Kodachrome | |
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Directed by | Mark Raso |
Written by | Jonathan Tropper |
Based on | "For Kodachrome Fans, Road Ends at Photo Lab in Kansas" by A.G. Sulzberger |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Alan Poon |
Edited by | Geoff Ashenhurst |
Music by | Agatha Kaspar |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Netflix |
Release dates |
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Running time | 100 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Kodachrome is a 2017 American comedy-drama film directed by Mark Raso and written by Jonathan Tropper, based on a 2010 New York Times article by A.G. Sulzberger. It stars Ed Harris, Jason Sudeikis, Elizabeth Olsen, Bruce Greenwood, Wendy Crewson, and Dennis Haysbert. The film had its world premiere at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2017, and was released on April 20, 2018, by Netflix.
In late 2010, Matt Ryder is a A&R representative at a Manhattan record label who is in danger of losing his job after his company's biggest client signs with another label. He is estranged from his father Ben, a famous photographer. Ben's assistant and nurse Zooey informs Matt that Ben is terminally ill with liver cancer. Though they have not spoken in over ten years, Ben has requested that Matt drive him to Dwayne's Photo in Parsons, Kansas, the last shop that develops Kodachrome film. Ben has several rolls he wants to have processed before he dies, and Dwayne's will stop in the near future because Kodak no longer makes the required dyes.
Ben's manager Larry persuades Matt to go by arranging a meeting between Matt and the Spare Sevens, a band he has been trying to sign. Matt, Ben and Zooey start the journey, and Ben insists on taking back roads so he can take photos and enjoy the scenery. In Ohio, the group visits Ben's brother Dean and Dean's wife Sarah, who were Matt's surrogate parents following his mother's death. Zooey and Matt bond over Matt's old music collection, and later a drunk Matt leans in to kiss her, but falls off the bed. He sleeps on the floor, and they share stories of their failed marriages. The next morning, Zooey is awakened by Ben, who has fallen in the bathroom and needs help to stand. Ben irritates Dean and Sarah at breakfast by mentioning that he and Sarah once had a sexual relationship. Sarah explains that it was before she and Dean dated, which does little to assuage Dean's anger.
In Chicago, Matt makes his pitch to the Spare Sevens, and follows his father's advice not to tell the band how great they are, but to point out what they are doing wrong and why they need Matt to fix it. Lead singer Jasper and the other members admire Matt's nerve and begin to agree to the outlines of a deal, but start to mock Ben when he accidentally urinates on himself. Though it will probably cost him his job, Matt tells them he does not respect them and leaves the meeting to check on his father.
At their hotel, Ben expresses disappointment that Matt did not close the deal. Zooey points out that Matt made a career-ending decision to defend his father, which leads to Ben firing her. Zooey joins Matt at a bar, where he receives several texts from his boss confirming that he has been fired. They continue to drink, then spend the night together. The next morning, Zooey calls her night with Matt a mistake and returns to New York. Matt receives no answer at Ben's door and has hotel staff open it. Ben is unconscious on the floor, and Matt has him rushed to the hospital. The doctor tells Matt that Ben's cancer can no longer be treated, he cannot travel, and he should be placed in hospice care. That night, Ben struggles to load film into a camera, eliciting Matt's help. Through tears, Ben tells Matt that he does not expect forgiveness for his shortcomings as a father, but that he loves him. Matt and Ben embrace.
The next day, Matt and Ben leave the hospital to finish the trip to Parsons, which will require driving nonstop overnight to make it to the photo lab in time. They drop off Ben's film at Dwayne's, where Ben is recognized by several patrons, most of whom are well-known photographers. Several ask to have photos taken with Ben, giving Matt insight into his father's influence and legacy. In their hotel room, Ben is cleaning his camera when he dies. Larry arrives to make funeral arrangements and Dwayne delivers the developed photos. Matt offers them to Larry, but Larry refuses, saying Ben's wish was for Matt to curate them for a showing. At Ben's home, Matt loads the photo slides into a projector and is surprised to see dozens of pictures of himself as a boy, many with his deceased mother, and some with his father. Zooey arrives and asks if he would like company, then they stand together as they view Ben's slides.
The film is based on the December 29, 2010 New York Times article "For Kodachrome Fans, Road Ends at Photo Lab in Kansas", by A.G. Sulzberger. [1] [2] Filming began in Toronto on August 28, 2016. [3] Filming also took place in Shelburne, Ontario, which was used to portray Parsons, Kansas. [4] Cinematographer Alan Poon shot the film on Kodak 35 mm film. [5]
Kodachrome premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2017. Shortly after, Netflix acquired the film's distribution rights in North America, the United Kingdom, Italy, Benelux, Japan, India, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Iceland for $4 million. [1] The film was released on April 20, 2018. [6]
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 71% based on 49 reviews, with a weighted average of 6.24/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Kodachrome gains richer hues due to Ed Harris' colorful performance, which is enough to enliven a solid if predictable father-son road trip drama." [7] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 57 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [8]
The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak, is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated in New Jersey. It is best known for photographic film products, which it brought to a mass market for the first time.
The following list comprises significant milestones in the development of photography technology.
Parsons is a city in Labette County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 9,600. It is the most populous city of Labette County, and the second-most populous city in the southeastern region of Kansas. It is home to Labette Community College and the Parsons State Hospital & Training Center.
Kodachrome is the brand name for a color reversal film introduced by Eastman Kodak in 1935. It was one of the first successful color materials and was used for both cinematography and still photography. For many years, Kodachrome was widely used for professional color photography, especially for images intended for publication in print media.
Dennis Dexter Haysbert is an American actor. He is known for his roles as baseball player Pedro Cerrano in the Major League film trilogy, Secret Service agent Tim Collin in the political thriller film Absolute Power, Sergeant Major Jonas Blane on the CBS military action drama series The Unit, God on the Netflix show Lucifer, and President David Palmer on the first five seasons of 24. He has also appeared in the films Love Field, Heat, Waiting to Exhale, and Far from Heaven, as well as the science fiction series Incorporated.
Ektachrome is a brand name owned by Kodak for a range of transparency, still and motion picture films previously available in many formats, including 35 mm and sheet sizes to 11 × 14 inch size. Ektachrome has a distinctive look that became familiar to many readers of National Geographic, which used it extensively for color photographs for decades in settings where Kodachrome was too slow. In terms of reciprocity characteristics, Ektachrome is stable at shutter speeds between ten seconds and 1/10,000 of a second.
Daniel Jason Sudeikis is an American actor, comedian and screenwriter. In the 1990s, he began his career in improv comedy and performed with ComedySportz, iO Chicago, and The Second City. In 2003, Sudeikis was hired as a writer for the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live, and later spent nine seasons as a cast member from 2005 to 2013, playing Joe Biden and Mitt Romney, among others.
Rawson Marshall Thurber is an American filmmaker and actor.
Steven Michael Robert Howey is an American film and television actor. He is known for his roles as Van Montgomery on The WB/The CW sitcom television series Reba and as Kevin Ball on the Showtime series Shameless. Howey has also appeared in the films Supercross, DOA: Dead or Alive, Bride Wars, Game Over, Man!, Day Shift and Something Borrowed.
K-14 was the most recent version of the developing process for Kodak's Kodachrome transparency film before its discontinuation. It superseded previous versions of the Kodachrome process used with older films.
Leopold Damrosch Mannes was an American musician, who, together with Leopold Godowsky Jr., created the first practical color transparency film, Kodachrome.
I Love You, Man is a 2009 American bromantic comedy film written and directed by John Hamburg, based on a script by Larry Levin. The film stars Paul Rudd as a friendless man looking for a best man for his upcoming wedding. However, his new best friend is straining his relationship with his bride.
Jonathan Tropper is an American screenwriter, novelist, and producer. He is the author of six novels. He is the co-creator and executive producer of the Cinemax television series Banshee (2013–2016) and the creator of the Cinemax television series Warrior (2019–2023).
Dwayne's Photo is a film processing facility in Parsons, Kansas founded in 1956. It processes film, slides and certain movie films, and offers photo services.
Susan Hacker Stang is an American photographer, author, and educator.
Rampage is a 2018 American science fiction monster film directed by Brad Peyton and loosely based on the video game series of the same name by Midway Games, from a screenplay by Ryan Engle, Carlton Cuse, Ryan J. Condal and Adam Sztykiel. The film stars Dwayne Johnson in the lead role, Naomie Harris, Malin Akerman, Jake Lacy, Joe Manganiello and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. It follows a primatologist who must team up with George, a leucistic western lowland gorilla who turns into a raging creature of enormous size and growing into bigger and larger sizes as a result of a rogue experiment, to stop two other mutated animals from destroying Chicago.
Mark Raso is a Canadian narrative filmmaker and co-owner of the production company Fidelio Films. He is best known for writing and directing the feature-length film Copenhagen in 2014, directing Kodachrome starring Ed Harris, Jason Sudeikis and Elizabeth Olsen, and the Netflix original sci-fi film Awake in 2021, which was number one worldwide on the platform when it was released and his Student Academy Award–winning short film Under in 2012. His work has won numerous awards and has been seen by audiences worldwide.
Arthur Gregg Sulzberger is an American journalist serving as the chairman of The New York Times Company and publisher of its flagship newspaper, The New York Times.
Father of the Year is a 2018 American comedy film directed by Tyler Spindel. The film stars David Spade, Nat Faxon, Joey Bragg, Matt Shively, Elliot and Giana Storey, and Bridgit Mendler.