It's a Movie. No, It's a Play. No, It's a Movie

Or, like the old TV commercial, maybe it's a breath mint.  Or a candy.  No, it's a breath mint.

What it is would be "Driving Miss Daisy - The Play."  Which was a big Oscar winning movie of an earlier play.  Now, it's a play filmed like a movie.  This is way too complicated for such a simple story that features only three characters.

Across the country, there has been a trend for certain movie theaters to show non-movies.   Operas from the New York Met.  Concerts from around the world.  Or...a stage play.  That was once a movie of a stage play.  Oh, here I go again.

I guess the enticement is to give folks around the country an opportunity to see a live production.  Being based in Los Angeles and New York, I'm biased.  I get that opportunity to see live theater any day of the week.  But, I guess when you live in Bumfuk, Iowa the changes are slim and none.  Unless, of course, you take an annual pilgrimage to Broadway with a pre-dinner reservation at the Olive Garden overlooking Times Square.  But, other than that, you're not likely to see Angela Lansbury and James Earl Jones come to your town, so this is the next best thing.

I suppose.

I wanted to see what this was all about and, when I noticed that a local Westchester movie theater was featuring a single afternoon performance of this production of "Driving Miss Daisy," this was a golden opportunity.  Keep in mind that, if you choose to do the same, they do drive up the ticket price.  They wanted 19 greenbackerinos for this and, when you realize that the movie of the actual play is essentially 90 minutes, you better hope they validate your parking.

You also realize that this isn't so live when, as the film/play starts, a Blu Ray menu pops up on the screen.  Okay, who in the audience has been entrusted with the remote?  Again, 19 dollars and I'm watching a DVD???  I could probably find it on Amazon for 15 bucks.

This theatrical production of "Driving Miss Daisy" was actually filmed on an Australian theater stage.  You hear the audience clap and laugh.  You see the actors react to the audience reaction.  It is theater lighting so the screen images are a little dark.  That said, it is "Driving Miss Daisy" and the work remains engaging and flawless. 

It marks one more time that I've seen Angela Lansbury "in person."  She's one of those celebrities I've run into multiple times.  On a plane.  In a train station.  Twice in her daughter's restaurant.  You've also got James Earl Jones and I just recalled that I saw both him and Lansbury in a Broadway production of "The Best Man."  They really were there.  They weren't live on a screen.  Meanwhile, Miss Daisy's son is played expertly by Boyd Gaines and I am annoyed to recall that he used to be Valerie Bertinelli's boyfriend on "One Day at a Time" way too many years ago.  I was actually at the taping where his character was introduced.  He was in person.  I later watched in on tape. 

It was a sitcom.  No, it was a play.  No, it was a sitcom.

And so it goes.

I enjoyed "Driving Miss Daisy - The Play" but realized that you can't really replace what happens in a live theater.  Where the energy is such that you can touch it from either the orchestra or the balcony.

But, I suppose, if you live in Bumfuk, Iowa...

Thank the Lord I don't.

LEN'S RATING:  Three stars if it's a movie.  Three-and-a-half stars if it's a play.

Dinner last night:  Smoked pork chop at E and E Grill House.