Often overlooked in the chasm between his 1989 Sundance breakout,
Sex, Lies, and Videotape, and his first star-driven vehicle, 1998's
Out of Sight, Steven Soderbergh's 1993 coming-of-age drama,
King of the Hill, features young Jesse Bradford going it alone in Depression-era St. Louis. It's a film-carrying performance reminiscent of Christian Bale's in
Empire of the Sun (though on a scale more Soderberghian than Spielbergian). Though Bradford's career arc hasn't matched Bale's — whose could? — his work here merits mention alongside better-known child actors in better-known movies. Exhibiting as part of the "Watching Missouri" film series,
King screens this afternoon at 1:30 in the Durwood Film Vault at the Kansas City, Missouri, Central Library (14 West 10th Street; 816-701-3400). The series concludes next Saturday with the 1996 Jazz Age drama
Kansas City, by KC-born Robert Altman. Admission is free. For more information, see
kclibrary.org.
Saturdays, 1:30 p.m. Starts: Jan. 10. Continues through Jan. 31, 2009
