MOVIE TIP

Living

Most of us have had our blood pressure readings erupt in volcanic fashion while waiting in line at the DMV or for a building permit. Kafka and Dickens capitalized creatively on this frustration and the peculiar slow-mo madness of bureaucracy, but it was the brilliant Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, in his 1953 movie “Ikiru,” who found a distinctive scenario that induced a humanity to the torpor. Last year, with “Living,” British director Oliver Hermanus, working from a screenplay by Kazuo Ishiguro, updated “Ikiru” and set it in the public works department of post-World War II London. There, the aging Mr. Williams, stunningly portrayed by Bill Nighy (an Academy Award best actor nomination), heads up a small group of paper-shufflers whose collective self-importance is matched only by their ability to avoid doing anything. But when Williams gets a fatal cancer diagnosis, he’s inspired by a group of women who’ve been stymied in their efforts to build a playground for children. There are forces, at work and within his own family, for and against the suddenly revitalized Williams, but his efforts to discover life’s possibilities are touching — and might even inspire a few folks he meets along the way. A great supporting cast and original score are worth noting.

— Rick Koster

STAGE TIP

“On Golden Pond”

Ivoryton Playhouse

Time’s getting short, so get your tickets to Ivoryton Playhouse’s “On Golden Pond” before its run ends on Sunday. This is an excellent production, led by two funny, touching, multilayered performances by James Naughton and Mia Dillon. Naughton and Dillon’s talent shouldn’t be surprising if you’ve seen either of them in any of the TV series, movies or Broadway shows they’ve starred in (and chances are good you HAVE seen them). “On Golden Pond,” as fans of the 1981 movie will recall, centers on elderly couple Norman and Ethel Thayer as they settle into their beloved summer home and deal with Norman’s failing health. Their adult daughter Chelsea (Stacie Morgain Lewis) visits, which causes friction because of her fraught relationship with her father. Naughton finds a perfect balance point between Norman’s wicked humor, blustery contentiousness, bigoted ideas, and undeniable love for his wife. Dillon brings spark and warmth to Ethel; she’s the heart of this show. Tickets are $55 adults, $50 seniors, $25 students. Call (860) 767-7318 or visit ivorytonplayhouse.org.

— Kristina Dorsey

BOOK TIP

The Old Lion — A Novel of Theodore Roosevelt

Jeff Shaara

Let’s face it, great works of literature are being reimagined through the prism of weird novels about historical figures. Every week, Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard come up with a new book in their “Killing” series, each title of which details a conspiracy behind the deaths of folks like John F. Kennedy, George Patton and the comic Gallagher. There are also the supernatural efforts in which Abraham Lincoln is cast as a vampire hunter or “Pride and Prejudice” is populated with zombies. So, when an advance copy of a novelization about Teddy Roosevelt — about whom there is no shortage of biographies — I feared the worst. Teddy is a voodoo sorcerer. Teddy is a superhero from another galaxy. It was Teddy in the boat — not Santiago — for “The Old Man and the Sea.” BUT ... Shaara is a respected historian whose novelizations of Civil War battles alone are legendary. In “The Old Lion,” Shaara — with unabashed fondness for his subject — recounts Roosevelt’s life with real-time accuracy. The beauty is in the author’s convincing ability to “channel” Teddy’s thoughts and dialogue not just in the major historical moments but, more importantly, in the day-to-day, behind the scenes minutiae that add human context to an often unreported and painful life.

— Rick Koster