Ever since the announcement (and televised trailers) for the new version of True Grit came out, my daughter took an intense interest in the movie. Even though I was personally excited to see the movie (due to my love of the Coen Brothers), I was not as into the whole thing as my daughter.
She went out of her way to see the original on TV, take everyone that she could to a showing of the movie, and even bought the book to read with her own money (shortly before an upcoming birthday where she secured a second copy as a gift). One of my birthday gifts to her was the John Wayne version of the 1969 film, so she could continue to revisit the tale without the need to wait for it to appear on TV.
All of this led us to the Riverview Theater on Saturday night for a 7:10pm showing of the movie.
I’ve written posts before about this theater, but it truly is a wonderful treasure in SE Minneapolis that is a joy to see a movie. The theater is a throw-back to the 40s/50s era when the local cinema was the place to be on a weekend night. It has a classic art-deco style that sets the perfect mood. Being a “second run” theater, it doesn’t show any movies on their opening weekend, but will offer them for only $3 once they’ve made their way through other theaters after the first few weeks of release.
It is not a mega-plex and can only show one movie at a time. Thus, it attracts a certain special crowd that I have never seen at other movie theaters in the Twin Cities. People that gather to this theater want to have FUN watching a movie. They realize (and express) the joy of going to a large room filled with excited people while collectively watching a great cinematic experience. Thus, the movie is accompanied by the crowd reactions.
Normally, you would think that people laughing loudly at a funny line or gasping in horror at a gruesome, on-screen event would bring a host of “sh’s” or “please be quite” reactions. But not at the Riverview. The crowd is as much apart of the experience as the movie. It’s amazing how “freeing” it can feel to go to a theater and actually have fun while the movie is playing. The crowd is always full of people that really love movies.
I know – this is not a “Minnesotan” sort of thing. But, it does work in this context. Our normal reserved demeanor can be left behind and everyone is given permission to have fun. Fortunately, it’s a place where this is not done disrespectfully and very little obnoxious behavior is found.
So, for her fourth time, my daughter and I watched True Grit – now playing at a second run theater after a long time in the first-run, expensive places. It was great again (since I had already seen the movie once before with her) and I enjoyed it more due to the joyful atmosphere of the Riverview Theater.
It is a great movie. It’s one that I will surely need to purchase in DVD format for my daughter once it is released. She will need to round out her complete collection.
