You be the Critic: "The Package" at the Oak Park Arms

Oak Park Arms presents its popular series “You Be the Critic” at 3:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6, at the Oak Park Arms, 408 S. Oak Park Ave. The 1989 film, “The Package,” will be viewed and reviewed with radio announcer Dan Kane.

Written by John Bishop and directed by Andrew Davis, this political thriller stars Gene Hackman, Joanna Cassidy and Tommy Lee Jones.

Thomas Boyette (Jones) is a prisoner in Germany during the Cold War placed under the supervision of Johnny Gallagher (Hackman), a U.S. sergeant responsible for bringing him back to the states. When Boyette escapes in the bathroom of the airport, it becomes Gallagher’s responsibility to find him.

With the help of his ex-wife and various old friends, Gallagher learns that his mission has gotten him involved in an assassination conspiracy involving both the U.S. and Soviet militaries.

He discovers that after a meeting with the U.S. president in Chicago, Boyette was hired to kill the leader of the Soviet Union in order to stop the signing of a disarmament treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. Gallagher sets out to stop the plan.

The film earned more than $10 million at the box office and was awarded three stars out of four by Roger Ebert, who called it “smarter than most thrillers.”

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay - a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The event is free and open to the public. Call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040 or visit the Oak Park Arms website.