Friday, March 09, 2007
Give the usher a scorecard — preview audience gets review of Terrence Howard’s ‘Pride’ before the film starts
The usher at a recent Cincinnati preview screening of “Pride,” the feel-good drama about a Philadelphia swim coach (Terrence Howard, pictured in the photo) who trains and inspires a group of inner-city youths to the championships, gave all the expected pre-show introductions.
“Turn off your cell phones and pagers or put them on vibrate so not to disturb your neighbors,” she said, raising her voice in order to be heard by the anxious crowd.
What came next was completely unexpected.
“Oh, and enjoy the movie. It’s a pretty good one.”
The audience laughed at her honesty. If she had to anything to say about “Pride,” shouldn’t she have called it the best movie of the year, or at least a really good one? Later, the crowd laughed at co-star Bernie Mac’s frequent scenes of comic relief.
Interested in my thoughts? Well, let me gather them and comment on Howard’s performance closer to the film’s March 23 opening. Let’s just say I don’t see eye-to-eye with the opinionated usher.
