A Plumm Summer

Last updated
A Plumm Summer
Plumm summer.jpg
Promotional poster
Directed byCaroline Zelder [1]
Written by T. J. Lynch [2]
Frank Antonelli [1]
Catherine Zelder [1]
Produced byFrank Antonelli [1]
Catherine Zelder [1]
Starring William Baldwin
Henry Winkler
Lisa Guerrero
Brenda Strong
Owen Peare
Morgan Flynn
Peter Scolari
Rick Overton
Tim Quill
Chris J. Kelly
Narrated by Jeff Daniels
Cinematography Mark Vargo [1]
Edited byJonathan Lucas [1]
Music byTom Heil [1]
Distributed by Freestyle Releasing [1]
Release dates
  • October 14, 2007 (2007-10-14)(Austin)
  • April 20, 2008 (2008-04-20)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$5 million [2]

A Plumm Summer is a 2007 adventure-family film directed by Caroline Zelder. It stars Owen Pearce, Chris Massoglia (appearing under the name "Chris J. Kelly"), Morgan Flynn, William Baldwin, Henry Winkler, and Lisa Guerrero, [2] and is narrated by Jeff Daniels. The film follows a teenage boy, his young brother, and a new-to-town teenage girl as they try to find a marionette from a local television show which has been stolen and held for ransom. Meanwhile, the brothers' father struggles with alcoholism and their mother tries to hold her marriage together.

Contents

Plot

The film is based on a real event that occurred in 1968 in Billings, Montana, the hometown of screenwriter T. J. Lynch. [3] [4] [5]

A popular locally produced children's television show, Happy Herb & Froggy Doo, features magician Happy Herb (Henry Winkler) and his wisecracking marionette sidekick, Froggy Doo. Froggy Doo is stolen and held for ransom, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is called in to investigate. Elliott Plumm (Chris J. Kelly) used to watch the show, but now feels he is too grown up to do so any longer. His five-year-old brother, Rocky, is a Froggy Doo fan, however. Their father, Mick Plumm (William Baldwin), is a recovering alcoholic and unemployed ex-boxer who believes Elliott's birth prevented him from going to the Olympic Games 12 years earlier. Mick's emotionally distant relationship with Elliott is causing Elliott to become emotionally troubled. Their mother, Roxie Plumm (Lisa Guerrero), is the only breadwinner in the family, and keeping her husband sober and attending to her job means she has little time for her children.

Elliott shows little interest in the kidnapping. Shortly thereafter, however, Haley Dubois (Morgan Flynn) and her father arrive in their run-down mobile home and move in next door. Haley's father is the new deputy sheriff in town, and Haley is entranced by the mystery surrounding the kidnapping of Froggy Doo. Elliott quickly begins to fall in love with Haley, and soon he agrees to help Haley and Rocky find Froggy Doo in order to win Haley's heart. The three kids have to find the marionette before the two bumbling FBI agents, Hardigan (Peter Scolari) and Brinkman (Rick Overton) can do so. Elliott, Haley, and Rocky's list of suspects include the local bully, a store clerk, and Happy Herb's wife Viv (Brenda Strong). As the kids pursue the case, Elliott and Rocky's brotherly bond strengthens, and Elliott realizes he might not only win back the love of his father but provide his family with the substantial reward money and help his parents' marriage, too.

Cast

Production

T.J. Lynch grew up in Billings, where the real-life Happy Herb and Froggy Doo show originated, and watched the show as a child. Lynch used the kidnapping of Froggy Doo as the basis for a screenplay, and interviewed Herb McAllister (the actor who played Happy Herb and provided Froggy Doo's voice) to gain background information for the script. [4] Lynch and McAllister agreed to a contract which gave exclusive story rights to Lynch and permitted the use of the original Froggy Doo character design in the final film. [4] Lynch contacted Caroline Zelder, a director/producer friend of his, and Zelder agreed to produce the film. [4] Work on the script took roughly two-and-a-half to three years. [6]

The budget was initially set at $3.5 million. [6] [7] A foreign film financing company agreed to provide financial backing for the picture, but pulled out just weeks after casting of the major leads was complete. [2] Actor Lisa Guerrero and Scott Erickson (Guerrero's husband) formed Home Team Productions and partnered with Zelder and producer Frank Antonelli's company, Fairplay Pictures, to finance the film. [2] [8] [9] [10] Guerrero and her husband received executive producer credit on the film. [2] The film was Guerrero's first film role. [8] Erickson pitched the final game of his baseball career at Yankee Stadium in New York City, boarded a plane, and was producing the film just days later. [5] [9] Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer had a small role in the film as Sheriff Strunk. [11] [12] The real-life "Happy Herb," Herb McAllister, also had a cameo role in the film. [13]

The producers considered several states in the United States as well as locations in Canada for the production, but chose Montana over South Carolina after receiving support from the governor, state financial incentives, and encouragement from freelance movie production workers in the state. [7] [11] The picture was Zelder's first as a director. [10] Filming began in July 2006, [6] and lasted 35 days. [5] The production was filmed in and around Bozeman and Livingston. [3] [4]

Release

A Plumm Summer screened at a number of film festivals around the world (including the Heartland Film Festival [14] and Chicago International Children's Film Festival [8] ) and won several awards, [2] [13] but the picture was unable to find a major American studio willing to release the family-friendly film. [2] Fairplay Pictures eventually self-distributed the picture on 58 screens [15] [16] in 10 cities in the United States on April 20, 2008. [2] Cities in the limited release included Minneapolis-St. Paul, Los Angeles, Birmingham, and some towns in Montana. [5] [9] [13] The film's opening weekend box office receipts totalled $60,668, a "thin" $1,046 per venue. [15]

Nonetheless, the self-distribution strategy led several major motion picture companies to express interest in releasing the film on DVD. [2] Paramount Pictures won the right to do so, [2] and released the DVD in North America on May 5, 2009.

A sequel, A Plumm Summer Adventure, and possibly a third "Plumm" movie were planned. [9]

Critical reception

Critics gave the film very mixed reviews. The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "This family film is willing to tackle important issues such as burgeoning sexuality, alcoholism and a troubled home life but does so in a bland and unconvincing story." [1] However, the film's technical qualities were praised. [1] Both The Hollywood Reporter and the St. Paul Pioneer Press felt the story was slow and contrived. [17] The Los Angeles Times called the film flawed, and placed the blame squarely on the screenplay for not knowing whether to depict a Disney-esque innocent adventure or a real world that confronted a teenager's emerging sexuality, a father's alcoholism, and the break-up of a marriage. [18] The Deseret News called the film "hokey" and felt the direction and some of the performances were amateurish. [19] The newspaper labeled the score as "one of the worst musical scores in recent memory", and felt the period songs were "ill-chosen". [19] The Minneapolis Star Tribune was particularly harsh in its criticism. The newspaper felt the picture was "insulting to your child's intelligence, veer[ed] wildly between broad humor (and I should mention that there is literally not one funny scene in this whole movie), sugary nostalgia and the worst melodrama", and "fraught with leaden direction and horrible acting". [20]

Variety gave a much more positive review. The industry trade journal called Owen Pearce's performance "scene-stealing," and felt all the performances were "at a very high level across the board." [21] The magazine also praised Zelder's direction: "[A]ction, comedy and a touch of sweetness... [are] exactly what distinguishes Caroline Zelder's debut feature.... Zelder has a way of imbuing even the smallest gestures -- like a teenager's slump or a 5-year-old's intractable stare -- with meaning." [21] Variety also gave high marks to the film's technical production. "Lenser Mark Vargo bathes the Montana locations in glorious natural light; Alan Muraoka's production design and Nola Roller's costumes mostly nail the 1968 aesthetic, but could have been even more consistent." [21]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Curry</span> British actor (born 1946)

Timothy James Curry is an English actor and singer. He rose to prominence as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the musical film The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), reprising the role he had originated in the 1973 London, 1974 Los Angeles, and 1975 Broadway musical stage productions of The Rocky Horror Show.

<i>Rocky</i> 1976 film by John G. Avildsen

Rocky is a 1976 American independent sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the Rocky franchise and also stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burgess Meredith. In the film, Rocky Balboa (Stallone), a poor small-time club fighter and loanshark debt collector from Philadelphia, gets an unlikely shot at the world heavyweight championship held by Apollo Creed (Weathers).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Errol Flynn</span> Australian actor (1909–1959)

Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn was an Australian-American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Olivia de Havilland, and reputation for his womanising and hedonistic personal life. His most notable roles include Robin Hood in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), which was later named by the American Film Institute as the 18th-greatest hero in American film history, the lead role in Captain Blood (1935), Major Geoffrey Vickers in The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), and the hero in a number of Westerns such as Dodge City (1939), Santa Fe Trail, Virginia City and San Antonio (1945).

<i>Rocky II</i> 1979 film by Sylvester Stallone

Rocky II is a 1979 American sports drama film written, directed by, and starring Sylvester Stallone. The film is the sequel to Rocky (1976) and the second installment in the Rocky film series. It also stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burgess Meredith. In the film, Rocky Balboa (Stallone), struggling to adjust to his newfound fame and family life, finds himself in a rematch fiercely demanded by Apollo Creed (Weathers).

<i>Happy Days</i> American television sitcom (1974–1984)

Happy Days is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most successful series of the 1970s. The series presented an idealized vision of life in the 1950s and early 1960s Midwestern United States, and it starred Ron Howard as Richie Cunningham, Henry Winkler as his friend Fonzie, and Tom Bosley and Marion Ross as Richie's parents, Howard and Marion Cunningham. Although it opened to mixed reviews from critics, Happy Days became successful and popular over time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Baldwin</span> American actor (born 1963)

William Joseph Baldwin is an American actor and the second-youngest of the four Baldwin brothers. He has starred in the films Flatliners (1990), Backdraft (1991), Sliver (1993), Virus (1999), The Squid and the Whale (2005), Forgetting Sarah Marshall, in which he portrayed himself, and the Netflix show Northern Rescue (2019). Baldwin is married to singer Chynna Phillips.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Winkler</span> American actor (born 1945)

Henry Franklin Winkler is an American actor. Widely known as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on the sitcom Happy Days, Winkler has distinguished himself as a character actor for roles on stage and screen. His many accolades include three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and two Critics Choice Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Swayze</span> American actor, dancer and singer (1952–2009)

Patrick Wayne Swayze was an American actor, dancer, and singer-songwriter known for playing distinctive lead roles, particularly romantic, tough, and comedic characters. He was also known for his media image and looks: People magazine named Swayze the "Sexiest Man Alive" in 1991.

<i>Team America: World Police</i> 2004 comedy film

Team America: World Police is a 2004 puppetry comedy film directed by Trey Parker, who co-wrote the film with Matt Stone and Pam Brady. Parker and Stone also star alongside Kristen Miller, Masasa Moyo, Daran Norris, Phil Hendrie, Maurice LaMarche, Jeremy Shada, and Fred Tatasciore. A satire of action film archetypes, American militarism, and the foreign policy of the United States, the film follows the titular international counterterrorism force, who recruit a Broadway actor to assist in saving the world from Kim Jong Il and his coalition of Islamic terrorists and liberal Hollywood actors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Twin Peaks (fictional town)</span> Fictional setting from Twin Peaks

Twin Peaks, Washington is a fictional town in the U.S. state of Washington, serving as the primary setting of the television series Twin Peaks, created by Mark Frost and David Lynch, and the 2017 revival Twin Peaks: The Return. It was also featured in scenes in the 1992 movie Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me and the feature-length deleted scenes compilation, Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces. Places commonly shown within the series include the Double R Diner, The Great Northern Hotel, The Black Lodge, and The White Lodge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lou Adler</span> American record producer (born 1933)

Lester Louis Adler is an American record and film producer and the co-owner of the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, California. Adler has produced and developed a number of high-profile musical artists, including The Grass Roots, Jan & Dean, The Mamas & the Papas, and Carole King. King's album Tapestry, produced by Adler, won the 1972 Grammy Award for Album of the Year and has been called one of the greatest pop albums of all time.

T. J. Lynch is a screenwriter residing in Los Angeles. He was born and raised in Billings, Montana, and received a Bachelor of Science degree from Montana State University in Film & Television Production in 1986. In 1999 he was awarded the highly coveted Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his screenplay The Beginning of Wisdom.

<i>Batman: The Brave and the Bold</i> American animated television series (2008–2011)

Batman: The Brave and the Bold is an American animated television series based in part on the DC Comics series The Brave and the Bold which features two or more superheroes coming together to solve a crime or foil a super villain. As the title suggests, the series focuses on Batman's regular "team-ups" with various heroes similar to the most well-known version of the original comic book series. This version has a much lighter and simpler, often comic feel, targeting younger viewers more than the character's other series. The series premiered on November 14, 2008, on Cartoon Network in the United States, and ended on November 18, 2011. It also aired in Canada on Teletoon. The series was followed by a comic-book continuation which ended in 2014, and a feature-length crossover film: Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold, which aired in 2018.

The 14th Satellite Awards is an award ceremony honoring the year's outstanding performers, films, television shows, home videos and interactive media, presented by the International Press Academy at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles.

Caroline Smith and the Good Night Sleeps is an indie folk band from Minneapolis, Minnesota fronted by singer and primary songwriter Caroline Smith.

<i>Here Comes the Boom</i> 2012 film by Frank Coraci

Here Comes the Boom is a 2012 American sports comedy film directed by Frank Coraci, written by Allan Loeb and Kevin James, and produced by James and Todd Garner. It stars James as a biology teacher who attempts to save his school's music program by becoming an MMA fighter. The film co-stars Henry Winkler, Salma Hayek, and Joe Rogan.

Events in 1960 in animation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Early life of David Lynch</span> American filmmaker

David Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, painter, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, most often noted for its dreamlike imagery and meticulous sound design. The surreal and, in many cases, violent elements in his films have earned them a reputation as works that "disturb, offend or mystify" general audiences.

<i>Gone Girl</i> (film) 2014 film by David Fincher

Gone Girl is a 2014 American psychological thriller film directed by David Fincher and written by Gillian Flynn, based on her 2012 novel of the same name. It stars Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry, and Carrie Coon in her film debut. In the film, Nick Dunne (Affleck) becomes the prime suspect in the sudden disappearance of his wife, Amy (Pike) in Missouri.

Richard Glatzer was an American writer and director.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Honeycutt, Kirk. "'A Plumm Summer' - Bottom Line: Weak Family Films Wastes Its Opportunities." The Hollywood Reporter. April 25, 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Guerrero, Lisa. "Watch My Family Film, Damn It!" Huffington Post. December 10, 2009.
  3. 1 2 Kemmick, Ed. "Who Snatched Froggy Doo? Brother of 'Kidnapper' Spills the Beans 40 Years After Abduction." Montana Standard. August 26, 2006.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Easterling, Camden. "Frog Kidnapping Mystery Makes 'Plumm' Fun Film." Associated Press. June 24, 2006.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Rand, Michael. "Film Is A Curve Ball." Minneapolis Star Tribune. April 25, 2008.
  6. 1 2 3 "'Plumm Summer' Filming to Begin Next Month." Associated Press. June 11, 2006.
  7. 1 2 "Gov, Filmmakers in Talks About Montana Movie." Associated Press. May 3, 2006.
  8. 1 2 3 Ferrarin, Elena. "Guerrero Talks About Her First 'Plumm' Role." Chicago Daily Herald. October 20, 2007.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Kerr, Euan. "Former Twins Pitcher Finds A New Career in the Movies." Minnesota Public Radio. April 25, 2008.
  10. 1 2 "William Baldwin, Henry Winkler, Brenda Strong, Lisa Guerrero, Chris Kelly, Morgan Flynn and Owen Pearce Are Teaming to Star in the Indie Pic 'A Plumm Summer'." Daily Variety. July 27, 2006.
  11. 1 2 McKee, Jennifer. "Governor A Real Trouper, It Seems." [ permanent dead link ]Montana Forum. August 17, 2006.
  12. ↑ "Governor Schweitzer Announces Montana Opening of the Independent Feature "A Plumm Summer"" (PDF). Montana Department of Commerce. 2008-04-21. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 December 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2009.
  13. 1 2 3 "Birmingham One of 4 Cities to Open Family Film 'Plumm Summer'." Birmingham News. April 25, 2008.
  14. ↑ "Film Festival Concludes With 22,000 Attendees." Archived 2012-02-06 at the Wayback Machine Inside INdiana Business. October 30, 2007.
  15. 1 2 "'Baby Mama' Legit at the Box Office." The Hollywood Reporter. April 27, 2008.
  16. ↑ "'Baby,' 'Kumar' Vie for Box Office." Variety. April 24, 2008.
  17. ↑ "'70s-Style Family Melodrama Offers Hugs But Little Depth." St. Paul Pioneer Press. April 25, 2008.
  18. ↑ Olsen, Mark. "It's Plum Refreshing, But 'Plumm' Is Flawed Too." Los Angeles Times. April 28, 2008.
  19. 1 2 Vice, Jeff. "'A Plumm Summer' Amateurish, Hokey But Not Awful." Deseret News. May 15, 2008.
  20. ↑ Schilling, Peter. "Don't Waste Your Time With 'Plumm Summer'." Minneapolis Star Tribune. April 24, 2008.
  21. 1 2 3 Loewenstein, Lael. "'A Plumm Summer'." Variety. February 19, 2008.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.