The Sunrise Theater's Sunflix Series presents "Nobel Son" for a five-day run beginning Thursday, Jan. 8, through Monday, Jan. 12.

The film stars Shawn Hatosy, Alan Rickman, Mary Steenburgen, Bryan Greenberg, Bill Pullman, Danny DeVito and Eliza Dushku. The director is Randall Miller.

"Nobel Son" is a taut thriller spiked with droll humor. Barkley Michaelson (Bryan Greenberg) is struggling to finish his Ph.D thesis when his father, the learned Eli Michaelson (Alan Rickman), wins the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

But Eli's past indiscretions begin to collide with the present. When Barkley is kidnapped on the eve of his father accepting the prize, Eli refuses to pay the ransom.

So starts a venomous tale of familial dysfunction, lust, betrayal and ultimately revenge.

Chicago Sun Times critic Roger Ebert gives the movie four stars and writes that "'Nobel Son' is a mercilessly convoluted version of a genre in which the plot whacks us as if it's taking batting practice. Rickman supplies the crown jewel in the cast, but Mary Steenburgen is no less amusing as his wife, Sarah.

"A woman can be married to a man like Eli only by being a masochist, insane or in possession of a highly developed sense of sardonic irony.

"The plot is ingenious, the schemes are diabolical, and it is not every day that a character needs to inform us, 'It is more cruel to eat the living than the dead,' although now I think about it, I agree."

The film is showing weekdays at 7:30 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. The comedy/drama is rated R for some violence and drug references and runs 107 minutes.

The historic Sunrise Theater, located at 250 NW Broad Street in Southern Pines, is nonprofit. Ticket prices are $7 for evening shows and $6 for matinees.

Refreshments, including beer and wine, are available, and all movies are commercial free. Contact the theater at (910) 692-3611 or at www.sunrisethe ater.com.?