My 17-year old and I are BIG fans of Rowan Atkinson ever since stumbling on a compilation of his skits, including this hysterical bit with Atkinson in religious garb, at a lectern, retelling popular Bible stories. So I jumped on an offer of two free tickets to the New York premiere of Johnny English Strikes Again.
The screening was at the AMC near Lincoln Center. We had scored reserved tickets so could bypass the line and spend the waiting time walking around one of our favorite neighborhoods. (If you haven’t seen Lincoln Center at night, I highly recommend it!)
A red carpet was set up for press (but roped off to us mere audience). Still, free popcorn and bottled water were distributed to all attendees, so it was the full movie theater experience. To our surprise and great delight, one of the producers, the director, and Rowan Atkinson himself were all at the screening. Atkinson said few words, just a heartfelt thank you, but he still made me laugh.
The movie itself was charming, with many laugh-out loud moments. You can always tell what people are concerned about when you look at the plot lines for the current pop culture movies. Spoiler alert coming, but only if you’re as naïve as a two-year old: In Johnny English Strikes Again, the bad guy was a tech billionaire, who looked remarkably like Mark Zuckerberg. The hero saves the day with some low tech moves – ah, the nostalgia. Strikes Again even had Atkinson dancing in a white suit callback to the 70’s and Saturday Night Fever – ah, more nostalgia.
Both my daughter and I loved the movie and had a great time overall. Getting to see a movie on a Tuesday night, and a screening no less, is one of the perks of the FIRE lifestyle.
I still have my paid-up SAG-AFTRA card, so there will be more screening opportunities this fall!
We are Scott and Caroline, 50-somethings who spent the first 20+ years of our adult lives in New York City, working traditional careers and raising 2 kids. We left full-time work in our mid-40’s for location-independent, part-time consulting projects and real estate investing, in order to create a more flexible and travel-centric lifestyle. 
Financial independence and early retirement is not something we originally focused on, but over time realized it was possible. Our free report, 
