Viggo's latest movie to hit Watertown

For Viggo Mortensen fans like LuAnne M. Beutel of Adams Center, Jan. 27 will be a great day.

“I think his hometown should support him,” she said.

In a November interview with the Watertown Daily Times, Mr. Mortensen, a 1976 graduate of Watertown High School and 1980 graduate of St. Lawrence University, Canton, complained that many of his movies, such as 2009's critically acclaimed “The Road,” don't make it to Watertown.

He urged his fans to lobby for his movies if they wanted them to be shown here.

Mr. Mortensen plays Sigmund Freud in his new film, “A Dangerous Method.” It is based on a true story and was shot on location in Vienna. It looks at how the intense relationship among Dr. Carl Jung, patient/student Sabina Spielrein and Mr. Freud gave rise to psychoanalysis.

Mr. Mortensen received a Golden Globe best supporting actor nomination for his role as Freud. The award, given Sunday, went to Christopher Plummer for his role in “Beginners.”

“A Dangerous Method” opens Jan. 27 at Regal Salmon Run Stadium 12 theater. Tickets and times will be available Tuesday.

Fans like Mrs. Beutel were more than happy to lobby on behalf of Mr. Mortensen.

“Thanks to that article, it really got me into high gear,” she said of the November Times story. “I started e-mailing the cinema, asking how we could get the movie here and posting info on my Facebook page, telling everyone to call the cinema.”

Mrs. Beutel graduated from WHS a year before Mr. Mortensen. She didn't know him in high school. She didn't follow his career until his “Lord of the Rings” films.

“Then I started to look him up and read stuff about him,” she said. “And then I realized I went to school with him, and I kept reading more articles about him. He's really quite an interesting fellow.”

She noted that Mr. Mortensen is also a painter and a poet. She has a copy of his 2004 photography book, “The Horse is Good.”

“He's not your typical actor, which is why I'm intrigued by him so much,” she said.

Russell Nunley, vice president of marketing and communications of Regal Cinemas, based in Knoxville, Tenn., said customer input such as Mrs. Beutel's drive can make a difference in local film selection.

“We listen to all input from customers,” he said.

But he said the decision to bring “A Dangerous Method” to Watertown wasn't based solely on her efforts.

“Our managers had heard from people individually, and it was on the radar,” he said. “But it is up to the studios to decide what they are going to do with the film.”

Mr. Nunley said Sony Classics, distributor of “A Dangerous Method,” had decided to release the movie in a “limited release” format — “where they start in a large market and spread.”

“It's pretty quick release to come to Watertown as it expands,” Mr. Nunley said. “Right now, I believe it's only on 100 screens around the country.”

The film will be in Watertown for at least a week.

“The public votes with their box office dollars every week,” Mr. Nunley said.

Mortensen pleased

When Mr. Mortensen heard about “A Dangerous Method” opening locally, he called it “great news.”

“It has bothered me in recent years that some of the movies I have been in have never reached the north country, at best only getting as close as Syracuse or Kingston, Ontario, for relatively short runs,” he said in an e-mail to the Times. “Although I have complained about this to movie distribution companies in the past, saying that I know a certain amount of people would go see the movies because of my connection to the area, there is little I can do to persuade them unless moviegoers make a fuss.”

He said Mrs. Beutel must have been “very persistent indeed!” and that he is “most grateful” for her efforts.

“I am very proud of this production, the third one I have had the good fortune to work on with Canadian director David Cronenberg after ‘History of Violence' and ‘Eastern Promises,' ” Mr. Mortensen wrote. “Even though David is a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs and I am a die-hard Montreal Canadiens fan, I think we have become a very good movie-making partnership. I hope those who end up going to see this movie will feel that their time and money were well spent.”