Kate Beckinsale and Chloë Sevigny in a scene from “Love & Friendship,” rated PG, one of several films playing this week at The Harbor Theatre, Boothbay Harbor.
It’s a busy week on-screen, as The Harbor Theatre presents Susan Sarandon in “The Meddler,” Thursday, June 16; “Love & Friendship,” Friday-Sunday, June 17-19; “Weiner,” rated R, at 7 p.m., Monday-Thursday, June 20-23; and a free screening of “How To Die In Oregon,” with audience discussion at 1 p.m., June 22.
“The Meddler” is a comedy/drama starring Sarandon who, with a new iPhone, an apartment near the Grove, and a comfortable bank account left to her by her beloved late husband, has happily relocated from New Jersey to Los Angeles to be near her daughter Lori, a successful (but still single) screenwriter, and smother her with motherly love. But when the dozens of texts, unexpected visits, and conversations dominated by unsolicited advice force Lori to draw strict personal boundaries, her mother, Marnie, finds ways to channel her eternal optimism and forceful generosity to change the lives of others — as well as her own — and find a new purpose in life. With Rose Byrne and J. K. Simmons. Rated PG13, the film plays at 7 p.m., Thursday, June 16.
“Love & Friendship” is director Whit Stillman’s new period comedy/drama, based on Jane Austen’s unfinished novella “Lady Susan.” Beautiful young widow Lady Susan Vernon visits the estate of her in-laws to wait out the colorful rumors about her dalliances circulating through polite society. Whilst ensconced there, she decides to secure a husband for herself and a future for her eligible but reluctant daughter, Frederica. In doing so she attracts the simultaneous attentions of the young, handsome Reginald DeCourcy, the rich and silly Sir James Martin, and the divinely handsome, but married, Lord Manwaring, complicating matters severely. The film, rated PG, plays at 7 p.m., Friday-Sunday, June 17-19, as well as at 2 p.m., Sunday, June 19.
Former U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner’s catastrophic race for Mayor of New York City in 2013 is detailed in the fascinating behind-the-scenes documentary “Weiner”, rated R, playing at 7 p.m., Monday-Thursday, June 20-23.
Back by popular demand, the theater will host a screening of “How To Die In Oregon.” As medical technology has extended the human life span far beyond what many believed possible only decades ago, a growing number of people face the dilemma of having their lives artificially prolonged beyond a point they regard as necessary or desirable. In 1994, the state of Oregon addressed this issue by enacting the Death with Dignity Act, which allows terminally ill patients the right to opt for physician-assisted suicide. Filmmaker Peter D. Richardson looks into the philosophical and practical implications of this law.
“How To Die In Oregon” (not rated) plays at 1 p.m., Wednesday, June 22. The screening is free and open to the public, with discussion afterwards with facilitator Val Lovelace and Death Cafe hostess Lynne Tobin.
For more information, call 633-0438 or go to facebook.com/harbortheatre or harbortheatre.net. The Harbor Theatre is at the junction of Routes 27 and 96 in Boothbay Harbor, across from Hannaford Supermarket.
