Blending elements of "Sleepless in Seattle" and "Ghost", Triumph Films' "To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday" is a quiet romantic drama about loss and learning when to finally let go.
But unlike the higher concepts of its forerunners, the delicate "Gillian" definitely takes the low-key approach. If it is held up to any significant degree of scrutiny, its limitations become readily apparent. There just isn't a lot to it.
That said, the bittersweet, offbeat picture features a number of fine performances (with particularly impressive work from Claire Danes) and is certain to strike a significant chord with anyone who has ever gone through the grieving process.
And given a budget that reportedly came in at less than $10 million, "Gillian" could still yield many happy returns for the Sony Pictures division.
Originally taking the form of a 1985 play by Michael Brady, the story has been adapted for the screen by "Chicago Hope" and "Picket Fences" creator David E. Kelley, with Michael Pressman once again handling directing chores.
Peter Gallagher, given the welcome opportunity to play someone sympathetic for a change, stars as David Lewis, a widower who is still very much fixated on his late wife Gillian (Michelle Pfeiffer), who died two years earlier in a boating accident.
Despite the efforts of his teenage daughter, Rachel (Danes), his sister-in-law Esther (Kathy Baker in a "Picket Fences" mode) and her husband Paul (Bruce Altman) to distract him during a traditional Labor Day weekend get-together on Nantucket Island, David would rather run along the shore talking and laughing with the woman only he can still see.
While David might find the situation comforting, Gillian's worried sister Esther thinks his fantasy life has taken its toll on effective parenting and takes advantage of the family gathering to issue an ultimatum.
Gallagher shows an effective vulnerability in his refreshingly cad-free role, while Pfeiffer, whose ethereal beauty makes her a natural as his caught-between-two-worlds wife, is fine considering the part itself hardly qualifies as more than an apparition. The picture really belongs to Danes, whose lovely, deeply felt performance never hits a false note -- whether she's trying to get through to her distracted father or coming home blissfully drunk from a date with a boy (Freddie Prinze Jr.), of whom Daddy does not approve.
It would have been nice if Kelley's script and Pressman's direction showed that same sense of genuine esprit de corps, but its rhythms feel a little too manufactured. Although this is supposed to be a motion picture, you can almost spot where all the commercial breaks would have gone. And in the interest of underplaying virtually every moment for fear of selling out, "Gillian" fails to hit a number of its emotional posts, both comic and tragic.
Elsewhere, lensman Tim Suhrstedt ("Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure") crisply captures the idyllic New England coast, while James Horner's trademark piano tinkling (a little more subdued here than in "The Spitfire Grill") works in tandem with the story, gently but persistently coaxing the requisite hankie action.
TO GILLIAN ON HER 37TH BIRTHDAY
Sony Pictures Releasing
Triumph Films
A Rastar/David E. Kelley production
A Michael Pressman film
Director Michael Pressman
Screenwriter David E. Kelley
Producers Marykay Powell and David E. Kelley
Based on the play by Michael Brady
Director of photography Tim Suhrstedt
Production designer Linda Pearl
Editor William Scharf
Music James Horner
Costume designer Deborah L. Scott
Casting Lynn Stalmaster
Color/stereo
Cast:
David Lewis Peter Gallagher
Rachel Lewis Claire Danes
Esther Wheeler Kathy Baker
Kevin Danford Wendy Crewson
Paul Wheeler Bruce Altman
Gillian Lewis Michelle Pfeiffer
Cindy Bayles Laurie Fortier
Joey Bost Freddie Prinze Jr.
Running time -- 93 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
But unlike the higher concepts of its forerunners, the delicate "Gillian" definitely takes the low-key approach. If it is held up to any significant degree of scrutiny, its limitations become readily apparent. There just isn't a lot to it.
That said, the bittersweet, offbeat picture features a number of fine performances (with particularly impressive work from Claire Danes) and is certain to strike a significant chord with anyone who has ever gone through the grieving process.
And given a budget that reportedly came in at less than $10 million, "Gillian" could still yield many happy returns for the Sony Pictures division.
Originally taking the form of a 1985 play by Michael Brady, the story has been adapted for the screen by "Chicago Hope" and "Picket Fences" creator David E. Kelley, with Michael Pressman once again handling directing chores.
Peter Gallagher, given the welcome opportunity to play someone sympathetic for a change, stars as David Lewis, a widower who is still very much fixated on his late wife Gillian (Michelle Pfeiffer), who died two years earlier in a boating accident.
Despite the efforts of his teenage daughter, Rachel (Danes), his sister-in-law Esther (Kathy Baker in a "Picket Fences" mode) and her husband Paul (Bruce Altman) to distract him during a traditional Labor Day weekend get-together on Nantucket Island, David would rather run along the shore talking and laughing with the woman only he can still see.
While David might find the situation comforting, Gillian's worried sister Esther thinks his fantasy life has taken its toll on effective parenting and takes advantage of the family gathering to issue an ultimatum.
Gallagher shows an effective vulnerability in his refreshingly cad-free role, while Pfeiffer, whose ethereal beauty makes her a natural as his caught-between-two-worlds wife, is fine considering the part itself hardly qualifies as more than an apparition. The picture really belongs to Danes, whose lovely, deeply felt performance never hits a false note -- whether she's trying to get through to her distracted father or coming home blissfully drunk from a date with a boy (Freddie Prinze Jr.), of whom Daddy does not approve.
It would have been nice if Kelley's script and Pressman's direction showed that same sense of genuine esprit de corps, but its rhythms feel a little too manufactured. Although this is supposed to be a motion picture, you can almost spot where all the commercial breaks would have gone. And in the interest of underplaying virtually every moment for fear of selling out, "Gillian" fails to hit a number of its emotional posts, both comic and tragic.
Elsewhere, lensman Tim Suhrstedt ("Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure") crisply captures the idyllic New England coast, while James Horner's trademark piano tinkling (a little more subdued here than in "The Spitfire Grill") works in tandem with the story, gently but persistently coaxing the requisite hankie action.
TO GILLIAN ON HER 37TH BIRTHDAY
Sony Pictures Releasing
Triumph Films
A Rastar/David E. Kelley production
A Michael Pressman film
Director Michael Pressman
Screenwriter David E. Kelley
Producers Marykay Powell and David E. Kelley
Based on the play by Michael Brady
Director of photography Tim Suhrstedt
Production designer Linda Pearl
Editor William Scharf
Music James Horner
Costume designer Deborah L. Scott
Casting Lynn Stalmaster
Color/stereo
Cast:
David Lewis Peter Gallagher
Rachel Lewis Claire Danes
Esther Wheeler Kathy Baker
Kevin Danford Wendy Crewson
Paul Wheeler Bruce Altman
Gillian Lewis Michelle Pfeiffer
Cindy Bayles Laurie Fortier
Joey Bost Freddie Prinze Jr.
Running time -- 93 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 10/14/1996
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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