I'm so excited

Just renewed my membership of Everyman (upmarket UK cinema chain) and I am so excited. I let it lapse for a while and have seen far fewer films as a result. Today, I am off to see Olivia Coleman in Wicker, a half-arsed movie about a famous actress playing an unloved and smelly fisherwoman, who decides to buy a husband made of basketry.

What? How dare I criticise Coleman and her latest romp around movieland without even seeing it? Surely, as a national treasure she is above criticism? Shouldn't a critique come from actually seeing a movie, rather than just hearing about it?

I think I have been getting far too critical of movies and moviemakers lately, far too jaded when discussing the movie-maker's art. Having just retired from my final career in the movie business, after a long line of careers that amounted to nothing in the end, I feel entitled to critique. I know, I know, it is something of an exaggeration to say I had a career in the movie business. What I had was a very part-time role as a security operative for a number of entertainment clients.

This 'career' saw me at, among other places, movie previews and premieres, protecting client assets that were primarily the IP rights (preventing anyone pirating the film), the reputation of the movie companies, and the 'talent’. Protecting the talent, in that I was sometimes asked to escort, or otherwise oversee the perambulations of, movie stars, directors and others, avoiding unwanted contact with a sometimes over-enthusiastic public.

So why am I criticising a movie and an acting performance I have yet to see?

Well, I am not really criticising the movie/star so much as criticising my own pickiness when it comes to watching big screen performances. Could I do better? Obviously not! I think I have just got a little jaded from 60+ years of moviegoing. I expect too much. I think I need to be a little broader minded when it comes to choice of entertainment. Not just look for content that appeals to my narrow spectrum of taste, but go see any movie on offer just for the joy of absorbing the movie-maker's art.

This is why I am excited. Not so much at the prospect of seeing Coleman shagging a wicker fantasy man, as at the decision to go see a lot more movies over the coming months. Our youngest daughter put it better than I can:

"I like going to the cinema and don't really mind what I see."

On this basis, we are going to make a point of seeing more movies. As I will with her mum and her two siblings. This, hopefully, in addition to all five of us going to see at least one movie together before Christmas.

I started to write this rambling piece before going to see Wicker. I have now just returned from seeing the movie.

What did I think of Wicker?

Definitely a movie worth watching. I could give you a full review but I think I would need to see it at least a couple more times to be able to do so. On which basis, no review, just some thoughts from me.

The movie is worth watching because it is different and on several levels. As a jaded movie watcher, I crave something new and different.

Some more thoughts from me

• It is a bit of a daft setup. An unloved fisherwoman living in a fantasy village, asks a basket maker to make her a husband. The result is everything she (and perhaps any woman) could want from a male partner.

• This preposterous premise is consistent enough in its telling to be convincing.

• Not everyone will like this movie.

• There are lots of explicit sexual references that some prudish people will not like or appreciate.

• The fantasy village has its own kind of religion, that is a sort of naive paganism

• The narrative follows a similar path to the Frankenstein story but with the 'monster' being completely the opposite of monstrous.

• You could equate the wicker husband to any combination of Frankenstein's monster, the traditional pagan notion of the wicker man, and an artificial intelligence.

• The basketry husband develops by learning to be the perfect partner.

• The film script avoids, sidesteps, or turns on their head, most of the received narrative points that moviemakers seem to want to include in their work these days.

• While avoiding the typical Hollywood didactic narrative, Wicker, very ably, raises intelligent questions about the nature of humanity, friendship, love, and gender roles.

• The movie may also encourage viewers to question their own approach to intimate relationships and how they see gender roles.

• Although most of the gags in the script are obvious and predictable, some of the material is quite funny.

• To my mind comedy roles show Olivia Coleman at her best.

I'd like to say something about the ending but won't, for fear of spoiling.

Having now seen Wicker, I take back what I said about it being half-arsed.

Wicker is a whole-arsed movie

As I say, a movie worth watching. You might not like it but you won't know unless you give it a go.

Thanks for reading.

Ray