Lawrence Kasdan's 'Darling Companion,' Starring Diane Keaton, to Open Santa Barbara Film Festival

Lawrence Kasdan’s Darling Companion, starring Diane Keaton and Kevin Kline, will screen at the 27th Santa Barbara International Film Festival on January 26 as the festival’s opening night film.

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In the film, Keaton plays a woman who rescues a lost dog, and when the dog later goes missing again, she and her friends set off on a search for the animal.

The Sony Pictures Classics release also stars Dianne Wiest, Richard Jenkins, Sam Shepard, Mark Duplass, Elisabeth Moss, and Ayelet Zurer. It is a production of Wec Werk Works, Likely Story and Kasdan Pictures.

"We are incredibly privileged to have the world premiere of a Lawrence Kasdan film. The highly anticipated Darling Companion is a great choice to kick off the festival,"  the festival’s executive director Roger Durling said.

The festival will also present a Kasdan retrospective, screening such films as Body Heat,  The Big Chill and Grand Canyon and offering a Q&A with the director.