The Cake Eaters | |
---|---|
![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Mary Stuart Masterson |
Written by | Jayce Bartok |
Produced by | Allen Bain Elisa Pugliese |
Starring | Kristen Stewart Aaron Stanford Jayce Bartok Bruce Dern Elizabeth Ashley Miriam Shor |
Cinematography | Peter Masterson |
Edited by | Joe Landauer Colleen Sharp |
Music by | Duncan Sheik |
Production companies | Vinyl Foote Productions The 7th Floor |
Distributed by | 7-57 Releasing |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 86 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Cake Eaters is a 2007 American independent drama film about two small town families who must confront old issues with the return of one family's son. [1] The film was directed by Mary Stuart Masterson (in her feature film directorial debut), and stars Kristen Stewart, Aaron Stanford, Bruce Dern and Jayce Bartok. Kristen Stewart is featured as Georgia, a young girl with Friedreich's ataxia, a rare disease for which there is no cure. [2]
![]() | This article needs an improved plot summary.(November 2015) |
The Cake Eaters is a small-town, ensemble drama that explores the lives of two interconnected families coming to terms with love in the face of loss. Living in rural America, the Kimbrough family are a conflicted bunch: Easy, the patriarch and local butcher, is grieving over the recent loss of his wife, Ceci, while hiding a secret ongoing affair for years; Beagle, his youngest son who was left to care for his ailing mother, works in the local high school cafeteria by day but has a burning passion inside that manifests itself through painting street signs; and the eldest son, Guy, has been away from the family for years while pursuing his rock star dream in the big city until the day he learns of his mother's death and that he has missed the funeral.
Upon Guy's return home, relationships between the characters begin to unravel: Beagle's pent up emotions connect with Georgia Kaminski, a terminally ill teenage girl wanting to experience love before it is too late; Easy's long-time affair with Marg, Georgia's eccentric grandmother, is finally exposed to the Kimbrough children; and Guy discovers that in his absence his high school sweetheart, Stephanie, has moved on and started a family of her own. Consequently, The Kimbroughs and Kaminskis manage to establish new beginnings in facing their varied relationships.
In an interview at the Austin Film Festival in 2007, Jayce Bartok, the movie's screenwriter, was asked about the title's meaning. Bartok is quoted as saying, "The Cake Eaters is a term I grew up with in Pennsylvania. My mom used to use it to describe those who had it made, had their lives mapped out for them, were the most likely to succeed… 'The Cake Eaters.' I thought it was an interesting metaphor for this group of misfits who begin the story searching and longing for love, trying to overcome grief, and through the course of the story… find their 'cake.' They find some love, happiness, peace…." The term was widely popularized as a quote from the 1992 film The Mighty Ducks . [3]
Principal photography of this film began on May 2006 in New York. [4]
The Cake Eaters opened at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 29, 2007, and made the rounds of the independent film circuit, premiering at various film festivals such as the Woodstock Film Festival, Lone Star International Film Festival, Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. [5] It was eventually given a limited theatrical release on March 13, 2009, and debuted on DVD on March 24, 2009.
The Cake Eaters holds a "fresh" rating of 64% at Rotten Tomatoes based on 25 reviews with an average rating of 6.01/10. [6] The site’s critics consensus reads, "Though light on theme and craftsmanship, The Cake Eaters relies on fine performances and brisk direction to provide an affecting tale of small-town life." [6]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times , who gave it three out of four stars, praised Masterson for a good debut. [7] Stephen Holden of The New York Times called it a "small, overcrowded ensemble piece" that is "elevated" by "superior acting" into "something deeper". [2] Other critics, such as Rex Reed of the New York Observer , [8] Bill Goodykoontz of the Arizona Republic , [9] and V.A. Musetto of the New York Post , [10] also gave favorable reviews, with Musetto, in particular, lamenting the fact that it had taken two years for the film to be released theatrically. [10]
Not all reception was positive however, with Erin Trahan of the Boston Globe , [11] Gary Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times , [12] and Aaron Hillis of Village Voice , [13] among others, giving it negative reviews. Goldstein, in particular, was sharply critical of what he described as "a bland ensemble drama with an unremarkable script." [12]
Mary Stuart Masterson is an American actress and director. After making her acting debut as a child in The Stepford Wives (1975), Masterson took a ten-year hiatus to focus on her education. Her early film roles include Heaven Help Us (1985), At Close Range (1986), Some Kind of Wonderful (1987), and Chances Are (1989). Her performance in the film Immediate Family (1989) won her the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress, and she earned additional praise for her roles in Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) and Benny & Joon (1993).
Aaron Edward Eckhart is an American actor. Born in Cupertino, California, Eckhart moved to the United Kingdom at an early age. He began his acting career by performing in school plays, before moving to Australia for his high school senior year. He left high school without graduating, but earned a diploma through a professional education course, and then graduated from Brigham Young University (BYU) in Utah, U.S., in 1994 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in film.
Joshua Aaron Charles is an American film, television, and theater actor. He is best known for the roles of Dan Rydell on Sports Night, Will Gardner on The Good Wife, which earned him two Primetime Emmy Award nominations, and his early work as Knox Overstreet in Dead Poets Society and Bryan from Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead.
Kristen Jaymes Stewart is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and a César Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.
Kristen Carroll Wiig is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. First breaking through as a performer with the Los Angeles comedy troupe The Groundlings, Wiig achieved stardom during her seven-season tenure on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2005 to 2012.
Kristen Joy Schaal is an American actress. Known for her distinctive child-like voice, she has voice roles as Louise Belcher on Bob's Burgers and Mabel Pines on Gravity Falls. She also played Mel on Flight of the Conchords, The Guide on What We Do in the Shadows, Hurshe Heartshe on The Heart, She Holler, and Carol Pilbasian on The Last Man on Earth. She provided several voices for BoJack Horseman; for the character of Sarah Lynn, she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance. Other roles include Amanda Simmons on The Hotwives of Orlando, Hazel Wassername on 30 Rock, Victoria Best on WordGirl, Trixie in the Toy Story franchise, and Anne on Wilfred. She was an occasional commentator on The Daily Show from 2008 to 2016. She voiced Sayrna in the 2019 EA video game Anthem.
Gregory J. Mottola is an American film director, screenwriter, and television director.
Loren Cass is a feature-length motion picture about adolescents coming to terms with their lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, after the riots that took place in 1996. It was directed by independent film-maker Chris Fuller and took ten years to complete.
Adventureland is a 2009 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Greg Mottola, starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart and co-starring Ryan Reynolds, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Martin Starr, and Margarita Levieva. Set in the summer of 1987, recent college grad James Brennan (Eisenberg) is making big plans to tour Europe and attend graduate school in pursuit of a career in journalism. However, financial problems force him to look for a summer job instead of traveling abroad, which places him at Adventureland, a run-down amusement park in western Pennsylvania and loosely based on the "Adventureland" local theme park in Farmingdale, New York. There he meets Emily Lewin (Stewart), a co-worker with whom he develops a quick rapport and relationship.
War Made Easy: How Presidents & Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death is a 2007 American anti-war documentary film written and directed by Loretta Alper and Jeremy Earp, based on the book of the same name by Norman Solomon. The film is produced by Alper and narrated by Sean Penn. It premiered in New York City on May 14, 2007, before a limited release on August 24, 2007.
Fuel is a 2008 documentary film directed by Josh Tickell and produced by Greg Reitman, Dale Rosenbloom, Daniel Assael, Darius Fisher, and Rebecca Harrell Tickell.
Finding Bliss is a 2009 romantic comedy film written and directed by filmmaker Julie Davis. Finding Bliss explores the pornographic film industry through the eyes of an idealistic 24-year-old film school grad, Jody Balaban.
The Yellow Handkerchief is a 2008 American independent drama film. The film is a remake of the 1977 Japanese classic of the same name The Yellow Handkerchief directed by Yoji Yamada.
The Big Shot-Caller is a 2008 independent dramedy film. Marlene Rhein wrote, directed and co-starred in the film. Rhein wrote the film, inspired by her brother, David, who has Aniridia with Pathologic nystagmus, but overcame the obstacle and became a competitive Salsa dancer. The brother and sister starred in the film together.
Richard Glatzer was an American writer and director.
Café Society is a 2016 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. It stars Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Steve Carell, Jeannie Berlin, Blake Lively, Parker Posey, Corey Stoll, and Ken Stott. The plot follows a young man who moves to Hollywood in the 1930s, where he falls in love with the assistant to his uncle, a powerful talent agent.
Lori Ann Trahan is an American businesswoman and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 3rd congressional district since 2019. The district covers Boston's northwestern suburbs, and includes Lowell, Lawrence, Concord, and Trahan's hometown, Westford. A Democrat, she formerly served as chief of staff to Representative Marty Meehan in Massachusetts's 5th congressional district.
Spencer is a 2021 historical psychological drama film directed by Pablo Larraín from a screenplay by Steven Knight. The film is about Princess Diana's existential crisis during the Christmas of 1991, as she considers divorcing Prince Charles and leaving the British royal family. Kristen Stewart and Jack Farthing star as Diana and Charles respectively, Freddie Spry and Jack Neilen as Prince Harry and Prince William, respectively. Also starring Timothy Spall, Sean Harris, and Sally Hawkins.
Falling for Figaro is a 2021 romantic comedy film written and directed by Ben Lewin, and starring Joanna Lumley, Danielle Macdonald and Hugh Skinner.
A Different Man is a 2024 American black comedy psychological thriller film written and directed by Aaron Schimberg, starring Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve, and Adam Pearson.