I know I’ve promised to write about our trip to Philadelphia… and I will. Not yet. I sense, truly or falsely, it will be a long entry, which I don’t feel like facing at the moment.
My folks have been visiting since Tuesday. It is our sworn duty to keep them entertained. OK – maybe not, but that’s what we want to do.
Today, Stef had plans to head to Long Island, Helaine needed to catch up around the house and I… well, I’m a lazy, shiftless bum with nothing to do. I asked my folks if they wanted to go to the movies.
My first choice was “The Simpsons Movie.” Helaine and Stef would like to see that. My parents, not so much. I can wait, I suppose.
I took my parents to see “No Reservations,” the new Catherine Zeta-Jones movie. It was an afternoon well spent.
The movie is a remake of a German film, “Mostly Martha.” As it turns out, my parents had already seen that. They liked “No Reservations” better.
Kate (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is a successful, driven, chronically single chef in New York’s Greenwich Village. As artfully revealed by her therapist (Bob Balaban), she was scared to commit. I’ve always thought about that (from personal experience) as a guy thing. Kate’s real love interest was cooking.
I loved the ‘inside baseball’ scenes as Kate commanded her team in the kitchen. It’s a view I don’t often get and seemed realistic.
When Kate’s sister is killed in a car accident, she becomes guardian for Zoe (Abigail Breslin). It’s another commitment she is ill prepared for.
Things are going very poorly between Kate and Zoe until Nick (Aaron Eckhart) enters the picture. He’s a sous chef, though obviously underachieving in his career, hired to work in Kate’s kitchen.
There is instant conflict. Then, there is instant sexual tension.
From this point forward, there is no part of this movie that isn’t predictable. I’m not saying that as a knock, because I had no problem accepting the picture as entertainment and not an intellectual challenge.
The triumph of romance over all obstacles is the mother’s milk of chick flicks – a genre I’m particularly enamored with. This is the poster child for chick flicks.
Catherine Zeta-Jones continues to be remarkably beautiful. Aaron Eckhart is more attractive than beautiful (attractive being a much more valuable trait). The real standout is Abigail Breslin, an accomplished actor at age 11.
I first saw Abigail in “Little Miss Sunshine.” Sometimes kids get lucky with their first film. “No Reservations” proves there’s more than luck at work here. She played an emotional role with great range. She acted! I believed.
What were you doing at age 11?
The last 11 or 12 year I saw, who could act, was Lindsay Lohan (1998 – “The Parent Trap”). Uh oh.
Abigail… keep your head on straight. Don’t grow up too fast. Don’t listen to the sycophants who will surely be drawn to you as flies are drawn to shit. If your parents are loopy, trade them in now!
One final note. As my parents walked into the theater to find a seat, I returned to the cashier and got a set of headphones for my dad. There is little publicity for these, but just about every theater has them available for free. For anyone with a hearing problem, these can make all the difference in the world in enjoying a movie.
I can’t believe how exhausted I was coming home from Atlanta. I’m a firm believer that travel is just as exhausting as work – and this is more living proof. From the time I left the hotel until I got home was nearly 8 hours. That includes driving, flying, waiting and even taking the Atlanta Airport subway.
After arriving in Philadelphia and before boarding my New Haven bound plane, there was a problem. The plane had been ‘overbooked’ and volunteers would be needed.