Starting Out in the Evening (2007)

Director:

Andrew Wagner

Writers:

Brian Morton (novel)
Fred Parnes (screenplay)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

An ambitious graduate student convinces a writer that her thesis can resurrect his career.

Plot Keywords:

Student | Graduate Student | Writer | Interview | Aging

Awards:

2 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Frank Langella	...	Leonard Schiller
Lauren Ambrose	...	Heather Wolfe
Patti Perkins	...	Dolores
Lili Taylor	...	Ariel Schiller
Adrian Lester	...	Casey Davis
Dennis Parlato	...	Author
Jeff McCarthy	...	Charles
Michael Cumpsty	...	Victor
Jessica Hecht	...	Sandra Bennett
Karl Bury	...	Frederick
Sean T. Krishnan	...	Cab Driver
Thomas Ryan	...	Nick
Anitha Gandhi	...	Chelsea
Joie Lee	...	Second Author
John C. Havens	...	Jeff the Doorman

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual content, language and brief nudity.

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Canada:PG | Singapore:NC-16 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Cinetic Media

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: In the scene where Leonard goes back to apartment after stroke, as he sits in the chair there's a boom mic shadow visible on the back wall. The scene then shifts to Lili Taylor, and when it returns the shadow has gone.

Quotes:

Heather Wolfe: Men my age are like chewing gum; ten minutes of flavor, and then just bland repetition.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2007-12-01)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Only You

The Film May Be Gloomy, But It's Not Depressing

Movies about literary people too often sound like books rather than movies. The way characters talk doesn't jive with the way people actually sound in real life. Dialogue sounds scripted, phrases and speeches are too well put together.

This is a trap "Starting Out in the Evening" doesn't avoid, but it's easy to overlook that minor flaw, as the rest of the film is intelligent and thoughtful. The main reason to watch is Frank Langella, playing Leonard Schiller, an aging novelist who the world has forgotten and who is tempted to hope that his name might be revived by an idolatrous grad student who wants to do her thesis on his work. The grad student (Lauren Ambrose) is pushy and rather unlikable, but it makes sense that Leonard would take to her, as only someone as pushy as she could break through his reclusive facade. The relationship these two embark upon is complicated to say the least, and both actors navigate the tricky terrain well.

A subplot involves Leonard's daughter (played by Lili Taylor, who it was a pleasure to see again) and her rekindled relationship with a man of whom Leonard does not approve (Adrian Lester).

"Starting Out in the Evening" is one of those ultra-sombre movies that takes place in the dead of winter, when everything is cold and dead, and in which the predominant color scheme is brown and gray. But the cast brings enough vitality to the film, and the screenplay is unpredictable enough, that the end product is engaging rather than depressing.

Grade: A-