Finding Amanda

Last updated
Finding Amanda
Finding amanda.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Peter Tolan
Written byPeter Tolan
Produced byWayne Rice
Richard Heller
Starring Brittany Snow
Peter Facinelli
Matthew Broderick
Daniel Roebuck
CinematographyTom Houghton
Edited byPaul Anderson
Music byChristopher Tying
Production
companies
Capacity Pictures
MJ Films
Distributed by Magnolia Pictures
Release date
  • June 27, 2008 (2008-06-27)
Running time
96 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$77,410 [1]

Finding Amanda is a 2008 comedy-drama film directed by Peter Tolan and starring Matthew Broderick and Brittany Snow.

Contents

The plot revolves around a television producer with a penchant for drinking and gambling, who is sent to Las Vegas to convince his troubled niece to enter rehabilitation. [2]

It was filmed in California over a three-month period.

Plot

Working as a television writer for a low-rated sitcom, Those McAllisters, Taylor Peters has developed a few vices, such as drinking, drug abuse and compulsive gambling, which have previously damaged his career to the extent that he takes sessions with an analyst only to prove to his wife Lorraine that he is seeking treatment.

Adding to Taylor's stressful home life is the discovery that their 20-year-old niece Amanda has run away from home to Las Vegas to work as a prostitute. Although he writes a good comic scene for his lead actor Ed Begley Jr., Taylor still has the need to run off to the track to play the horses. When his wife discovers it and threatens him with divorce, Taylor agrees to go find Amanda and try to get her into a rehab community in Malibu.

Taylor goes to Las Vegas and locates Amanda and realizes that, even though she is involved in a dangerous profession, she has accumulated wealth and retained a relatively refined attitude about life. During the rescue, Taylor's drinking and drug addiction returns and his relationship with his wife crumbles, but he learns a large lesson about life and bonds with Amanda, entreating her to make some positive choice about her own life.

Cast

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 40% rank based on 43 reviews, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The site's critic's consensus states: "Despite a charming turn by Matthew Broderick, Finding Amanda is too flimsily executed to succeed as a dark comedy". [3] On Metacritic, Finding Amanda has a score of 51 out of a 100 based on 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [4]

Ronnie Scheib of Variety wrote, "Matthew Broderick regains his cinematic stride as a morosely wise-cracking television producer on the skids, ably abetted by Maura Tierney as his much-put-upon wife and Brittany Snow as his perky prostitute niece". [5]

Mark Olsen of Los Angeles Times said, "Written with more bite, the premise might hold up, but as executed here by Tolan, is a soft-hearted, haphazard mess". [6] Olsen added, "The problem comes largely in the conception of the hooker-niece character, Amanda, played by Brittany Snow. Tolan never quite figures out whether she is supposed to be a variation on the hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold or a genuinely troubled teen. One minute she’s blithely talking of her work as if it’s no big deal (in language unsuitable for a family newspaper), the next the character has taken a turn for melodrama, describing her first trick as a devastating emotional turning point." [6]

Mick LaSalle of San Francisco Chronicle wrote that "Finding Amanda has some of the good and a lot of the bad aspects of a first film written and directed by the same person". [7] Slant Magazine 's Nick Schager called the film a "clumsy mashup of Leaving Las Vegas and Hardcore ", [8] while Cynthia Fuchs of PopMatters mentioned that "Too much of Peter Tolan's movie takes up Taylor's self-absorption as if it's actually interesting". [9]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave a mixed review in which he praised the performances of Broderick and Coogan, but said the character of Amanda felt underwritten. [10] He opined the film feels like "two [different] films fighting to occupy the same space", and said if the first storyline, which is about Taylor, his addictions, and casino host Jerry, was more developed than the plot line involving Amanda and her boyfriend, it would have made for a tonally better film. [10]

In a positive review, Stephen Holden of The New York Times called Finding Amanda a "viciously funny satire…[that] offers a vision of confused Americans losing their already shaky bearings in the world's gaudiest honky-tonk". [11]

Related Research Articles

<i>Leaving Las Vegas</i> 1995 film by Mike Figgis

Leaving Las Vegas is a 1995 American drama film written and directed by Mike Figgis and based on the semi-autobiographical 1990 novel of the same name by John O'Brien. Nicolas Cage stars as a suicidal alcoholic in Los Angeles who, having lost his family and been recently fired, has decided to move to Las Vegas and drink himself to death. He loads a supply of liquor and beer into his BMW and gets drunk as he drives from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Once there, he develops a romantic relationship with a prostitute played by Elisabeth Shue and the film shifts to include her narrative perspective. O'Brien died from suicide after signing away the film rights to the novel.

<i>Bugsy</i> 1991 biographical film by Barry Levinson

Bugsy is a 1991 American biographical crime drama film directed by Barry Levinson and written by James Toback. The film stars Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Harvey Keitel, Ben Kingsley, Elliott Gould, Bebe Neuwirth, and Joe Mantegna. It is based on the life of American mobster Bugsy Siegel and his affair with starlet Virginia Hill.

<i>Fools Rush In</i> (1997 film) 1997 film by Andy Tennant

Fools Rush In is a 1997 American romantic comedy film starring Matthew Perry and Salma Hayek, directed by Andy Tennant.

Las Vegas is an American comedy-drama television series created by Gary Scott Thompson. It was broadcast by NBC from September 22, 2003, to February 15, 2008, airing for five seasons. It focuses on a team of people working at the Montecito, a fictional hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip. The employees deal with various issues that arise within the working environment, ranging from casino security to restaurant management and valet parking. Las Vegas starred James Caan, Josh Duhamel, Nikki Cox, James Lesure, Vanessa Marcil, Molly Sims, Marsha Thomason, and eventually Tom Selleck. The series originally centered on Ed Deline (Caan), a strict ex-CIA officer who serves as the president of operations for the Montecito. Former Marine Counterintelligence/HUMINT (CI/HUMINT) officer, Danny McCoy (Duhamel), who is Ed's protégé, later becomes the Montecito's new president.

<i>Good Boy!</i> 2003 film by John Robert Hoffman

Good Boy! is a 2003 American science fiction comedy film directed by John Hoffman, based on the book Dogs from Outer Space by Zeke Richardson; Hoffman and Richardson collaborated on the screen story, while Hoffman wrote the screenplay. The film stars Liam Aiken as Owen Baker, as well as the voices of Matthew Broderick, Delta Burke, Donald Faison, Brittany Murphy, Carl Reiner, Vanessa Redgrave, and Cheech Marin as the abundant dog characters in the film.

<i>Hard Eight</i> (film) 1996 film by Paul Thomas Anderson

Hard Eight is a 1996 American crime film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson in his feature directorial debut, and starring Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow and Samuel L. Jackson. It is the expansion of the short film Cigarettes & Coffee. The film follows the life of a senior gambler and a homeless man. It premiered at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival.

<i>Election</i> (1999 film) 1999 film by Alexander Payne

Election is a 1999 American black comedy film directed by Alexander Payne from a screenplay by Payne and Jim Taylor, based on Tom Perrotta's 1998 novel of the same name.

<i>Indecent Proposal</i> 1993 American drama film by Adrian Lyne

Indecent Proposal is a 1993 American erotic drama film directed by Adrian Lyne and written by Amy Holden Jones. It is based on the 1988 novel by Jack Engelhard, in which a couple's marriage is disrupted by a stranger's offer of a million dollars for the wife to spend the night with him. It stars Robert Redford, Demi Moore, and Woody Harrelson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amanda Peet</span> American actress (born 1972)

Amanda Peet is an American actress. She began her career with small parts on television before making her feature film debut in Animal Room (1995). Her portrayal of Jill St. Claire in The Whole Nine Yards (2000) brought her wider recognition, and she has since appeared in a variety of films, such as Saving Silverman (2001), High Crimes, Changing Lanes, Igby Goes Down, Something's Gotta Give, Identity, Melinda and Melinda (2004), A Lot like Love, Syriana, The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008), 2012 (2009), Gulliver's Travels (2010), Identity Thief, and The Way, Way Back.

<i>Two for the Money</i> (2005 film) 2005 film

Two for the Money is a 2005 American sports-drama film directed by D. J. Caruso and starring Al Pacino, Matthew McConaughey, Rene Russo, Armand Assante, and Carly Pope. The film is about the world of sports gambling. It was released on October 7, 2005. This was the first Morgan Creek movie distributed by Universal Pictures since Coupe de Ville in 1990.

<i>Oceans Thirteen</i> 2007 film by Steven Soderbergh

Ocean's Thirteen is a 2007 American heist comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien. It is the final installment in the Ocean's film trilogy and the sequel to Ocean's Twelve (2004). The film features an ensemble cast including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy García, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Ellen Barkin, Al Pacino, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Eddie Jemison, Qin Shaobo, Carl Reiner, and Elliott Gould.

<i>The Freshman</i> (1990 film) 1990 film by Andrew Bergman

The Freshman is a 1990 American crime comedy film written and directed by Andrew Bergman, and starring Marlon Brando, Matthew Broderick, Bruno Kirby, Maximilian Schell, Penelope Ann Miller, and Frank Whaley. The plot revolves around a young New York film student's entanglement in an illicit business of offering exotic and endangered animals as specialty food items, including his being tasked with delivering a Komodo dragon for this purpose. The film received positive reviews from critics.

<i>Max Dugan Returns</i> 1983 film by Herbert Ross

Max Dugan Returns is a 1983 American comedy-drama film written by Neil Simon and directed by Herbert Ross. Starring Jason Robards in the title role along with Marsha Mason and Donald Sutherland, it marks the film debuts of both Sutherland's son Kiefer and Matthew Broderick, and is both the last of five Simon-Ross collaborations and the last of Simon's films starring Mason.

<i>Smillas Sense of Snow</i> (film) 1997 mystery thriller film

Smilla's Sense of Snow is a 1997 mystery thriller film directed by Bille August and starring Julia Ormond, Gabriel Byrne, and Richard Harris. Based on the 1992 novel Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Danish author Peter Høeg, the film is about a transplanted Greenlander, Smilla Jaspersen, who investigates the mysterious death of a small Inuit boy who lived in her housing complex in Copenhagen. Suspecting wrongdoing, Smilla uncovers a trail of clues leading towards a secretive corporation that has made several mysterious expeditions to Greenland.

Peter James Tolan III is an American television producer, director, and screenwriter.

<i>Wonderful World</i> (2009 film) 2009 film

Wonderful World is a 2010 dark comedy-drama film written and directed by Joshua Goldin, and starring Matthew Broderick, Sanaa Lathan, Michael K. Williams, Jodelle Ferland, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ally Walker, and Philip Baker Hall. It is Goldin's directorial debut. The story revolves around a misanthropic, former children's folk singer having his life changed after his Senegalese roommate goes into a diabetic coma, and the sister who arrives to take care of him that he falls in love with.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Jessica Parker</span> American actress (born 1965)

Sarah Jessica Parker is an American actress and television producer. In a career spanning over five decades, she has performed across several productions of both screen and stage. Her accolades include six Golden Globe Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2022.

<i>Letters to Juliet</i> 2010 American romantic drama film directed by Gary Winick

Letters to Juliet is a 2010 American romantic comedy-drama film starring Amanda Seyfried, Christopher Egan, Gael García Bernal, Vanessa Redgrave and Franco Nero. This was the final film of director Gary Winick before his death on February 27, 2011. The film was released theatrically in North America and other countries on May 14, 2010. The idea for the film was inspired by the 2006 non-fiction book Letters to Juliet, by Lise Eve Friedman and Ceil Jann Friedman, which chronicles the phenomenon of letter-writing to Shakespeare's most famous romantic character.

<i>Saint John of Las Vegas</i> 2009 American film

Saint John of Las Vegas is a 2009 American comedy-drama film starring Steve Buscemi, Romany Malco, and Sarah Silverman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epic Pictures Group</span>

Epic Pictures Group is an independent film and television studio engaged in the development, financing, production and distribution of film and television. Epic Pictures produces, finances, and distributes approximately twenty-thirty independent genre films a year. In 2013, the company established Epic Pictures Releasing which is its US focused distribution division. In 2017, Epic Pictures acquired the horror website, Dread Central, and launched its unique horror label, Dread, followed by its AVOD channel, DreadTV. In 2019, Epic Pictures started the horror gaming site, DreadXP, with a focus on editorial, reviews, podcasts, and original streaming content. In 2020, DreadXP began a video game publishing division with the launch of The Dread X Collection, an anthology of horror games in collaboration with some developers in the independent gaming space.

References

  1. ↑ "Finding Amanda". The Numbers . Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  2. ↑ Douglas, Edward (June 26, 2008). "Brittany Snow Cast in Finding Amanda". ComingSoon.net . Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  3. ↑ "Finding Amanda (2011)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Finding Amanda (2008)". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  5. ↑ Scheib, Ronnie (May 6, 2008). "Finding Amanda". Variety .
  6. 1 2 Olsen, Mark (June 27, 2008). "'Finding' a motive may help". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  7. ↑ LaSalle, Mick (June 27, 2008). "Movie review: 'Finding Amanda'". San Francisco Chronicle . Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  8. ↑ Schager, Nick (June 19, 2008). "Review: Finding Amanda". Slant Magazine .
  9. ↑ Fuchs, Cynthia (June 27, 2008). "Finding Amanda". PopMatters .
  10. 1 2 Ebert, Roger (June 26, 2008). "She's not there". RogerEbert.com . Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  11. ↑ Holden, Stephen (June 27, 2008). "A Gambler Goes to Sin City in Search of Atonement". The New York Times . Retrieved July 30, 2021.
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.