![]() | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Danika | |
---|---|
![]() DVD cover | |
Directed by | Ariel Vromen |
Written by | Joshua Leibner |
Produced by |
|
Starring |
|
Cinematography | Darko Suvak |
Edited by | Danny Rafic |
Music by | Gilad Benamram |
Distributed by | First Look Studios |
Release date |
|
Running time | 79 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Danika is a 2006 psychological thriller film directed by Israeli director Ariel Vromen. It stars Marisa Tomei, Craig Bierko and Regina Hall. The film was released on DVD in the US on December 26, 2006.
Danika Merrick (Marisa Tomei) suffers from increasingly disturbing, paranoid hallucinations. Most of her hallucinations involve threats to her family and media-fuelled fears such as child kidnappings, car accidents, her children lying and terrorism. Danika confides to her husband, Randy (Craig Bierko), and Evelyn (Regina Hall), her psychiatrist.
The movie begins with Danika apologizing for being late, being scolded by her bank manager about incorrect calculations. Her manager leaves the office, instructing Danika to remain there until errors are corrected. Danika then witnesses a bank robbery in progress with two trigger-happy robbers shooting anyone who moves. The alarm activates, and the robbers force Danika's boss to tell them where the security monitors are located. The manager points to her office where a shivering Danika seeks shelter in a corner. As the door opens, she expects to come face to face with a gun-toting bank robber, but is confronted by her manager who wonders what is wrong with her.
The movie continues with increasingly paranoid hallucinations, due to schizophrenia, including seeing a little girl in front of her daughter's school being pulled away by a suspicious-looking man as she asks Danika to help her; Danika does nothing only to watch in horror as the same little girl's mother appears on the news begging for her child's safe return. Danika also finds a human head in a grocery bag as she's putting the groceries in the fridge. She's oblivious as, standing in front of the school looking for her daughter who ran off, her daughter's teacher is killed by falling glass, (it turns out it's the same person's head she found in the grocery bag a day before). She also believes her son's partner for a school assignment is trying to give him AIDS after she imagines the girl crawling into her bed and confessing she is dying from AIDS and is going to give it to Danika's son.
Near the end of the film, the audience learns that Danika was in a car accident years earlier while driving her young children home and she makes a side visit to see Randy. The accident occurred immediately after Danika found out he was having an extramarital affair with the children's nanny, Evelyn, in a motel shower. Danika's vision of the nanny is that of her psychiatrist who's been treating her, revealing they were one and the same. During the confrontation, Evelyn reveals that she shares Randy's concerns over Danika's recent paranoia and her overprotective behavior is dangerous to the children. She also mentions that her family deserves better and that Danika needs to seek professional psychiatric help for her delusions. She responds by attacking Randy with a mirror shard and cutting his face. Before leaving, Danika pushes Evelyn to the bathroom wall and tells her that she's not only fired, but also stay away from her family. She drives away from the motel home with the children in tow. After witnessing Randy's affair with Evelyn, Danika psychologically broke down and ran a red light, causing her car to be hit by a school bus. In the car accident, all of Danika's children died, leaving Danika as the sole survivor. It can be assumed that, when he found out about the tragic deaths of their children, Randy blamed the accident on Danika for having not listened to him and Evelyn when they told her to seek professional help for her delusions. It is also implied that he divorces her and Danika never sees him again.
As the film ends, it reveals Danika's life after the accident. As a homeless woman, she sits on a bench at the scene where the accident occurred, presumably reliving the events of that day every day out of guilt. All the events after the accident—reuniting with her husband and raising her children to adulthood, are an alternate world that Danika created to escape from her reality. They are caused by the tremendous guilt she feels for running the red light that led to her children's deaths. It's also implied that Danika has regrets over having not listened to Randy and Evelyn when they told her to seek psychiatric help that led to where she is now. She dejectedly gets up from the bench and slowly walks away pushing a shopping cart filled with her children's belongings and her rosary.
The film is directed by Ariel Vromen and written by Joshua Leibner. Danika's budget is estimated to be $5,000,000.
Danika saw its world premiere at the 2006 CineVegas Film Festival in Las Vegas.
On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 29% based on 7 reviews, with an average rating of 5.2/10. [1]
At the San Diego Film Festival in 2006, the film picked up awards for "Best Feature Film" and "Best Actress" (Regina Hall). [2]
The Trespasser is a 1929 American pre-Code film written and directed by Edmund Goulding and starring Gloria Swanson, Robert Ames, Purnell Pratt, Henry B. Walthall, and Wally Albright. The film was released by United Artists in both silent and sound versions.
My Cousin Vinny is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Jonathan Lynn, written by Dale Launer, and produced by Launer and Paul Schiff. It stars Joe Pesci, Ralph Macchio, Marisa Tomei, Mitchell Whitfield, Lane Smith, Bruce McGill, and the final film appearance of Fred Gwynne. The film was distributed by 20th Century Fox and released on March 13, 1992.
The Guru is a 2002 sex comedy film written by Tracey Jackson and directed by Daisy von Scherler Mayer. The film centers on a dance teacher who comes to the United States from India to pursue a normal career but incidentally stumbles into a brief but high-profile career as a sex guru, a career based on a philosophy he learns from a pornographic actress.
The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love is a 1995 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Maria Maggenti and starring Laurel Holloman, Nicole Ari Parker, and Maggie Moore. It tells the story of two very different high school girls who fall in love.
The Thirteenth Floor is a 1999 science fiction neo-noir film written and directed by Josef Rusnak, and produced by Roland Emmerich through his Centropolis Entertainment company. It is loosely based upon Simulacron-3 (1964), a novel by Daniel F. Galouye, and a remake of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s miniseries World on a Wire (1973). The film stars Craig Bierko, Gretchen Mol, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Dennis Haysbert. In 2000, The Thirteenth Floor was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film, but lost to The Matrix.
Cheryl Ann Oteri is an American actress and comedian. A Primetime Emmy Award nominee, she is best known for her tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1995 to 2000.
Untamed Heart is a 1993 American romantic drama film directed by Tony Bill, written by Tom Sierchio, and starring Christian Slater and Marisa Tomei. It tells the story of an unlikely romance between a young woman unlucky in love and a shy young man who has a heart defect. The original music score was composed by Cliff Eidelman, and includes a classical arrangement of "Nature Boy". A remix of the 1987 Suzanne Vega song "Tom's Diner" is featured in the opening scene.
"The Cadillac" is an hour-long, two-part episode of NBC sitcom Seinfeld. It was the 124th and 125th episode and 14th and 15th episode for the seventh season. It aired on February 8, 1996. This was the last episode to be co-written by Jerry Seinfeld.
Happy Accidents is a 2000 American science fiction romantic comedy film starring Marisa Tomei and Vincent D'Onofrio. The film follows Ruby Weaver, a New York City woman with a string of failed relationships, and Sam Deed, a man who claims to be from the year 2470. The film was shot almost entirely in Brooklyn, New York.
Blackwoods is a 2001 psychological thriller film, directed by Uwe Boll and starring Patrick Muldoon and Clint Howard. It is set in the titular Blackwoods.
Deepwater is a 2005 neo-noir film written and directed by David S. Marfield. It is based on Deepwater, a 1999 novel written by Matthew F. Jones. It was screened at the Seattle International Film Festival on June 9, 2005, and the München Fantasy Filmfest in Germany on June 28, 2005. The film was shot in Clearwater and Little Fort in British Columbia, Canada.
Loverboy is a 2005 American drama film directed by Kevin Bacon. The cast includes his wife, Kyra Sedgwick, as well as both of their children, Travis and Sosie, the latter of whom went on to further her acting career in film and television. The film premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.
Superhero Movie is a 2008 American superhero parody film written and directed by Craig Mazin, produced by Robert K. Weiss and David Zucker, and starring Drake Bell, Sara Paxton, Christopher McDonald, and Leslie Nielsen. It was originally titled Superhero! as a nod to one of the Zuckers's previous films, Airplane!, in which Nielsen also starred.
The Wrestler is a 2008 American sports drama film directed by Darren Aronofsky and written by Robert Siegel. The film stars Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, and Evan Rachel Wood. Rourke plays an aging professional wrestler who, despite his failing health and waning fame, continues to wrestle in an attempt to cling to the success of his 1980s heyday. He also tries to mend his relationship with his estranged daughter and to find romance with a woman who works as a stripper.
Devil Girl is a 2007 thriller film, directed by Howie Askins and stars Jessica Graham, Tim Abell and Vanessa Kay.
Dennis Grimaldi is an American theatrical producer, director, and choreographer who has worked on Broadway, Off Broadway, television, and on London's West End. His work includes Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, Other People’s Money, Harry Townsend’s Last Stand and Annie Warbucks. Grimaldi choreographed the touring companies of Gigi, The Robber Bridegroom, The Red Bluegrass Western Flyer show, and Broadway; among others.
The Lincoln Lawyer is a 2011 American legal thriller film adapted from the 2005 novel of the same title by Michael Connelly. The film is directed by Brad Furman, with the screenplay written by John Romano, and stars Matthew McConaughey as the titular lawyer, Mickey Haller. The film also stars Ryan Phillippe, Marisa Tomei, Josh Lucas, William H. Macy, and Bryan Cranston.
Transit is a 2012 American action thriller film directed by Antonio Negret. It was first released on DVD in France on January 3, 2012.
Enid Is Sleeping is a 1990 dark comedy film directed by Maurice Phillips, starring Judge Reinhold, Elizabeth Perkins and Jeffrey Jones.
Looking Glass is a 2018 American thriller film directed by Tim Hunter and starring Nicolas Cage. It was released in the United States by Momentum Pictures on February 16, 2018.