A.C.O.D.

Last updated

A.C.O.D.
ACOD film poster.jpeg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byStu Zicherman
Written by Ben Karlin
Stu Zicherman
Produced by Teddy Schwarzman
Ben Karlin
Tim Perell
Starring
Cinematography John Bailey
Edited byJeffrey Wolf
Music by Nick Urata
Production
company
Distributed by The Film Arcade
Paramount Home Media Distribution [1]
Release dates
  • January 23, 2013 (2013-01-23)(Sundance)
  • October 4, 2013 (2013-10-04)(United States, limited)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$175,705 [2]

A.C.O.D. is a 2013 American dark comedy film directed by Stu Zicherman, [3] based on a script by Zicherman and Ben Karlin, and starring Adam Scott, Amy Poehler, Jessica Alba, and Jane Lynch. The title of the film is an abbreviation for Adult Children of Divorce. [4] [ dead link ]

Contents

Teddy Schwarzman produced the film through his Black Bear Pictures production company. [5] Other stars include Richard Jenkins, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Catherine O'Hara, with Ken Howard and Clark Duke in supporting roles. [5]

The mostly content and successful Carter decides to revisit a former counselor to make sense of his brother Trey's sudden wedding and his parents' extremely messy divorce. When he realizes his life has been personified in a book about children of divorce written by his mediocre 'counselor', he decides to confront his family about their dysfunctional nature.

The film was released in the U.S. on October 4, 2013.

Plot

Since Carter's ninth birthday party at the Spencer family's lake house, his (and his brother Trey's) parents have subjected Carter to emotional manipulation, character assassination, uncomfortable new relationships and witness failed relationships repeatedly via their father Hugh. Not only is he a philanderer, but also a cold, distant father. Their mother Melissa cuts Hugh down relentlessly.

Trey spontaneously proposes to Keiko, his girlfriend of four months, then requests Carter get their feuding parents, who have not spoken for 20 years, to cooperate. Seeking advice from Dr. Lorraine Smith, who he had seen as a teen believing she was his therapist, Carter discovers he had been one of her subjects for a best-selling book on children of divorce. Shocked, he tracks it down, reading it from cover to cover, then formulates an attack plan.

As Carter is inicially unsuccessful at convincing either Hugh or Melissa separately, he tricks them both into meeting for lunch at the same restaurant. With them cornered, Carter coerces them, explaining the meal is ordered and paid for, so they must stay until they agree how to be civil at the wedding.

Meeting up later, the Spencer boys feel content that Carter convinced their parents to call a truce. He tells Trey to not count on money from them, but to continue the planning.

Right after Hugo's domineering third wife Sondra presents the restaurant with an obligatory painting, as she sublets them the space, Dr. Smith appears. Carter has inadvertantly inspired her to write a follow up book for C.O.D., the adult, 20 years later one. Initially, Carter refuses but is finally persuaded.

Sondra calls Carter, asking for details about his alleged golf outing with his father, as she is at her Cornell sorority reunion. Suspicious, he checks with Trey, who believes he is home with a bad stomach. Carter lets himself in, only to find his parents boning in the kitchen.

Carter rushes to tell his long-term girlfriend Lauren, but tells noone else. Unbeknownst to Melissa, her husband Gary presents his stepsons with a large check for the wedding.

Hugh tries to convince Carter it was a one time encounter. Later, speaking with Dr. Smith, she believes Carter now still lives in reaction to the childhood trauma, by making sure he is always in control. Outside, he inadvertantly meets Michelle, another of the subjects.

At the tux fitting, as Hugh gives is again a no show, Carter hunts down their mom, who again has used pilates as an excuse. Later on, as Keiko's parents have not met the Spencers, they meet up at a tea house. Both Hugh and Melissa show up, supposedly separately, but they soon annoy Carter so he storms outside. Now, they admit it is an actual affair.

Carter brings two file boxes from Melissa's with evidence of Hugh's cheating, first obsessively pawing through them, then dropping them at Dr. Smith's, insisting she confront his parents. That evening, Melissa shows up at Carter's restaurant, stays late talking, then they have a make out session.

At the cake testing, Carter finally reveals to Trey their parents' secret affair, then suggests he try to handle it. Botching it, not only does Sondra file to divorce Hugh, but she evicts the restaurant. Confronted in his garage by his parents and Trey who blame him, as Keiko has paused the wedding, Carter quits the family, kicking them all out.

At Lauren's parents' annual 30+th anniversary party, Carter proposes. Mortified, Lauren breaks up with him. Carter takes the box of divorce evidence Dr. Smith returns to him to the lake house, which he has not visited in 20 years, and douses it in gasoline. Before he can light it, Gary appears. Soon, everyone else does too. Soon after Carter discovers that absolutely everyone else has frequented the house, the careless Sondra inadvertantly burns it down with a match.

Carter volunteers to buy what once was the lake house. Time passes, and A.C.O.D. has its first reading, which includes the subjects. Lauren appears, and she goes off with Carter to talk. One year passes, and the three Spencer men are talking outside of a church, dressed in identical suits. They are all summoned into the church for a wedding.

Cast

Several cast additions were reported in Deadline Hollywood : Jenkins (December 7, 2011), [6] Lynch (February 10), [7] Winstead (March 1), [8] Poehler (March 8). [9] On March 20, Variety reported the Howard and Duke joined the cast. [5] Pally's addition was reported in Entertainment Weekly on March 21. [10]

Production

Filming began on March 12, 2012 in Atlanta's Castleberry Hill area. [11] It has done some filming at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. [4] Scenes were also shot in Decatur at the end of the month. [12] By early April, filming had taken place in Buckhead and near Lake Lanier. [13]

Alba got temporary tattoos of a trio of roses on her left biceps and a bow on her tailbone for her role in the film from an Atlanta-based artist. [14]

Reception

A.C.O.D. received mixed reviews from critics. Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 52% of critics gave the film a positive review based on 58 reviews, with an average score of 5.49/10. The site's consensus states: "Despite its impressive cast and some sharp observations, A.C.O.D. is neither funny enough nor poignant enough to work as a potent comedy or incisive satire." [15] While RogerEbert.com had the same type of mixed criticism for the film, the site also roundly praised the performances of Poehler, Lynch, and O'Hara, stating that the film featured "three major comic actresses working at their best level here." [16] Furthermore, the site commended Zicherman's writing and directing, stating that "[h]is first film is a model of what a modern film comedy might be." [16] Manohla Dargis of the New York Times Movie Review, however, criticized the film as "clichéd" and "sluggish even at 87 minutes." [17]

On Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 based on reviews from critics, the film has a score of 50 based on 23 reviews, considered to be "mixed or average" reviews. [18]

References

  1. "Film Arcade And Paramount Team On Sundance Comedy 'A.C.O.D.'". Deadline Hollywood . April 16, 2013.
  2. "A.C.O.D. (2013)". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved October 23, 2013.
  3. "ACOD". Turner Classic Movies . Retrieved March 24, 2016.
  4. 1 2 Brett, Jennifer (March 21, 2012). "A.C.O.D. filming at the Atlanta Botanical Garden". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Archived from the original on March 24, 2012. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 Sneider, Jeff (March 20, 2012). "Ken Howard, Clark Duke join 'A.C.O.D.': Black Bear Pictures' comedy co-stars Jane Lynch, Jessica Alba, more". Variety . Retrieved April 1, 2012.
  6. Fleming, Mike (December 7, 2011). "Richard Jenkins Joins Divorce Comedy 'A.C.O.D.'". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved April 1, 2011.
  7. Fleming, Mike (February 10, 2012). "'Glee's Jane Lynch Joins Indie Film Comedy". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved April 1, 2011.
  8. Brooks, Brian (March 1, 2012). "Mary Elizabeth Winstead Joins 'A.C.O.D.'". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved April 1, 2011.
  9. Fleming, Mike (March 8, 2012). "Amy Poehler Joins 'Parks And Recreation' Cohort Adam Scott In Feature 'A.C.O.D.'Amy Poehler Joins 'Parks And Recreation' Cohort Adam Scott In Feature 'A.C.O.D.'". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved April 1, 2011.
  10. Snierson, Dan (March 21, 2012). "Amy Poehler-Adam Scott comedy 'A.C.O.D.' taps Adam Pally of 'Happy Endings'". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved April 1, 2012.
  11. Caldwell, Carla (March 12, 2012). "Movie with Jessica Alba, Jane Lynch films in downtown Atl". Atlanta Business Chronicle. Retrieved April 2, 2012. Filming begins Monday in the Castleberry Hill area of downtown Atlanta on a new movie starring Jessica Alba, Jane Lynch, Amy Poehler, and Adam Scott.
  12. Brett, Jennifer (March 26, 2012). "Movie with Amy Poehler, Adam Scott, Jessica Alba, Jane Lynch filming at Decatur restaurant". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Archived from the original on May 31, 2012. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
  13. Brett, Jennifer (April 6, 2012). "A.C.O.D. films in Buckhead". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Archived from the original on April 9, 2012. Retrieved April 17, 2012.
  14. Finlayson, Ariana (April 2, 2012). "PICS: See Jessica Alba's Giant Tattoos!". Us Weekly . Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  15. "A.C.O.D. (2013)". Rotten Tomatoes . Flixster . Retrieved November 6, 2013.
  16. 1 2 Callahan, Dan (October 4, 2013). "A.C.O.D." RogerEbert.com. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  17. Dargis, Manohla (October 3, 2014). "A Wedding? Uncork the Rancour". New York Times Movie Review. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
  18. "A.C.O.D. Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved November 6, 2013.