Parallel Lives (film)
Parallel Lives | |
---|---|
Genre | Drama Mystery Romance Thriller |
Written by | Gisela Bernice Linda Yellen |
Directed by | Linda Yellen |
Starring | JoBeth Williams Liza Minnelli Gena Rowlands |
Music by | Patrick Seymour |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producers | Linda Yellen Kathy Zotnowski (associate producer) Tracy McGrath (line producer) |
Production locations | California Utah |
Cinematography | Paul Cameron |
Editors | Paul Morton Jan Northrop |
Running time | 105 minutes |
Production companies | Showtime Networks Sundance Institute |
Original release | |
Network | Showtime |
Release | August 14, 1994 |
Parallel Lives is a 1994 American made-for-television mystery-drama film written, directed and produced by Linda Yellen which returns some actors and similar patterns of Yellen's previous work, Chantilly Lace.[1]
The film features an
Parallel Lives was broadcast August 14, 1994, on Showtime.[2]
Plot
A college reunion turns into a tangled web of passion, romance and intrigue as old friends and enemies catch up with each other's lives.
Cast
- James Belushias Nick Dimas
- Liza Minnelli as Stevie Merrill
- James Brolin as Professor Spencer Jones
- Helen Slater as Elsa Freedman
- LeVar Burton as Dr. Franklin Carter
- Jack Klugman as Senator Robert Ferguson
- Patricia Wettig as Rebecca Ferguson Stone
- Ben Gazzara as Charlie Duke
- Mira Sorvino as Matty Derosa
- Lindsay Crouse as Una Pace
- JoBeth Williams as Winnie Winslow
- Ally Sheedy as Louise
- Paul Sorvino as Ed Starling
- Matthew Perry as Willie Morrison
- Jill Eikenberry as Lula Sparks
- Treat Williams as Peter Barnum
- Dudley Moore as Imaginary Friend / President Andrews
- Gena Rowlands as Francie Pomerantz
- Robert Wagner as the sheriff
- Michael O'Rourke as Kirk O'Brien
- Alan Feinstein as Dan Merrill
Production
The movie was developed by Yellen with the assistance of the Sundance Institute.[1] As with Chantilly Lace, it uses "guided improvisations"[3] with the actors, after receiving some general character outlines, free to improvise.[1]
Parts of the film were shot in
Reception
The movie received mixed reviews.
On the other hand, Lynne Heffley opened her review for the Los Angeles Times with these words: "From the sublime to the ridiculous... and the ridiculous has the edge in 'Parallel Lives.'[5] Jerry Roberts in his Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors defined the film as "a cattle call at the actors unemployment line"[6] and film critic Lewis Beale in his video review for the New York Daily News claimed that: "Linda Yellen's film wants to be hip, moving and Robert Altmanesque (overlapping dialogue and an improvisational feel), but it's simply tedious and stupid."[7]
References
- ^ a b c d Roy Loynd (11 August 1994). "Parallel Lives". Variety. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
- ^ a b John Leonard (1 August 1994). "The Unmaking of a President". New York Magazine. p. 55.
- ^ Ken Tucker (12 August 1994). "TV Review: Parallel Lives". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
- ISBN 9781423605874.
- ^ Lynne Heffley (13 August 1994). "TV Review : 'Parallel Lives' Draws Uneven Line Between Fun, Banality". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-8108-6138-1.
- ^ Lewis Beale (9 March 1995). "Video Reviews". New York Daily News. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
External links
- Parallel Lives at IMDb