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:

Shaving | Baby | Shower | 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:

Iceland:16 | USA:R (certificate #36014) | Finland:K-16 | 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:

Phil: [to Eddie, regarding Mickey] You know, he could choke on his own spit. You know that? I would feel nothing. No, no. I would feel glee.

Movie Connections:

Features Mario Kart 64 (1996) (VG)

Soundtrack:

There Goes the Neighborhood

Yes, but

I certainly don't want to discourage talky, intellectually ambitious movies, but why not try to get it right? They might even make money and encourage studios to invest in more talky, intellectually ambitious movies.

Of course, everyone wants to like Hurlyburly, but the movie fails to meet us half-way. With real visionary filmmakers like Neil LeBute (regardless of whether you like/agree with his work, he is a visionary) out there, why waste so many actorly resources on vessels of inarticulate pretention. Spewing a mass of verbiage in lieu of meaningful thought is no more clever (okay, slightly more clever) than Prince attempting to look cool and mysterious in Purple Rain by not saying anything.

That said, there were certainly enjoyable moments in Hurlyburly, especially Anna Paquin's speech at the end, and Penn's reaction to it (God, but men do need women. If we just listened to them more, everything would be so easy). Also Chazz Palmitieri had some interesting facial expressions. I love Kevin Spacey, but I'm starting to think he should just appear as himself in every movie, or at least as his persona. Check The Ref for Spacey before he became a parody of himself.