Trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eRdwYPut2k

Fri., Oct. 4, 2019, at 7p.m.

(doors open @6:30p.m. w/light refreshments)

THE PUBLIC

2018. 122 min. Drama. Rated  PG-13 (for thematic material, nudity, language, and some suggestive content).

As THE PUBLIC opens, Cincinnati is experiencing a severe cold snap. All the shelters for homeless people are filled, and two have died from exposure. The public library is a daytime refuge for homeless people. Facing deadly temperatures, dozens of the library’s homeless regulars decide to stay the night beyond closing hours in an “occupy” type of action .

Tired and beside themselves, librarians, having built emotional connections with their homeless patrons, attempt to side with them. However, what begins as an act of civil disobedience becomes a stand-off with police, with rush-to-judgment media speculating about what’s “really happening,” and a political candidate seeing an opportunity to score points with the public.

THE PUBLIC, written and directed by Emilio Estevez, who also stars as the head librarian, brings together a memorable cast with Alec Baldwin, Jena Malone, Taylor Schilling, and Jeffrey Wright. Michael Kenneth Williams is particularly memorable as the homeless man who gives voice for the homeless.

While the film injects some situational humor, not uncommon during the unfolding of such protests, the story does  speak honestly about two of the society’s most challenging issues—homelessness and mental illness— with a drama inside one of the last bastions of democracy-in-action: your public library.