A Civil War movie without a battle scene is like…wait, what? A Civil War movie without a battle scene?! That is “Copperhead,” a sincere, slow-moving, occasionally successful film devoted to one specific homefront story. That, in itself, is noteworthy. After all, as many of the characters in Ron Maxwell’s film point out, in addition to the costs on the battlefield, there were many, many costs at home. Life carried on, uneasily, and as the war raged the number of fathers and sons who would return home upon its conclusion grew smaller and smaller. With such a stunning body count, it is not surprising to hear that there was a vocal minority against the conflict — including some Northerners. “Copperhead,” based on a novella by Harold Frederic—whose “Damnation of Theron Ware” F. Scott Fitzgerald called “the best American novel” written before 1920—is the third straight Civil War film for Maxwell,...
- 7/17/2013
- by Christopher Schobert
- The Playlist
Once again revisiting the Civil War with Copperhead, director Ron Maxwell (Gettysburg, Gods and Generals) shows a flair for mythologizing via beautiful panoramas of upstate New York landscapes but less so, unfortunately, through his film's inert story and flat performances. Based on Harold Frederic's novel, Maxwell's tale concerns farmer Abner Beech (Billy Campbell), whose opposition to Lincoln's "unconstitutional war" inspires rebellion from son Jeff (Casey Thomas Brown) and local abolitionist Jee Hagadorn (Angus Macfadyen)—whose daughter, Esther (Lucy Boynton), is fancied by Jeff. The result is an unsuccessful balancing act: presenting man of principle Abner (nether pro-South nor pro-slavery) as a virtuous victim of discrimination despite resisting a war vi...
- 7/17/2013
- Village Voice
There are few moments in American history that so unforgettably changed the course of the nation, and the Civil War, over a hundred years on, continues to fascinate filmmakers, authors, scholars, historians and more. For director Ron Maxwell, he's dedicated a good part of his career to the subject, with two films -- "Gettysburg" and "Gods & Generals" -- already under his belt. And now, he's delivering his third film in his American Civil War anthology with "Copperhead," and we've got a new look at the movie. Based on the novel by Harold Frederic, the film stars Billy Campbell, Angus Macfadyen, Augustus Prew, and Peter Fonda and tells the story of Abner Beech, a dairy farmer and anti-Abolitionist in Upstate New York, who earns the titular sobriquet for his views on the war, which finds him divided from his neighbors. In this exclusive clip, we see Abner ponder the cost of...
- 7/9/2013
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Civil War period pieces are always a bit tricky, with filmmakers usually feeling the need to find a balance between education and entertainment. On one side of this scaled spectrum sits Glory, Cold Mountain, and more recently, Lincoln. On the other end, there’s the History Channel, with programmatic tendencies that are informational, but usually less entertaining. (Last year’s Hatfields & McCoys mini-series was the exception to the rule.) The new film Copperhead, adapted from Harold Frederic’s 1893 novel, The Copperhead, focuses on a largely untold story from the Civil War, but leans more toward TV docudrama than full-blown feature....
- 6/27/2013
- Pastemagazine.com
White House Down
Maggie Gyllenhaal is in talks to play a Secret Service agent alongside Channing Tatum in Roland Emmerich's action thriller "White House Down" at Sony Pictures.
James Vanderbilt penned the script about a para-military takeover of the White House. Jamie Foxx is the favourite to play the President. [Source: Variety]
Noah
"Harry Potter" film series star Emma Watson is in talks to join Darren Aronofsky's "Noah" opposite Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Logan Lerman and Douglas Booth.
An adaptation of the Biblical story of Noah's Ark, Watson would play a love interest to one of Noah's sons (Booth). [Source: Deadline]
Copperhead
Peter Fonda has joined the cast of Ron Maxwell’s Civil War-era "Copperhead" which is currently shooting around New Brunswick, Canada.
Fonda will play a character named Avery. Billy Campbell and Angus MacFadyen also star in the adaptation of the Harold Frederic novel. [Source: THR]...
Maggie Gyllenhaal is in talks to play a Secret Service agent alongside Channing Tatum in Roland Emmerich's action thriller "White House Down" at Sony Pictures.
James Vanderbilt penned the script about a para-military takeover of the White House. Jamie Foxx is the favourite to play the President. [Source: Variety]
Noah
"Harry Potter" film series star Emma Watson is in talks to join Darren Aronofsky's "Noah" opposite Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Logan Lerman and Douglas Booth.
An adaptation of the Biblical story of Noah's Ark, Watson would play a love interest to one of Noah's sons (Booth). [Source: Deadline]
Copperhead
Peter Fonda has joined the cast of Ron Maxwell’s Civil War-era "Copperhead" which is currently shooting around New Brunswick, Canada.
Fonda will play a character named Avery. Billy Campbell and Angus MacFadyen also star in the adaptation of the Harold Frederic novel. [Source: THR]...
- 6/8/2012
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
With Game of Thrones‘ second season having just concluded, Kit “Jon Snow” Harington will do a little feature work before it’s back to sword-swinging across Westeros for him. There’s already a role in WB’s fantasy epic, The Seventh Son, getting underway, and ScreenDaily now reports that Harington will join Vera Farmiga for Greenland Time, an endeavor from writers and first-time directors David Newman & Catherine Linstrum; Sigma and Lars von Trier‘s Zentropa are producing.
A psychological thriller set in the titular country, Greenland Time follows a woman (Farmiga) trying to find the man (probably Harington) that ran over and killed her daughter in an accident. How does a standard set-up along those lines become psychological? We’ll have to tune in and find out for ourselves — right now, let’s just some credit to Harington on landing what, from the sound of it, might be a plum...
A psychological thriller set in the titular country, Greenland Time follows a woman (Farmiga) trying to find the man (probably Harington) that ran over and killed her daughter in an accident. How does a standard set-up along those lines become psychological? We’ll have to tune in and find out for ourselves — right now, let’s just some credit to Harington on landing what, from the sound of it, might be a plum...
- 6/7/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Copperhead has a new lead actor. Billy Campbell will take over the lead in the Civil War-era feature after Jason Patric was let go this weekend. Copperhead was three weeks into shooting up in New Brunswick, Canada, when Patric was dismissed, Deadline has heard, for refusing to take instructions from director Ron Maxwell. Billy Campbell, who plays Darren Richmond on AMC’s The Killing, will now portray family head Amber Beech in the film, which is being produced by Swordspoint Productions. The feature is based on Harold Frederic’s 1883 novel about a family feud during the Civil War. Patric is repped by ICM. Campbell is repped by CAA and Kritzer Levine Wilkins Griffin Entertainment.
- 6/5/2012
- by DOMINIC PATTEN
- Deadline TV
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