The Brown Bunny (2003)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Director:

Vincent Gallo

Writer:

Vincent Gallo (written by)

Release Date:

14 November 2003 (Austria)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Professional motorcycle racer Bud Clay heads from New Hampshire to California to race again. Along the way he meets various needy women who provide him with the cure to his own loneliness, but only a certain woman from his past will truly satisfy him.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Motorcycle | New Hampshire | California | Loneliness

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Vincent Gallo	...	Bud Clay
Chloë Sevigny	...	Daisy
Cheryl Tiegs	...	Lilly
Elizabeth Blake	...	Rose
Anna Vareschi	...	Violet
Mary Morasky	...	Mrs. Lemon
Jeffrey Wood	...	Featured Racer
Eric Wood	...	Featured Racer
Michael Martire	...	Featured Racer
Rick Doucette	...	Featured Racer
Jim Lester	...	Featured Racer
Michael Niksa	...	Featured Racer

Runtime:

93 min | Canada:90 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | France:119 min (Cannes Film Festival)

Country:

USA | Japan | France

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Germany:16 | Ireland:18 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Zurich) | New Zealand:R18 | Canada:18+ (Quebec) (DVD rating) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Ontario) (DVD rating) | Italy:VM18 | Brazil:18 | Finland:K-18 | France:-16 | Portugal:M/18 | Switzerland:18 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:18 (canton of Vaud) | USA:Not Rated | Sweden:15 | Australia:R | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Best Western Inn - 6141 Franklin Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Kinetique

Trivia:

The opening scene of Gallo driving was originally almost 20 minutes of him just driving until it was cut down because it was too long.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Bud speaks to Daisy's mother, a glass on the table appears and then disappears between shots.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[Bud walks up to a young woman, working behind the counter in a gas station store]
Bud Clay: Hi.
Violet: Hello... Did you just come from the race track?
Bud Clay: Mmhm.
Violet: Did you win?
Bud Clay: No.
Violet: Oh.
Bud Clay: How much is this?
Violet: $2... Will you be racing again?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The View: (2006-03-08)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Smooth

Definitely an acquired taste

If you can endure a 90 minute portrait of brooding self loathing with virtually no dialog and uninspired cinematography, this film is for you. The notorious scene with Daisy is incongruous. Perhaps, I am dense, but in my view, the emperor has no clothes. To be successful, this film should have elicited a strong interest in the lead character. But in the end, you have learned little about someone who is shallow and unappealing. This film portrays the journey of a motorcyclist tormented by demons vaguely hinted at in mysterious stops he makes in route. You see that he is attracted and repulsed by women. (Cheryl Tiegs, for those of you old enough to remember her from the 1970s is perfect in what amounts to a cameo.) But his encounters with women are so fleeting and glancing that you learn little until the end of the journey. Then, what you learn is too trite to support your having endured the trip with him. I believe Vincent Gallo had a serious idea, but the idea is unrealized.