Not A Review Of “Lucy”

So a month or so ago, we saw “Lucy“, an action film in which the titular character, played by Scarlett Johansson, accidentally receives an overdose of a new illegal psychotropic drug, develops superpowers, and kicks epic amount of gangster ass. Or so it would seem from the trailer, would it not?

I went in expecting something along the lines of “The Matrix: Black Widow”, but as it turns out, the trailer pretty much showcases every action scene in the entire movie. Is that bad? Let’s ask my wife.

Me: “This has been on for like 30 minutes so far. What do you think of it?”
Wife: “Well, I’m still watching it.”

That’s right. Shockingly enough, “Lucy” held my wife’s attention for a full three-quarters of an hour before she fell asleep. And she was tired to begin with! We then completed our viewing of the movie in a single second sitting. This is pretty close to unprecedented for a science fiction movie, which is what “Lucy” is; despite the marketing, it is not an action movie. At least, not by my standards.

Wife: “You don’t consider this an action movie? Is that because there’s a plot, instead of just series of chases and explosions?”
Me: “Well, yes …”

Even more surprising than the fact that my wife enjoyed “Lucy” so much is that, a few weeks after watching it, while spinning up “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World“*, through the magic of “BD Live Fresh Previews From The Internet”, a trailer for “Lucy” started to play, leading to an exchange like this:

Wife (peering at “Lucy” trailer): “We saw this, didn’t we?”
Me: “Yes, we did. You stayed awake for 45 minutes.”
Wife: “I liked it.”
Me: “Did you like it as much as ‘Pitch Black‘?”
Wife (pausing to consider): “Almost.”

So there you have it. She not only stayed awake for the better part of an hour watching “Lucy”, but — despite its utter lack of Vin Diesel in any role whatsoever — she liked it almost as much as “Pitch Black”, which is, of course, the epitome of the very small category of films known as “Movies My Wife Should Have Hated But Loved Instead”. Apparently we can add another movie to that rather short list.

* Wife: “Is this a movie or a video game?”