5

SATURDAY

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A cop, a priest, and a contractor walk into a restaurant; the cop calls the contractor a pimp, and it’s not long before everyone’s seemingly involved in a complicated web of pornography, murder, and shady real-estate deals. Based on the infamous “Black Dahlia” murder case, True Confessions, Ulu Grosbard’s 1981 adaptation of John Gregory Dunne’s novel, stars Robert Duvall and Robert De Niro as two brothers (the aforementioned cop and priest, respectively) in the only film the two distinguished actors have yet shared a scene in. When Duvall’s investigation into the murder of a young prostitute leads him to corrupt businessman Jack Amsterdam (played by Charles Durning, who performs a splendid Irish jig), the two siblings find that they’re linked by more than blood: De Niro, a rising monsignor with a head for finance, has been in negotiations with Amsterdam for the expansion of his church. Get the punch line at 8:45 p.m. at the American Film Institute’s Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. $8.50. (301) 495-6700. (Matthew Borlik)