2 Guns & AMC Theatres

We haven’t seen a movie at an AMC Theatre in umpteen years, but a friend told us about their new seating and how wonderful it was. So we went to see Denzel and Mark do their stuff in 2 Guns. What a strange comparison to the Harkins Theatre experience we’ve known and loved. We got our tickets and stood in line for popcorn, one line only, unlike Harkins where you find from eight to ten lines. You want soda? You buy a cup and dispense your own, just like at MacDonald’s. And the place was amazingly unbusy, only about ten others walking down silent halls. We got to venue eight for the 2 Guns showing. Really small theatre, with no more than seventy or eighty seats. That was more than enough for the ten of us in attendance. And the new seats were, as our friend had reported, very nice—plush, red, faux leather recliners for back and legs, just like at home. It had to be really expensive to put these seats into all fourteen AMC venues. And from the paucity of customers, it looks like a bad investment. The seats were great, the popcorn lousy, not freshly popped and with way too many old maids and if you wanted any exotic spices you had to buy a small container for half a buck, unlike Harkins where they put out shakers of ranch, cheddar cheese, etc. for their customers. We think this will be our last movie at AMC.

2 Guns was good, not great. Denzel Washington, always worth watching no matter what he’s in, played Bobby Trench, a DEA agent deep undercover, trying to get the goods on a Mexican drug cartel, and Mark Wahlberg played Stig Stigman, a naval intelligence officer also deep undercover, trying to do the same thing. Both thought the other was a criminal, and together they pulled off a bank job, thinking they were going to steal three million dollars belonging to the drug lord. Turns out it was actually just over forty-three million, belonging to—-hold on here—-spoiler alert—-a crooked branch of the CIA. And just everygody was chasing the two guys with their guns, trying to get the many millions back. Lots of running and driving and shooting and banging, all in good fun. And the two undercover boys become fast friends. Yeah, 2 Guns was good enough to see but not good enough to remember.