Behind the Red Door (film)

Last updated

Behind the Red Door
BehindtheredDoor.jpg
Behind the Red Door Poster
Directed byMatia Karrell
Written by
Produced by
  • Kjehl Rasmussen
  • Matia Karrell
  • Jeff Geoffray
Starring
Cinematography Robert Elswit
Edited by Barry Farrell
Music byDavid Fleury [1]
Production
companies
Blue Rider Pictures
Praxis Entertainment
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date
  • January 12, 2003 (2003-01-12)
Running time
105 minutes
Countries
  • United States
  • Japan
  • Finland
  • Spain

Behind the Red Door is an English drama film directed by Matia Karrell and released in 2003. [2] The lead characters in the movie are Kyra Sedgwick, Kiefer Sutherland and Stockard Channing. [1] The film depicts the relationship between a sister and her brother, who is suffering from the fatal disease AIDS.

Contents

Plot

Natalie Haddad (Kyra Sedgwick) is a talented photographer living in New York City who is undergoing a financial crisis. Her friend Julia (Stockard Channing) finds for her a two-day job in Boston for US$20,000, which Natalie has to accept. Upon her arrival at Boston, she finds that her arrogant gay brother Roy (Kiefer Sutherland), a successful designer, had hired her. Their relationship was broken 10 years earlier and since then they had not seen each other. When Natalie finishes her assignment, her brother Roy asks her to stay for the next day, as he has organised a birthday party for himself. After the birthday party, Roy tells her that he is suffering from AIDS. Although Roy is insufferably snobbish and manipulative, he manages to exert a curious control over Natalie, forcing her to confront several disturbing, long-suppressed memories of her past (shown in black-and-white flashbacks). She agrees to stay with him and in due course of time their fraternal relationship develops again.

Cast

Release and reception

The film was initially broadcast on the Showtime network as part of "a multiyear initiative" by Viacom, Showtime's parent, "to address HIV/AIDS issues." [3] The film received mostly positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes rated its freshness at 78%. [4]

Jerry Weinstein of Culturevulture.net said: "The awkward set-up finally gives way to a portrait of a family of two, who are at last there for one another." [4] Weinstein praised Sedgwick and Sutherland's portrayal of sister and brother, saying, "Although Behind the Red Door is in parts a schematic, more than a nuanced drama, both Kyra Sedgwick and Kiefer Sutherland portray sister and brother with dignity." [5] He also praised the portrayal of a gay man suffering from AIDS and expressed hope that Viacom's corporate "synergy" might "be leveraged in such a fashion that it can make a positive difference, fostering dialogue and promoting understanding". [5]

Multichannel News liked the film, calling it "[a]n elegant little Showtime telefilm . . . saddled with a truly unfortunate name". [6] Houston Chronicle critic Ann Hodges said that it "comes close, at times, to sentimental melodrama, but it recovers" and "builds to a two-hanky ending." In a brief review, the Chicago Tribune noted the "sensitive performances" by Sedgwick and Sutherland, but found the murder subplot to be "unnecessary". [7]

On the other hand, The New York Times critic Anita Gates wrote a mainly negative review, concluding that despite the director's evident personal connection to the material (her own brother had died of AIDS), the film "is undermined by simplistic dialog and one-note direction" as well as by what Gates found to be the unpleasant personalities of the main characters. [8]

Related Research Articles

Showtime (TV network) American pay television network

Showtime is an American premium television network owned by Paramount Media Networks, and is the flagship property of the namesake parent subsidiary under its Premium Network Group unit, Showtime Networks. Showtime's programming primarily includes theatrically released motion pictures and original television series, along with boxing and mixed martial arts matches, occasional stand-up comedy specials, and made-for-TV movies.

Donald Sutherland Canadian actor (born 1935)

Donald McNichol Sutherland is a Canadian actor whose film career spans over six decades. He has been nominated for nine Golden Globe Awards, winning two for his performances in the television films Citizen X (1995) and Path to War (2002); the former also earned him a Primetime Emmy Award. An inductee of the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Canadian Walk of Fame, he also received a Canadian Academy Award for the drama film Threshold (1981). Multiple film critics and media outlets have cited him as one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination. In 2017, he received an Academy Honorary Award for his contributions to cinema. In 2021, he won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Movie/Miniseries for his work in the HBO miniseries The Undoing (2020).

Kiefer Sutherland British-Canadian actor

Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland is a British-Canadian actor. He is best known for his starring role as Jack Bauer in the Fox drama series 24, for which he won an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Satellite Awards.

Stockard Channing American actress (b. 1944)

Stockard Channing is an American actress. She is known for playing Betty Rizzo in the film Grease (1978) and First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series The West Wing (1999–2006). She is also known for originating the role of Ouisa Kittredge in the stage and film versions of Six Degrees of Separation; the 1993 film version earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. She was also one of two comic foils of The Number Painter on Sesame Street.

The Movie Channel American movie-oriented pay television network

The Movie Channel (TMC) is an American premium television network owned by Showtime Networks, a subsidiary of Paramount Global operated through its Media Networks unit. The network's programming mainly features first-run theatrically released and independently produced motion pictures, and during promotional breaks between films, special behind-the-scenes features and movie trivia.

Kyra Sedgwick American actress, producer and director

Kyra Minturn Sedgwick is an American actress, producer and director. She is best known for her starring role as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson on the TNT crime drama The Closer. For her portrayal of Johnson, Sedgwick won a Golden Globe Award in 2007 and an Emmy Award in 2010. The series ended on August 13, 2012, following the completion of its seventh season. Sedgwick is also known for her recurring role as Madeline Wuntch on the sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Rossif Sutherland Canadian actor

Rossif Sutherland is a Canadian actor. He, along with his brothers Angus and Roeg and half-brother Kiefer, are the sons of Donald Sutherland.

Reelz is an American digital cable and satellite television network owned by Hubbard Broadcasting. The network's programming was formerly devoted to entertainment-oriented programming focusing on the Hollywood film and entertainment industry, with programs featuring information on theatrical film releases as well as information on movies released on DVD and airing on cable television. Currently, outside a few entertainment programs, repeats of the Oxygen series Snapped, and some reality series and films, the network mainly airs original and acquired films, series, and documentaries about celebrity scandals.

<i>Jiminy Glick in Lalawood</i> 2004 American film

Jiminy Glick in Lalawood is a 2004 American comedy film starring Martin Short as Jiminy Glick, a morbidly obese movie critic who is involved in a murder case at the Toronto International Film Festival. The supporting cast features Jan Hooks, Matthew Gray Gubler, Linda Cardellini, Mo Collins and Aries Spears, and numerous cinema luminaries play themselves, such as Willem Dafoe, Whoopi Goldberg, Jake Gyllenhaal, Kevin Kline, Rob Lowe, Steve Martin, Kurt Russell, Susan Sarandon, Chloë Sevigny, Sharon Stone, Kiefer Sutherland and Forest Whitaker.

Red Mercury is a 2005 British film thriller directed by Roy Battersby and starring Stockard Channing, Pete Postlethwaite, Juliet Stevenson, Ron Silver and David Bradley.

Epix American pay television network

Epix is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Epix Entertainment LLC, a subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). The channel's programming consists of recent and older theatrically released motion pictures, original television series, documentaries, and music and comedy specials.

Sosie Bacon American actress

Sosie Ruth Bacon is an American actress. Her first role was playing 10-year-old Emily in the movie Loverboy (2005), which was directed by her father, Kevin Bacon. James Duff, producer of The Closer, was compelled by Bacon's performance in Loverboy to suggest that she play the role of Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson's niece Charlie in the fifth season of the show. Although her parents were opposed to her being involved in acting, Bacon accepted the role and appeared in four episodes alongside her mother, who played the role of Chief Johnson. Bacon portrayed the character Skye Miller in the TV series 13 Reasons Why.

Matia Anne Karrell is an American film and television director, producer, and screenwriter. She is best known for directing the 1988 short film Cadillac Dreams, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Film.

<i>Big Sky</i> (film) 2015 American film

Big Sky is a 2015 American drama thriller film directed by Jorge Michel Grau and starring Bella Thorne, Kyra Sedgwick, Frank Grillo, and Aaron Tveit. It was produced by The Archive and Papagjika Salloway Productions. Entertainment One gave it a limited release on August 14, 2015. The film received negative reviews from critics with criticism for the screenplay and Thorne's performance.

<i>Where Is Kyra?</i> 2017 American film

Where Is Kyra? is a 2017 American drama film directed by Andrew Dosunmu with a screenplay by Darci Picoult and a story by Dosunmu and Picoult. The film stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Kiefer Sutherland.

<i>Wind River</i> (film) 2017 film by Taylor Sheridan

Wind River is a 2017 neo-Western murder mystery film written and directed by Taylor Sheridan. The film stars Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen as a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service tracker and an FBI agent, respectively, who try to solve a murder on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming. Gil Birmingham, Jon Bernthal, and Graham Greene also star.

A Girl Thing is a 2001 American made-for-television drama directed by Lee Rose. Consisting of four separate stories, the film premiered on Showtime on January 20, 2001, and concluded on January 27. The ensemble cast includes Stockard Channing, Kate Capshaw, Elle Macpherson, Glenne Headly, Rebecca De Mornay, Allison Janney, Mia Farrow, Lynn Whitfield, Linda Hamilton, Camryn Manheim, and S. Epatha Merkerson.

Cindy Vela is an American actress and model. She appeared in Black November (2012), Endgame (2015), Camino (2016) and Run Hide Fight (2020).

<i>After Yang</i> 2021 American film by Kogonada

After Yang is a 2021 American metaphysical science fiction drama film written, directed, and edited by Kogonada. It stars Colin Farrell, Jodie Turner-Smith, Justin H. Min, Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja, and Haley Lu Richardson. The plot follows a family's attempts to repair their unresponsive robotic child. The film had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on July 8, 2021, and was released on March 4, 2022, by A24 and Showtime. It received generally positive reviews from critics.

Paramount Global American multinational mass media corporation

Paramount Global is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned and operated by National Amusements and headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. It was formed on December 4, 2019 as ViacomCBS Inc. through the re-merger of the second incarnation of CBS Corporation and the second incarnation of Viacom. On February 16, 2022, during its Q4 earnings presentation, the company announced that it would change its name to Paramount Global.

References

  1. 1 2 "Behind-the-Red-Door – Cast, Crew, Director and Awards". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . 2014. Archived from the original on 24 January 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  2. ↑ "Behind the Red Door (2003) – Overview". TCM.com. 28 October 2009. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  3. ↑ "Kiefer madness". The Advocate . 24 December 2002. p. 24. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  4. 1 2 "Behind the Red Door". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  5. 1 2 Film. "Behind the Red Door Review". CultureVulture. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  6. ↑ Haugsted, Linda (22 December 2002). "Please Open the 'Red Door'". Multichannel News . Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  7. ↑ Johnson, Allan (10 January 2003). "Culthit "Farscape" in the home stretch". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  8. ↑ Gates, Anita (10 January 2003). "TV Weekend; A family story of AIDS where no one is a hero". The New York Times . Retrieved 8 May 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.