At Cinema 21: Don’t Worry. He won’t Get Far On Foot. 

Cinema21 is an old fashioned movie house, small, only one screen, dark.  Director Gus Van Sant latest film tells the story of John Callahan, a man who struggled for decades with alcoholism even after he was paralyzed after a drunk driving accident at the age of 21. Eventually he found sobriety and recovery through humor. His irreverent cartoons made him a celebrity in his hometown of Portland, Ore.. Callahan is played in the film by Joaquin Phoenix. What fun to be in Portland and see a movie set in Portland. Here’s an example of his humor:

Huber’s Cafe has been in operation since 1879. It’s famous for its Spanish coffee. The waiters perform like matadors, dealing with fire, rum, Kahlua and coffee. This is all in the interest of providing a customer with a cup of joe!

Graphic Lessons: NYPD Detective Steve Kulchek is assigned a murder case at the  prestigious Windsor School. What’s bugging him? His partner being stabbed while Kulchek was buying cigarettes? Escaping an attempted car bombing?  His hated boss, Captain Dick Holbrook, being a trustee of the Windsor School?  Losing his girlfriend to Holbrook? 

Graphic Lessons: What do a teacher, a nine-year-old and an eighteen year old have in common? Murder. Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a  dying man in the school kitchen, deals with a troubled nine-year-old, the only witness to the stabbing and with the eighteen-year-old niece of the murdered man..

Graphic Lessons: Nine-year-old Dana is the only witness who overhears a person fighting with George Lopez, the soon to be stabbed Windsor School kitchen worker. Who can she tell? Her mother who never listens or accuses her of lying? Her father who’s started a new family in Singapore? She tells Millie. 

Mary Jo Robertiello

http://www.nymysteries.com