Wicker Park (2004)

Director:

Paul McGuigan

Writers (WGA):

Gilles Mimouni (film L'Appartement)
Brandon Boyce (screenplay)

Release Date:

3 September 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Passion never dies.

Plot:

A young Chicago advertising executive believes a woman he sees in a café is his long-lost love. His conviction leads to obsession, as he puts his life on hold to trail her.

Plot Keywords:

Restaurant | Actress | Photographer | Obsession | Key

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Josh Hartnett	...	Matthew
Rose Byrne	...	Alex
Matthew Lillard	...	Luke
Diane Kruger	...	Lisa
Christopher Cousins	...	Daniel
Jessica Paré	...	Rebecca
Vlasta Vrana	...	Jeweller
Amy Sobol	...	Ellie
Ted Whittall	...	Walter
Isabel Dos Santos	...	Chamber Maid
Joanna Noyes	...	Mary
Kerrilyn Keith	...	Female Customer
Mark Camacho	...	Bartender
Marcel Jeannin	...	Theater Director
Stéfanie Buxton	...	Ticket Agent

Also Known As:

Obsessed (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexuality and language.

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Australia:M | Malaysia:U | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Iceland:10 (original rating) | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-7 | Germany:o.Al. | Ireland:12 | Norway:A | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | UK:12A | USA:PG-13 (certificate #40403)

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The restaurant, where Matthew overhears Lisa talking on the telephone, is called "Bellucci". Monica Bellucci was the female lead in the French original L'appartement (1996), of which this film is a remake.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Alex serves Mathew coffee in the champagne flutes, they both pick them up by the bowl instead of the stem which would be extremely hot to hold in their fingers.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Jeweller: [holding a diamond ring] Magnificent, aren't they? "God's tears".
Matthew: Yeah. It's beautiful. So are the others, I... I guess I just have to make the right decision.
Jeweller: In the end it's not your eye that must decide.

Movie Connections:

References Vertigo (1958)

Soundtrack:

Sálfraedingur

An surprisingly good film.

It was a lazy Sunday night and the only movies playing were Wicker Park and Super Babies Baby Geniuses 2. Well, I picked the film with a more attractive cast.

After about the first thirty minutes of Wicker Park I was laughing because it seemed like this was the most absurd movie I had ever seen. However, as the film progressed the laughter subsided and intrigue ensued. By the last thirty minutes of the film I was hooked. When it was over, I was surprised that a movie that had started out so poorly ended up being one of the better films I have seen in a while.

If one sees this film, I recommend he/she be patient. I found the overall experience, despite the bad beginning, to be quite good.

4/5 stars