Sam & Kate

Last updated
Sam & Kate
Sam & Kate film poster.png
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDarren Le Gallo
Written byDarren Le Gallo
Produced by
  • Ben Shields Catlin
  • Orian Williams
  • Ford Corbett
  • Cindy Bru
  • Darren Le Gallo
Starring
Cinematography Robert Yeoman [1]
Production
company
Distributed by Vertical Entertainment
Release date
  • November 11, 2022 (2022-11-11)
Running time
110 mins
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Sam & Kate is a 2022 American comedy film written and directed by Darren Le Gallo, and starring Dustin Hoffman, Sissy Spacek, Jake Hoffman and Schuyler Fisk. It is Le Gallo's feature-film directorial debut, and his wife, Amy Adams, served as an executive producer. Hoffman's real son and Spacek's real daughter play these roles in the film. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Plot

Sam, a regular worker at a chocolate factory, meets Kate, who owns a bookstore. He is intrigued; however, she rebuffs his advances by insisting that she is not dating. Sam is a gifted artist who returned home to take care of Bill, his father. Kate is close with her mother, Tina, who lives on her own and suffers from Diogenes syndrome (in Kate's words, "She is a hoarder").

Kate cannot stand looking at pictures that her mother has found, and leaves sobbing. Bill has health problems, and smokes, drinks and eats red meat, against the advice of his doctor. Kate accepts a cup of coffee with Sam, which they both enjoy, and, after a few get-togethers that involve family and friends, they kiss and spend the night together after skating on New Year's Eve. Bill goes on a date with Tina, after which they return to her house, where he sees the chaos of her hoarding, and leaves abruptly, calling the authorities to alert them. Kate is notified, and must again empty her mother's house.

Sam and others help. In the house, Sam finds pictures of Kate with a baby boy and another man. He mistakenly gives away a box of items that Kate had intended to keep, chiefly mementos of her son. She confesses to Sam that her family had died in a car accident. The subsequent awkwardness keeps the two apart, although Sam is able to return one toy to Kate that had belonged to her son.

One day, Sam comes home to find his father dead in front of the TV. After a few days, he goes to Kate's house to tell her that he has learned so much from his father after going through his things; knowledge that Sam feels he should have had when he was alive. He confesses that he would hate for her not to know how much she means to him; they fall into a warm embrace and kiss.

Kate plays a song for Sam on the piano that she composed about how he gave her life.

Cast

Production

Filming began in Thomasville, Georgia, in February 2022. [5] [6] [7] In April 2022, it was announced that filming wrapped. [8]

Release

In September 2022, it was announced that Vertical Entertainment acquired distribution rights to the film in North America and UK/Ireland. It was released November 11, 2022. [9] It premiered at the Austin Film Festival. [10]

Reception

The film has a 75% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 32 reviews. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dustin Hoffman</span> American actor (born 1937)

Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, four BAFTA Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, and two Primetime Emmy Awards. Hoffman has received numerous honors, including the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1997, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1999, and the Kennedy Center Honors Award in 2012. Actor Robert De Niro has described him as "an actor with the everyman's face who embodied the heartbreakingly human".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sissy Spacek</span> American actress and singer (born 1949)

Mary Elizabeth "Sissy" Spacek is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and nominations for four BAFTA Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Grammy Award. Spacek was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011.

<i>Badlands</i> (film) 1973 American film by Terrence Malick

Badlands is a 1973 American neo-noir period crime drama film written, produced and directed by Terrence Malick, in his directorial debut. The film stars Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek, and follows Holly Sargis (Spacek), a 15-year old who goes on a killing spree with her partner, Kit Carruthers (Sheen). The film also stars Warren Oates and Ramon Bieri. While the story is fictional, it is loosely based on the real-life murder spree of Charles Starkweather and his girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate, in 1958.

<i>Coal Miners Daughter</i> (film) 1980 film by Michael Apted

Coal Miner's Daughter is a 1980 American biographical musical film directed by Michael Apted from a screenplay written by Tom Rickman. It follows the story of country music singer Loretta Lynn from her early teen years in a poor family and getting married at 15 to her rise as one of the most influential country musicians. Based on Lynn's 1976 biography of the same name by George Vecsey, the film stars Sissy Spacek as Lynn. Tommy Lee Jones, Beverly D'Angelo and Levon Helm are featured in supporting roles. Ernest Tubb, Roy Acuff, and Minnie Pearl make cameo appearances as themselves.

<i>Missing</i> (1982 film) 1982 historical drama film

Missing is a 1982 American biographical thriller drama film directed by Costa-Gavras from a screenplay written by Gavras and Donald E. Stewart, adapted from the book The Execution of Charles Horman: An American Sacrifice (1978) by Thomas Hauser, based on the disappearance of American journalist Charles Horman, in the aftermath of the United States-backed Chilean coup of 1973, which deposed the democratically elected socialist President Salvador Allende.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schuyler Fisk</span> American actress and singer-songwriter

Schuyler Elizabeth Fisk is an American actress and singer-songwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Fisk</span> American production designer and film director (born 1945)

Jack Fisk is an American production designer and director.

<i>Carrie</i> (1976 film) 1976 film by Brian De Palma

Carrie is a 1976 American supernatural horror film directed by Brian De Palma from a screenplay written by Lawrence D. Cohen, adapted from Stephen King's 1974 epistolary novel of the same name. The film stars Sissy Spacek as Carrie White, a shy teenage girl who is constantly mocked and bullied at her school. The film also features Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, Nancy Allen, William Katt, P. J. Soles, Betty Buckley, and John Travolta in supporting roles. It is the first film in the Carrie franchise.

<i>Raggedy Man</i> 1981 film by Jack Fisk

Raggedy Man is a 1981 American drama film based on William D. Wittliff and Sara Clark's 1979 novel, and directed by Jack Fisk. It follows a divorced mother and telephone switchboard operator living with her two sons in a small town during World War II. The film was Spacek’s first film after her Academy Award-winning performance in Coal Miner’s Daughter, and was also her first film to be directed by her husband. For this role, Spacek received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama. This was the directorial debut for Fisk, and the film debut for Henry Thomas, who next starred in his breakout role for the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).

<i>Crimes of the Heart</i> (film) 1986 film directed by Bruce Beresford

Crimes of the Heart is a 1986 American black comedy-drama film directed by Bruce Beresford from a screenplay written by Beth Henley adapted from her Pulitzer Prize-winning 1979 play of the same name. It stars Diane Keaton, Jessica Lange, Sissy Spacek, Sam Shepard, Tess Harper, and Hurd Hatfield. The film's narrative follows the Magrath sisters, Babe, Lenny and Meg, who reunite in their family home in Mississippi to regroup and settle their past. Each sister is forced to face the consequences of the "crimes of the heart" she has committed.

<i>The Long Walk Home</i> 1990 film by Richard Pearce

The Long Walk Home is a 1990 American historical drama film starring Sissy Spacek and Whoopi Goldberg, and directed by Richard Pearce.

<i>Lake City</i> (film) 2008 American film

Lake City is a 2008 American drama film directed by Perry Moore and Hunter Hill and starring Sissy Spacek, Troy Garity and Dave Matthews.

<i>Violets Are Blue</i> (1986 film) 1986 film by Jack Fisk

Violets Are Blue is a 1986 American romantic drama film directed by Jack Fisk and starring Sissy Spacek and Kevin Kline. The film was distributed by Columbia Pictures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tina Romero</span> Mexican-American actress (born 1949)

Tina Romero is an American actress. A native of New York City, Romero moved to Mexico in her youth, and later established a career there as an actress. Her early film roles included The Divine Caste (1973) and the title character in the horror film Alucarda (1977). She has also appeared in American films, including Missing (1982), opposite Sissy Spacek and Jack Lemmon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dustin Hoffman filmography</span>

American actor Dustin Hoffman began his career by appearing in an episode of Naked City in 1961. His first theatrical performance was 1961's Shmem needs a shink as Ridzinski. Following several guest appearances on television, he starred in the 1966 play Eh?; his performance garnered him both a Theatre World Award and Drama Desk Award. Hoffman made his film debut in 1967 when he appeared in the comedy The Tiger Makes Out. In the same year, his breakthrough role as Benjamin "Ben" Braddock, the title character in Mike Nichols' comedy-drama The Graduate, led to Hoffman achieving star status and his first Academy Award nomination. He then acted in the play Jimmy Shine as the eponymous character and the comedy film Madigan's Millions. In 1969, he starred alongside Jon Voight in the Academy Award for Best Picture winner Midnight Cowboy, for which Hoffman was nominated a second time for the Academy Award for Best Actor.

<i>Castle Rock</i> (TV series) 2010s American horror TV series

Castle Rock is an American psychological horror television series, featuring and inspired by characters, settings, and themes from the stories created by Stephen King and his fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine. The series was created by Sam Shaw and Dustin Thomason, and premiered on July 25, 2018, on Hulu.

<i>Homecoming</i> (TV series) American psychological thriller television series

Homecoming is an American psychological thriller television series based on the Gimlet Media podcast of the same name. Created by Eli Horowitz and Micah Bloomberg, the series premiered November 2, 2018, on Amazon Prime Video. Horowitz and Bloomberg also serve as writers and executive producers alongside Sam Esmail, Chad Hamilton, Julia Roberts, Alex Blumberg, Matt Lieber, and Chris Giliberti. Esmail also directed every episode of the first season, which stars Roberts, Bobby Cannavale, Stephan James, Shea Whigham, Alex Karpovsky, and Sissy Spacek.

<i>As They Made Us</i> 2022 American film by Mayim Bialik

As They Made Us is a 2022 American drama film written, directed and produced by Mayim Bialik, in her feature directorial debut. The film stars Dianna Agron, Simon Helberg, Candice Bergen, Dustin Hoffman, Julian Gant, Charlie Weber and Justin Chu Cary. The plot follows Abigail (Agron) and the last moments that she and her family spend with her dying father (Hoffman). It was released in theaters and on video on demand by Quiver Distribution on April 8, 2022. It received positive reviews from critics.

<i>The Bubble</i> (2022 film) American comedy film

The Bubble is a 2022 American comedy film directed by Judd Apatow from a screenplay co-written with Pam Brady. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Karen Gillan, Vir Das, Pedro Pascal, Iris Apatow, Fred Armisen, Maria Bakalova, David Duchovny, Keegan-Michael Key, Leslie Mann, Kate McKinnon, Guz Khan, Peter Serafinowicz and Harry Trevaldwyn. It follows the cast and crew of a blockbuster action franchise who attempt to shoot a sequel while quarantining at a posh hotel during the COVID-19 pandemic.

<i>Night Sky</i> (TV series) Science fiction television series

Night Sky is an American science fiction drama streaming television series created by Holden Miller for Amazon Studios and Legendary Television. It stars Sissy Spacek and J. K. Simmons as a couple who possess a chamber leading to another planet. Chai Hansen, Adam Bartley, Julieta Zylberberg, Rocío Hernández, Kiah McKirnan, Beth Lacke, Stephen Louis Grush, and Cass Buggé co-star. The series was shot in Illinois, United States, and Jujuy Province, Argentina.

References

  1. 1 2 Kroll, Justin (June 10, 2021). "Dustin Hoffman And Sissy Spacek To Star in Darren Le Gallo's 'Sam & Kate' – Cannes Market". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  2. Maddaus, Gene (November 25, 2021). "'Rust' Producer Backing Indie Film With Dustin Hoffman and Sissy Spacek (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved November 26, 2021.
  3. D'Alessandro, Anthony (November 25, 2021). "'Rust' Producer Co-Financing Dustin Hoffman & Sissy Spacek Indie Movie 'Sam & Kate'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 26, 2021.
  4. Allen, Lenah (November 29, 2021). "New production set to be filmed in Thomasville". Thomasville Times-Enterprise. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  5. Ho, Rodney (February 14, 2022). "What's filming in Georgia in February 2022?". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  6. Blake, Kandace (March 14, 2022). "Two films underway in downtown Thomasville". WTXL-TV. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  7. Cann, Christopher (March 21, 2022). "Hollywood in Thomasville: Encounters with Dustin Hoffman, Sissy Spacek, Amy Adams amid film shoot". Tallahassee Democrat. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
  8. Ho, Rodney (April 15, 2022). "What's filming in Georgia in April, 2022?". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  9. Grobar, Matt (September 14, 2022). "Vertical Entertainment Pre-Buys Family Dramedy 'Sam & Kate' Starring Dustin Hoffman And Sissy Spacek". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  10. Webb, Eric (September 29, 2022). "Dustin Hoffman, Sissy Spacek, Darren Aronofsky coming to Austin Film Festival". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  11. "Sam & Kate". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 14, 2023.