Last night, I decided to take an evening away from the insanity that has been my life lately and join a friend at the movies. We ended up seeing Robin Hood and I must admit that I had fairly mixed emotions.
I suppose the first problem with my movie adventure was associated with my expectations. When I decided to see a film about the legendary English hero, I was looking for the standard story - stealing from the rich to give to the poor. Hey, I grew up watching the Disney standards, too! Little did I know that this production would focus on Robin Hood's early years; as soon as the jolly band of bandits were finally formed and living in the woods of Sherwood Forest, the film came to an end. As I was discussing the film with my friend Sandra earlier today, she immediately pointed out that there was an obvious reason for this decision: the film makers were leaving their options open for a sequel. That's probably a wise business decision on their part, but I'm not sure that I will pay $10 to see the follow-up.
Don't misunderstand, there were portions of the film that I thoroughly enjoyed. The cinematography was outstanding. At times, I felt as though I had been transported to Richard the Lion Hearted's English countryside. I was pleased with some of the performances - especially those of Cate Blanchett (Lady Marion) and Kevin Durand (Little John). I must admit I was surprised by Russell Crowe. While he had a few moments that were really quite good, in the end, I felt that he was more of a supporting player and that Blanchett was the star of the show. That's probably not the best news for anyone wanting to see the film though. After all, it's not the story of Lady Marion that we hope to see.
The company was wonderful. The meal that followed was amazing (Buckley's in Memphis....YUM). The film, however, was only a marginal success with the benefit of hindsight. Oh well, there's always another film to see on another day. Hopefully I'll have better luck next time.
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