Starting Out in the Evening (2007)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

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:

Graduate Student | Student | Writing | Novelist | Book

Awards:

2 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

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:

References La battaglia di Algeri (1966)

Soundtrack:

Driving Through

A page turner of a movie!

Unlike many movies, I found myself continually wanting to know what happens next. I was not watching a movie, so much as seeing the writing process examined, explored, and enacted on the screen. The director doesn't mind taking his time to allow events to develop and unfold, and he takes us along with him. Music is used sparingly and effectively - he has faith in his actors and his material. The attention to detail was wonderful - Leonard Schiller wearing shirts and ties many many years old, using spoons and tea cups from another era, sitting on a couch from the 40's, reading by lamps with pleated shades, walls and cupboards painted many times over, using a typewriter (hearing the clack clack of the keys was music), contrasted by Heather's tic tic on her laptop, her messy bed in the background, typing by a stylish modern lamp. Lauren Ambrose was the perfect counterpoint to Frank Langella, and the subplot with Lili Taylor as Ariel Schiller and Adrian Lester was touching and effective. At all times, the actors were perfect. They should all win Oscars, but they won't. Please don't be fooled by the paltry box office take of $600,000 - this movie is worthy of box office 100 times what it took in.

Anyone with a love of writing, good acting, and wonderful direction should see this movie. Even having Schilling's body begin to fail him rings true, and is not played for pathos.

All in all, one of the most enjoyable movie experiences of 2007.