Knightley, Worthington drama to close Toronto fest; Eastwood, Damon, Ferrell join lineup

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Knightley, Worthington drama to close Toronto fest

TORONTO — Keira Knightley and Sam Worthington are slated to be the closing attractions at September’s Toronto International Film Festival.

“Pirates of the Caribbean” actress Knightley and “Avatar” leading man Worthington star alongside Eva Mendes in the marital drama “Last Night,” announced Tuesday as the closing-night film for the festival, which runs Sept. 9-19.

Other premieres newly added to the lineup include director Clint Eastwood’s “Hereafter,” a drama about mortality starring Matt Damon; Dustin Lance Black’s “What’s Wrong With Virginia,” with Jennifer Connelly as a mentally troubled woman whose son tosses a wrench into the election campaign of a local politician (Ed Harris); and Dan Rush’s “Everything Must Go,” featuring Will Ferrell as a motivational speaker staging a colossal lawn sale after his life falls apart.

Director Danny Boyle, whose “Slumdog Millionaire” played Toronto in 2008 and went on to win best picture at the Academy Awards, returns to the festival with “127 Hours,” a mountain-climbing survival tale starring James Franco.

Also in the lineup: Casey Affleck’s documentary “I’m Still Here,” chronicling brother-in-law Joaquin Phoenix’s retirement from acting to pursue a hip-hop music career; Matt Reeves’ “Let Me In,” starring Chloe Moretz (”Kick-Ass”) in an English-language remake of the vampire tale “Let the Right One In”; Mitch Glazer’s “Passion Play,” with Mickey Rourke, Megan Fox and Bill Murray in the story of a down-and-out jazz trumpeter and a woman born with wings who works as a carnival sideshow attraction; and John Carpenter’s “The Ward,” featuring Amber Heard as a woman tormented by evil forces in a mental institution.

A major showcase for upcoming films, the Toronto festival has featured such Oscar winners as “American Beauty,” ”Crash,” ”The Last King of Scotland” and “Brokeback Mountain.”

Online:

Toronto International Film Festival: tiff.net