At the Movies

We took Max to see his first movie in a movie theater this weekend. We went to go see Over the Hedge at the 10 AM show on Saturday morning. We arrived a few minutes early to make sure we could get situated with good seats and snacks and drinks. When we walked into the theater there was no one else in there. We picked a row about half way up and sat dead center to the screen. Max was in awe of the vast room, the many seats and the giant pictures on the screen. A few other families entered the theater and sat in various rows in front of us.


Here is my review of the movie Over The Hedge.

Spoiler Alert.
I may be revealing some of the plot and twists in the movie so if you do not want to know what happens you should stop reading.

The movie opens with a cute raccoon (voiced by Bruce Willis) foraging for food at night. The scene is dark and so is the theater. Maxfield decides that the he would like to explore the seats behind us. His fascination with the lighted stairs distracts him from what is happening on screen.

Since there is no one sitting behind us I let him walk up and down back and forth through all the rows. I follow him to make sure he does not hurt himself. He tests each seat in last three rows to make sure that each one of them bounces back into the upright position the same way the seat before did. He returns to our row with the assistance of chocolate covered raisins from Lauren.

The cute little woodland creatures that were now invading the new development for food did not hold Maxfield’s attention. He wanted to explore the front part of the theater and ran down the steps to be closer to the screen. Here he discovered the handicapped accessible ramp and decided that running up and down it was more fun than the popcorn and the film. The enjoyment, from the effects of gravity while running down a ramp, was voiced with giggles and squeals of delight. He worked up quite a thirst and returned to his seat for some juice.

With the animals on screen now planning a great caper, Max decided that he had not explored the actual area directly in front of the screen. He scared me because he disappeared into the darkness behind the ramp and darted towards the emergency exit door. By the time my eyes adjusted to the darkened area I caught him trying to pull down a curtain that went behind the screen.

The highlight of the movie was when Lauren decided to take Max with her to the bathroom where I am sure he amused himself with the automatic hand dryers. Once he returned he needed to see which of the hundred empty seats or so was the most comfortable for him. As the credits rolled to Ben Folds’ Rocking the Suburbs, he finally sat down on a step to take in the sounds. He likes Ben Folds and he recognized the song.

All in all he gave the experience one thumb up and one pointer finger sideways and then waved "Bye-Bye" to the screen.