By Madison Butkus
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Movie lovers lucked out with a beautiful night to enjoy an outdoor movie. Hosted by the Westwood Public Library (WPL) and in partnership with Westwood Recreation, everyone was invited to come and enjoy the movie Top Gun: Maverick (rated PG-13).
People flocked to the Deerfield lawn located right behind the library. A big projector was set up as well as free popcorn and candy provided by the WPL. All in attendance brought along blankets, chairs, sweatshirts and more and set up their own perfect spots. Unlike other towns, Westwood specifically aimed for this movie night to be for an older crowd.
One necessity that almost everyone brought was bug spray and thank goodness they did! No matter what bugs were out, it did not stop everyone from enjoying the movie and eating their snacks throughout.
When talking with Felicia O’Keefe, Teen Services Librarian, she mentioned just how thrilled she was about these types of events. She went on to state, “This outdoor movie event first happened during Covid. We did it then and we are doing it now. We did another one this past July. We did one throwback movie of the year for which we played Back to the Future last month. We also try to do a newer movie so thus Top Gun: Maverick is playing tonight. There’s popcorn, candy, all for free from the Friends of the Library. We always hope for a great turnout so we will see what we get. The weather has been really good to us while we have been doing this. We showed Jurassic Park one night and unfortunately we had to reschedule that due to the rain. But it was nice today so we are really excited about that.”
The overall turnout was great and everyone seemed to have an awesome night. Eyes were glued to the screen throughout the showing of the film and rightly so! The interesting plot drew local viewers right into the action; after serving over thirty years as a top Navy aviator, Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is now a daring test pilot, avoiding promotions that would keep him grounded. He's tasked with training a group of Top Gun graduates for an unprecedented mission. Here, he meets LT Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw (Miles Teller), son of Maverick’s late comrade LTJG Nick "Goose" Bradshaw. As Maverick faces his past and uncertain future, he confronts his deepest fears during a high-stakes mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from its chosen pilots.
For information about events like these happening at the WPL, please visit their website at www.westwoodlibrary.org.
