"Liberal Arts," the independent comedy starring Josh Radnor and Elizabeth Olsen, is the next featured film in the Cinema Series at the 1891 Fredonia Opera House. It will be screened on Saturday at 8 p.m. and Nov. 20, at 7:30 p.m.
Written by, directed by and starring comic actor Radnor (TV's How I Met Your Mother), "Liberal Arts" is the story of 35-year-old college admissions counselor Jesse Fisher. Newly single and uninspired by his job, Jesse worries that his best days are behind him. When his alma mater invites him to campus to speak at his favorite professor's retirement dinner, Jesse jumps at the chance. He is prepared for the nostalgia of the dining halls and dorm rooms, the parties and poetry seminars; what he doesn't see coming is Zibby (Olsen), a beautiful, precocious, classical music-loving sophomore. Zibby awakens scary, exciting, long-dormant feelings of possibility and connection that Jesse thought he had buried forever. The film also stars Richard Jenkins as Jesse's former professor, Allison Janney and Zac Efron.
Claudia Puig, in USA Today, calls the film "an artful blend of tenderness and sharp, clear-eyed observations. Its characters talk like real people, who also happen to be smart, appealing and thoughtful." Betsy Sharkey, in the Los Angeles Times, calls its "a light and lively comedy of manners about college, literature and a midlife crisis that hits earlier than expected." Owen Gleiberman, in Entertainment Weekly, calls it "the wittiest, most perceptive campus comedy in years dryly affectionate and super-sharp. Josh Radnor is that rare thing: a writer-director who thinks like an actor but still knows how to create a comedy with shape and vision." Rated PG-13 for sexual content including sexual references, mature thematic material, and some teen drinking, "Liberal Arts" runs 97 minutes.
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“Liberal Arts” stars Elizabeth Olsen and Josh Radnor.
The Opera House Cinema Series is sponsored by Lake Shore Savings Bank. Tickets are available at the door for $7 (adults), $6.50 (seniors & Opera House members) and $5 (students) the night of each screening. A book of ten movie passes is available for $60 at the door, at the Box Office or online at www.fredopera.org. For more information, call the Opera House Box Office at 679-1891. The Cinema Series continues with the true story, CIA thriller "Argo" on Dec. 1 and 4.
Chautauqua County's only performing arts center presenting its own programming year-round, the 1891 Fredonia Opera House is a member-supported not-for-profit organization located in Village Hall in downtown Fredonia.
For a complete schedule of events, visit www.fredopera.org.
