On the evening of July 19, local resident Grant Atwell was out taking photos at Jazz on the Plazz, and wasn’t at the “Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1” premiere at the Los Gatos Theatre, in which his daughter stars alongside Tom Cruise.
That’s because he’d just gotten back from the opening of the quintessential popcorn flick in Italy. The release schedule had been moved up to beat the launch of the actors’ strike.
But he was mentioned during introductory remarks given by retired Maj. Gen. Kent Hillhouse of the Veterans Memorial & Support Foundation, the group using the film as a fundraiser.
The movie itself felt quite relevant to the Silicon Valley audience, given the themes relating to Big Data and artificial general intelligence.
(“The world is changing; truth is vanishing; war is coming,” one character says.)
There was plenty of military gear depicted on the screen—a good fit for an event based around generating dollars to pay off a multi-million debt incurred for a memorial that honors Los Gatos’ 9/11 heroes, Mark Bingham and Todd Beamer, among others.
And Atwell’s daughter Hayley delivered an impressive showing as “Grace,” one of several strong female characters who bring elements of realism to a fantastical plot.
This week, Vogue praised the rising actress—who has previously been spotted at Los Gatos haunts while visiting from England—for the “plunging black Givenchy gown that channeled Old Hollywood glitz,” which she wore in Rome.
Pat Chappell, a Los Gatos resident, called the blockbuster “just silly fun.”
Another Los Gatan, Mary Ellen Graham, said it was nice to return to a theater.
Rob Stephenson, a Veterans Foundation board member, deemed the night a success.
“It was a good fundraiser for the foundation,” he said, noting they sold about 130 tickets. “It was great to see so many people come out and support.”
