It was free

Or was it?

Yesterday evening we went to a theatre to see The Italian Job. We arrived at the ticket office a few minutes before the scheduled start time only to find that the ultra-bright display listings of movie times didn't list it. WifeOfVirge assured the rest of us doubters that the time was correct according to the newspaper she read. We joined the line anyway and stepped up to the counter when our turn came.

"Sorry, it's not scheduled to show at that time."

A slightly disgruntled foursome stepped back to look at what alternatives there were. We could wait for a couple of hours to see The Italian Job - ummm, no thanks. DaughterOfVirge was going to see Tomb Raider II today and the rest of us weren't keen anyway. We'd seen Pirates of the Carribean the day before, but I must admit that a second viewing was tempting. Finding Nemo was fun but one viewing was enough. Legally Blonde 2 was on the want-to-see list for KidsOfVirge so I meekly agreed to go along with the family on this alternative strategy.

We approached the counter. The assistant had been very helpful. While we had discussed alternatives she had asked her manager about the showing of The Italian Job advertised in the paper. The theatre had cancelled that session, so she gave us 4 free tickets as compensation. Our evening's entertainment would be free.

I look back now and see that it was anything but free. Legally Blonde 2 stole 95 minutes of my life and filled it with fatuous, glib, proud-to-be-americanned glurge. The ratio of one chuckle to twenty cringes is not what I'd regard as entertainment. The first Legally Blonde movie had a certain flow and logical inevitability to it. It seemed like the perpetrators of this sequel worked with a charter of: "just like the first one only more extra exaggeratedlyness".