Sacrificing for the Wife

"If it is your time, love will track you down like a Cruise missile. If you say, 'No, I don't want it right now,' that's when you'll get it for sure. Love will make a way out of no way. Love is an exploding cigar which we willingly smoke."

      - Lynda Barry, artist, novelist, playwright

A couple of weeks ago as we sat and watched the credits for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Lisbeth turned to me and said, "You owe me two chick-flicks for coming to see this with you." I don't think she liked it.

I had planned to install a new CD-RW drive in my computer today, but when I thought about all that involved I decided it could wait. I remembered Lisbeth's mandate, and suggested taking in a movie. "Sure, but only if we can see Love Actually," she told me.  A "luv" film. Yuk! 

As I watched set after set of new characters passing across the screen in the first third of this film about love and relationships, I found myself wondering if there would ever be a point to the whole thing. I thought about leaving, but decided that would be unwise. Know what I mean?

But things began coming together in the second half of the movie. My favorite scene was when Jamie (Colin Firth) found himself in a Portuguese restaurant searching for Aurelia (Lucia Moniz) with her family trailing behind him. Hugh Grant was England's very un-political Prime Minister. His meeting with the U.S. president (Billy Bob Thornton...think about that) was a winner too.

All in all, it wasn't a bad afternoon, and I've only got one more girl's film to see to have my debt paid in full. Calendar Girls, a female Full Monty, is her choice. Naked, older women? Hmmm, that might be pretty good.