Don McKay (film)

Last updated
Don McKay
Don McKay poster.jpg
Directed by Jake Goldberger
Written byJake Goldberger
Produced byJim Young
Starring Thomas Haden Church
Elisabeth Shue
Melissa Leo
James Rebhorn
Keith David
M. Emmet Walsh
CinematographyPhil Parmet
Edited byAndrew Dickler
Music by Steven Bramson
Production
company
Animus Films
Distributed by Image Entertainment
Release dates
  • April 24, 2009 (2009-04-24)(Tribeca)
  • April 2, 2010 (2010-04-02)(United States)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3 million

Don McKay is a 2009 independent drama thriller film written and directed by Jake Goldberger and starring Thomas Haden Church and Elisabeth Shue. It premiered at the 8th Annual Tribeca Film Festival in April 2009 [1] and received a limited release on April 2, 2010.

Contents

Plot

Don McKay (Thomas Haden Church) is a lonely high school janitor who one day receives a letter from his high school sweetheart, Sonny (Elisabeth Shue). In it, she asks him to come visit her back in their home town, because she is dying of an unnamed disease. At first he is reluctant because he had been a suspect in a murder case there years before, but Don decides to go. He arrives and gets a ride to Sonny's house by an eccentric cab driver named Samuel (M. Emmet Walsh).

Don meets Sonny, as well as her strange caregiver Marie (Melissa Leo). Marie's coldness towards Don makes it clear that she doesn't approve of his presence. Don spends the night, and he and Sonny make love. The next morning, Sonny's doctor, Lance Pryce (James Rebhorn) visits. While Marie and Sonny are out, Pryce attacks Don, and after a struggle, Don kills the man, and hides the body in a bed of leaves behind the garden. However, Don had just suffered an allergic reaction to a bee sting, and blacks out shortly after hiding the body. He awakens in the hospital, where Sonny proposes marriage and claims that she had recently spoken to Pryce.

Don goes to see his old friend Otis (Keith David), and tells him what happened. Otis agrees to help Don get rid of the body that night, but when he arrives it has vanished. Sonny rushes out, thinking the men are burglars, and Otis runs off. After an argument, Don returns home for a few days, eventually getting another letter from Sonny asking him to come back to her.

Samuel picks Don up again, but they are intercepted and kidnapped by a man named Mel (Pruitt Taylor Vince). Mel takes Don to a hotel room, where it is revealed that both Mel and Marie were planning all along to kill Don and take an inheritance Don would receive upon Don's marriage. Don tries to reason with the two stating that there is no inheritance, and that he has no idea what they are talking about. Marie refuses to believe him and tells him to go along with the plan, or they will go to the police about the death of Pryce. With Samuel in Mel's trunk, the four drive back to Sonny's house, and demand that Don go in wearing a wire, threatening to go to the police if he doesn't cooperate with their plan.

Upon arriving at the house, Don hastily proposes to Sonny, stating that he was confused before, but realizes now that he loves her. The doorbell rings; It's Marie and Mel, who enter the house. After a long confrontation, Sonny hits Marie over the head with a frozen ham, and kills her. Sonny then grabs the phone and calls 911 for help, stating that a man pretending to be a private detective just killed someone in her house.

She tells Don to kill Mel, and Don refuses. She grabs an ax and again asks him to kill Mel, but he refuses. Sonny then asks Mel to kill Don, and a struggle over the ax ensues between the men. Sonny kills Mel with the same frozen ham she killed Marie with, and tries to concoct a story to cover all of it. She tells Don that she'd been planning all along to take a large inheritance from Pryce, not Don, that he had received from a relative. It's also revealed that Pryce was her husband, and that the two were going to kill him together. However, Don reveals that he knows she isn't Sonny; he accidentally killed her and two friends in a fire when he was eighteen. He had left town in a haze of guilt and written letters to Sonny as a means of atonement. Sonny drops the ruse, and reveals her name to be Joanne.

The police arrive and Sonny lets them into the house. They find the bodies of Marie and Mel, and immediately arrest Don. Sonny is taken away in a police car, and the police start to take Don away. The police find Samuel and question Don about Samuel's involvement. Don asks Samuel to explain his knowledge of the situation to the police.

Because of Samuel's testimony, and the wire Don was wearing, the police let him go. Samuel tells Don to contact him if he ever needs anything. Don takes Samuel's phone number and boards the bus back home. At home, Don is seen sitting in a chair, a wasp lands on his cheek and the movie ends, leaving Don's fate unknown.

Cast

Production

Filming took place in Andover, Massachusetts. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elisabeth Shue</span> American actress (born 1963)

Elisabeth Shue is an American actress. She has starred in the films The Karate Kid (1984), Adventures in Babysitting (1987), Cocktail (1988), Back to the Future Part II (1989), Back to the Future Part III (1990), Soapdish (1991), Leaving Las Vegas (1995), The Saint (1997), Hollow Man (2000), Piranha 3D (2010), Battle of the Sexes (2017), Death Wish (2018), and Greyhound (2020). For her performance in Leaving Las Vegas, she was nominated for the Academy Award, BAFTA, Golden Globe, and SAG Award for Best Actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Corleone</span> Fictional character from The Godfather

Michael Corleone is a fictional character and the protagonist of Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather. In the three Godfather films, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Michael was portrayed by Al Pacino, for which he was twice-nominated for Academy Awards. Michael is the youngest son of Vito Corleone, a Sicilian immigrant who builds a Mafia empire. Upon his father's death, Michael succeeds him as the don of the Corleone crime family.

<i>Adventures in Babysitting</i> 1987 film by Chris Columbus

Adventures in Babysitting is a 1987 American teen comedy film written by David Simkins and directed by Chris Columbus in his directorial debut. It stars Elisabeth Shue, Keith Coogan, Anthony Rapp, and Maia Brewton, and features cameos by blues singer/guitarist Albert Collins and singer-songwriter Southside Johnny Lyon.

<i>Palmetto</i> (film) 1998 American film

Palmetto is a 1998 neo-noir thriller film directed by Volker Schlöndorff with a screenplay by E. Max Frye. It is based on the 1961 novel Just Another Sucker by James Hadley Chase. The film stars Woody Harrelson, Elisabeth Shue and Gina Gershon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin Burton</span> UK soap opera character (created 2003)

Justin Burton is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Chris Fountain. Justin arrived in 2003 and departed on 3 June 2009. Justin arrived in a family of six, however by September 2006, the Burton family had left the show. It was announced in March 2009 that Fountain had decided to leave the show and would depart in a 'major storyline which echoes the fire which killed his sisters'. Fountain was credited in a flashback episode broadcast on 1 December 2010. On 12 April 2023, it was revealed that Justin had been killed off-screen on 5 October 2022, nearly 14 years after his last appearance on screen.

<i>Frozen Assets</i> (novel) 1964 novel by P. G. Wodehouse

Frozen Assets is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on 14 July 1964 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York under the title Biffen's Millions, and in the United Kingdom on 14 August 1964 by Herbert Jenkins, London.

<i>Tuck Everlasting</i> (2002 film) Film by Jay Russell

Tuck Everlasting is a 2002 American romantic fantasy drama film directed by Jay Russell and written by Jeffrey Lieber and James V. Hart, based on Natalie Babbitt's 1975 book of the same name. Narrated by Elisabeth Shue, the film stars Alexis Bledel, Ben Kingsley, Sissy Spacek, Amy Irving, Victor Garber, Jonathan Jackson, Scott Bairstow, and William Hurt. The film was released in the United States on October 11, 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carmel McQueen</span> UK soap opera character, created 2006

Carmel Valentine is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Gemma Merna. She debuted on-screen during episodes airing on 22 August 2006 and was introduced by series producer Bryan Kirkwood as part of the McQueen family. Carmel has proved popular with fans with her comedic personality and has become notable for her "dumb blonde" appearance. Carmel was killed-off as she saved her cousin, Theresa McQueen from Sonny Valentine during the "End of the Line" storyline. Her most prominent storylines include her marriage and divorce from Sonny's brother Calvin Valentine, her facial disfigurement after a tanning machine explodes in her face, remarrying Calvin which ends in tragedy after he was shot dead by Theresa, her relationship with Jim McGinn, her feud with Theresa and infatuation with Theresa and Calvin's daughter Kathleen-Angel McQueen, beginning a relationship with Sonny and being killed in an explosion following a train crash at her cousin Porsche McQueen's wedding reception.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sonny Valentine</span> UK soap opera character, created 2006

Sonny Valentine is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Aaron Fontaine. The role was initially played by Devon Anderson until 2007 when producer Bryan Kirkwood fired Anderson. In 2014, the role was recast when Kirkwood decided to reintroduce the character. On 12 November 2014, Sonny was killed off in a train explosion along with Carmel McQueen, when Carmel rescued her cousin Theresa McQueen from Sonny.

<i>Whiteout</i> (2009 film) 2009 film by Dominic Sena

Whiteout is a 2009 crime thriller film based on the 1998 comic book of the same name by Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber. Directed by Dominic Sena and starring Kate Beckinsale, Gabriel Macht, Columbus Short and Tom Skerritt, the film was distributed by Warner Bros. and released on September 11, 2009. It was produced under the banner of Dark Castle Entertainment by Joel Silver, Susan Downey and David Gambino.

<i>Kid Glove Killer</i> 1942 film by Fred Zinnemann

Kid Glove Killer is a 1942 American crime film, starring Van Heflin as a forensic scientist investigating the murder of a mayor. The B film, the feature-length directorial debut of Fred Zinnemann, was an expanded version of the 1938 Crime Does Not Pay short subject "They're Always Caught".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theresa McQueen</span> Fictional character from Hollyoaks

Theresa McQueen is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Jorgie Porter. She made her first appearance on 24 November 2008. The character was introduced as an extension of already established McQueen family and quickly became a fan favourite for her cute, bubbly personality and dark storylines. During her first five years on the show, Porter was featured in numerous high-profile storylines, including: underage sex; the murder of Calvin Valentine ; teenage pregnancy; being the target of serial killer Silas Blissett ; falling down a lift shaft; discovering her boyfriend, Ethan Scott was dating two other women and forming a friendship with the girls; finding her long-lost father; relationships with Dodger Savage, Will Savage and Joel Dexter ; and her arrest for Calvin's murder. Porter announced her departure from the soap in October 2013 so she could focus on Dancing on Ice. Her exit scenes aired on 9 January 2014.

"The Suitcase" is the seventh episode of the fourth season of the American television drama series Mad Men, and the 46th overall episode of the series. It aired on the AMC channel in the United States on September 5, 2010.

<i>Dark Mountain</i> (film) 1944 film by William A. Berke

Dark Mountain is a 1944 American film noir crime film directed by William Berke. It is also known as Thunderbolt and Thunder Mountain.

"The Phantom" is the thirteenth episode and season finale of the fifth season of the American television drama series Mad Men and the 65th episode of the series overall. It is co-written by Jonathan Igla and Matthew Weiner and directed by Weiner. It originally aired on the AMC channel in the United States on June 10, 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connie Corleone</span> Fictional character from The Godfather series

Constanzia "Connie" Corleone is a fictional character in The Godfather, a 1969 novel by Mario Puzo, and the subsequent film series. In the films, Connie is portrayed by Talia Shire, the sister of the director Francis Ford Coppola. Shire was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Connie Corleone in The Godfather Part II.

<i>Summer Night</i> (2019 film) 2019 film directed by Joseph Cross

Summer Night is a 2019 American coming-of-age romantic comedy film directed by Joseph Cross in his directorial debut, from a screenplay by Jordan Jolliff. It stars Ellar Coltrane, Ian Nelson, Lio Tipton, Callan McAuliffe, Ella Hunt, Bill Milner, Hayden Szeto, Lana Condor, Elena Kampouris, Melina Vidler, Khris Davis, Victoria Justice and Justin Chatwin.

References

  1. "Preview of the 8th Annual Tribeca Film Festival 5". ComingSoon.net. CraveOnline. April 20, 2009. Retrieved March 22, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Dave McNary (2008-08-19). "Church, Shue, Leo to star in 'McKay'". Variety . Retrieved 2008-10-13.