Another nice mess

We went to see Stan and Ollie this evening. A gentle film about love and frienship. We both really enjoyed it.

The nice mess started a few days before the film. We received notification that the film had been moved from Cinema 1 to the smaller Cinema 2 in the Barbican. We would all be re-seated. Armed with fresh tickets we found our seats, no problem.

With nothing on the screen the entertainment started. A lady stood near us trying to read her new ticket. “I don’t have my glasses”. She couldn’t find the row letters either. She then went down the isle on the other side and tried to persuade some people that they were in her seats, to no avail. Back to the centre isle. She then walks along the row in front of us. She looked at two empty seats and walks back to the isle mentioning seats “three and four”. The couple in front of us point out that the two empty seats she was looking at were indeed “three and four”. She didn’t react. Back to same people on the other side, the seat occupiers produce their phones to show they have booked those seats. The poor lady had no choice but to seek help from the cinema staff.

For the third time the sitters are challenged. The staff member explains something to them discretely and they get up. To their credit they announce to the rest of us “We’re in the wrong cinema”. The lady was right all along.

It didn’t stop there. We sat through the adverts. When the BBFC certificate came up with “Stan and Ollie” a couple ran out as they too realised they were in the wrong cinema. Laurel and Hardy was acted out right in front of us.

The acting on the screen was excellent. Steve Cougan caught Stan Laurel’s mannerisms brilliantly. A lovely film. Recommended.