Brown's Requiem (film)

Last updated
Brown's Requiem
Brown's Requiem (film)98.jpg
Release poster
Directed byJason Freeland
Screenplay byJason Freeland
Based onBrown's Requiem
by James Ellroy
Produced by
  • David Scott Rubin
  • Tim Youd
Starring
CinematographySeo Mutarevic
Edited byToby Yates
Music byCynthia Millar
Release dates
  • November 1998 (1998-11)(FLIFF)
  • February 25, 2000 (2000-02-25)(United States)
Running time
104 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$3,077 [1]

Brown's Requiem is a 1998 American crime film written and directed by Jason Freeland. Brown's Requiem was the 1981 debut novel by noted crime author James Ellroy, and his third to be adapted to film following L.A. Confidential in 1997, and Blood on the Moon (filmed under the title Cop) in 1987. [2] [3]

Contents

The film premiered at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Fest in November 1998, and was not released in the United States until over a year later on February 25, 2000.

Plot

Fritz Brown is a disgraced former LAPD officer now working as a private investigator, part-time repo man and struggling on-the-wagon ex-alcoholic. Fritz is hired by an obese caddy named Freddy 'Fat Dog' Baker, supposedly to keep tabs on Fat Dog's sister, Jane. In the course of his investigation, Fritz learns that Jane is indeed living with an elderly millionaire named Solly Kupferman, and that their relationship is odd at best.

Fritz follows Solly and witnesses a transaction between Solly and Cathcart, the Internal Affairs Chief who disgraced Fritz and had him expelled from the police force Brown suspects Fat Dog of being an arsonist and discovers that Kupferman owned Club Utopia through a proxy. Brown, thinking there might be a connection between the two men, decides to look for Fat Dog, who has disappeared and force him to confess but finds him dead in Mexico instead. He has been killed by Richard Ralston, with whom Fat Dog had started an illegal trade in social welfare benefits. Ralston failed to find a notebook where Fat Dog had meticulously noted their illegal transactions.

Fritz soon finds himself involved in a complicated set of circumstances involving crooks, hit men, corrupt police and murder.

Reception

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 50% of six reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.1/10. [4]

The film garnered writer/director Jason Freeland the Prize of the City of Grândola at the Festróia-Tróia International Film Festival, and also received the Jury Award for Best Premiere at the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival.

Cast

Related Research Articles

<i>Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels</i> 1998 film by Guy Ritchie

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is a 1998 black comedy crime film written and directed by Guy Ritchie, produced by Matthew Vaughn and starring an ensemble cast featuring Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher, Nick Moran, Steven Mackintosh and Sting, with Vinnie Jones and Jason Statham in their feature film debuts.

<i>Snatch</i> (film) 2000 movie by Guy Ritchie

Snatch is a 2000 crime comedy film written and directed by Guy Ritchie, featuring an ensemble cast. Set in the London criminal underworld, the film contains two intertwined plots: one dealing with the search for a stolen diamond, the other with a small-time boxing promoter who finds himself under the thumb of a ruthless gangster who is ready and willing to have his subordinates carry out severe and sadistic acts of violence.

<i>Amores perros</i> 2000 Mexican film by Alejandro González Iñárritu

Amores perros is a 2000 Mexican psychological drama film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga, based on a story by them both. Amores perros is the first installment in González Iñárritu's "Trilogy of Death", succeeded by 21 Grams and Babel. It makes use of the multi-narrative hyperlink cinema style and features an ensemble cast. The film is constructed as a triptych: it contains three distinct stories connected by a car crash in Mexico City. The stories centre on a teenager in the slums who gets involved in dogfighting; a model who seriously injures her leg; and a mysterious hitman. The stories are linked in various ways, including the presence of dogs in each of them.

<i>Happiness</i> (1998 film) 1998 American black comedy film by Todd Solondz

Happiness is a 1998 American black comedy film written and directed by Todd Solondz, that portrays the lives of three sisters, their families, and those around them. The film was awarded the FIPRESCI Prize at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival for "its bold tracking of controversial contemporary themes, richly-layered subtext, and remarkable fluidity of visual style," and the cast received the National Board of Review award for best ensemble performance.

<i>Monument Ave.</i> (film) 1998 American film

Monument Ave., originally titled Snitch in the United States and titled Noose in Australia, is a 1998 American neo-noir crime film directed by Ted Demme and starring Denis Leary. The film also stars Famke Janssen, Martin Sheen, Ian Hart, and Lenny Clarke. Cam Neely also makes a brief appearance as a man returning home from work who finds his house has been broken into. The film takes place in Charlestown, Massachusetts and centers on small-time criminal Bobby O'Grady (Leary), who becomes conflicted due to Charlestown's code of silence. His loyalty and drive for self-preservation are tested, after two of his close family members are gunned down by their boss.

<i>Spun</i> 2002 film by Jonas Åkerlund

Spun is a 2002 American black comedy crime drama film directed by Jonas Åkerlund from an original screenplay by William De Los Santos and Creighton Vero, based on three days of De Los Santos's life in the Eugene, Oregon drug subculture. The film stars Jason Schwartzman, John Leguizamo, Mena Suvari, Patrick Fugit, Peter Stormare, Alexis Arquette, Deborah Harry, Rob Halford, Eric Roberts, Chloe Hunter, Nicholas Gonzalez, Brittany Murphy, and Mickey Rourke.

<i>Le Samouraï</i> 1967 neo-noir crime film

Le Samouraï, is a 1967 neo-noir crime thriller film written and directed by Jean-Pierre Melville and starring Alain Delon, François Périer, Nathalie Delon, and Cathy Rosier. A Franco-Italian production, it depicts the intersecting paths of a professional hitman (Delon) trying to find out who hired him for a job and then tried to have him killed, and the Parisian commissaire (Périer) trying to catch him.

<i>The Shaggy Dog</i> (2006 film) 2006 film by Brian Robbins

The Shaggy Dog is a 2006 American science fantasy family comedy film directed by Brian Robbins and written by The Wibberleys, Geoff Rodkey, Jack Amiel, and Michael Begler. It is the fifth overall installment of the titular franchise, and is a reboot of the 1959 film of the same name and its 1976 sequel The Shaggy D.A., both of which were loosely based on the 1923 novel The Hound of Florence by Felix Salten. The original film had a character named Wilby Daniels transforming into an Old English Sheepdog after putting on a magic ring, whereas the remake presents a character named Dave Douglas transforming into a Bearded Collie after getting bitten by a sacred dog. It stars Tim Allen, Robert Downey Jr., Kristin Davis, Danny Glover, Spencer Breslin, Jane Curtin, Zena Grey and Philip Baker Hall.

<i>Peter Pan</i> (1924 film) 1924 film by Herbert Brenon

Peter Pan is a 1924 American silent adventure film released by Paramount Pictures, the first film adaptation of the 1904 play by J. M. Barrie. It was directed by Herbert Brenon and starred Betty Bronson as Peter Pan, Ernest Torrence as Captain Hook, Mary Brian as Wendy, Virginia Browne Faire as Tinker Bell, Esther Ralston as Mrs. Darling, and Anna May Wong as the Native American princess Tiger Lily. The film was seen by Walt Disney, and inspired him to create his company's 1953 animated adaptation.

<i>Cookies Fortune</i> 1999 film by Robert Altman

Cookie's Fortune is a 1999 American black comedy film directed by Robert Altman and starring Glenn Close, Julianne Moore, Liv Tyler, Patricia Neal, Charles S. Dutton, and Chris O'Donnell. It follows a dysfunctional family in small-town Mississippi and their various responses to the suicide of their wealthy aunt, some of them turning criminal. Musicians Lyle Lovett and Ruby Wilson have minor supporting parts in the film.

<i>Mr. Brooks</i> 2007 American film

Mr. Brooks is a 2007 American psychological thriller film directed by Bruce A. Evans starring Kevin Costner, Demi Moore, Dane Cook, and William Hurt. It was released on June 1, 2007. The film follows the eponymous character, a celebrated Portland businessman and serial killer (Costner) who is forced to take on a protégé (Cook) after being blackmailed, and has to contend with his bloodthirsty alter ego (Hurt) who convinces him to indulge his "habit". His life grows even more complicated when a driven police officer (Moore) reopens the investigation into his murders. The film received mixed reviews and grossed $48.1 million against a $20 million budget.

<i>The Nutty Professor</i> (1996 film) 1996 American film

The Nutty Professor is a 1996 American science fiction comedy film starring Eddie Murphy. It is a remake of the 1963 film of the same name, which starred Jerry Lewis, which itself was a parody of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The film co-stars Jada Pinkett, James Coburn, Larry Miller, Dave Chappelle, and John Ales. Filming began on May 8, 1995 and concluded on September 8, 1995. The original music score was composed by David Newman. The film won Best Makeup at the 69th Academy Awards.

Brown's Requiem may refer to:

<i>Three</i> (2006 film) 2007 film

Three is a 2007 Christian horror thriller film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Ted Dekker. Directed by Robby Henson and written by Alan B. McElroy, it stars Marc Blucas, Justine Waddell, Max Ryan, and Bill Moseley. It was shot on location in Łódź and Warsaw, Poland. The film grossed $1.4 million and has a 5% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, which called it a "thrill-free thriller" in its critical consensus.

<i>Spione</i> 1928 film by Fritz Lang

Spione is a 1928 German silent espionage thriller directed by Fritz Lang and co-written with his wife, Thea von Harbou, who also wrote a novel of the same name, published a year later. The film was Lang's penultimate silent film and the first for his own production company; Fritz Lang-Film GmbH. As in Lang's Mabuse films, Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler (1922) and The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933), Rudolf Klein-Rogge plays a master criminal aiming for world domination.

<i>Browns Requiem</i> (novel) 1981 crime novel by James Ellroy

Brown's Requiem is a 1981 crime novel, the first novel by American author James Ellroy. Ellroy dedicated Brown's Requiem, "to Randy Rice". Ellroy wrote the book while he worked as a caddie at the Bel-Air Country Club. Brown's Requiem was initially published in paperback in the US, by Avon Books, and the first hardback and first UK edition was published in 1984 by Allison and Busby. The novel was adapted into a 1998 film of the same title.

<i>Smokin Aces 2: Assassins Ball</i> 2010 Canadian film

Smokin' Aces 2: Assassins' Ball is a 2010 action thriller film directed by P.J. Pesce and starring Tom Berenger, Vinnie Jones, Tommy Flanagan, Autumn Reeser, Keegan Connor Tracy, and Ernie Hudson. The film is a prequel to Joe Carnahan's 2006 film Smokin' Aces, centering on an FBI desk jockey who is targeted for murder by various hired assassins. It was produced by Working Title Films, and was released direct-to-video on January 19, 2010, by Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

<i>Blitz</i> (2011 film) 2011 British action thriller film

Blitz is a 2011 British action thriller film directed by Elliott Lester, written by Nathan Parker, and starring Jason Statham, Paddy Considine, Aidan Gillen and David Morrissey. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Ken Bruen, which features his recurring characters Detective Sergeant Tom Brant and Chief Inspector James Roberts. The narrative follows a violent police officer trying to catch a serial killer who has been murdering police officers in South East London.

<i>Starlet</i> (film) 2012 film

Starlet is a 2012 independent drama film directed by Sean Baker and starring Dree Hemingway and newcomer Besedka Johnson. Starlet explores the unlikely friendship between 21-year-old Jane and 85-year-old Sadie, two women whose lives intersect in California's San Fernando Valley.

<i>A Single Shot</i> 2013 American film

A Single Shot is a 2013 American crime thriller film directed by David M. Rosenthal and written by Matthew F. Jones, based on his own novel of the same name. It stars Sam Rockwell, William H. Macy, Ted Levine, Kelly Reilly and Jason Isaacs.

References

  1. "Brown's Requiem (2000) - Financial Information".
  2. Thomas, Kevin (February 25, 2000). "Requiem: First Book, First Film, First-Class". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
  3. Elley, Derek (November 22, 1998). "Brown's Requiem". Variety. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
  4. "Brown's Requiem (1998)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved September 4, 2022.