I’m sure when Sony Pictures Classics decided to drop a new 4K DCP restoration of Jane Campion’s 1993 bodice-ripper The Piano (yet another successful import that raised the now-disgraced Harvey Weinstein’s profile when Miramax released it domestically back in the day), they didn’t expect one of its stars to pass away during the rollout. Unfortunately, that’s what happened last month, when New Zealand actor Sam Neill died at age 78. In the same year he played the heroic lead in the blockbuster classic Jurassic Park, he was also a controlling 19th-century settler holding onto his arranged marriage to a mute, ivory-tickling Scottish mother (Best Actress Oscar winner Holly Hunter), especially when she starts a torrid affair with his studly neighbor/business associate (Harvey Keitel, in another ’90s role in which he moan-cries and shows his junk). Somehow, Neill makes you feel for the clueless, contemptuous cuck, even when he goes full scumbag in the final act. Starting this weekend, over at the Belcourt, you can catch this underrated performance from a dearly departed great. Visit belcourt.org for showtimes.
Opens Aug. 28 at the Belcourt
2102 Belcourt Ave.
