Exclusive: The hot movie package du jour is Scandalous! This is a drama that has Jeremy Pope — freshly minted Emmy nominee for the Netflix series Hollywood — to play Sammy Davis Jr and Janet Mock (Hollywood and Pose) to direct a drama about the interracial love affair between the entertainer and actress Kim Novak, who at the time was the top box office draw in Hollywood.
Pic will be produced by Jonathan Glickman, who is producing the upcoming Aretha Franklin film Respect, and Jon Levin. Glickman has an MGM deal and Mock one at Netflix, but they are shopping this one wide and the plan is to shoot this fall in Los Angeles and set it up with a distributor as they are locking an actress to play Novak. Mock, who is writer, director and EP on both Hollywood and Pose, will polish the script by Matthew Fantaci.
The drama is...
Pic will be produced by Jonathan Glickman, who is producing the upcoming Aretha Franklin film Respect, and Jon Levin. Glickman has an MGM deal and Mock one at Netflix, but they are shopping this one wide and the plan is to shoot this fall in Los Angeles and set it up with a distributor as they are locking an actress to play Novak. Mock, who is writer, director and EP on both Hollywood and Pose, will polish the script by Matthew Fantaci.
The drama is...
- 7/30/2020
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
PARK CITY, Utah -- No medieval damsel but nonetheless a damsel-in-distress story, "Guinevere" is a sterling tale of one young woman's post-"Graduate" attempt to redirect her life. With an exquisite lead performance from Sarah Polley, this Miramax release is one of the most bracing, funny and revealing films in recent Sundance memory. It seems destined for festival accolades and will surely win further tributes and recognition on the select-site circuit.
Life on the surface seems cozy and bright for '90s graduate Harper (Polley). She's been accepted to Harvard Law School and is on the fast track to fulfill her parents' fervent wishes. Both lawyers, they've provided the kind of patrician upbringing that will surely catapult Harper into a successful life.
Alas, going down this insular patrician world does not appeal to Harper. Somewhat mousy and lacking in self-confidence, she wallows in minor rebellion until she meets her catalyst, charming photographer Connie (Stephen Rea) who photographs her sister's tony wedding. Somewhat of a self-styled bohemian, Connie taps into Harper's angst. He's unusually perceptive about her insecurities and sagely realizes that Harper is bursting with inner energies and talents, long suppressed out of daughterly duty as well as the stultifying nature of her home life.
Part personal rebellion but also part attempt to realize herself, Harper moves in with Connie. Not unexpectedly, it elicits the reaction she expects from her mother. Better yet, under Connie's encouraging tutelage, she gathers confidence and begins to widen her interest beyond the strict confines of the law-school path.
No mere May-December love story, "Guinevere" brims with a more complex kind of love: It is more accurately a union of two people who don't fit into the tight strictures of normal life. Through screenwriter-director Audrey Wells' perceptive and pithy storytelling, we come to see the regenerative wonderfulness that this relationship brings. We also see the underskin, the neediness of Harper and Connie. Both have feet of clay and Wells shows us the limits that each character possesses. In particular, we see that Connie is caught in a lifelong rut, "mentoring" young women in a serial downspin -- they're his Guineveres.
Under Wells' sympathetic, revealing hand, "Guinevere"'s performances are sparkling and well-honed. Polley is magnificent as fragile and unfulfilled Harper, brittle and resilient at once. As sensitive older man Connie who sees into the souls of young girls, Rea shows the pied-piper magic of his character as well as his life's pathetic, repetitive routine. The supporting characters are picture-perfectly selected. Particular praise to casting directors Linda Lowy and John Brace for their apt, brahmin selections. Among the standouts in this WASP world are Jean Smart as Harper's snide, domineering mother, while Gina Gershon is winning as Harper's sympathetic, Guinevere predecessor.
Technically, the film is articulately polished, most prominently production designer Stephen McCabe's properly sterile production look, clueing us immediately to the cold life that Harper is in store for if she remains the good girl and goes off to Harvard.
GUINEVERE
Miramax Films
Producers: Jonathan King, Brad Weston
Screenwriter-director: Audrey Wells
Executive producers: Avi Lerner, Danny Dimbort, Trevor Short, Beau Flynn, Stefan Simchowitz, John Thompson, Boaz Davidson
Line producer: Tani Cohen
Production designer: Stephen McCabe
Director of photography: Charles Minsky
Costume designer: Genevieve Tyrrell
Music supervisor: Barklie K. Griggs
Music: Cristophe Beck
Editor: Dody Dorn
Casting directors : Linda Lowy, John Brace
Color/stereo
Cast:
Harper Sloane: Sarah Polley
Connie Fitzpatrick: Stephen Rea
Deborah Sloane: Jean Smart
Billie: Gina Gershon
Walter: Paul Dooley
Patty: Carrie Preston
Zack: Tracy Letts
Susan Sloane: Emily Procter
Leslie: Sharon McKnight
Ed: Gedde Watanabe
Jay: Carlton Wilborn
Cindy: Sandra Oh
Running time -- 107 minutes
MPAA rating...
Life on the surface seems cozy and bright for '90s graduate Harper (Polley). She's been accepted to Harvard Law School and is on the fast track to fulfill her parents' fervent wishes. Both lawyers, they've provided the kind of patrician upbringing that will surely catapult Harper into a successful life.
Alas, going down this insular patrician world does not appeal to Harper. Somewhat mousy and lacking in self-confidence, she wallows in minor rebellion until she meets her catalyst, charming photographer Connie (Stephen Rea) who photographs her sister's tony wedding. Somewhat of a self-styled bohemian, Connie taps into Harper's angst. He's unusually perceptive about her insecurities and sagely realizes that Harper is bursting with inner energies and talents, long suppressed out of daughterly duty as well as the stultifying nature of her home life.
Part personal rebellion but also part attempt to realize herself, Harper moves in with Connie. Not unexpectedly, it elicits the reaction she expects from her mother. Better yet, under Connie's encouraging tutelage, she gathers confidence and begins to widen her interest beyond the strict confines of the law-school path.
No mere May-December love story, "Guinevere" brims with a more complex kind of love: It is more accurately a union of two people who don't fit into the tight strictures of normal life. Through screenwriter-director Audrey Wells' perceptive and pithy storytelling, we come to see the regenerative wonderfulness that this relationship brings. We also see the underskin, the neediness of Harper and Connie. Both have feet of clay and Wells shows us the limits that each character possesses. In particular, we see that Connie is caught in a lifelong rut, "mentoring" young women in a serial downspin -- they're his Guineveres.
Under Wells' sympathetic, revealing hand, "Guinevere"'s performances are sparkling and well-honed. Polley is magnificent as fragile and unfulfilled Harper, brittle and resilient at once. As sensitive older man Connie who sees into the souls of young girls, Rea shows the pied-piper magic of his character as well as his life's pathetic, repetitive routine. The supporting characters are picture-perfectly selected. Particular praise to casting directors Linda Lowy and John Brace for their apt, brahmin selections. Among the standouts in this WASP world are Jean Smart as Harper's snide, domineering mother, while Gina Gershon is winning as Harper's sympathetic, Guinevere predecessor.
Technically, the film is articulately polished, most prominently production designer Stephen McCabe's properly sterile production look, clueing us immediately to the cold life that Harper is in store for if she remains the good girl and goes off to Harvard.
GUINEVERE
Miramax Films
Producers: Jonathan King, Brad Weston
Screenwriter-director: Audrey Wells
Executive producers: Avi Lerner, Danny Dimbort, Trevor Short, Beau Flynn, Stefan Simchowitz, John Thompson, Boaz Davidson
Line producer: Tani Cohen
Production designer: Stephen McCabe
Director of photography: Charles Minsky
Costume designer: Genevieve Tyrrell
Music supervisor: Barklie K. Griggs
Music: Cristophe Beck
Editor: Dody Dorn
Casting directors : Linda Lowy, John Brace
Color/stereo
Cast:
Harper Sloane: Sarah Polley
Connie Fitzpatrick: Stephen Rea
Deborah Sloane: Jean Smart
Billie: Gina Gershon
Walter: Paul Dooley
Patty: Carrie Preston
Zack: Tracy Letts
Susan Sloane: Emily Procter
Leslie: Sharon McKnight
Ed: Gedde Watanabe
Jay: Carlton Wilborn
Cindy: Sandra Oh
Running time -- 107 minutes
MPAA rating...
- 1/29/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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