Staff from your Monroe County Public Library recommend some of their favorites from the collection.
WHAT: The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
WHY: It seemed a little odd when Michael Mann, best known as director of contemporary crime shows and movies — and executive producer of “Miami Vice” — delved into costume drama. Even odder was Serious Method Actor and Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis taking the role of Hawkeye, the character also known as Natty Bumppo in the source material, an 1826 novel by James Fenimore Cooper (here he goes by the much cooler Nathaniel). The plot is altered quite a bit from the novel, which is just fine by all accounts of anyone who has managed to read the thing. Mostly this is a gorgeous — like all Mann films — drama with nonstop action and just the right amount of romance, set around the siege of Fort William Henry during the French and Indian War. North Carolina stands in for the Adirondacks, but the setting is so beautiful you don’t stop to think about the implausibility of running on a mountain trail while shooting two long rifles at once, or how a canoe chase over waterfalls would work.
WHERE: This film is available from the library as a DVD and Blu-Ray.
HOW: You can browse and request DVDs online by logging in to your account at keyslibraries.org. To view our collection of streaming movies and TV, go to kanopy.com/keyslibraries and set up an account with your library card. If you don’t have a card, you can visit your local branch or register online to get one. Questions? info@keyslibraries.org.
RECOMMENDED BY: Nancy Klingener, community affairs manager.See previous Reel Recs at keyslibraries.org/reel-recs.
