Yes, you’re seeing double.
Tim Allen reprised his role as Home Improvement‘s Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor during Thursday’s Last Man Standing. In the episode, Vanessa hired the former Tool Time host (who was sporting a vintage Binford Tools t-shirt) to handle a series of home repairs. The half-hour concluded with a very meta conversation between Allen’s alter egos, which also alluded to the Fox sitcom’s fast-approaching series finale.
More from TVLineCall Me Kat: Did Fox's Miranda Remake Find Its Own Voice in Episode 2?TV Ratings: NBC's D.C. Riot Coverage Leads Night, Masked...
Tim Allen reprised his role as Home Improvement‘s Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor during Thursday’s Last Man Standing. In the episode, Vanessa hired the former Tool Time host (who was sporting a vintage Binford Tools t-shirt) to handle a series of home repairs. The half-hour concluded with a very meta conversation between Allen’s alter egos, which also alluded to the Fox sitcom’s fast-approaching series finale.
More from TVLineCall Me Kat: Did Fox's Miranda Remake Find Its Own Voice in Episode 2?TV Ratings: NBC's D.C. Riot Coverage Leads Night, Masked...
- 1/8/2021
- by Ryan Schwartz
- TVLine.com
Fox’s “Last Man Standing” is going big in its final season, with an episode featuring Tim Allen in his leading role of Mike Baxter and reprising Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor, the iconic character he played on ABC’s “Home Improvement” for eight seasons from 1991-1999.
The bit will come in the second episode of “Last Man Standing’s” upcoming ninth season, when Vanessa hires a home improvement repairman who bears an uncanny resemblance to Mike, who is struggling with an idea for his Outdoor Man 10th Anniversary vlog. And the idea for this epic half-hour, which airs Jan. 7 on Fox, came about because the broadcast network wanted to kick off the sitcom’s final season with something flashy.
“We had already broken the first seven episodes and our intention was to have the ‘Time Flies’ [flash-forward] be the first episode. And Fox came to us and said, ‘We’d...
The bit will come in the second episode of “Last Man Standing’s” upcoming ninth season, when Vanessa hires a home improvement repairman who bears an uncanny resemblance to Mike, who is struggling with an idea for his Outdoor Man 10th Anniversary vlog. And the idea for this epic half-hour, which airs Jan. 7 on Fox, came about because the broadcast network wanted to kick off the sitcom’s final season with something flashy.
“We had already broken the first seven episodes and our intention was to have the ‘Time Flies’ [flash-forward] be the first episode. And Fox came to us and said, ‘We’d...
- 12/30/2020
- by Jennifer Maas
- The Wrap
Walt Disney Co. settled a six-year-old lawsuit with the creators of the entertainment company’s wildly popular sitcom “Home Improvement” on Wednesday, weeks before they were set to go to trial.
Wind Dancer Production Group, along with “Home Improvement” creators Matt Williams, Carmen Finestra and David McFadzean — as well as Tam O’Shanter Productions — filed a lawsuit against Disney in 2013, accusing the network of selling syndication rights of “Home Improvement” below the series’s market value, and improperly accounting their share of the net profits, of which they said they were entitled to receive anywhere from 75% to 100%.
The amount of the settlement was not disclosed.
“Among other things, [Disney] have caused the series to be exploited in certain markets well below- market value, including selling the syndication rights in New York City (the largest television market in the United States) for no monetary consideration,” the creators and their lawyers wrote in the initial 2013 complaint.
Wind Dancer Production Group, along with “Home Improvement” creators Matt Williams, Carmen Finestra and David McFadzean — as well as Tam O’Shanter Productions — filed a lawsuit against Disney in 2013, accusing the network of selling syndication rights of “Home Improvement” below the series’s market value, and improperly accounting their share of the net profits, of which they said they were entitled to receive anywhere from 75% to 100%.
The amount of the settlement was not disclosed.
“Among other things, [Disney] have caused the series to be exploited in certain markets well below- market value, including selling the syndication rights in New York City (the largest television market in the United States) for no monetary consideration,” the creators and their lawyers wrote in the initial 2013 complaint.
- 7/24/2019
- by Trey Williams
- The Wrap
Updated, 8:28 Am: Disney has settled a long-running profit-sharing lawsuit filed by producers of the 1990s ABC sitcom Home Improvement. The case had been headed toward trial in the coming weeks.
Producers Matt Williams, Carmen Finestra, David McFadzean and their respective production companies first claimed in court in 2013 that Disney owed them money from syndication and other sources for the 1991-99 series that has made more than $1.5 billion for the company. Read details of the case below.
Previously, March 2017: Like a home improvement that you mistakenly thought was completed years ago, Disney saw some legal walls fall today after a California appeals court gave a Home Improvement profit-sharing lawsuit a brand new hammer.
“The trial court accordingly erred in granting summary adjudication in favor of Disney,” 2nd District Appeals Court Justice Laurie Zelon wrote with the agreement of two other judges, setting the stage for a new round of...
Producers Matt Williams, Carmen Finestra, David McFadzean and their respective production companies first claimed in court in 2013 that Disney owed them money from syndication and other sources for the 1991-99 series that has made more than $1.5 billion for the company. Read details of the case below.
Previously, March 2017: Like a home improvement that you mistakenly thought was completed years ago, Disney saw some legal walls fall today after a California appeals court gave a Home Improvement profit-sharing lawsuit a brand new hammer.
“The trial court accordingly erred in granting summary adjudication in favor of Disney,” 2nd District Appeals Court Justice Laurie Zelon wrote with the agreement of two other judges, setting the stage for a new round of...
- 7/24/2019
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
Disney has struck a settlement with the creators of Home Improvement to put an end to a six-year-old lawsuit that resulted in a consequential appellate ruling and was within weeks of going to trial.
Back in 2013, Wind Dancer Production Group and writer-producers Matt Williams, Carmen Finestra, Tam O'Shanter and David McFadzean filed suit with the allegation that they had been cheated from a show starring Tim Allen that had generated $1.5 billion for Disney. The creative team targeted syndication money and alleged that Disney had charged massive distribution fees as well as sold the hit comedy into the ...
Back in 2013, Wind Dancer Production Group and writer-producers Matt Williams, Carmen Finestra, Tam O'Shanter and David McFadzean filed suit with the allegation that they had been cheated from a show starring Tim Allen that had generated $1.5 billion for Disney. The creative team targeted syndication money and alleged that Disney had charged massive distribution fees as well as sold the hit comedy into the ...
- 7/24/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Welcome back to Tool Time. Twenty five years ago today, Home Improvement made its debut on ABC.Created by Carmen Finestra, David McFadzean, and Matt Wiliams, the sitcom centers on a suburban Detroit family. The cast includes Tim Allen, Patricia Richardson, Zachery Ty Bryan, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Taran Noah Smith, Richard Karn, Pamela Anderson, Debbe Dunning, and Earl Hindman (behind the fence). The series premiered on September 17th, 1991.Read More…...
- 9/17/2016
- by TVSeriesFinale.com
- TVSeriesFinale.com
The producers behind "Home Improvement" are suing the Walt Disney Company over what they feel is the mishandling of the show's syndication deal, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
According to a suit filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Carmen Finestra, Tam O'Shanter, David McFadzen and Matt Williams of Wind Dancer Production Group are alleging that Disney sold the Tim Allen family comedy into syndication in New York for "for no monetary consideration," and failed to consult them over the best way to exploit the show for further profits.
According to THR:
The new suit claims Disney has caused Home Improvement to be syndicated "at well before the fair market value" and against the interests of the profit participants. They also claim that certain charges have been applied to the show improperly.
A copy of the lawsuit obtained by THR can be viewed here.
The producers are also seeking up...
According to a suit filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Carmen Finestra, Tam O'Shanter, David McFadzen and Matt Williams of Wind Dancer Production Group are alleging that Disney sold the Tim Allen family comedy into syndication in New York for "for no monetary consideration," and failed to consult them over the best way to exploit the show for further profits.
According to THR:
The new suit claims Disney has caused Home Improvement to be syndicated "at well before the fair market value" and against the interests of the profit participants. They also claim that certain charges have been applied to the show improperly.
A copy of the lawsuit obtained by THR can be viewed here.
The producers are also seeking up...
- 3/1/2013
- by Laura Prudom
- Huffington Post
Creators of the 1991-99 ABC comedy series Home Improvement are suing Walt Disney Television in a dispute over syndication revenues and calculations of the creators’ profit-sharing in the show. Writer-producers Matt Williams, Carmen Finestra, David McFadzean and their respective production companies accuse Disney of syndicating Home Improvement for significantly less than its fair value in certain markets and of failing to properly account for their share of profits on the series. Plaintiffs Williams, Finestra and McFadzean were executive producers and showrunners on Home Improvement for eight seasons, overseeing all aspects of production. While the series was in production, they received writing and exec producing fees under various agreements. Plaintiffs say in their suit (read it here) that Disney sold Home Improvement in New York City, the nation’s largest TV market, for no monetary consideration under a barter-only agreement. In Dallas, however, Disney licensed the series to the local CBS affiliate for $3.75 million plus barter.
- 3/1/2013
- by THE DEADLINE TEAM
- Deadline TV
The creative team behind Home Improvement has sued ABC parent company the Walt Disney Co. seeking millions of dollars in revenue for failing to properly exploit the hit 1990s sitcom. In a lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Wind Dancer Production Group, writer-producers Matt Williams, Carmen Finestra, Tam O'Shanter and David McFadzean claim that Disney sold Home Improvement into syndication in New York "for no monetary consideration" and failed to consult with them about how the Tim Allen show would be exploited. The plaintiffs also claim they haven't been paid their fair share of profits from a
read more...
read more...
- 3/1/2013
- by Matthew Belloni
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The most buzzed-about new comedies of the fall, ABC's "Modern Family" and NBC's "Community," are single-camera shows. And all major comedy-series Emmys for the past two years have gone to single-camera shows.
But multicamera comedies are hotter than they have been in years. They dominated early pitch sales in the summer, sparking heated bidding and landing major commitments.
Of the comedy projects with production commitments so far this season, only Greg Garcia's "Keep Hope Alive" at Fox is single-camera. A number of production commitments have gone to multicamera projects, including Mark Brazill's "The Rednecks & Romeos" at Fox, Matt Tarses' "True Love" at CBS and Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith's "18 Years" at ABC, with several more pending.
"Multicamera comedy is absolutely making a comeback this development season," said Glenn Adilman, head of comedy at Sony TV, which is behind a number of high-profile new multicamera projects, including "True Love" and "18 Years.
But multicamera comedies are hotter than they have been in years. They dominated early pitch sales in the summer, sparking heated bidding and landing major commitments.
Of the comedy projects with production commitments so far this season, only Greg Garcia's "Keep Hope Alive" at Fox is single-camera. A number of production commitments have gone to multicamera projects, including Mark Brazill's "The Rednecks & Romeos" at Fox, Matt Tarses' "True Love" at CBS and Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith's "18 Years" at ABC, with several more pending.
"Multicamera comedy is absolutely making a comeback this development season," said Glenn Adilman, head of comedy at Sony TV, which is behind a number of high-profile new multicamera projects, including "True Love" and "18 Years.
- 9/14/2009
- by By Nellie Andreeva
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The three creators of ABC's very popular Home Improvement sitcom are back at work for the alphabet network.
Matt Williams, Carmen Finestra, and David McFadzean created Home Improvement back in 1991, based on the stand-up comedy of Tim Allen. The family sitcom ran for 204 episodes and stars Allen, Patricia Richardson, Zachery Ty Bryan, Taran Noah Smith, Richard Karn, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, and Earl Hindman.
During the successful eight season run of Home Improvement, Williams, Finestra and McFadzean and the show were nominated for Emmys three times.
The trio now has a new project with ABC. A family sitcom, the show revolves around a sports psychologist who's also the father of three kids. The Dad runs his office out of his home (ala Jason Seaver from Growing Pains) and has to find a way to balance his job with...
Matt Williams, Carmen Finestra, and David McFadzean created Home Improvement back in 1991, based on the stand-up comedy of Tim Allen. The family sitcom ran for 204 episodes and stars Allen, Patricia Richardson, Zachery Ty Bryan, Taran Noah Smith, Richard Karn, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, and Earl Hindman.
During the successful eight season run of Home Improvement, Williams, Finestra and McFadzean and the show were nominated for Emmys three times.
The trio now has a new project with ABC. A family sitcom, the show revolves around a sports psychologist who's also the father of three kids. The Dad runs his office out of his home (ala Jason Seaver from Growing Pains) and has to find a way to balance his job with...
- 8/31/2009
- by TVSeriesFinale.com
- TVSeriesFinale.com
The three creators of ABC's very popular Home Improvement sitcom are back at work for the alphabet network.
Matt Williams, Carmen Finestra, and David McFadzean created Home Improvement back in 1991, based on the stand-up comedy of Tim Allen. The family sitcom ran for 204 episodes and stars Allen, Patricia Richardson, Zachery Ty Bryan, Taran Noah Smith, Richard Karn, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, and Earl Hindman.
During the successful eight season run of Home Improvement, Williams, Finestra and McFadzean and the show were nominated for Emmys three times.
The trio now has a new project with ABC. A family sitcom, the show revolves around a sports psychologist who's also the father of three kids. The Dad runs his office out of his home (ala Jason Seaver from Growing Pains) and has to find a way to balance his job with the obligations of being an involved parent.
The network has only committed...
Matt Williams, Carmen Finestra, and David McFadzean created Home Improvement back in 1991, based on the stand-up comedy of Tim Allen. The family sitcom ran for 204 episodes and stars Allen, Patricia Richardson, Zachery Ty Bryan, Taran Noah Smith, Richard Karn, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, and Earl Hindman.
During the successful eight season run of Home Improvement, Williams, Finestra and McFadzean and the show were nominated for Emmys three times.
The trio now has a new project with ABC. A family sitcom, the show revolves around a sports psychologist who's also the father of three kids. The Dad runs his office out of his home (ala Jason Seaver from Growing Pains) and has to find a way to balance his job with the obligations of being an involved parent.
The network has only committed...
- 8/31/2009
- by TVSeriesFinale.com
- TVSeriesFinale.com
Matt Williams has an impressive sitcom pedigree. He created the quintessential '90s sitcom with Roseanne. Then, with Carmen Finestra and David McFadzean alongside, he struck gold again with Tim Allen's Home Improvement. Now they're hoping lightning can strike twice (thrice?) with another take on the traditional family sitcom for ABC.
Once a television staple, the family sitcom has probably never seen leaner days than right now. But with the multi-camera format making a comeback, there's no better time to test the waters. This time, the family will be a sports psychologist who works out of his home, along with his three kids and presumably a wife.
The big difference between this project and Williams' other two successes is the lack of an established comedian at the center of it. One could easily argue that both Roseanne and Home Improvement were just expansions of the stage acts of their respective stars.
Once a television staple, the family sitcom has probably never seen leaner days than right now. But with the multi-camera format making a comeback, there's no better time to test the waters. This time, the family will be a sports psychologist who works out of his home, along with his three kids and presumably a wife.
The big difference between this project and Williams' other two successes is the lack of an established comedian at the center of it. One could easily argue that both Roseanne and Home Improvement were just expansions of the stage acts of their respective stars.
- 8/31/2009
- by Jason Hughes
- Aol TV.
The creators of one of ABC's signature comedy series of the 1990s, "Home Improvement," are back at the network with another multicamera family comedy centered on a working dad.
The project, from Matt Williams -- who also created ABC's "Roseanne" -- Carmen Finestra and David McFadzean, follows a sports psychologist and father of three who runs his office out of his home and faces the challenges of being an involved dad in today's world.
The sitcom, which has received a script commitment with penalty from the network, is being produced by ABC Studios.
The Wme-repped Williams, Finestra and McFadzean are executive producing via their Wind Dancer Prods. banner.
As part of stepping up its comedy ambitions, ABC also recently bought a multicamera comedy from "King of the Hill" executive producer Garland Testa.
ABC is the second network to turn to one of its biggest multicamera hits for a new comedy with a similar setting.
The project, from Matt Williams -- who also created ABC's "Roseanne" -- Carmen Finestra and David McFadzean, follows a sports psychologist and father of three who runs his office out of his home and faces the challenges of being an involved dad in today's world.
The sitcom, which has received a script commitment with penalty from the network, is being produced by ABC Studios.
The Wme-repped Williams, Finestra and McFadzean are executive producing via their Wind Dancer Prods. banner.
As part of stepping up its comedy ambitions, ABC also recently bought a multicamera comedy from "King of the Hill" executive producer Garland Testa.
ABC is the second network to turn to one of its biggest multicamera hits for a new comedy with a similar setting.
- 8/30/2009
- by By Nellie Andreeva and James Hibberd
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Indie production company Wind Dancer Films has hired writers for two feature comedies -- the first projects launched with Wind Dancer's recently announced private-equity development fund.
Bear Aderhold & Tom Sullivan have been hired to pen "Fear Less". The comedy writers behind the sequel to Eddie Griffin's "Undercover Brother" and the upcoming Lionsgate film "Delta Farce" will pen a script centered on a fearful man who after a freak accident can no longer experience fear. Aderhold & Sullivan most recently worked on the pilot "Homeland Security" for WBTV and NBC. Aderhold & Sullivan are repped by Ryan Saul at Metropolitan, as well as Chris Ridenhour & Brad Kaplan at Evolution.
Erik Lindsay has signed to write "Little Bastards", a buddy comedy about a couple of devious twentysomething cousins whose outlaw lifestyle comes to a grinding halt when their dying grandmother curses them with "goodness." Lindsay is repped by Benderspink, UTA and Eclipse Law.
Wind Dancer films was created by Matt Williams, David McFadzean and Carmen Finestra.
Bear Aderhold & Tom Sullivan have been hired to pen "Fear Less". The comedy writers behind the sequel to Eddie Griffin's "Undercover Brother" and the upcoming Lionsgate film "Delta Farce" will pen a script centered on a fearful man who after a freak accident can no longer experience fear. Aderhold & Sullivan most recently worked on the pilot "Homeland Security" for WBTV and NBC. Aderhold & Sullivan are repped by Ryan Saul at Metropolitan, as well as Chris Ridenhour & Brad Kaplan at Evolution.
Erik Lindsay has signed to write "Little Bastards", a buddy comedy about a couple of devious twentysomething cousins whose outlaw lifestyle comes to a grinding halt when their dying grandmother curses them with "goodness." Lindsay is repped by Benderspink, UTA and Eclipse Law.
Wind Dancer films was created by Matt Williams, David McFadzean and Carmen Finestra.
"Where the Heart Is" is a sentimental fairy tale about a guileless, pregnant teen who gets abandoned by her callous boyfriend in a nowhere Midwestern town. Nevertheless, she manages by pluck and sheer dumb luck to raise her baby, become part of an unconventional family and even marry Mr. Right. The film, starring Natalie Portman, doesn't have a single truthful moment, but then fairy tales aren't designed for truth.
What really sabotages the fairy tale is the condescending tone director Matt Williams and writers Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel take toward their characters. If there is a watchdog group looking to protest unflattering media portraits of "poor white trash," this movie will provide an excellent rallying point.
Fox is in for a tough time trying to convince moviegoers in Middle America -- which can truthfully consider itself libeled by this portrait -- or on either coast to spend time with these hapless personalities. A generic, could-mean-anything title won't help either.
Novalee Nation's (Portman) background and aspirations are succinctly summed up during an opening sequence. She and her musician boyfriend, Willy Jack (Dylan Bruno), are preparing to travel from Tennessee to California in a rusted-out Plymouth when an excited Novalee declares, "I never lived in a place that didn't have wheels under it."
She gets as far as Oklahoma, where Willy Jack, for no particular reason, ditches her while she's making a bathroom stop at a Wal-Mart. Dead broke, Novalee takes up residence in the department store. One night, when the baby suddenly wants to be born, she collapses in pain. She is saved when kindly librarian Forney (James Frain), in superhero fashion, breaks into the store and saves her and the newborn.
(It's a minor point, but didn't anyone think to rename this character? The way the actors pronounce his name, it sounds as if he's in a state of permanent sexual arousal.)
After the birth, Novalee and her "Wal-Mart Baby" become instant celebrities -- for a day, at least. Then she is taken in by a motherly recovering alcoholic who calls herself Sister Husband (Stockard Channing) and is befriended by the sisterly Lexie (Ashley Judd), who meets men and has their kids with frightening regularity.
During the next five years, Novalee and her child survive a kidnapping and a tornado, while Lexie and her kids must cope with the psychological devastation of a boyfriend who turns out to be a child molester.
Meanwhile, in scenes disconnected from the main narrative, the viewer is treated to the downward spiral of Willy Jack, starting with his arrest moments after ditching Novalee and ending with his losing his legs when he's too drunk to get out of the way of a freight train. As you might have gathered, nobody has any smarts in this sorry bunch, including the librarian who takes five years to work up the nerve to tell Novalee he loves her.
What makes the film watchable are its spirited performances. Portman, 18, is fairly convincing in her aging from 17 to 22, though the latter is a stretch, which probably explains why Williams keeps love scenes between Portman and Frain to a minimum.
Channing and Judd put vigor into their cliched characters, but the most amusing turn is by Joan Cusack as a tough-cookie Nashville agent who thinks she sees C&W talent in Willy Jack. Her character has no real link to the movie, but the picture picks up every time she appears.
All technical credits are pro, with the twister sequence giving the film some badly needed excitement.
WHERE THE HEART IS
Fox
Wind Dancer
Producers: Matt Williams, Susan Cartsonis,
David McFadzean, Patricia Whitcher
Director: Matt Williams
Screenwriters: Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel
Based on the novel by: Billie Letts
Executive producers: Carmen Finestra,
Rick Leed
Director of photography: Richard Greatrex
Production designer: Paul Peters
Music: Mason Daring
Costume designer: Melinda Eshelman
Editor: Ian Crafford
Color/stereo
Cast:
Novalee Nation: Natalie Portman
Lexie: Ashley Judd
Sister Husband: Stockard Channing
Ruth Meyers: Joan Cusack
Forney: James Frain
Willy Jack: Dylan Bruno
Moses Whitecotten: Keith David
Running time -- 120 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
What really sabotages the fairy tale is the condescending tone director Matt Williams and writers Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel take toward their characters. If there is a watchdog group looking to protest unflattering media portraits of "poor white trash," this movie will provide an excellent rallying point.
Fox is in for a tough time trying to convince moviegoers in Middle America -- which can truthfully consider itself libeled by this portrait -- or on either coast to spend time with these hapless personalities. A generic, could-mean-anything title won't help either.
Novalee Nation's (Portman) background and aspirations are succinctly summed up during an opening sequence. She and her musician boyfriend, Willy Jack (Dylan Bruno), are preparing to travel from Tennessee to California in a rusted-out Plymouth when an excited Novalee declares, "I never lived in a place that didn't have wheels under it."
She gets as far as Oklahoma, where Willy Jack, for no particular reason, ditches her while she's making a bathroom stop at a Wal-Mart. Dead broke, Novalee takes up residence in the department store. One night, when the baby suddenly wants to be born, she collapses in pain. She is saved when kindly librarian Forney (James Frain), in superhero fashion, breaks into the store and saves her and the newborn.
(It's a minor point, but didn't anyone think to rename this character? The way the actors pronounce his name, it sounds as if he's in a state of permanent sexual arousal.)
After the birth, Novalee and her "Wal-Mart Baby" become instant celebrities -- for a day, at least. Then she is taken in by a motherly recovering alcoholic who calls herself Sister Husband (Stockard Channing) and is befriended by the sisterly Lexie (Ashley Judd), who meets men and has their kids with frightening regularity.
During the next five years, Novalee and her child survive a kidnapping and a tornado, while Lexie and her kids must cope with the psychological devastation of a boyfriend who turns out to be a child molester.
Meanwhile, in scenes disconnected from the main narrative, the viewer is treated to the downward spiral of Willy Jack, starting with his arrest moments after ditching Novalee and ending with his losing his legs when he's too drunk to get out of the way of a freight train. As you might have gathered, nobody has any smarts in this sorry bunch, including the librarian who takes five years to work up the nerve to tell Novalee he loves her.
What makes the film watchable are its spirited performances. Portman, 18, is fairly convincing in her aging from 17 to 22, though the latter is a stretch, which probably explains why Williams keeps love scenes between Portman and Frain to a minimum.
Channing and Judd put vigor into their cliched characters, but the most amusing turn is by Joan Cusack as a tough-cookie Nashville agent who thinks she sees C&W talent in Willy Jack. Her character has no real link to the movie, but the picture picks up every time she appears.
All technical credits are pro, with the twister sequence giving the film some badly needed excitement.
WHERE THE HEART IS
Fox
Wind Dancer
Producers: Matt Williams, Susan Cartsonis,
David McFadzean, Patricia Whitcher
Director: Matt Williams
Screenwriters: Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel
Based on the novel by: Billie Letts
Executive producers: Carmen Finestra,
Rick Leed
Director of photography: Richard Greatrex
Production designer: Paul Peters
Music: Mason Daring
Costume designer: Melinda Eshelman
Editor: Ian Crafford
Color/stereo
Cast:
Novalee Nation: Natalie Portman
Lexie: Ashley Judd
Sister Husband: Stockard Channing
Ruth Meyers: Joan Cusack
Forney: James Frain
Willy Jack: Dylan Bruno
Moses Whitecotten: Keith David
Running time -- 120 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 4/24/2000
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Most of the crucial scenes in writer-director William Nicholson's debut take place in the magic time when the sun's gone down, the candles are blown out and the flames flicker in the fireplace. As a central motif for a romantic period film about secret sexual encounters and a Mother Love's for her cast-off daughter, Nicholson's conceit is not intrinsically flawed, but almost everything else to do with the film is.
A Miramax release initially scheduled for unveiling a year ago, "Firelight" is another strong leading role for Sophie Marceau ("Anna Karenina") -- at least it must have seemed so on paper. Women young and old are the target audience, but only more literary-minded audiences will peruse this yawner, which sinks into shameless melodrama and historical hokum.
The year is 1838 and Elisabeth (Marceau) needs money, lots of it. Resigned to a desperate scheme, she agrees to let a gloomy, English aristocrat's son impregnate her during encounters in a French hideaway. The child-
buying Charles (Stephen Dillane) has a crippled wife who is unable to move or talk.
There's almost nothing surprising in Nicholson's unliterary but always literal approach. As he paws her breasts and she achieves satisfaction, Elisabeth and Charles enjoy themselves a tad too much in their initial encounters. At least their child is born of passion if not budding love. Nine months later, the baby is taken away from Elisabeth, but in a storytelling flaw, we never see what she does with her earnings, though there's mention made at one point of a father in financial straits.
Charles' father, Lord Clare (Joss Ackland), is also a spendthrift, and his mishandling of the family fortune presents another major problem for his beleaguered son. With not much attempt at credibility, Elisabeth arrives at Charles' country estate as the new governess to her own daughter, but her plan is hardly a concrete one. Neither is Charles' when he discovers the sticky situation. His first impulse is to fire her on the spot, but because of her contract, she has a month to get him back into bed and get on the good side of young, spoiled Louisa (Dominique Belcourt).
Thrown into the smoldering scenario are Charles' patient, loyal sister-in-law (Lia Williams) and his American friend (Kevin Anderson), who is turned down by Elisabeth when he asks her to go away with him. These distractions don't keep the grand passion between Charles and Elisabeth going the full cycle, climaxing with Charles finally doing something about his hapless wife while the estate is put up for sale. Nicholson goes for big, weepy scenes that generally don't have the intended impact.
Marceau has an attractive dignity and forceful presence, but she has trouble carrying the picture when everybody else, with the exception of Belcourt, is so dull. Poor Dillane really has a washout of a character. We don't develop much sympathy for Charles. Otherwise, the film is by-the-books technically, from the naturalistic cinematography to the overwrought orchestral score.
FIRELIGHT
Hollywood Pictures
Writer-director: William Nicholson
Producer: Brian Eastman
Executive producers: Carmen Finestra,
Dave McFadzean, Matt Williams,
Susan Cartsonis, Rick Leed
Cinematographer: Nic Morris
Production designer: Rob Harris
Editor: Chris Wimble
Costume designer: Andrea Galer
Music: Christopher Gunning
Color/stereo
Cast:
Elisabeth: Sophie Marceau
Charles: Stephen Dillane
John Taylor: Kevin Anderson
Constance: Lia Williams
Lord Clare: Joss Ackland
Louisa: Dominique Belcourt
Running time - 103 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
A Miramax release initially scheduled for unveiling a year ago, "Firelight" is another strong leading role for Sophie Marceau ("Anna Karenina") -- at least it must have seemed so on paper. Women young and old are the target audience, but only more literary-minded audiences will peruse this yawner, which sinks into shameless melodrama and historical hokum.
The year is 1838 and Elisabeth (Marceau) needs money, lots of it. Resigned to a desperate scheme, she agrees to let a gloomy, English aristocrat's son impregnate her during encounters in a French hideaway. The child-
buying Charles (Stephen Dillane) has a crippled wife who is unable to move or talk.
There's almost nothing surprising in Nicholson's unliterary but always literal approach. As he paws her breasts and she achieves satisfaction, Elisabeth and Charles enjoy themselves a tad too much in their initial encounters. At least their child is born of passion if not budding love. Nine months later, the baby is taken away from Elisabeth, but in a storytelling flaw, we never see what she does with her earnings, though there's mention made at one point of a father in financial straits.
Charles' father, Lord Clare (Joss Ackland), is also a spendthrift, and his mishandling of the family fortune presents another major problem for his beleaguered son. With not much attempt at credibility, Elisabeth arrives at Charles' country estate as the new governess to her own daughter, but her plan is hardly a concrete one. Neither is Charles' when he discovers the sticky situation. His first impulse is to fire her on the spot, but because of her contract, she has a month to get him back into bed and get on the good side of young, spoiled Louisa (Dominique Belcourt).
Thrown into the smoldering scenario are Charles' patient, loyal sister-in-law (Lia Williams) and his American friend (Kevin Anderson), who is turned down by Elisabeth when he asks her to go away with him. These distractions don't keep the grand passion between Charles and Elisabeth going the full cycle, climaxing with Charles finally doing something about his hapless wife while the estate is put up for sale. Nicholson goes for big, weepy scenes that generally don't have the intended impact.
Marceau has an attractive dignity and forceful presence, but she has trouble carrying the picture when everybody else, with the exception of Belcourt, is so dull. Poor Dillane really has a washout of a character. We don't develop much sympathy for Charles. Otherwise, the film is by-the-books technically, from the naturalistic cinematography to the overwrought orchestral score.
FIRELIGHT
Hollywood Pictures
Writer-director: William Nicholson
Producer: Brian Eastman
Executive producers: Carmen Finestra,
Dave McFadzean, Matt Williams,
Susan Cartsonis, Rick Leed
Cinematographer: Nic Morris
Production designer: Rob Harris
Editor: Chris Wimble
Costume designer: Andrea Galer
Music: Christopher Gunning
Color/stereo
Cast:
Elisabeth: Sophie Marceau
Charles: Stephen Dillane
John Taylor: Kevin Anderson
Constance: Lia Williams
Lord Clare: Joss Ackland
Louisa: Dominique Belcourt
Running time - 103 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
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