Loverboy (2005)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Kevin Bacon

Writers:

Hannah Shakespeare (screenplay)
Victoria Redel (novel)

Release Date:

16 March 2006 (Israel)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Some mothers aren't meant to be moms.

Plot:

A neglected daughter becomes a possessive mother in an emotional journey into the heart and mind of a woman who loved too much.

Plot Keywords:

School | Motherhood | Flashback | Photograph | School Administrator

Cast

Kyra Sedgwick	...	Emily
Dominic Scott Kay	...	Paul (6 years old)
Kevin Bacon	...	Marty
Blair Brown	...	Jeanette Rawley
Matt Dillon	...	Mark
Oliver Platt	...	Mr. Pomeroy
Campbell Scott	...	Paul's Father
Marisa Tomei	...	Sybil
Sosie Bacon	...	Emily (10 years old)
Travis Bacon	...	Lenny
John Lafayette	...	Allen Rawley
Jessica Stone	...	Anita Biddle
Melissa Errico	...	Miss Silken
Nancy Giles	...	Principal
Carolyn McCormick	...	Ruth the Realtor

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality.

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Portugal:M/12 | Finland:K-13

Filming Locations:

Hillsdale, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Bigel / Mailer Films

Quotes:

Emily: Fitting in with the outside world, respectability, suitability, conformity, were never high on my priority list; neither was normalcy. I admit: I cultivated arrogance. The world would be our school; I wanted to learn it and teach it to you.

Movie Connections:

References A Wild Hare (1940)

A Beautifully Acted, Disturbing Story About Obsessive Mothering

Kevin Bacon directs this bizarre story adapted by Hannah Shakespeare from Victoria Redel's novel about maternal obsession providing his wife Kyra Sedgwick with a role to spotlight just how fine an actress she truly is. The story is disturbing but vitally interesting. There are problems with the film, the most annoying one being that the dialogue is practically inaudible due to the miking and, more so, due to the musical score which covers all the lines to the point of making the movie seem like a silent movie with music from the pit! Such a shame, because it SEEMS like this is a good script with a lot to say.

Emily (Kyra Sedgwick) is damaged goods, a woman neglected as a child who is determined to have a baby and raise it on her own, lavishing the child with all the affection and attention she desperately missed. After numerous attempts to get pregnant from any available man, she finally succeeds impregnation with Campbell Scott and gives birth to Paul (Dominic Scott Kay) who becomes her entire reason for living. She sequesters Paul form the world, gives him everything a child could want - except association with peers. Her obsession grows to the point of mental illness and the results are devastating. Along the way Emily and Paul encounter people who seek to intervene in their lives: these people are played with great style by cameo roles of Sandra Bullock, Oliver Platt, Kevin Bacon, Marisa Tomei, Matt Dillon, Blair Brown and even some of the Bacon's own children! It is a star cast obviously committed to Kevin Bacon's vision of this star vehicle for Sedgwick.

The pacing, cinematography, and acting are all first rate. If only the ugly and senseless music hadn't submerged the dialogue (oddly enough the score was written by Michael Bacon!), this would be an Oscar contender.