The Be All and End All....

.... is the name of the film screened tonight for cast and crew preview at the Curzon in Soho.

#2 daughter got a lift from her agent at 10 am, and I caught a train at 2.48pm. 2 tube trains and an amble around Chinatown later I still arrived over an hour before her, unfashionably early but well positioned to sample the free champagne and watch the director roll up 350 complimentary film posters from the comfort of a leather sofa.

I've not been to a cast-and-crew screening before, but it's not quite like an ordinary cinema experience. Fuelled by free booze, the audience responds freely to the sight of themselves on the big screen, or to memories of humorous things happening at the time of the shoot. Despite the jollity and catcalls there were few dry eyes by the time the sad ending played itself out. I was fine until I saw #2D's face 3 metres wide weeping inconsolably, even though I was there when it was filmed and know it wasn't real.

I'm pleased to report the film wasn't the predicted shite, in fact it was rather good - all the problems I'd expected seemed to have been dealt with in the edit. Some of the scenes I'd liked were dropped (that's the problem if you read a script beforehand) to keep the length down to 100 minutes, and my 14 days' work as an extra were reduced to 2 single-second glimpses which only I saw because I was watching that part like a hawk. My whole day spent standing by a fake graveside in searing heat and on crutches with a broken foot at the time (last Summer) came to nought as they went with a different camera angle. Perhaps as well - I'm fiercely unphotogenic, unlike #2D.

As there was no train home afterwards I'd arranged to stay with relatives on the outskirts of London, quite an arduous hour's tube journey after several too many glasses of bubbly. I have no memory of it at all.