The Etruscan Smile stars Brian Cox (HBO’s Succession and Broadway’s The Great Society) as Rory MacNeil, a rugged old Scotsman who reluctantly leaves his beloved isolated Hebridean island and travels to San Francisco to seek medical treatment. Moving in with his estranged son, Rory’s life will be transformed, just when he expects it least, through a newly found love for his baby grandson.
Lightyear Entertainment, the studio releasing the film, is giving The Etruscan Smile a one week Oscar qualifying theatrical run (for Brian Cox in the Best Actor category), and a wider release in 2020. Don’t count out little films such as these when it comes to Oscar nominations. In the 1980s, especially, there were a number of very indie films that went on to earn acting and/or Best Picture Oscar nominations, among them Anna, The Whales of August, Cross Creek, A Room With A View, and The Bostonians.
Ironically, the film is produced by 6 time Oscar winner, ninety-two year old Arthur Cohn (The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, Dangerous Moves, One Day in September, American Dream, Black and White in Color and The Sky Above, The Mud Below.)
