Staying Together (1989)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Lee Grant

Writer (WGA):

Monte Merrick (written by)

Release Date:

10 November 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

After 25 years in the fast food business, father McDermott one morning proclaims in front of his three...

Plot Keywords:

Loss Of Father | South Carolina | Wet Jeans | Family Business | Female Nudity

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Sean Astin	...	Duncan McDermott
Stockard Channing	...	Nancy Trainer
Melinda Dillon	...	Eileen McDermott
Jim Haynie	...	Jake McDermott
Daphne Zuniga	...	Beverly Young
Levon Helm	...	Denny Stockton
Dinah Manoff	...	Lois Cook
Dermot Mulroney	...	Kit McDermott
Tim Quill	...	Brian McDermott (as Tim Quill)
Keith Szarabajka	...	Kevin Burley
Sheila Kelley	...	Beth Harper
Ryan Hill	...	Demetri Harper
Rick Marshall	...	Charlie
Michael Burgess	...	Workman
Leon Joseph Pinner	...	Newsman
Ed Carter	...	Announcer
Susan Fischer	...	Announcer (as Susan Aude Fisher)
Jim Gandy	...	Announcer
Stephen Jackson	...	Contestant
Bonnie Johnson	...	Waitress (as Bonnie Cook)
Robert Sedgwick	...	Doctor
Ann Pierce	...	Nurse
Nathan Le Grand	...	Husband (as Nathan LeGrand)
Paul Branin	...	Guitar, Sax, Tenor, Vocals
Jim Weider	...	Guitar
Frank Campbell	...	Bass
Randy Ciarlante	...	Drums / Vocal
Stan Szelest	...	Keyboard / Vocals
Wayne Coleman	...	Wedding Photographer
Thelma McNinch	...	Customer
James R. Barrow	...	Customer
Frances Arndt	...	Mrs. Crawford

Directed by
Lee Grant

Writing credits (WGA)
Monte Merrick		(written by)

Produced by
John Daly	....	executive producer
Joseph Feury	....	producer
Stuart Fleming	....	associate producer (as Stu Fleming)
Derek Gibson	....	executive producer
Milton Justice	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Miles Goodman

Cinematography by
Dick Bush

Film Editing by
Katherine Wenning

Casting by
Marsha Kleinman

Production Design by
Stuart Wurtzel

Art Direction by
W. Steven Graham

Set Decoration by
Elaine O'Donnell

Costume Design by
Carol Oditz

Makeup Department
Carlos David Amador	....	key hair stylist
Christa Reusch	....	makeup designer

Production Management
Stuart Fleming	....	unit production manager (as Stu Fleming)
Randy D. Thornton	....	post-production supervisor (as Randy Thornton)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Carole Keligian	....	first assistant director
John T. Kretchmer	....	first assistant director
Richard Patrick	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Frank Allen	....	leadman
Jamie Arbuckle	....	set dresser
Carl Copeland	....	construction coordinator (as Carl E. Copeland)
Catherine Davis	....	assistant set decorator
David E. Harshbarger	....	property master
Clare Scarpulla	....	assistant art director
Brendan Watson	....	leadman
Veronica Williams	....	assistant property master

Sound Department
Gail Brodin	....	boom operator (as Gail Dalton Brodin)
Jan Brodin	....	sound editor (as Jan Erik Brodin)
Barney Cabral	....	supervising sound editor
Louis Cerborino	....	supervising sound editor
Tim Chilton	....	foley artist
Richard P. Cirincione	....	sound editor
Rick Dior	....	sound re-recording mixer
Robert W. Glass Jr.	....	sound re-recording mixer
Bruce Kitzmeyer	....	sound editor
Hal Levinsohn	....	sound editor
Jane McCulley	....	adr editor
Maurice Schell	....	supervising sound editor
Robert Thirlwell	....	sound re-recording mixer

Special Effects by
Cliff Wenger	....	special effects

Stunts
Greg Brickman	....	stunt coordinator
Gilbert B. Combs	....	stunt coordinator (as Gil Combs)
Laura Combs	....	stunts
Joe Finnegan	....	stunts
Kell Johnson	....	stunts
Lonnie Parkinson	....	stunts
Chuck Picerni Jr.	....	stunts (as Chuck Picerni)

Camera and Electrical Department
Josh Bleibtreu	....	first assistant camera
Bucky Brinson	....	second director of photography
Phillip V. Caruso	....	still photographer
Danny Eccleston	....	gaffer
Evans 'Rusty' Edmonson	....	electrician
Robert L. Garcia II	....	electrician
Joel Hughen	....	grip
Robert Keslow	....	assistant camera
Dan Kneece	....	Steadicam operator
Dan Kneece	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Marion Laney	....	electrician
Steve Lubbe	....	dolly grip (as Stephen Lubbe)
Mark Petersen	....	film loader
Don Simandl	....	key grip (as Donald Simandl)
Mark Spagnolo	....	grip
Steve Spallone	....	best boy electric

Casting Department
Leslee Dennis	....	casting assistant
Craig Fincannon	....	extras casting
Mark Fincannon	....	extras casting
Amy Introcaso	....	casting associate

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Barbara Hause	....	wardrobe supervisor (as Barbara J. Hause)
Varcra Russal	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Susan Demskey	....	assistant editor
Herb Hickey	....	color timer
Alisa Lepselter	....	assistant editor
Mary Nelson-Duerrstein	....	negative cutter (as Mary Duerrstein)
David Siegel	....	first assistant editor

Music Department
Michael Dittrick	....	music editor
Thomas S. Drescher	....	music editor (as Thomas Drescher)

Transportation Department
Ron Kern	....	transportation coordinator
Vicki Lybrand	....	transportation

Other crew
Jo Barnett	....	production accountant
Christopher S. Capp	....	set production assistant
Maureen Duffy	....	assistant production coordinator (as Maureen Ann Duffy)
Robert J. Elisberg	....	unit publicist
Paula Frankel	....	script supervisor
Roberta Morris Purdee	....	production coordinator (as Roberta Morris)
Steve Rhea	....	location manager

Distributors

• Hemdale Film
• LK-TEL Vídeo (Brazil) (video)

Runtime:

91 min | Germany:80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:M | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Columbia, South Carolina, USA

Movie Connections:

Features "Jeopardy!" (1984)

Pret-ty bad.....

What a frustrating movie. A small Southern town is overflowing with possibilities for exploring the complexities of interpersonal relationships and dark underbellies hidden beneath placid surfaces, as anyone who has read anything by Carson McCullers already knows. This does none of that. Instead, the writers settled for cutesy twinkles, cheap warm fuzzies and banal melodrama. The thing looks like a made-for-TV movie, and was directed with no particular distinction, but it's hard to imagine what anyone could have done to make this material interesting.

The most frustrating aspect, though, is the fact that there are a lot of extremely competent and appealing actors in this cast, all trying gamely to make the best of things and do what they can with this--well, there's no other word for it--drivel. A tragic waste of talent, in particular that of the great Stockard Channing.