Wakefield (film)
Wakefield | |
---|---|
Directed by | Robin Swicord |
Written by | Robin Swicord |
Based on | "Wakefield" by E. L. Doctorow |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Andrei Bowden-Schwartz |
Edited by | Matt Maddox |
Music by | Aaron Zigman |
Production company | |
Distributed by | IFC Films |
Release dates |
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Running time | 108 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $874,187[1] |
Wakefield is a 2016 American
The film had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2016 and was released in the United States on May 19, 2017.
Plot
Howard Wakefield, a successful attorney in New York City, is unhappy in his marriage of fifteen years to Diana, a beautiful art curator and former dancer. They used flirtation with other people to add excitement to their sex life, but Diana soon begins to resent it. One night, Howard returns home late from his commute, which has been disrupted and delayed by a widespread power outage, and is distracted by a raccoon he sees entering his garage, which is detached from the house. He chases the raccoon into the garage's attic and realizes he has a perfect view into his house, where his wife and two daughters, Taylor and Giselle, are eating dinner. He ignores calls from his wife and is amused at her clear annoyance, but is insulted when she angrily throws his plate of dinner away instead of saving it for him. To avoid a fight, he decides to wait a bit to go into the house, but he ends up falling asleep.
The next morning, Howard realizes Diana will never believe his story of spending the night in the garage and will insist he was having an affair, so he plans to wait for her to leave for work before going in. Instead, he is shocked when, after finding his car still in the garage, she calls the police to report him
Howard is overjoyed with abandoning all his responsibilities and amused that people would surely suspect his wife's involvement in his disappearance, just as he is amused at seeing her tackle the chores that used to be his responsibility. He feels unshackled and free as he spends his time doing puzzles, reading and observing his family and their neighbors. He also happily realizes that he is seeing more of his daughters' lives than he did before. For the first few days, he continues to sneak food and amenities from his house. He soon realizes that he no longer cares about having clients and being freshly showered and shaved, and vows not to take anything from his old life or spend the money he has in his wallet. He begins foraging each night through the trash and showers in the backyard bathroom built by his neighbor, Dr. Sondervan, who runs a small home for mentally disabled youth.
As months go by and he grows a beard and long hair, Howard is free to walk about town during the day, where people dismiss him as homeless. The only people who discover his presence are Herbert and Emily, two of Dr. Sondervan's residents, who follow him back to the attic one day. He reflects on the beginning of his relationship with Diana, whom he met when she was dating his best friend Dirk Morrison, an extremely competitive Wall Street trader. Through manipulation and dishonesty, Howard managed to take Diana away from Dirk, and as he thinks back, Howard wonders if he ever truly loved her. Nevertheless, he realizes that by simply disappearing, he has the upper hand in controlling her love life. If he had just divorced her, she would be free to date other men, but while he is missing under mysterious circumstances, she can't easily move on to another man.
As summer turns into fall, Howard no longer basks in his freedom but instead feels like he has become a prisoner of his choices. He has an epiphany and realizes that he had been a selfish, jealous and resentful husband and father, who made himself out to be a victim. While he feels happy to be free from himself, he also feels that his family is happier without him. He also realizes that he has never loved Diana more and one day, he walks out onto the sidewalk, but Diana does not recognize him.
Diana appears to be developing a romantic relationship, and Howard is stunned when he sees it is with Dirk. Howard surmises that Dirk would have probably told Diana the lies he had said that broke them up years ago. He decides to give Diana an honest chance this time to pick with whom she wants to be. After getting himself cleaned up and buying a new suit, Howard works up the courage to walk back into his house. As he sees his wife and daughters decorating the Christmas tree, he envisions them being overjoyed at his return, and also envisions a second scenario in which they respond with horror. He pauses, and then comes in through the front door and announces, "I'm home."
Cast
- Bryan Cranston as Howard Wakefield[3]
- Jennifer Garner as Diana Wakefield[4]
- Beverly D'Angelo as Babs, Diana's mother
- Jason O'Mara as Dirk Morrison, Howard's former friend and Diana's ex-boyfriend
- Ian Anthony Dale as Ben Jacobs, an attorney at Howard's firm
- Alexander Zale as Dr. Sondervan, the Wakefields' next-door neighbor
- Pippa Bennett-Warner as Emily, mentally disabled ward of Dr. Sondervan
- Isaac Leyva as Herbert, mentally disabled ward of Dr. Sondervan.
- Ellery Sprayberry as Giselle Wakefield, Howard and Diana's teen daughter
- Victoria Bruno as Taylor Wakefield, Howard and Diana's teen daughter
- Tracey Walter as Homeless Man
Production
On November 11, 2015, it was announced that Robin Swicord would direct a drama film based on the short story "Wakefield" by E. L. Doctorow, after the short story of the same title by Nathaniel Hawthorne.[3] Bonnie Curtis and Julie Lynn would produce the film through Mockingbird Pictures, along with Elliott Webb as co-producer.[3] Swicord had written the screenplay after meeting with Doctorow and discussing her ideas on how to present the story on film. She said, "I had to really interrogate the story before I ever got up the courage to meet with Doctorow, because I knew he was going to want to know what kind of movie this was going to be. I met him and we had great conversations. We emailed and talked on the phone, and started the process of getting him to trust that we had all our ducks in a row."[5]
Principal photography on the film began on November 30, 2015, in Pasadena, California,[4] and ended on January 8, 2016.[6]
Release
The film had its world premiere at the
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 72% rating based on 63 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Thanks to a committed, powerhouse performance by Bryan Cranston, Wakefield is a fascinating character study of a decidedly unpleasant character."[10] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 62 out of 100, based on 24 critics.[11]
Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote: "In this haunting, darkly funny and elegiac mood piece, Cranston once again displays a nearly unparalleled ability to make us like and care about men who are selfish and impetuous and reckless — yet still seem to have a core of decency buried deep within."[12]
Peter Travers of
References
- ^ "Wakefield (2017)". The Numbers. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
- ^ Doctorow, E. L. "Wakefield" (short story). The New Yorker. January 14, 2008.
- ^ a b c McNary, Dave (November 11, 2015). "Bryan Cranston Starring in Drama 'Wakefield'". Variety. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
- ^ ComingSoon.net. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
- ^ McKittrick, Christopher (May 24, 2017). "Filmmaking is a Marathon: Robin Swicord on Wakefield". Creative Screenwriting. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
- ^ SSN Insider Staff (January 8, 2016). "On the Set for 1/8/16: Robert Pattinson Starts on the Feature, 'Good Time' While Michael Fassbender & Marion Cotillard Wrap 'Assassin's Creed'". SSN Insider. Archived from the original on January 9, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ Hammond, Pete (September 1, 2016). "Telluride Film Festival Lineup: 'Sully', 'La La Land', 'Arrival', 'Bleed For This' & More". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
- ^ "Wakefield". Toronto International Film Festival. Archived from the original on August 19, 2016. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
- ^ "'Wakefield'". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
- ^ "Wakefield (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
- ^ "Wakefield reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
- ^ Roeper, Richard (8 June 2017). "Selfish dad glowers in the attic in darkly funny 'Wakefield'". Chicago Sun-Times.
- ^ Peter Travers (17 May 2017). "'Wakefield' Review: Bryan Cranston Shines as Man Who Blows Up His Life". Rolling Stone.
- ^ "'Wakefield'". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
External links
- Wakefield at IMDb
- Wakefield at Rotten Tomatoes