I almost never go to see a movie more than once in the theater. I have seen this one three times. Each time, it was better.

The first time, I took my 12-year-old daughter, who is not an Orlando Bloom groupie. (She likes his work, but doesn't have the fanzine posters all over her ceiling, like her friend down the street.) The action was so rapid-fire, and a couple of the plot twists were so unexpected, that I was on the edge of my seat. People in the audience cheered. You don't get that very much anymore. And it was funny.

The second time, I went with a couple of girlfriends: a middle school teacher and another librarian. The teacher wanted to get there early, to find very good seats, "so Johnny [Depp] will be able to find me." [She doesn't have the fanzine posters of him all over her ceiling, either, but only because it would bother her husband.] Without the suspense of following the plot, since I already knew what was happening, I was free to admire the pacing, the swordfights, the acting, the swordfights, the special effects that wove seemlessly into plot rather than being included just because they could. Oh, and the swordfights. More cheering from the audience. And it was still funny.

We went out to dinner and talked about the tributes to Errol Flynn movies, particularly "Captain Blood"; Johnny Depp's study of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, and how that informed his character in this movie; other swordfights we have known ("The Princess Bride" came up several times); and the true nature of the two pairs of hapless comic foils: were they Rosencranz and Guildenstern, as one critic has suggested, or were they the two rats from "Chicken Run"? (My vote: puck puck puck BWAWK!)

The teacher and our waitress also got into an animated discussion about the charms of Johnny Depp, along with a complete filmography with critique, which in itself would have been worth the price of admission. It was the end of the waitress's shift. After we left, the teacher remarked that we could have brought our tiaras after all and worn them, because that restaurant would have understood.

Yes, we do have tiaras. There's this club...

The third time, the 12-year-old wanted to see it again, the 16-year-old (she of the sword; see "Community") hadn't seen it yet, and their father went along for the ride, even though he hates to go to the movies. We saw the rare spectacle of ninth-graders on one of those gang dates telling each other to shut up so they could watch the movie. Repeat everything appreciated above. More details popped out. And it was still still funny!

After a (short) ride home, silent as the grave, my husband said: "Thank you for suggesting that. That was a very good movie." This is the equivalent of five stars in the NYT, coming from him. He only likes WWII movies, movies directed by Robert Altman or Stanley Kubrick, and movies that feature submarines prominently.

Oh, and one other thing: A library director of my acquaintance has been known to tell her fellow directors that the state library code isn't so much a code in the legal sense, but rather a set of guidelines. We laughed and laughed and laughed. But you have to see the movie to understand.

Regards--
Mary Anne