me so I saw it flash every time. He went to the toilet once. He waved in thanks to me to when he went past my seat to leave to go to the toilet in the middle of the film. He cleared all their rubbish when they left at the end, in silence. Many people leave their rubbish. I admired him for clearing up. They did not speak to each other.
On a different note, this morning's Wordle was a strange word. I was able to get it in 5 thanks to having my Chambers dictionary by my chair and the word was in there. It is strange enough that it may not have been. My word at number 4 was swamp. I got stuck so had to have the dictionary help.