Wednesday October 10, 7:00 pm
Screening and Award Presentation
Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center
Reception to follow at Frantoio Ristorante
Invited guests: Mark Ruffalo, Mira Sorvino
SPOTLIGHT AND RECEPTION $75
SPOTLIGHT ONLY $25
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Irish writer-director Terry George's movies always have a hero, although assuredly not a superhero. His protagonists are simply ordinary people who are driven beyond all logic and reasonableness to do the right thing. Growing up in Belfast in the '50s and '60s, George learned the importance of personal responsibility as well as the consequences of violence. When he began writing screenplays, it was only natural that his focus was “the troubles.” The trio of films he made with Jim Sheridan, In the Name of the Father (which garnered the co-writers an Academy Award® nomination), Some Mother's Son (marking George's directing debut) and The Boxer, rank among the most memorable movies of the '90s. George deftly moved beyond the borders of his native land with the shattering Hotel Rwanda, which contrasts one man's courage with international indifference, and earned another Oscar nod for his screenplay. His first film in this country, Reservation Road extends the director's obsession with individuals who stubbornly refuse to accept injustice, and affirms his gift for weaving individual moral dilemmas into intensely emotional sagas.
Please join us for the Spotlight program, featuring a conversation with Terry George, a screening of Reservation Road and the presentation of the MVFF Award*. Following the Spotlight program, we return to one of our favorite party venues, Frantoio Ristorante in Mill Valley for a lovely seasonal menu paired with wines from Silver oak and Twomey cellars.*Select here for more information about our Mill Valley Film Festival Award.
Sponsored By:
Reservation Road | US 2007 102 MINS
Director Terry George
Producers Nick Wechsler, A. Kitman Ho
Screenwriters John Burnham Schwartz, Terry George
Cinematographer John Lindley
Editor Naomi Geraghty
Cast Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Connelly, Mira Sorvino, Elle Fanning
Print Source Focus Features
A car accident is a tragic occurrence, but an accident nonetheless. A hit-and-run is another matter entirely: The accident is just the beginning, the ending shaped by a human response with immeasurable consequences. In this powerful film version of John Burnham Schwartz's heartrending novel by director Terry George (Hotel Rwanda; Some Mother's Son, MVFF 1996), two fathers end up on their own collision course after a dark night on a winding Connecticut road. Desperately seeking justice and retribution, Ethan (Joaquin Phoenix) becomes obsessed with near-vigilante efforts to solve a case the police can't, while divorced dad Dwight (Mark Ruffalo) struggles to do the right thing and still sustain a relationship with his son. The stellar cast (including Jennifer Connelly as Ethan's wife and Mira Sorvino as Dwight's ex) delivers phenomenal performances, as grief and rage clash with guilt and fear, in a dramatic battle of wills and combustible reactions. —Joanne Parsont
