Equinox (1992 film)

Last updated
Equinox
Equinox movie poster.jpg
Movie Poster
Directed by Alan Rudolph
Written byAlan Rudolph
Produced by David Blocker
Starring
Cinematography Elliot Davis
Edited byMichael Ruscio
Music by Terje Rypdal
Production
company
RainCity Productions
Distributed by I.R.S. Media
Release dates
  • September 1992 (1992-09)(Cinéfest)
  • September 18, 1992 (1992-09-18)(TIFF)
  • October 1992 (1992-10)(Chicago)
  • June 11, 1993 (1993-06-11)(U.S.)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryUnited States
Language English
Box office$279,627 [1]

Equinox is a 1992 film written and directed by Alan Rudolph. It stars Matthew Modine in dual roles, along with Lara Flynn Boyle, Marisa Tomei and Fred Ward. The film was shot in Minnesota and Utah and is set in the fictional urban city of Empire. It was nominated for four Independent Spirit Awards.[ citation needed ]

Contents

Plot

Henry Petosa and Freddy Ace are identical twins living in the fictional city of Empire with no knowledge of each other, separated at birth and placed for adoption.

Henry is a shy garage mechanic. He lives in a slum and loves Beverly Franks, his best friend's sister. He also baby-sits for his neighbor Rosie, a prostitute.

Freddy is a driver for Mr. Paris, a gangster. He is slick and self-confident, married to a materialistic woman named Sharon.

One day, a young woman named Sonya Kirk who works in a morgue accidentally comes across a letter indicating that the twins are actually the offspring of European nobility and owed a large sum of inheritance money. Sonya decides to play amateur detective and track them down.

It all leads to a confrontation between the surprised twins in a restaurant, a shootout and a final scene high above the Grand Canyon.

Principal cast

ActorRole
Matthew Modine Henry Petosa / Freddy Ace
Lara Flynn Boyle Beverly Franks
Fred Ward Mr. Paris
Tyra Ferrell Sonya Kirk
Marisa Tomei Rosie Rivers
Kevin J. O'Connor Russell Franks
Tate Donovan Richie Nunn
Lori Singer Sharon Ace
Gailard Sartain Dandridge
M. Emmet Walsh Pete Petosa

Twin child actors Jasen and Jereme Kane play the young version of Modine's characters, as well as appearing as the twin children in the restaurant at the end of the film.

Production

Parts of the film were shot in Crescent Junction and Moab, Utah as well as St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota. [2]

Critical reception

The New York Times movie reviewer Stephen Holden had praise for the actors, saying Modine "does a fine job of differentiating between the two without resorting to caricature. He is especially good at showing how the repressed qualities of each twin peek through their surfaces. As Henry's sweetheart, Ms. Boyle exudes the right mixture of warm-blooded ardor and strait-laced defensiveness." [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lara Flynn Boyle</span> American actress (born 1970)

Lara Flynn Boyle is an American actress. She is known for playing Donna Hayward in the television series Twin Peaks (1990–1991). After appearing in Penelope Spheeris's comedy Wayne's World (1992), Boyle had a lead role in John Dahl's neo-noir film Red Rock West (1993), and in the psychological thriller The Temp (1993), followed by roles in Threesome (1994), Cafe Society (1995), Happiness (1998), and the villainous Serleena in Men in Black II (2002). From 1997 to 2003, she starred in the ABC series The Practice, for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew Modine</span> American actor (born 1959)

Matthew Avery Modine is an American actor and filmmaker. He shared the Venice Film Festival‘s Volpi Cup for Best Actor as part of the ensemble cast of Robert Altman film Streamers (1983). He went on to play lead roles in several high-profile films throughout the 1980’s, including Birdy (1984), Vision Quest (1985), and Married to the Mob (1988). He gained further prominence for playing U.S. Marine James T. "Joker" Davis in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (1987).

<i>Dumb and Dumber</i> 1994 comedy film by Peter Farrelly

Dumb and Dumber is a 1994 American buddy comedy film directed by Peter Farrelly, who cowrote the screenplay with Bobby Farrelly and Bennett Yellin. It is the first installment in the Dumb and Dumber franchise. Starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, it tells the story of Lloyd Christmas (Carrey) and Harry Dunne (Daniels), two dumb but well-meaning friends from Providence, Rhode Island, who set out on a cross-country road trip to Aspen, Colorado, to return a briefcase full of money to its owner, thinking it was abandoned as a mistake, though it was actually left as a ransom. Lauren Holly, Karen Duffy, Mike Starr, Charles Rocket, and Teri Garr play supporting roles.

<i>Pie in the Sky</i> (TV series) British television series (1994–1997)

Pie in the Sky is a British police comedy drama starring Richard Griffiths and Maggie Steed, created by Andrew Payne and first broadcast in five series on BBC1 between 13 March 1994 and 17 August 1997, as well as being syndicated on other channels in other countries.

<i>FeardotCom</i> 2002 film by William Malone

FeardotCom is a 2002 supernatural horror film directed by William Malone, and starring Stephen Dorff, Natascha McElhone, and Stephen Rea. The plot details a New York City detective investigating a series of mysterious deaths connected to a disturbing website. Udo Kier, Jeffrey Combs, Nigel Terry, and Michael Sarrazin also appear in the film in supporting roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Rudolph</span> American film director and screenwriter

Alan Steven Rudolph is an American film director and screenwriter.

<i>A Good Year</i> 2006 film by Ridley Scott

A Good Year is a 2006 romantic comedy-drama film directed and produced by Ridley Scott. The film stars Russell Crowe, Marion Cotillard, Didier Bourdon, Abbie Cornish, Tom Hollander, Freddie Highmore and Albert Finney. The film is based on the 2004 novel of the same name by British author Peter Mayle.

Chain is a 2004 docufiction film written and directed by Jem Cohen. It follows two young women from opposite ends of the socioeconomic spectrum. One is a Japanese professional who has been sent by her corporation to inspect theme parks in the United States. The other is a runaway who is squatting near a mall and works a series of dead-end jobs. The women never meet or communicate with each other, but by the end of the film, their viewpoints have become similar as their lives are both impacted by the homogenization of retail culture and infrastructure.

<i>Telling Lies in America</i> 1997 American film

Telling Lies in America is a 1997 period coming-of-age drama film directed by Guy Ferland and written by Joe Eszterhas.

<i>The Young Ones</i> (1961 film) 1961 British film by Sidney J. Furie

The Young Ones is a 1961 British comedy musical film directed by Sidney J. Furie and starring Cliff Richard, Robert Morley as his character's father, Carole Gray as his love interest, and the Shadows as his band. The screenplay was written by Peter Myers and Ronald Cass, who also wrote most of the songs. Herbert Ross choreographed the dance scenes. Its soundtrack spawned numerous hits, including the title track.

<i>Jacob</i> (film) 1994 film

Jacob is a 1994 German/Italian/American television movie directed by Peter Hall starring Matthew Modine, Lara Flynn Boyle, and Sean Bean. It is based on the novel Giacobbe by Francesco Maria Nappi, which is in turn based on a biblical account from the Book of Genesis about Jacob.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry King (director)</span> American film director

Henry King was an American actor and film director. Widely considered one of the finest and most successful filmmakers of his era, King was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Director and directed seven films nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

<i>The Devils Brigade</i> (film) 1968 film by Andrew V. McLaglen

The Devil's Brigade is a 1968 American DeLuxe Color war film filmed in Panavision, based on the 1966 book of the same name co-written by American novelist and historian Robert H. Adleman and Col. George Walton, a member of the brigade.

<i>In Love and War</i> (1996 film) 1996 film directed by Richard Attenborough

In Love and War is a 1996 romantic drama film based on the book, Hemingway in Love and War by Henry S. Villard and James Nagel. The film stars Sandra Bullock, Chris O'Donnell, Mackenzie Astin, and Margot Steinberg. Its action takes place during the First World War and is based on the wartime experiences of the writer Ernest Hemingway. It was directed by Richard Attenborough. The film was entered into the 47th Berlin International Film Festival.

<i>One of the Hollywood Ten</i> 2000 Spanish film

One of the Hollywood Ten is a 2000 Spanish-British bio-picture. The film was written and directed by Karl Francis.

<i>The Corsican Brothers</i> (1941 film) 1941 film directed by Gregory Ratoff

The Corsican Brothers is a 1941 American historical swashbuckler film directed by Gregory Ratoff and starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in a dual role as the titular conjoined twins who are separated at birth and raised in entirely different circumstances. Both thirst for revenge against the man who killed their parents, both fall in love with the same woman. The story is very loosely based on the 1844 novella Les frères Corses by French writer Alexandre Dumas, père.

<i>Will Any Gentleman...?</i> 1953 British film by Michael Anderson

Will Any Gentleman...?, also known as Reluctant Casanova, is a 1953 British comedy film directed by Michael Anderson and starring George Cole, Veronica Hurst, Heather Thatcher, Jon Pertwee, and William Hartnell. It was written by Vernon Sylvaine based on his 1950 play Will Any Gentleman...?. It was the first of five movies Anderson made for ABPC and was reasonably successful at the box office.

<i>Crazy Joe</i> (film) 1974 film by Carlo Lizzani

Crazy Joe is a 1974 crime film directed by Carlo Lizzani and produced by Dino De Laurentiis. The Italian-American co-production is a fictionalized account of the murder of Joseph "Crazy Joe" Gallo, a mobster who was gunned down on April 7, 1972, at a restaurant in Little Italy. The screenplay by Lewis John Carlino is based on a series of articles by journalist Nicholas Gage. The film stars Peter Boyle in the title role, with Paula Prentiss, Fred Williamson, Rip Torn, Luther Adler, Henry Winkler and Eli Wallach.

Hollywood to Dollywood is an American documentary film that played at 60 film festivals in the U.S., Canada, Scotland, and Australia in 2011 and 2012. Directed by John Lavin, the film follows the cross-country journey of identical twins Gary and Larry Lane to deliver to Dolly Parton a screenplay they wrote, which includes a role for her. Hollywood to Dollywood has won 24 film festival awards and includes 17 Parton songs, two of which were previously unreleased. The film had a one-week theatrical release in New York beginning August 31, 2012, followed a week later in Los Angeles.

First Love, Last Rites is a 1997 American romantic drama film directed by Jesse Peretz and starring Natasha Gregson Wagner and Giovanni Ribisi. It is based on the short story of the same name by Ian McEwan and centers on the passionate love affair between a young couple over one Louisiana summer.

References

  1. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0104201/
  2. D'Arc, James V. (2010). When Hollywood came to town: a history of moviemaking in Utah (1st ed.). Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith. ISBN   9781423605874.
  3. Holden, Stephen (September 8, 1993). "Equinox: Reflections and Envy in Good Twin, Bad Twin". The New York Times . Retrieved September 15, 2010.