Silver Screen Dream! On-Air Film Review of ‘Empire of Light’

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Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on December 8th, 2022, reviewing “Empire of Light,” the latest from director Sam Mendes, about a memory of the cinema. In theaters beginning December 9th.

Hilary (Olivia Coleman) is a manager at a 1980s British seaside cinema – the Empire Theatre – and is recovering from a nervous breakdown. The staff is a hodgepodge of personalities, including the projectionist Norman (Toby Jones), the owner Mr Ellis (Colin Firth) and a new employee named Stephen (Michael Ward), a black man during an era of difficult bigotry in England. Although Hillary and Stephen strike up an unlikely friendship that turns into something deeper, their age gap and Hilary’s mental health challenge the coupling. It all comes to a culmination when the film “Chariots of Fire” has its premiere at the theater, and Hilary takes a stand.

Empire of Light
Photo credit: Searchlight Pictures

Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com reviewed “Empire of Light” during the Morning Mess with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM, Monroe, Wisconsin, December 8th, 2022 …

By PATRICK McDONALD Editor and Film Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com