USA,
1994, 91 min
Shown in 1994
CREDITS
- dir
-
Tom Noonan
- prod
-
Robin O’Hara, Scott Macaulay
- scr
-
Tom Noonan
- cam
-
Joe DeSalvo
- editor
-
Richmond Arrley
- cast
-
Tom Noonan, Karen Sillas
- source
-
Samuel Goldwyn Company
-
COMMENTS
Tom Noonan in person.
OTHER
Off-Broadway actor Tom Noonan’s directorial debut is an absorbing drama about a first date between two lonely misfits. Jackie (beautifully played by Karen Sillas of Trust and Simple Men) is a secretary in a New York law firm preparing for a dinner date at her loft apartment with a paralegal co-worker named Michael (played by Noonan, whose acting credits include Manhunter and F/X). At first, they move through the usual contradictory feelings of apprehension and anticipation, excitement and fear. Then Michael reveals that he’s actually an investigative reporter writing an exposé on the firm. Jackie, in turn, shares her writings: children’s books filled with references to child abuse, violence and terror, which make Michael extremely uncomfortable. In an authentic chronicle of how people actually behave on a date, Noonan (who also wrote the script) captures in minute detail not only the awkward pauses and forced smiles, but the way a romantic encounter can turn into a disastrous and humiliating experience. This alternately appealing and disturbing movie, which won the Grand Jury and screenplay prizes at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, plays the characters’ hunger for meaningful contact against their reluctance to risk intimacy to brilliant effect. Noonan manages the unimaginable—a “date movie” that goes for substance, not surface. His achievement is an engrossing tour de force.
FACTOID #384
Henry Fonda attended the SFIFF in 1967 to receive a tribute for his work in classics like The Grapes of Wrath and 12 Angry Men. Daughter Jane showed up in 1975 for a tribute of her own. And her brother Peter made two Festival appearances, one as a guest in 1963 and another to accompany the film Nadja (in which he gleefully portrayed Dr. Van Helsing) in 1995.
