Horrible beginning, great ending

Have you ever felt completely out of place? And then something bad happens and you're like "Oh no, should I even be here," "What on earth did I get myself into?" Tonight that was me. 

This evening, my grandmother and I ventured downtown to see a movie recommended to my by a friend as "great beginning, horrible ending." The Last Station is about Tolstoy and it only has two showtimes, 8 and 10 PM, at one theatre downtown. This was either gonna be a blast or a bust. 

Plummer & Mirren and Condon & McAvoy explore the parallels of love in The Last Station

After a lovely dinner and quick stop in a thrift store (I had never been to one before), we settled down in the out-of-the-way theatre and prepared for an evening of twentieth century Russian literature. 

The movie started off with a steamy, awkward, teenage sex scene in 1970......
Wait, um, that's not Tolstoy.

Had we gone in the wrong theatre? If so, then the rest of the audience had done the same. Nope. The theatre was playing the wrong movie entirely.
Oh good so I didn't make the mistake. 
Still, I had come to see Tolstoy, not some high schoolers declare their puppy dog love for each other. Ten minutes later, a manager came in to tell us they had put the wrong movie on, (thanks, Sherlock, we didn't know) but would have the right one on shortly. I used the extra time to get to know the lovely couple sitting behind us (the wife's name was Stephanie too!) and to get some popcorn. Finally, they put the proper movie on.
And there's no sound.

Christopher Plummer as Leo Tolstoy, who draws the conclusion that all world religions have the same principle: love

Finally, finally, they get the film running, and it is spectacular! We even got a free ticket voucher which I might use; the theatre (which I won't name, I'm not that malevolent) seems to play interesting films... if it actually plays them. And really, it wasn't that inconvenient. 
Because, for all the difficulty in getting the film started, I thoroughly enjoyed The Last Station. I learned a lot about Tolstoy, his life, himself as a person, and his "Tolstoyan movement." Plus, with an all-star cast of Christopher Plummer, Helen Mirren, Paul Giamatti, and James McAvoy, written and directed by Michael Hoffman, how could you go wrong? I'm glad that, despite some "technical difficulties," I got to see this beautifully dramatic film.


Shall I now go read War and Peace?
xxo, S