Inkheart

I've been in Kaysville since Friday (I get to spend my Spring Break at my parents' house--exciting) and I discovered on Saturday that the wonderful amazing dollar Kaysville Theatre had some great movies playing this week, including Twilight, Valkyrie, The Tale of Despereaux, Bolt, Marley and Me, and Inkheart. I've already seen Twilight twice, and of the rest I wanted to see Inkheart the most. My little sister Katie came with me and we had a whole row to ourselves.



Now before I talk about the movie, I want to extol the virtues of Kaysville Theatre. Dollar theatres are just fabulous anyway you dice it, even if they can only play 3-6 movies in any given week. The theatre is located along the west side of Main Street attached to all the other old buildings and shops in town and right across from Kaysville Library and the city hall. I absolutely love this theatre. It's a Kaysville institution. I have great memories of seeing movies I've long forgotten with friends, of learning to save my money so I could spend it on something I really enjoyed. The best thing about Kaysville Theatre is the "keep the theatre clean" message they always play before the previews: two guys are watching a movie in a theatre (all you see is their knees down), and one of them is nice and tidy--he puts his drink and candy wrapper inside his empty popcorn bucket, which he sets between his feet--and the other is wholly absorbed in the movie--he drops his drink and popcorn, which spill all over the floor, etc. At the end of the movie, the tidy guy picks up his popcorn bucket of garbage and leaves hassle-free; the not-so-tidy guy stands up with gum stuck under his shoe, and as he pulls his foot up off the floor everybody shouts "EEWWWW!!!!" It's great. If you ever get a chance to go to a dollar theatre in a little town, like Kaysville, you should do it. You get to know a community that way.



On to the movie!



Inkheart, rated PG, is based on a book of the same name by Cornelia Funke, which, sadly, I have not yet read. Because of this movie it is now on my summer reading list. Inkheart stars some big names and good actors, including Brendan Frasier (The Mummy, Journey to the Center of the Earth), Paul Bettany (Da Vinci Code, Firewall), Helen Mirren (National Treasure 2, The Queen), and Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings, all three). Basically, Mortimer (Frasier) is a Silvertongue, which means his reading out loud brings stories to life. Once nine years ago he read the book Inkheart and brought some of their villains--and a random fire-juggler--into our world, but by reading them out of their story, he read his wife into it. Now he, his daughter, and the fire-juggler have an opportunity to put characters and people back into their proper places. I love the idea this move poses about the relationship between author, reader, and character. My sister Katie said she's read the book and that it's better. We'll see. I highly recommend this movie, although there are a few scary images for a really young audience. Eight years and older should be able to handle it.