[ThisWeek] Dear Frankie and Cool Cat at the Kenworthy

[thisweek at kenworthy.org]

This week at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre-

Dear Frankie (PG13)
Friday, June 17
7:00 PM & 9:30 PM
Sunday, June 19
4:30 & 7:00 PM
$5/adults, $2/children 12 and under
KFS passes accepted for Sunday shows
(See Review below)
* * *

WonderWorks presents
Cool Cat
by Elizabeth Eagles, with music by Dan Bukvich
Saturday, June 18
7:30 PM
Tickets- $6, children under 3 years are free

On Saturday, June 18, at 7:30 PM, Wonder Works will present ³Cool Cat,²
written and directed by Elizabeth Eagles with music by Dan Bukvich.  This
premier evening of theatre, music, and dance features the Gemberling
Brothers, guest choreographer Greg Halloran, and dancers from the University
of Idaho Center for Dance and Spectrum II Dance Studio.   Tickets are $6 for
adults.  Children under age 3 are free.  Tickets can be purchased at
BookPeople prior to the performance or at the door.

A silent art auction will take place in the lobby of the theater before the
performance and during intermission.
* * *

Next week at the Kenworthy-
Summer Matinee Series
Thanks to the following Wednesday matinee sponsors:
Insty Prints & North Idaho Athletic Club, Tom & JoAnn Trail, U.S. Bank,
Wells Fargo Bank

The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (PG)
Wednesday, June 22
1:00 & 3:15 PM
$1/ages 12 and under, $4/ages 13 and over
* * *

Moscow Documentary Film Premieres at Kenworthy

The premiere showing of the documentary film, ³My Town,² is scheduled for
7pm on Thursday, June 23, at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Center in
downtown Moscow.  The 70 minute film by Washington State University
Associate Professor Michael Hayes focuses on the cultural clash in Moscow
involving Christ Church Pastor Doug Wilson.

In the film Hayes includes interviews with Wilson, his brother Evan Wilson,
New St. Andrews College Dean Roy Atwood, as well as community
representatives including JoAnn Muneta, Bill London, and Rosemary Huskey.
Hayes also includes film of Wilson¹s history conference and the controversy
regarding Wilson¹s pamphlet, ³Southern Slavery As It Was.²

The suggested donation price for tickets for the premiere are $5, with $3
suggested for seniors, students, and those on fixed income.

The premiere is sponsored by the Auntie Establishment and Brother Carl radio
show which is heard on Moscow radio station KRFP-FM.  Moscow writer Joan
Opyr, who appears as Auntie Establishment, explained that all proceeds from
the premiere will be donated in support of community radio.

Questions about the premiere may be directed to Opyr at 882-6640 or by email
to auntiestablishment at hotmail.com
* * *

June at the Kenworthy-

Melinda & Melinda (PG13)
June 24, 7:00 PM
June 25, 4:45/7:00/9:15 PM
June 26, 4:45 & 7:00 PM

Fat Albert (PG)
Wednesday, June 29
1:00 & 3:15 PM

Coming this summer: Ala Zingara, Racing Stripes, Napoleon Dynamite,
Millions, Two Brothers, Because of Winn Dixie, Robots

Regular Movie prices:  $5 adult, $2 child 12 or younger.
Wednesday matinee prices:  $4/adult, $1/child 12 or younger
KFS passes accepted year-round for Sunday movies!

Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre
508 S. Main Street, Moscow, Idaho
For more information, call 208-882-4127 or visit http://www.kenworthy.org
* * *

This week¹s review-

Dear Frankie (PG13)

Directed by Shona Auerbach
Starring Emily Mortimer, Gerard Butler, Sharon Small, Jack McElhone, Mary
Riggans
Running Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes
Rated PG-13: This film contains some vulgar language.

As reviewed by Peter Travers writing for Rolling Stone Magazine

Gerard Butler hid his looks behind a mask and disfiguring makeup in The
Phantom of the Opera. But onscreen in Dear Frankie, Butler shows sensitivity
as well as star quality. He plays a Scottish sailor hired by Lizzie (Emily
Mortimer) to pretend he's the father of her son Frankie (Jake McElhone), a
deaf nine-year-old living outside Glasgow who knows his crewman dad only
from letters, delivered from an ever-traveling cargo ship. In truth, Lizzie
writes the letters to protect Frankie from his dad's real identity. What
could have been a sentimental train wreck emerges as a funny and touching
portrait of three bruised people. First-time director Shona Auerbach refuses
to blunt the edges of Andrea Gibb's script. A former photographer, Auerbach
shows us the lived-in Scotland, not the postcard version. She does the same
favor for the actors. Mortimer uncovers long-buried feelings in Lizzie. And
Butler is quietly devastating in his scenes with McElhone, a real find. The
film is unhurried, unslick and easy to hold dear.


As reviewed by Gene Seymour writing for Newsday

Tender, gritty little story, set in Scotland, is about a deaf boy (Jack
McElhone) who gets letters from his seafaring "father" that are actually
written by his mother (Emily Mortimer). Events beyond her control force her
to find a real person to stand in for the fake dad.

There's a cool, gray overlay to "Dear Frankie" that effectively neutralizes
any impulse to extract gratuitous tears. Certainly, the premise of Andrea
Gibb's script all but begs for the usual "It Will Touch Your Heart" blurbs.

An intelligent, hearing-impaired 9-year-old boy (Jack McElhone), residing in
a Scottish seaside town with his mother (Emily Mortimer) and grandmother
(Mary Riggans), lives for each letter he gets from his father, who's
supposedly sailing the world on a merchant ship.

But the letters, even their richly detailed accounts of equatorial sunsets,
are actually written and posted by his mother, who's been on the run from
his real - and abusive - dad.

Imagine her surprise when the boy finds out that a ship bearing the same
name as the one in the letters is about to dock in their port. Now, she has
to frantically find someone to go along with her story and, with a
neighbor's help, finds a brooding, weathered seaman (Gerard Butler) with "no
past, no family" to pretend to be father to her son.

"Dear Frankie" never conspicuously begs for your empathy and neither does
Mortimer, who carefully metes out her character's skittish mannerisms.
Butler, McElhone and the rest of the cast are comparably, admirably settled
into what would, under more moist conditions, come across as hackneyed and
maudlin. Their composure, along with that of director Shona Auerbach,
enables "Dear Frankie" to earn whatever heart-touching epithets it's
destined to attract.


As reviewed by Michael O'Sullivan writing for the Washington Post

I'm a SUCKER for daddy movies.

I can trace the onset of my hypersensitivity to such films (meaning I get
misty-eyed and inarticulate anywhere near stories revolving around the
relationship between a father and child, especially a boy) to the birth of
my own son 5 1/2 years ago. The first symptoms became apparent barely eight
months later, during a screening of the 2000 sci-fi thriller "Frequency,"
which concerns a man who has stumbled upon the ability to communicate with
-- sniffle, sniffle -- his dead father through ham radio.

Now what was I saying?

Oh, yes. Since then, this condition has flared up almost every time I watch
something dealing with the bond between a boy and his dad, with the notable
exception of garbage like the execrable "Son of the Mask." Look, I said I
was susceptible, not stupid.

Recently it hit me again during a screening of "Dear Frankie." Set in
Scotland, the surprisingly charming tale centers on a cute 9-year-old boy,
Frankie (Jack McElhone), whose mother, Lizzie (Emily Mortimer), has been on
the run from the boy's father for years, ever since the old man hit Frankie
hard enough to make the boy go deaf. (Wait. Before you say anything, I know
it's manipulative. And I don't care.)

All these years, Lizzie has been sheltering Frankie, who, having been too
young at the time of the incident, never learned the truth about his
father's abuse. Thanks to the fake letters that Lizzie has been writing to
Frankie from his absent "father," who Frankie thinks is a globe-trotting
seaman aboard a cargo ship, Frankie still has a good relationship with his
imaginary parent. The problem is that dad's ship is actually about to come
in, docking in Frankie's town any day now -- without, of course, dad on it.

Enter the fake father (Gerard Butler), a stranger Lizzie hires to act as
Frankie's daddy for a day, courtesy of a recommendation from Lizzie's boss
in the fish-and-chips shop (Sharon Small). Wouldn't you know it? The
stranger turns out not just to be great with the kid (after some initial
awkwardness that could be explained away by the fact that he hasn't seen his
"son" in eight years), but to be tall, dark and handsome, too. Something for
Frankie and something for mommy.

I know, I know: way too easy.

Actually, it isn't. I'm pleased to report that, within this overly familiar
trope, there's plenty of room for small surprises, not the least of which
are delightful, understated performances all around. Guided by Shona
Auerbach's sensitive direction, screenwriter Andrea Gibb's story steers well
clear of happy-ever-after-land, while still managing to promise a brighter,
if less starry-eyed, future for the protagonists.

Be forewarned, though. For all but the stone-hearted, it's just too darn
hard to resist saying "awww" every time Frankie hugs the man hired to play
his daddy. There's something about the special connection shared by a boy
and his father (even a fake one), and the quiet way "Dear Frankie" plucks
that sweet tune, that just may make a sucker out of you.

* * *

Kenworthy Film Society Passes on sale

Kenworthy Film Society pass prices will increase on July 1 to $30 for a
10-punch card and $75 for a $30-punch card.
That's still only $3.00 and $2.50 per movie, respectively -- the best deal
on movies in Moscow.

Why are prices increasing?  Specifically, because the cost of film shipping
has increased. 
Generally, because the cost of doing business has increased.

Passes can be purchased at the current prices through June 30, 2005, so get
yours now.
Passes are available at BookPeople and at the Kenworthy box office during
regular showtimes.

Thanks for your continued support of independent and foreign films on the
Palouse!
* * *
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PAMELA PALMER, Volunteer
Mailto:ppalmer at moscow.com
Film and Events Committee
Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre

http://www.kenworthy.org

To speak with a KPAC staff member,
call (208) 882-4127
Mailto:kpac at moscow.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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