Griffin Dunne to star in drama about men – Deadline

hampton international film festival

After its world premiere at the San Sebastian International Film Festival and its North American premiere at the Hamptons International Film Festival over the weekend, director Noah Pritzker (person quitting) The second film interweaves Woody Allen, John Cassavetes, Paul Mazursky, Noah Baumbach, and other white male filmmakers past and present, portraying the middle age that many men find themselves in. Enjoying the crisis of marriage. Although not on the level of those acclaimed filmmakers, Pritzker in this case succeeds in casting a wider net into the early, middle, and later years of his life. crisis The Pierce family of men lasted for three generations.

The result is an attractive product that can be sold to potential distributors on a premise that might be difficult to sell to mainstream buyers, even though the game’s cast is a notch or two up. An indie work was born. Arthouse, if not PVOD, appears to be the future of the theater.

As the film opens, we find Peter Pearce (Griffin Dunne) sitting in a movie theater with his 85-year-old father Simon (Richard Benjamin). He takes advantage of his wife’s temporary absence and tells his middle-aged son that he has next plans. He has separated from his wife after 65 years of marriage and believes he has “25 or so years” left to sow his wild oats. Peter tries to tell them that it may not be exactly the correct mathematical calculation, but the conversation ends nonetheless and the movie begins when the wives return with the popcorn. Nearby outside, they encounter Peter’s son Nick (James Norton) attempting to make advances on a very good-looking woman he has just met.

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Six years later, Peter visits Simon in a nursing home, where the 91-year-old Simon is sitting isolated in a corner, unable to complete his sentence. Nick is engaged to a woman, and Peter I’m in pain now. He divorced Maria (Rosanna Arquette) after 35 years of marriage. Having fallen into depression himself, he is currently planning a weekend trip to the Mexican resort town of Tudum, which coincidentally (?) is the destination of Nick’s bachelor party – a fact shared by his second son. He claims he only found out after Mickey (Miles Heiser) showed up. ) His best friend and organizer of the gathering learns of his father’s plans and pleads with him. do not have To come. Knowing he wouldn’t get a refund, Peter decided to go anyway and strolled onto the same plane, where his two sons were visibly upset when he showed up. But unbeknownst to Peter and Mickey, Nick has a secret that he and his fiancée have actually just broken up, but he doesn’t want to spoil the fun for his friends as they head to a resort to celebrate. It was.

Pritzker focuses on the (un)romantic troubles of all three of Pierce’s men, grappling with the realities of life that collide around them. Peter meets an old friend of his who shows off his real estate acumen, and also develops a casual friendship with the resort’s bride-to-be’s godmother (Elsa Davis), whom he meets at a bar while waiting for his sons and Nick’s family. Build. Friends encourage a reluctant Nick and Mickey to invite their dad to dinner. One of her friends is Arroyo (Pedro Fontaine), a dashing older Chilean landscape gardener. Recently out and confused, Mickey finds himself drawn to the bisexual Arroyo, who quickly becomes sexual in the hot tub, even though he has a wife and children. . Meanwhile, Nick is becoming more and more grumpy by the minute, once a promising genius at school, but now working as a waiter to pay the rent, and dealing with the heartbreak of losing his intended bride. I couldn’t hide it.

There’s not a whole lot of penetrating insight into male psychology here, even though the premise may tempt some. Instead, Pritzker lets us see the ever-present insecurities of these people episodically, eliciting particularly good performances from everyone. Dunne is given the chosen lead role as the neurotic center, a gift for the actor who has always been a pleasure to watch.Here he even reunites with his After several hours Co-star Arquette, even if her screen time is short. Heizer and Norton also get points, and it’s always nice to see Benjamin, even though his screen time is sadly limited. Fans of these actors should be satisfied. ex-husband It goes down easily.

Producers: Bruce Cohen, Alexandra Bayer, Nicholas Celis

title: ex-husband
festival: Hampton Film Festival, San Sebastian Film Festival
Sales agent: Utah
Director/Screenplay: Noah Pritzker
cast: Griffin Dunne, James Norton, Miles Heiser, Rosanna Arquette, Asa Davis, Richard Benjamin, Pedro Fontaine, Lou Taylor Pucci, John Ventimiglia, Simon Van Buiten, Ian Owens , Echo Kellam, Rachel Sieger-Hague, Zora Casebele, Nate Mann
Execution time: 1 hour 38 minutes