John Cusack will revisit his classic films in special screenings both Dallas and Fort Worth.
Photo courtesy of John Cusack
Actor John Cusack will thrill kids of the 1980s when he hosts two screenings of popular movies of his from that decade, with both Dallas and Fort Worth on the agenda.
Cusack will screen Sixteen Candles at Will Rogers Auditorium in Fort Worth on Friday, June 23 and Say Anything at the Music Hall at Fair Park on Saturday, June 24. Both films will be followed by a live conversation about Cusack's career and the making of the film, as well as a Q&A.
Additionally, Cusack will travel to Houston on June 25 for a screening of his 2000 film, High Fidelity.
Cusack was just getting his start in Hollywood when he scored the supporting part of Bryce in 1984's Sixteen Candles, serving mostly as a sidekick to Anthony Michael Hall's character. He had established himself as a leading man by the end of the decade when he tried to woo Ione Skye in Cameron Crowe's 1989 classic, Say Anything.
The actor has enjoyed an enviable career over the past 40 years, starring in a wide range of dramas, thrillers, and comedies, including The Grifters, Eight Men Out, Being John Malkovich, High Fidelity, and Grosse Pointe Blank. He was most recently seen in the Amazon sci-fi series Utopia.
Tickets for all screenings will be available starting Friday, April 21 at 10 am through Ticketmaster.com, with presale options starting April 19.
Actor Rose Byrne had a banner year in 2025, getting her first Oscar nomination for her starring role in If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You. Although she came up short in that race, she’s getting another chance to prove her acting bona fides in the new film, Tow.
In the “inspired by a true story” movie, Byrne plays Amanda, a down-on-her-luck woman who lives in her car and can’t find a job. Living in Seattle, she tries to stay in touch with her daughter, Avery (Elsie Fisher), who lives with her dad in another city, but circumstances sometimes limit their communications, especially when her car is stolen.
The good news is that her car is found relatively quickly. The bad news is that the tow company is charging her to get her car back, money she can’t afford. Now truly homeless, she does everything in her power to right the wrong, even taking the company to court. Without much luck, she has to start staying in a women’s shelter run by Barbara (Octavia Spencer), where she makes friends with Nova (Demi Lovato) and Denise (Ariana DeBose), among others.
Directed by Stephanie Laing and written by Jonathan Keasey and Brent Boivin, the film has relatively low stakes going for it and never really tries to make the story feel deeper than it is. The situation Amanda finds herself in is clearly a tough one, and any empathetic person would feel for her and want her to overcome her plight. But the filmmakers keep things light and never try to up the drama in any significant way.
The issue Amanda is dealing with, being price gouged by a predatory towing company, is one with which many people can relate. But aside from helpfully underscoring Amanda’s frustration by showing the increasing number of days she is without a car, they never establish why they felt this particular story was one worth telling. Her personal issues, including a growing estrangement with her daughter, fail to conjure any big emotions.
The filmmakers are very loose with their storytelling, especially when it comes to side characters. The presence of the women she meets at the shelter, and Kevin (Dominic Sessa), the young lawyer who offers to help her, never makes full sense other than a need for her to have other people with whom to interact. A tighter focus on what Amanda was going through would’ve helped both her and people around her feel more important.
Byrne is a dynamic performer who’s shown great skill at both drama and comedy, but there’s nothing special about her performance here. Hampered a bit by a blonde wig and false teeth, she feels out of sorts for much of the film. The unusually high-powered supporting cast - both Spencer and DeBose are Oscar winners - makes things interesting on first blush, but none of them outside of Sessa is given much to do, so they’re mostly wasted.
Tow will be a disappointment for anyone hoping to see more great stuff from Byrne. While she remains a fine actor, her performance and the story as a whole are nowhere near the level shown in her previous film. The real life predicament shown in the film also never rises to the level of being of something worth showing to the masses.
