Flowers for Algernon (film)

Last updated
Flowers for Algernon
Flowers for Algernon (film poster).jpg
Film poster
Based on Flowers for Algernon
by Daniel Keyes
Screenplay by John Pielmeier
Directed by Jeff Bleckner
Starring Matthew Modine
Theme music composerMark Adler
Country of originUnited States
Canada
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducerMark Winemaker
CinematographyMichael Fash
EditorGeoffrey Rowland
Running time91 minutes
Production companies Alliance Atlantis Communications
Citadel Entertainment
Storyline Entertainment
Original release
Network CBS
ReleaseFebruary 20, 2000 (2000-02-20)

Flowers for Algernon is a 2000 American-Canadian television film written by John Pielmeier, directed by Jeff Bleckner and starring Matthew Modine. [1] It is the second screen adaptation of Daniel Keyes' 1966 novel of the same name following the 1968 film Charly . [2]

Contents

Plot

Charlie Gordon is a mentally disabled young man who is a part-time baker. Alice, the teacher at the special school that he attends, suggests he undergo an operation to increase his intelligence. In one pre-treatment tests, Charlie sees how a mouse named Algernon manages to get out of an elaborated maze—something that he has not been able to do.

After surgery, Charlie's intellectual abilities improve dramatically. He realizes that until then many people have made fun of him because of his "differentness". Doctor Strauss, who treats Charlie, asks him to accompany him to a surgery conference. Strauss's speech shocks Charlie, who gives a very harsh speech towards the scientist and prophesies, based on the results obtained with a similar experiment by a Russian researcher, that he could soon return to the previous level; Charlie then causes panic by releasing some mice into the classroom.

Back home, Dr. Strauss confesses that he knows the results of the Russian experiments; as if that was not enough, Algernon starts feeling ill. Charlie decides to use the little time that is left for him to try to find a solution to the problem. He realizes that he was wrong to focus everything on the rational part of him and goes to visit his mother, with whom he had severed all relationships many years ago.

Algernon dies in the hands of Charlie, who secretly buries him to prevent him from being dissected. He goes back to the bakery. Saying goodbye to Alice, who is in love with him, heartbroken at how the situation has evolved, he asks her to bring flowers to Algernon's grave.

Cast

Production

The film was shot in Toronto. [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Wall Street</i> (1987 film) 1987 American drama film by Oliver Stone

Wall Street is a 1987 American crime drama film, directed and co-written by Oliver Stone, which stars Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Daryl Hannah, and Martin Sheen. The film tells the story of Bud Fox, a young stockbroker who becomes involved with Gordon Gekko (Douglas), a wealthy, unscrupulous corporate raider.

<i>Charly</i> (1968 film) 1968 film by Ralph Nelson

Charly is a 1968 American science fiction drama film directed and produced by Ralph Nelson and written by Stirling Silliphant. It is based on Flowers for Algernon, a science-fiction short story (1958) and subsequent novel (1966) by Daniel Keyes.

<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 1980s, 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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Krige</span> South African actress and producer

Alice Maud Krige is a South African actress and producer. Her big break came in 1981, when she starred as the Gilbert and Sullivan singer Sybil Gordon in the British historical film Chariots of Fire, and as Eva Galli / Alma Mobley in the American supernatural horror film Ghost Story. She received a Laurence Olivier Award for her performance in the West End theatre production of Arms and the Man (1981) and later joined the Royal Shakespeare Company.

<i>Fluke</i> (film) 1995 film by Carlo Carlei

Fluke is a 1995 American fantasy drama film directed by Carlo Carlei from a screenplay by Carlei and James Carrington, based on the 1977 novel of the same name by James Herbert. It stars Matthew Modine as a self-centered businessman who is reincarnated as a dog and attempts to reconnect with his family. Nancy Travis, Eric Stoltz, Jon Polito, Max Pomeranc, and Samuel L. Jackson appear in supporting roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Keyes</span> American author

Daniel Keyes was an American writer who wrote the novel Flowers for Algernon. Keyes was given the Author Emeritus honor by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2000.

Sleep-learning or sleep-teaching is an attempt to convey information to a sleeping person, typically by playing a sound recording to them while they sleep. Although sleep is considered an important period for memory consolidation, scientific research has concluded that sleep-learning is not possible. It appears frequently in fiction.

<i>Gabriel Over the White House</i> 1933 film

Gabriel Over the White House is a 1933 American pre-Code political fantasy film starring Walter Huston as a genial but politically corrupt U.S. President who has a near-fatal automobile accident and comes under divine influence—specifically the Archangel Gabriel and the spirit of Abraham Lincoln. Eventually he takes control of the government, solves the problems of the nation, from unemployment to racketeering, and arranges for worldwide peace, before dying of a heart attack.

<i>Transporter 2</i> 2005 French film

Transporter 2 is a 2005 English-language French action film directed by Louis Leterrier and written by Luc Besson & Robert Mark Kamen. It is the sequel to The Transporter (2002) and the second installment in the Transporter franchise, followed by Transporter 3 (2008) and The Transporter Refueled, also called Transporter 4 (2015). It stars Jason Statham as Frank Martin, with Alessandro Gassmann, Amber Valletta, Kate Nauta, François Berléand, Matthew Modine, and Jason Flemyng. In the film, Frank Martin (Statham) is tasked with protecting the young son of politician Jefferson Billings (Modine) from an international drugs cartel.

<i>Alice in Wonderland</i> (1999 film) 1999 television film by Nick Willing

Alice in Wonderland is a 1999 made-for-television film adaptation of Lewis Carroll's books Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871). It was first broadcast on NBC and then shown on British television on Channel 4.

<i>Senseless</i> 1998 film directed by Penelope Spheeris

Senseless is a 1998 American buddy comedy science fiction film directed by Penelope Spheeris and written by Greg Erb and Craig Mazin. The film stars Marlon Wayans and David Spade alongside Matthew Lillard, Brad Dourif, Tamara Taylor, and Rip Torn.

<i>The Browning Version</i> (1994 film) 1994 British film

The Browning Version is a 1994 British drama film directed by Mike Figgis, written by Ronald Harwood, and starring Albert Finney, Greta Scacchi, and Matthew Modine. The film is based on the 1948 stage play of the same name by Terence Rattigan, which was previously adapted for film under the same name in 1951.

Charlie and Algernon is a musical with a book and lyrics by David Rogers and music by Charles Strouse. It is based on the 1966 novel Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. It received its premiere on December 21, 1978, at The Citadel Theater, in Edmonton, Canada.

<i>Firestarter</i> (1984 film) 1984 film by Mark L. Lester

Firestarter is a 1984 American science fiction thriller horror film based on Stephen King's 1980 novel of the same name. The plot concerns a girl who develops pyrokinesis and the secret government agency known as The Shop which seeks to control her. The film was directed by Mark L. Lester, and stars David Keith, Drew Barrymore, Martin Sheen and George C. Scott. Firestarter was shot in and around Wilmington, Chimney Rock, and Lake Lure, North Carolina.

<i>Flowers for Algernon</i> 1959 short story and 1966 novel by Daniel Keyes

Flowers for Algernon is a short story by American author Daniel Keyes, which he later expanded into a novel and adapted for film and other media. The short story, written in 1958 and first published in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1960. The novel was published in 1966 and was joint winner of that year's Nebula Award for Best Novel.

<i>The Love-Ins</i> 1967 film by Arthur Dreifuss

The Love-Ins is a 1967 American counterculture-era exploitation movie about LSD that was directed by Arthur Dreifuss.

<i>Funky Monkey</i> (film) 2004 American film

Funky Monkey is a 2004 family comedy film starring Matthew Modine, Seth Adkins and Roma Downey. It is written by Lance Kinsey and Peter Nelson. It is directed by Harry Basil. The plot centers around boy genius, Michael Dean (Adkins), who teams up with a super-talented chimpanzee and his caretaker (Modine) to take down an animal testing lab.

<i>Kettle of Fish</i> (film) 2006 American film

Kettle of Fish is a 2006 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Claudia Myers and starring Matthew Modine and Gina Gershon.

<i>Breaking News in Yuba County</i> 2021 American film

Breaking News in Yuba County is a 2021 American black comedy thriller film directed and co-produced by Tate Taylor, from a screenplay written by Amanda Idoko. The film stars an ensemble cast that includes Allison Janney, Mila Kunis, Awkwafina, Regina Hall, Wanda Sykes, Juliette Lewis, Samira Wiley, Jimmi Simpson, Clifton Collins Jr., Bridget Everett, Dominic Burgess, Keong Sim, Chris Lowell, Matthew Modine and Ellen Barkin.

References

  1. Linan, Steve (19 February 2000). "Pathos Dilutes the Power of 'Flowers for Algernon'". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  2. Shales, Tom (20 February 2000). "'Algernon': Of Mouse And Man". The Washington Post . Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  3. Zahed, Ramin (17 February 2000). "Flowers for Algernon". Variety . Retrieved 1 July 2018.