Standing Still | |
---|---|
Directed by | Matthew Cole Weiss |
Written by |
|
Produced by |
|
Starring | |
Cinematography | Robert Brinkmann |
Edited by | Andy Blumenthal |
Music by | BC Smith |
Production company | Insomnia Entertainment |
Distributed by | Freestyle Releasing |
Release date |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $1,700,000 |
Standing Still is a 2005 American romantic comedy film directed by Matthew Cole Weiss and starring an ensemble cast including Adam Garcia, Amy Adams, Aaron Stanford, Melissa Sagemiller, Jon Abrahams, Mena Suvari, Colin Hanks and James Van Der Beek. Written by Matthew Perniciaro and Timm Sharp, the film is about a group of lifelong friends who reunite at a wedding and revisit their complicated relationships of the past. The film was Matthew Cole Weiss's feature film debut as a director. [1]
The day before the wedding of Elise and Michael in LA, their college friends gather to attend the bachelor and bachelorette parties and then the ceremony the next day.
Rich and Samantha are the best man and maid of honor, and themselves a couple, although Rich is wary of the idea of marriage, while Samantha is pushing him to consider it, while hiding her pregnancy from him. Sam Malone, nicknamed "Pockets" because he can always find the right item in his pockets (and to mask the fact that he's named similarly to the protagonist from Cheers), is flying in from Thailand, still harboring an unrequited love for neurotic Lana since their college days, when she broke his heart.
The group also includes Quentin, a spirited film agent, and Simon Black, a self-important movie star who shows up in the company of Franklin Brauner, director of his next project, described as "a metaphysical western, sort of El Topo meets The Matrix". Jennifer, who comes from London, was Elise's one-time girlfriend in college. She is still in love with her and tries to prevent her from marrying Michael. During the day, Michael's estranged father Jonathan also shows up, hoping for reconciliation, but is rebuffed.
That night, the men and women separate to go to their respective parties. The guys go to Vegas on Simon's private jet, while the girls stay at Elise and Michael's. Once they've reunited, Quentin stumbles onto Elise's sister Sarah, who came earlier as a surprise, and has sex with her not knowing she's just 17. Pockets confronts Lana about his hurt feelings, then has a fight with Simon, who's particularly condescending toward him, and ends up in jail after soliciting an undercover cop. Jennifer, who's been brusque with everyone, bonds with Lana, and they find themselves having sex, to Lana's surprise.
Michael explains to Rich that marriage is not the "next step to the grave" he thinks it is, then reveals to Elise the truth about his ex-alcoholic father, whom Michael blames for his mother's accidental death in a car crash, while a younger Michael was driving. Elise confesses she's the one who invited him to the wedding, not knowing about their troubled past.
The next morning, Michael goes to his father's motel, they reconcile and he invites him to the wedding. Lana agrees to try to be with Jennifer, exploring an entirely new avenue in her life, much to the chagrin of Donovan, a TV children's entertainer who invited himself as Lana's last minute date for the wedding. Quentin is shocked to find out Sarah's underaged, but they arrange to wait for her to be 18 before going public. And Rich proposes to Samantha, who finally reveals her pregnancy.
In alphabetical order:
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 40% of 20 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.40/10.The website's consensus reads: "This coming-of-age film's young, attractive cast helps to mitigate the stultifying dialogue and uninspired direction." [2]
The Wedding Planner is a 2001 American romantic comedy film directed by Adam Shankman, in his feature film directorial debut, written by Pamela Falk and Michael Ellis, and starring Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey.
American Wedding is a 2003 American sex comedy film written by Adam Herz and directed by Jesse Dylan. It is the sequel to American Pie (1999) and American Pie 2 (2001), and the third of the American Pie franchise.
Mena Alexandra Suvari is an American actress, producer, fashion designer and model. The accolades she has received include a Screen Actors Guild Award, along with a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.
Four Rooms is a 1995 American anthology farce black comedy film co-written and co-directed by Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell, Robert Rodriguez, and Quentin Tarantino. The story is set in the fictional Hotel Mon Signor in Los Angeles on New Year's Eve. Tim Roth plays Ted, the bellhop and main character in the frame story, whose first night on the job consists of four very different encounters with various hotel guests.
Beauty Shop is a 2005 American comedy film directed by Bille Woodruff. The film serves as a spin-off of the Barbershop film series, and stars Queen Latifah as Gina, a character first introduced in the 2004 film Barbershop 2: Back in Business. This film also stars Alicia Silverstone, Andie MacDowell, Mena Suvari, Kevin Bacon and Djimon Hounsou.
Rumor Has It is a 2005 American romantic comedy film directed by Rob Reiner, and starring Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner, Shirley MacLaine and Mark Ruffalo. The concept of the screenplay by Ted Griffin is that a woman learns that her mother and grandmother may be the inspiration for the 1963 novel The Graduate by Charles Webb. The film received negative reviews from critics and was a box office disappointment, grossing $88.9 million against its $70 million budget.
Loser is a 2000 American teen romantic comedy film written and directed by Amy Heckerling. Starring Jason Biggs, Mena Suvari and Greg Kinnear, it is about a fish-out-of-water college student (Biggs) who falls for a classmate (Suvari), unaware she is in a relationship with their English teacher (Kinnear). The film, Heckerling's first after 1995's Clueless and inspired by the 1960 film The Apartment, was a box-office failure and received negative reviews.
The Bride Wore Black is a 1968 French drama thriller film directed by François Truffaut and based on the novel of the same name by William Irish, a pseudonym for Cornell Woolrich. It stars Jeanne Moreau, Charles Denner, Alexandra Stewart, Michel Bouquet, Michael Lonsdale, Claude Rich and Jean-Claude Brialy. Hitchcock admirer Truffaut used Bernard Herrmann to score the film. The costumes were by Pierre Cardin.
Day of the Dead is a 2008 American horror film directed by Steve Miner and written by Jeffrey Reddick. It is a remake of George A. Romero's 1985 film of the same name, the third in Romero's Dead series, and it is the first of two remakes of the original 1985 film; the other is Day of the Dead: Bloodline (2017). The film sees a virus outbreak that causes people to turn into violent zombie-like creatures, and stars Mena Suvari, Nick Cannon, Michael Welch, AnnaLynne McCord, Stark Sands, Matt Rippy, Pat Kilbane, Taylor Hoover, Christa Campbell, and Ving Rhames.
Edmond is a 2005 American thriller film directed by Stuart Gordon and starring William H. Macy, based on the 1982 play Edmond by David Mamet. Mamet also wrote the screenplay for the film. Edmond features Julia Stiles, Rebecca Pidgeon, Denise Richards, Mena Suvari, Joe Mantegna, Bai Ling, Jeffrey Combs, Dylan Walsh and George Wendt in supporting roles. It was screened at several film festivals from September 2005 to May 2006, and had a limited release on July 14, 2006.
Stuck is a 2007 black comedy thriller film directed by Stuart Gordon and starring Mena Suvari and Stephen Rea, with a plot inspired by the true story of the murder of Gregory Glenn Biggs. The film premiered on May 21, 2007 at the Cannes Film Market. It was later adapted in Bollywood as Accident on Hill Road starring Celina Jaitley in Mena Suvari's role. It was the final film Gordon directed before his death.
Sex and the City is a 2008 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Michael Patrick King in his feature film directorial debut. It is a continuation of the 1998–2004 television series about four friends, Carrie Bradshaw, Samantha Jones, Charlotte York Goldenblatt, and Miranda Hobbes, and their lives in New York City.
Sonny is a 2002 American crime drama film starring James Franco, Harry Dean Stanton, Brenda Blethyn, Mena Suvari and Josie Davis. Based on a screenplay by John Carlen, the film marked the directorial debut of Nicolas Cage, who makes a cameo appearance. It was co-produced by Cage's production company Saturn Films.
The Garden of Eden is a 2008 thriller drama film directed by John Irvin and starring Mena Suvari, Jack Huston and Caterina Murino. It is based on the 1986 posthumously published novel of the same name by Ernest Hemingway.
American Reunion is a 2012 American sex comedy film written and directed by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg. It is the fourth and final installment in the American Pie theatrical series. The film's ensemble cast features many actors who reprise their roles from the previous three films, including Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Chris Klein, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Seann William Scott, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Eugene Levy, Tara Reid, and Mena Suvari, among others. The film follows former East Great Falls High School classmates who return to their hometown for a reunion for their graduating class.
Private Sessions is a 1985 American made-for-television drama film directed by Michael Pressman. Starring Mike Farrell as a New York therapist, and Kelly McGillis & Tom Bosley as two of his patients with different problems, the film was originally a television pilot, that failed to impress the audience and was never picked up.
Prey is a 2024 American action thriller film written and directed by Mukunda Michael Dewil and starring Ryan Phillippe and Emile Hirsch, with Dylan Flashner, Tristan Thompson, Jeremy Tardy, Michaela Sasner, and Mena Suvari in supporting roles. It was released on March 15, 2024, by Vertical.
The Knot is a 2012 British romantic comedy film directed by Jesse Lawrence and starring Noel Clarke, Matthew McNulty, Talulah Riley and Mena Suvari. The film is about a couple who are going to get married, but they encounter a series of mishaps before their wedding day, which threatens to ruin their relationship. It was released by Universal Pictures in the United Kingdom on October 5, 2012.