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Writer-director Sean Baker’s latest foray into the private lives of people who make their privates public opens brilliantly, as New York City stripper/escort Anora (a gung-ho, all-in Mikey Madison) grinds her way through her daily grind, making nice with a steady procession of customers, one replacing another so seamlessly that they run together just as they must in our heroine’s mind. Then, during a break, a co-worker marvels that one fellow “told me how much I reminded him of his daughter, then ordered five private dances from me!” (The horror.) “At least he paid for the dances,” replies Anora. (The banality.) That’s Baker, mingling the deeply personal and the “merely” physical in ways feel moral without feeling moralistic. Talking of which: the reason Anora (who prefers “Annie”) gets picked to take care of Ivan, the young Russian playboy who shows up at her club, is that she had a grandmother who never learned English after coming over from the old country. Ivan is so taken with her attentions that he hires her for a week of sexy partytimes and whisks her off to Vegas, a city famous for its spur-of-the-moment weddings. What fun! He even tells her that he’d be happy with her even without his parents’ money. Annie tries not to believe him, but she doesn’t have enough happy reality to counter the much happier fantasy — there’s a sister (who feels like she should show up more), but no future. Small surprise when a mid-video game quickie gets interrupted by Ivan’s long-suffering babysitter Garnick and his assistant Igor. The manhunt that follows is longer than it needs to be, and even a bit indulgent, but still largely entertaining — a description which fits the film as a whole. Perhaps the director’s most conventional effort to date; it even veers toward cliché in its final scene. But what comes before is strong enough to make it hit anyway. (2024) — Matthew Lickona

Rated R | 2.0 hours, 19 minutes
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Showtimes

AMC Fashion Valley
7037 Friars Road, San Diego, 888-262-4386 | Directions
Saturday, December 14
3:30pm, 6:35pm, 9:00pm
Sunday, December 15
2:10pm, 5:15pm, 8:20pm
Monday, December 16
4:30pm, 7:45pm
Tuesday, December 17
4:50pm, 8:10pm
Wednesday, December 18
4:30pm, 8:10pm
AMC La Jolla
8657 Villa La Jolla Drive, San Diego, 888-262-4386 | Directions
Saturday, December 14
9:45pm
Sunday, December 15
9:45pm
Monday, December 16
9:15pm
Tuesday, December 17
9:15pm
Wednesday, December 18
9:15pm
Angelika Film Center and Café
11620 Carmel Mountain Road, San Diego, 858-207-2606 | Directions
Saturday, December 14
1:50pm, 5:00pm
Sunday, December 15
1:50pm, 5:00pm
Monday, December 16
1:50pm, 5:00pm
Tuesday, December 17
1:50pm, 5:00pm
Wednesday, December 18
1:50pm, 5:00pm
Thursday, December 19
1:50pm, 4:55pm
Landmark Hillcrest
3965 Fifth Avenue, San Diego, 619-298-2904 | Directions
Saturday, December 14
3:30pm
Sunday, December 15
3:30pm
Monday, December 16
3:30pm
Tuesday, December 17
3:30pm
Wednesday, December 18
3:30pm
Thursday, December 19
3:30pm
Reading Cinemas Town Square
4665 Clairemont Drive, San Diego, 858-274-9994 | Directions
Saturday, December 14
12:45pm, 6:30pm
Sunday, December 15
12:45pm, 6:30pm
Monday, December 16
2:30pm, 8:30pm
Tuesday, December 17
12:45pm, 6:30pm
Wednesday, December 18
2:30pm, 8:30pm
Thursday, December 19
2:30pm
Regal San Marcos
1180 W. San Marcos Boulevard, San Marcos, 760-471-3734 | Directions
Saturday, December 14
3:20pm, 6:35pm, 9:45pm
Sunday, December 15
3:20pm, 6:35pm, 9:45pm
Monday, December 16
4:40pm, 7:55pm
Tuesday, December 17
4:45pm, 8:00pm
Wednesday, December 18
4:40pm, 7:55pm
Thursday, December 19
4:40pm, 7:55pm
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