ANDRE BEGIN

When my partner and I first started dating, it didn’t take long for us to discover a mutual love for the movies.

Over the course of those first dates, we would name a movie that we both saw and proceeded to critique the masterpiece like two film students. Then we would continue through a list of favourites that had hit both of our radars, getting to know each other and appreciating each other’s likes, dislikes and perspective.

However, we did have a laugh over a few.

“Did you see this one?”

“No sorry, I fell asleep on that one.”

“What about this one?”

“I didn’t make it to the end of that one either. That movie came out when I was working on a major project at work.”

“And what about this other one?”

“Sorry. Dozed off on that one too.”

The sleepy one was me. I have an unfortunate habit of falling asleep on movies that are beyond two hours in length, especially when watching them from the comfort of my recliner or couch.

This hasn’t always been the case though. I do recall seeing “Titanic” and “Lawrence of Arabia” in the theatre and not having an issue. I actually enjoyed the ceremony of making an afternoon out of it, refilling on snacks at the half way mark and enjoying the extended ride.

However, during my later career years, I admit that my energy and attention span were perhaps not as generous as they once were. When a movie with a longer running time was on our list, it would take additional logistical planning to ensure we’d find a location presenting the movie at an early enough show time, to ensure my partner didn’t have to nudge me awake, or worse yet, that I’d begin snoring mid-way through.

When you factor in the half hour of commercials and previews of coming attractions at the beginning, the clock is already ticking on my alertness levels. There’s just something about relaxing in a darkened room – and now, in reclining comfort in many theatres – that seems to tell my brain that it’s ok to let go, drift off and to “rest my eyes” which often turns into nodding off for a few winks.

The weird part is that I can attend an opera or to binge watch 3 consecutive hours of an action-packed streaming series and to stay awake without too much difficulty.

However, I am embarrassed to admit that on a few occasions I have found myself looking for opportunities where they could have hurried the story along or left parts on the cutting room floor to keep the story at a manageable length.

As a story teller, I can appreciate that not every story can be told in 90 minutes, unless the actors start speaking very quickly which isn’t always appropriate to the story. I understand as well that if every movie was kept under two hours, some stories might appear choppy or lacking substance.

Either way, if I happen to doze off during a movie, I hope that no one is offended. When the pace requires a more gentle approach to carefully build up the tension, those might be the times I might be lulled into a comfy nap like a lullaby.

Did you enjoy this post? If you did, your likes and shares are most appreciated.
If you haven’t already, please check out the rest of my blog at andrebegin.blog.
From there, you can click on the “Follow” button to receive future posts directly in your inbox.
Sincere thanks for reading!
Have a great day,
André