Film: Before Harvey Weinstein cheapens it with his announced English-language remake, take a look at Untouchables (Intouchables in French), a rich-poor, black-white odd couple tale about a wealthy widower (Francois Cluzot), who becomes a quadriplegic from a hang-gliding accident. Improbably, he selects a black ex-con (Omar Sy) to be his caregiver-aide and, yeah, you guessed it, they begin suspicious of one another, but gradually grow closer and rub off on each other. The movie is guilty of being predictable, and it takes extreme liberties with the true story on which it is based, but the charisma and chemistry of Cluzot and Sy make it worth a look. Opening at area theaters this weekend.
Theater: Combat’s most immediate effect, of course, is on the military, but in Time Stands Still, playwright Donald Margulies focuses on the collateral damage to Sarah, a war zone photo journalist (Deborah Sherman), and to her personal relationship once she returns stateside from Iraq. Her reporter boy friend Jamie (Steve Garland), still recovering from shell shock, wants to settle down and marry, but she yearns to get back to the Middle East, taking the pictures that will bring the war to the public. Joseph Adler directs this thought-provoking drama at GableStage with an assured hand, and we watch the metaphorical shrapnel fly around the couple’s Brooklyn loft, as their hope for happiness together becomes a casualty of war. Through Sunday, June 3, Call (305) 445-1119 for tickets.
Music: As part of Pride Month, a string quartet affiliated with the South Florida Symphony will perform two quartets by gay composers this Sunday: The Quartet No. 1 (in D, Op. 11) of Pyotr Tchaikovsky, and the sole String Quartet (in B minor, also Op. 11), of Samuel Barber. Both of these works are hugely popular, and the slow movement of Barber’s quartet is best-known now as the Adagio for Strings. Violinists Alla Krolevich and Karen Banos will be joined by violist Marda Todd and cellist Arthur Cook for the concert at 7 p.m. at the Arts Garage in Delray Beach. The group will play the same works at 7 p.m. Monday at All Saints Episcopal Church in Fort Lauderdale, and 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Tennessee Williams Cabaret Theatre in Key West. Tickets for Sunday night’s concert are $20-$25 in advance, and $25-$30 at the door. Call 450-6537 or visit www.artsgarage.org.
Also in Delray that same afternoon is a concert of piano trios at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Three well-known area musicians – pianist Fedora Horowitz, violinist Dina Kostic and cellist Susan Bergeron – gather for music by Mozart, Beethoven, Spanish composer Joaquin Turina, and Gaetano Donizetti, who not only cranked out about 70 operas in a relatively short life, he also wrote a large amount of chamber and sacred music. The concert is set for 4 p.m. Sunday; tickets are $15-$20. Call 278-6003 or visit www.stpaulsdelray.org.