I was talked into seeing a chick flick a few days ago. To be more honest, I was bribed; Mrs M promised we would visit a fried chicken restaurant if I would attend the showing of Tom Cruise’s latest movie.

The thought of food must have temporarily suspended my usual reason and I ended up wedged in a cinema seat ready for a post-meal nap.

My wife asked me to watch the film without the normal cynicism that I often employ on such occasions. I realised that my attitude does tend to spoil such things for her, and I agreed to give it a go.

I have to admit that at first I struggled, as a feeling of despair rose in my mind at the thought that a ‘boy-meets-girl-loses-girl-finds-girl’ story was about to unfold.

Then I summoned all my reserve and tried to enter the saccharin world of rom-com. It wasn’t long before I started to warm to Tom’s character, even though it seemed similar to ones I had seen before, with his boyish charm, the slight mad glint, the cheeky humour.

His character obviously had a complete disregard for human life as he deleted his attackers without any care for innocent bystanders.

Mrs M asked what I thought of the film, and I had to admit that having suspended all of my rational faculties, I enjoyed the experience.

Perhaps this is where I have been going wrong all of these years. I find it hard not to approach these things critically. If the film has any sense of not obeying its own rules, then I switch off and start counting how many seats the theatre holds.

I have walked out of these places and been the only one of our party to not enjoy the film, usually because of some obscure happening that revealed a crack in the otherwise acceptable narrative.

“Sometimes you just need to decide to enjoy yourself,” my wife commented. Perhaps she has a point.

We returned home to catch the end of the news as they announced the night’s football results.

Mrs M tutted as she realised that the short break in the fixtures was now over and usual hostilities had begun.

“I know,” I responded trying to deflect her annoyance. “Exciting, isn’t it?”

“I can’t understand why you like it,” she said, going on to list why she feels that the game is full of inconsistencies and arguments.

“Sometimes you just need to decide to enjoy yourself,” I said, turning the sound up in order to drown out her response.