It was really weird. The movie itself was pretty good. The ending was pretty flat, though, I thought. It just kind of was left hanging.
The weird part was watching the scenes where I knew exactly where they were. Callahan's Bar, for instance. The exterior shots were of the Bob-In, the biggest stinkiest dive in Waterville. The interior was a bar in Skowhegan (15 miles to the north) that we have been known to frequent for adult beverages. The disconnect of watching someone walk out of the bar in Skowhegan and onto the street in Waterville was kind of jarring and distracting for me. The stone bridge that is near the Whiting's house is in Norridgewock, while the house is in Skowhegan. Those things were odd.
I kept watching out the window behind Ed Harris and Paul Newman when they were in Bee's Diner near the beginning of the movie. I kept looking for my car to drive past (as it does twice a day).
All the scenes of outdoor places were actual places that I have been. It was really kind of neat. For those of you who have lived in New York where this happens all the time, I am sure it would be no big deal. Aidan Quinn was talking about that in the little piece before the movie rolled, that everyone here welcomed the crew to Maine, where when they film in NY, it's more an inconvenience for everyone living there.
All in all, totally enjoyable and I will be watching it over and over to pick out more things.
I only watched part one. Did watching both parts leave you hanging? I was going to watch part 2 on Sunday, but totally forgot. It wasn't a bad movie, and the way HBO reruns things, I'm sure I'll catch it one time or another.
It feels like the spectacle is going to revolve around Ben Kingsley's Mandarin, who's doing a fine Liam Neeson's Ra's Al Ghul impression. I'm sold on the guy as the villain.