Frownland (film)

Last updated
Frownland
Frownland.jpg
Promotional poster
Directed by Ronald Bronstein
Story byRonald Bronstein
Produced byMarc Raybin
StarringDore Mann
Cinematography Sean Price Williams
Edited byRonald Bronstein
Release dates
  • March 9, 2007 (2007-03-09)(SXSW)
  • March 7, 2008 (2008-03-07)(United States)
Running time
106 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Frownland is a 2007 American independent film written and directed by Ronald Bronstein. It stars Dore Mann as Keith, a self-described "troll", who sweats and stutters his way through his job as a door-to-door salesman, dubiously selling coupons to assist people affected by multiple sclerosis. The film is populated by a cast of characters as dysfunctional and full of neuroses as Keith. The title comes from the song "Frownland" off the album Trout Mask Replica , [1] by Captain Beefheart (who suffered from multiple sclerosis).

Contents

It premiered at South by Southwest in 2007, where it won the Special Jury Prize, [2] and was self-distributed in New York City on March 7, 2008. [3]

Plot summary

The story centers on Keith (Dore Mann), a socially challenged yet self-aware and lonely young man in his late 20s, to get through his days and nights. He is a chain-smoker, a shabby dresser, sleeps in the kitchen of his cramped 2 room New York apartment, and makes his living as a door-to-door salesman for dubious coupon booklets. His girlfriend, Laura (Mary Wall), arrives sobbing at his tiny room, sleeps with her face to the wall, sticks him with a push-pin. His flatmate, Charles (Paul Grimstad), agrees to pay the electric bill but doesn't, and verbally abuses him. His "friend" Sandy (David Sandholm) doesn't want Keith to visit and once tricks him into leaving and the other time forces him to.

The film details Keith's ineptitude to the daily life in a span of a few days. "It is full throttle all the way with insecurity, needfulness, loneliness, mistrust, desperation, self-hate, apology and despair." [4]

Cast

Awards

Frownland Special Jury Award at the important SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas and Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You at the Gotham Awards in 2007. [6] [7]

Release

Frownland opened on March 7, 2008, at the IFC Center in New York City, where it was introduced by Lodge Kerrigan, who had previously seen the film at the Maryland Film Festival. [8]

Richard Brody of the New Yorker highly praises the film: " This amazingly accomplished first feature by Ronald Bronstein, made with a crew of four on a scant budget, throbs with energy and vision.... Mann, a distant cousin of Bronstein’s, delivers a transfixing performance; his clenched jaws, squinting eyes, and stifled speech avoid all stereotypes as he brings the character to life from within." [9] Roger Ebert gives the film 3.5 stars out of 4, saying "It centers on an extraordinary performance that plays like an unceasing panic attack. To call it uncompromising is to wish for a better word.... It is full throttle all the way with insecurity, needfulness, loneliness, mistrust, desperation, self-hate, apology and despair." [4]

Home media

The film was released on DVD by Factory 25 on September 29, 2009. [10] The film was released as part of the Criterion Collection in August 2022.

Related Research Articles

<i>Beautiful Girls</i> (film) 1996 film directed by Ted Demme

Beautiful Girls is a 1996 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Ted Demme and written by Scott Rosenberg. Its story follows New York jazz pianist Willie Conway, as he heads back to his hometown of Knight's Ridge, Massachusetts for his high school reunion, where he finds his friends evaluating their lives and relationships. It stars Matt Dillon, Noah Emmerich, Lauren Holly, Timothy Hutton, Rosie O'Donnell, Martha Plimpton, Natalie Portman, Michael Rapaport, Mira Sorvino and Uma Thurman.

<i>Casablanca</i> (film) 1942 American romance film

Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid. Filmed and set during World War II, it focuses on an American expatriate (Bogart) who must choose between his love for a woman (Bergman) and helping her husband (Henreid), a Czechoslovak resistance leader, escape from the Vichy-controlled city of Casablanca to continue his fight against the Germans. The screenplay is based on Everybody Comes to Rick's, an unproduced stage play by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison. The supporting cast features Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Dooley Wilson.

<i>Magnolia</i> (film) 1999 film by Paul Thomas Anderson

Magnolia is a 1999 American drama film written, directed and co-produced by Paul Thomas Anderson. It stars an ensemble cast, including Jeremy Blackman, Tom Cruise, Melinda Dillon, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ricky Jay, William H. Macy, Alfred Molina, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, Jason Robards and Melora Walters. The film is an epic mosaic of interrelated characters in search of happiness, forgiveness and meaning in the San Fernando Valley. The script was inspired by the music of Aimee Mann, who contributed several songs to its soundtrack.

<i>Charlies Angels: Full Throttle</i> 2003 American film by McG

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle is a 2003 American action comedy film directed by McG and written by John August, and Cormac and Marianne Wibberley. It is the sequel to 2000's Charlie's Angels and the second installment in the Charlie's Angels film series, which is a continuation of the story that began with the television series of the same name by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts.

<i>The Brown Bunny</i> 2003 film directed by Vincent Gallo

The Brown Bunny is a 2003 film written, directed, produced, photographed and edited by Vincent Gallo. Starring Gallo and Chloë Sevigny, it tells the story of a motorcycle racer on a cross-country drive who is haunted by memories of his former lover. It was photographed with handheld 16 mm cameras in various locations throughout the United States, including New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Ohio, Missouri, Utah, Nevada, and California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Caan</span> American actor (1940–2022)

James Edmund Caan was an American actor. He came to prominence playing Sonny Corleone in The Godfather (1972) – a performance that earned him Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor. He reprised his role in The Godfather Part II (1974). He received a motion-picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1978.

<i>The Heartbreak Kid</i> (1972 film) 1972 film by Elaine May

The Heartbreak Kid is a 1972 American romantic black comedy film directed by Elaine May and written by Neil Simon, starring Charles Grodin, Cybill Shepherd, Jeannie Berlin, Audra Lindley, Eddie Albert, and Doris Roberts. It is based on the short story "A Change of Plan", written by Bruce Jay Friedman and first published in Esquire in 1966.

<i>Secret Ceremony</i> 1968 British film by Joseph Losey

Secret Ceremony is a 1968 British drama-thriller film directed by Joseph Losey and starring Elizabeth Taylor, Mia Farrow and Robert Mitchum.

Ronald Mann is a Canadian documentary film director.

<i>Apocalypse Now Redux</i> 2001 extended version of Apocalypse Now directed by Francis Ford Coppola

Apocalypse Now Redux is a 2001 American extended version of Francis Ford Coppola's epic 1979 war film Apocalypse Now. Coppola, along with editor and longtime collaborator Walter Murch, added 49 minutes of material that had been removed from the initial theatrical release. It is a significant re-edit of the original version.

<i>Clean and Sober</i> 1988 film directed by Glenn Gordon Caron

Clean and Sober is a 1988 American drama film directed by Glenn Gordon Caron and starring Michael Keaton as a real estate agent struggling with a substance abuse problem. This film was Keaton's first dramatic departure from comedies. The supporting cast includes Kathy Baker, M. Emmet Walsh, Morgan Freeman, Luca Bercovici and Tate Donovan.

<i>Rosewood</i> (film) 1997 film directed by John Singleton

Rosewood is a 1997 American historical drama film directed by John Singleton, inspired by the 1923 Rosewood massacre in Florida, when a white mob killed black people and destroyed their town. In a major change, it stars Ving Rhames as an outsider who comes into Rosewood and inspires residents to self-defense, wielding his pistols in a fight. The supporting cast includes Don Cheadle as Sylvester Carrier, a resident who was a witness, defender of his family and victim of the riot; and Jon Voight as John Wright, a sympathetic white store owner who lives in Rosewood. The three characters become entangled in an attempt to save people from racist White people attacking the Black residents of Rosewood.

<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, 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>The Lonely Guy</i> 1984 film by Arthur Hiller

The Lonely Guy is a 1984 American romantic comedy film directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Steve Martin. The screenplay is credited to Ed. Weinberger and Stan Daniels as well as Neil Simon, and is based on the 1978 book The Lonely Guy's Book of Life by Bruce Jay Friedman.

<i>Man Push Cart</i> 2005 American film

Man Push Cart is a 2005 American independent film by Ramin Bahrani that tells the story of a former Pakistani rock star who sells coffee and bagels from his pushcart on the streets of Manhattan.

<i>Needful Things</i> (film) 1993 film by Fraser Clarke Heston

Needful Things is a 1993 American horror film based on Stephen King's 1991 novel of the same name. The film was directed by Fraser C. Heston, and stars Ed Harris, Max von Sydow, Bonnie Bedelia, and J. T. Walsh. The film received mixed reviews, critics praised the performances and ending, but criticized its portrayal of its story and felt it inferior to its source material.

Daddy Longlegs is a 2009 American comedy-drama film directed by Josh and Benny Safdie. It stars Ronald Bronstein, Sage Ranaldo, and Frey Ranaldo. It tells the story of a divorced projectionist and his two sons. The film had its world premiere under the title Go Get Some Rosemary in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 2009. It was released in the United States on May 14, 2010.

<i>Jack Goes Boating</i> 2010 film by Philip Seymour Hoffman

Jack Goes Boating is a 2010 American romantic drama film directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman and stars Hoffman in the title role, as well as Amy Ryan, John Ortiz and Daphne Rubin-Vega. The film's script was written by Robert Glaudini, based on his 2007 play Jack Goes Boating. The film's cast was mostly the same as that of the play's premiere at The Public Theater, although Amy Ryan replaced Beth Cole. The film was produced by Overture Films and Relativity Media. It premiered at the 26th Sundance Film Festival and was later released in the United States on September 17, 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Will Smith filmography</span>

Will Smith is an American actor, rapper and film producer. His breakthrough came when he played a fictionalised version of himself in the 1990s television sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The role brought him international recognition and two Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy. He also served as an executive producer on 24 episodes of the series. Two years later, Smith made his film debut in the drama Where the Day Takes You, where he appeared as a disabled homeless man. In 1995, he starred as a police officer with Martin Lawrence in Michael Bay's Bad Boys. The following year, Smith appeared as a Marine Corps pilot with Jeff Goldblum in Roland Emmerich's science fiction film Independence Day. The film grossed over $817 million at the worldwide box office and was the highest grossing of 1996. In 1997, he starred as Agent J in the science fiction film Men in Black, a role he reprised in its sequels Men in Black II (2002) and Men in Black 3 (2012).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Willis filmography</span>

American actor Bruce Willis began his career in 1980 with an uncredited role in The First Deadly Sin. After guest-starring in a 1984 episode of Miami Vice, he appeared in the first episode of the 1985 revival of The Twilight Zone. Willis achieved fame starring in the ABC comedy-drama series Moonlighting (1985–1989), for which he received three Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy and two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. In 1988, he starred as John McClane in Die Hard (1988), a film that spawned four sequels that earned him international recognition as an action hero.

References

  1. Schwartz, Dennis (February 11, 2011). "Lynch's Eraserhead has nothing on this head-trip pic when it comes to weirdness". Ozus' World Movie Reviews. Retrieved July 4, 2011.
  2. Macaulay, Scott (March 18, 2007). "Juror Notes (Smiling on Frownland)". Filmmaker . Retrieved July 4, 2011.
  3. Tsai, Martin (March 7, 2008). "Turning That Smile Upside Down". The New York Sun . Retrieved July 4, 2011.
  4. 1 2 Ebert, Roger. "Frownland movie review & film summary (2008) | Roger Ebert". www.rogerebert.com/. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  5. Slant magazine interview with Bronstein
  6. Guerrasio, Jason (August 29, 2007). "Bleak Moments by David Lowery". Filmmaker . Retrieved July 4, 2011.
  7. Frownland - IMDb , retrieved 2022-11-30
  8. Bennett, Bruce (September 5, 2007). "Scratching at a City of Strangers". The New York Sun . Retrieved July 4, 2011.
  9. "Frownland". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  10. "Frownland". Factory 25. Retrieved July 4, 2011.