Film: King Richard

So, this evening's film was King Richard, which I hadn't seen - Will Smith plays Richard Williams, the driven father of Venus and Serena, the tennis champions.

So - yes, he's driven: to the extent that we have no idea why he does some of the things he does. Having said that, neither does his long-suffering wife, nor do his star daughters. It's unfortunately a film with little payback - you spend the whole (155 min) film being annoyed at him, as he ignores the advice of the professionals: and while, by the end, people are saying how great Venus is (we're not seeing Serena's abilities yet), when she finally gets to play a proper match - she loses. And that's the end of the film. We have to content ourselves with screens explaining how wonderful the girls' subsequent achievements were!

OK, we see how, laudably, he kept his daughters away from drugs and street violence, how he made sure they focused on what was important, didn't miss school or church, and didn't get burned out doing advertising, or playing too much competitively. But gee, it'd have been nice to see a little more tennis.. and particularly, as I say, one match that one of them won! Nah, I came away from this a bit disgruntled - just as well I didn't pay money to see it.

As for the cinema - I had my eye on two films opening on Wednesday, and am delighted to say they both have matinee performances! although not in my first two preference cinemas - I have to see both in the Odeon Limerick. Not a problem, I'm well familiar with it, and it's delightfully cheap. 

One, of course, is the new version of Nosferatu - now, this hadn't yet been rated on IMDB when I last looked, but I'm delighted to say it now has, and its rating is terrific! An unofficial respin of Dracula, the original film was highly atmospheric - and at the time of writing, the new one is rated slightly higher. Stars Lily-Rose Depp - yes, Johnny's daughter! And I'm so glad it's highly rated, because I'm dying to see it.. so, that's the plan for Wednesday.

Which leaves We Live in Time for Thursday, a decade-spanning romance between Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh. I saw him interviewed about it on Graham Norton, so feel mildly obliged to see it - and anyway, I don't have much else to do!

And that'll be it for outings until after I fly back to the Big Smoke on Sunday..

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