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Both the long and medium-length reviews in this week’s movies section consider crime stories with all-star casts, though the similarities probably end there. Luc Besson’s The Family, which I wrote about, is a broad comedy featuring Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Tommy Lee Jones spoofing some of their previous roles and ugly American stereotypes in general. Prisoners, which Andrea Gronvall recommends highly, is a dark, foreboding mystery that marks the Hollywood debut of French-Canadian director Denis Villeneuve; it stars Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, and more. If you see them both in one day, I’d recommend seeing The Family second.
Best bets for repertory screenings: a new 35-millimeter print of Andrei Tarkovsky’s Nostalghia (1983) continues its two-week run at the Siskel; on Wednesday the Northwest Chicago Film Society presents Jacques Becker’s Casque d’Or (1952) at the Patio; the Music Box presents the original Pink Panther (1963) on Saturday and Sunday at 11:30 AM; and on Thursday, a new programming organization called Park Ridge Classic Film screens Richard Fleischer’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) at the Pickwick.
