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Listings for Friday, May 9, through Thursday, May 15, 2008
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At the Death House Door
Few talking-head documentaries have glued me to my seat like this Kartemquin feature about the Reverend Carroll Pickett, who served as chaplain to 95 Texas inmates as they awaited execution by lethal injection. Pickett recorded his impressions of each inmate's last day on cassette tapes, excerpted here, and his interviews show a loving and thoughtful man's gradual transformation from advocate to vocal opponent of the death penalty. Directors Steve James (Hoop Dreams) and Peter Gilbert (With All Deliberate Speed) also focus on inmate Carlos DeLuna, who was almost certainly innocent of the crime for which he was put to death in 1989 (suffering horribly in a botched procedure). The intersecting stories of Pickett and DeLuna show that capital punishment exacts a toll not only on its victims but on its perpetrators. 98 min. James and Gilbert will take part in a discussion after the Saturday screening.
-- J.R. Jones
This movie is currently playing at:
Gene Siskel Film Center
Redbelt
For the past few years David Mamet has played both sides against the middle, churning out forgettable genre pictures (Heist, Spartan) and excusing himself with cranky screeds against the movie industry (culminating in his 2007 book Bambi vs. Godzilla). A triumphant return to form, Redbelt combines both impulses. It's a classic fight movie, with Chiwetel Ejiofor as an honorable martial arts instructor whose money problems force him into the ring for a hyped TV match. But nesting inside is a sour little 70s-style David Mamet play about the lies, calculations, and ice-cold politics of Hollywood, as the fighter is befriended and then discarded by a callow movie star (Tim Allen). The excellent cast includes Alice Braga, Emily Mortimer, Joe Mantegna, Ricky Jay, David Paymer, and Max Martini. R, 99 min.
-- J.R. Jones
This movie is currently playing at:
Century 12 and CineArts 6
| Cicero ShowPlace 14
| Crown Village 18
| Ford City
| Landmark's Century Centre
| Niles ShowPlace 12
| Renaissance Place
| River East 21
| ShowPlace 14 Galewood Crossings
Son of Rambow
A delicate balance of sweetness and absurdity marks this British comedy by Garth Jennings (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), about lonely schoolmates who forge an unlikely friendship as they collaborate on a video sequel to the brutal Sylvester Stallone flick First Blood. Directing the project is a rebellious bully (Will Poulter) who's been abandoned by his rich father to the care of a neglectful older brother; his Rambo is a meek artist (Bill Milner) whose widowed mother is raising him under the strict doctrine of a pacifist Christian sect. Jennings's film, with its missing fathers, sometimes threatens to become cloying, but it's almost always righted by a healthy dose of slapstick or the spectacle of little kids posing as muscle-bound killers. This is stupidly rated PG-13 for "some violence and reckless behavior," but I can't imagine a better movie for children and adults to enjoy together. 96 min. -- J.R. Jones
This movie is currently playing at:
Century 12 and CineArts 6
| Pipers Alley
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