Hurlyburly (1998)

Director:

Anthony Drazan

Writers (WGA):

David Rabe (play)
David Rabe (screenplay)

Release Date:

25 December 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Hollywood movers and shakers dissect their own personal lives when everything seems to clash together.

Plot Keywords:

Shower | Baby | Shaving | Men | Apartment

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Sean Penn	...	Eddie
Kevin Spacey	...	Mickey
Robin Wright Penn	...	Darlene
Chazz Palminteri	...	Phil
Garry Shandling	...	Artie
Anna Paquin	...	Donna
Meg Ryan	...	Bonnie
Gianna Ranaudo	...	Susie (as Gianna Renaudo)
David Fabrizio	...	Store Manager
Kenny Vance	...	Singer
Michaline Babich	...	Receptionist
Elaine Corral Kendall	...	TV Anchor (as Elaine Corral)
Sharon Tay	...	TV Reporter
Frank Somerville	...	TV Anchor
Bob Jimenez	...	Newscaster

MPAA:

Rated R for constant drug use, pervasive strong language and sexual material.

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Iceland:16 | USA:R (certificate #36014) | Australia:MA | France:U | Hong Kong:III | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | UK:18 | Germany:16 | Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Storm Entertainment

Trivia:

The cast of the Chicago stage premiere in 1984: William Hurt as Eddie; Christopher Walken as Mickey; Sigourney Weaver as Darlene; Harvey Keitel as Phil; Jerry Stiller as Artie; Cynthia Nixon as Donna; Judith Ivey as Bonnie. On Broadway, Ron Silver replaced Christopher Walken.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Eddie lies under the glass table while Mickey and Artie talk to him, the location (and amount) of cocaine changes between shots.

Quotes:

Darlene: I don't care.
Eddie: What do you mean, you don't care?
Darlene: It doesn't matter to me anymore.
Eddie: No, it matters, and you care. What you mean is it doesn't make any difference!
Darlene: UGH! I cannot stand this semantic insanity ANYMORE! I can't be that specific about my feelings! I can't!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Game K N B: (2007-03-03)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

There Goes the Neighborhood

You'll either love it or hate it

This is definitely not a movie for everyone. Heavy drug use, discomfiting sexual situations, bad language, violence, a talky, "stagey" atmosphere, and generally despicable characters. Even if you like the actors involved, this may still not be the movie for you (my aunt rented it for my uncle and herself on the strength of Kevin Spacey's name, and he still hasn't forgiven her).

Having said that, I really liked this movie. I never saw the play, but when I read through it, I thought it was the most misogynistic piece of garbage I had ever encountered. Seeing it on screen, though, was a completely different experience. I felt that I understood what the playwright was trying to get at: namely, that this is a piece about how "Eddie, through the death of Phil, is saved from being Mickey." In short, a spiritual redemption of sorts.

Performances are uniformly strong. I have never been a big Sean Penn fan, but I thought he did a more than competent job with Eddie, particularly in the later scenes where he veers between arrogance and pathos. Kevin Spacey seemed uncomfortable with some aspects of the dialogue (i.e. "blah blah blah" etc.), but otherwise did his usual masterful job, in a role which raises the same questions that many of us would like to ask of him.

The role of Donna was, I felt, disfigured by the many cuts in the script--she is more of a victim than a wanton, IMHO--thus, the best thing I can say about Anna Paquin's performance is that she did well with what she was given. I had no strong objections to any of the other casting choices, except for Meg Ryan as Bonnie, who apparently cannot even play a stripper without resorting to her usual cutesy mannerisms.

FWIW, I liked the director's technical choice of "opening" the scenes by putting the conversations on cell phones, etc. However, I would have willingly sacrificed some of the added dialogue for some of the original lines that got cut. Final analysis: I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, and plan to buy it when it comes out on video,