Walking Across Egypt

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Walking Across Egypt
WalkingAcrossEgypt.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman
Screenplay byPaul Tamasy
Based onWalking Across Egypt
by Clyde Edgerton
Produced byMadeline Bell
Starring Ellen Burstyn
Jonathan Taylor Thomas
Mark Hamill
Edward Herrmann
Dana Ivey
Harve Presnell
Gwen Verdon
with Gail O'Grady
and Judge Reinhold
Cinematography Amelia Vincent
Edited byBert Glatstein
Jonathan P. Shaw
Music by Marco Beltrami
Production
company
Mitchum Entertainment
Distributed byKeystone Entertainment
Release dates
  • December 17, 1999 (1999-12-17)
  • United States (United States)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$4.5 million

Walking Across Egypt is a 1999 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman and written by Paul Tamasy, based on Clyde Edgerton's novel of the same name. The film stars Ellen Burstyn, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Mark Hamill, Gail O'Grady, Judge Reinhold, and Pat Corley.

Contents

The film is set in the Deep South. An old woman feels lonely after her children move out. She takes an interest in an incarcerated juvenile delinquent, and tries to convert him to Christianity. She feels that religion will provide him with a direction in his life.

Plot

The film follows the life of Mattie Rigsbee (Burstyn), an elderly woman who believes in strong religious convictions. The film explores the lonely qualities of life for senior citizens after their children leave as adults. Reinhold and O'Grady play Mattie's children, who live in a town of the Deep South.

Mattie soon finds a likable friend in the local dogcatcher, Lamar Benfield (Hamill). Through this relationship, she meets the dogcatcher's nephew, a troubled juvenile delinquent orphan, Wesley (Taylor Thomas), currently serving time in juvenile detention for a recent car theft. Mattie finds that this young man is missing direction and believes that with a little insight on Christianity, he can straighten up and fly right. In the end Mattie helped parole him. He begins to live his life the right way.

Cast

Production

Walking Across Egypt was filmed in the Florida cities of: Ocoee (including the Ocoee Christian Church), Clermont, Windermere, Orlando, and St. Cloud.[ citation needed ]

Reception

Robert Koehler from Variety said of the film, "The best in forgiving Christian values is at the heart of well-intentioned but weakly conceived Walking Across Egypt. By far, the most distinguishing factor is Ellen Burstyn's independent-minded Southern widower Mattie,[...] but that won't be enough to stop this from going directly to family-oriented cable." [1] Despite this, the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes has given it an 89% according to audience ratings. [2]

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References

  1. Koehler, Robert (Feb 13, 2000). "Walking Across Egypt – Variety". Variety . Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  2. Walking Across Egypt at Rotten Tomatoes