(Ron Underwood, US 1991, 113 min., 35mm)
Mitch (Billy Crystal), Ed (Bruno Kirby), and Phil (Daniel Stern) are lifelong friends lost in early middle-age. Phil is trapped in a loveless marriage to the boss’s daughter, Ed can’t seem to settle down, and Mitch has lost the spark that used to give his life meaning. The three take adventure vacations to capture something of their youth, but none of them fill the holes in their lives. Until Ed and Phil decide to give Mitch a real cowboy experience driving cattle for his thirty-ninth birthday. Out on the open plains the three most overcome their fears and themselves as they realize what matters most to each of them. The difficulty of scoring a comedy is complicated here by setting it within a rip-roaring adventure story, but composer Marc Shaiman handles the assignment admirably, evoking previous westerns through instrumentation and orchestration.
Introduction by and post-screening discussion with Mark Watters.
35mm print from MGM via Park Circus
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Film Screenings | The Mission (35mm)
The Art of Music in the Movies In the wilds of Brazil in the 18th century, Jesuit missionary Father Gabriel (Jeremy Irons) fights to protect native Indians from being exterminated or sold into slavery by the colonizing Portuguese.