Rocket Gibraltar (1988)

An old patriarch unites for his birthday all members of his family. But the group of people is full of personal and social problems.

Director:

Daniel Petrie

Writer:

Amos Poe

Stars:

Burt Lancaster, Suzy Amis, Patricia Clarkson

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Burt Lancaster	...	Levi Rockwell
Suzy Amis	...	Aggie Rockwell
Patricia Clarkson	...	Rose Black
Frances Conroy	...	Ruby Hanson
Sinéad Cusack	...	Amanda 'Billi' Rockwell (as Sinead Cusack)
John Glover	...	Rolo Rockwell
Bill Pullman	...	Crow Black
Kevin Spacey	...	Dwayne Hanson
John Bell	...	Orson Rockwell
Nicky Bronson	...	Max Hanson
Danny Corkill	...	Kane Rockwell (as Dan Corkill)
Macaulay Culkin	...	Cy Blue Black
Angela Goethals	...	Dawn Black
Sara Goethals	...	Flora Rockwell
Emily Poe	...	Emily Rockwell

Storyline

A man's family comes for his 77th birthday and while he loves all of his children and their children, he and his children don't exactly connect. However, he connects with his grandchildren. And he tells them what he wants for his birthday and they do what they can to give it to him.

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Plot Keywords:

birthday | patriarch | walkman | grandfather granddaughter relationship | screenwriter | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 September 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

El cohete de Gibraltar

Filming Locations:

Westhampton Beach, Long Island, New York, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$187,349 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Cinematic debuts of Macaulay Culkin, Angela Goethals, and Sara Rue.

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Quotes

Levi Rockwell: Their whole life was the sea, the sea and their boats. So in celebrating their deaths- yes, you can say celebrating - they used both. The families of the great Viking would put the body of their loved one on a ship, cover it with straw, and then, as the sun was setting, cast it away into the water. They would light huge bonfires on the beach, and then the Vikings would light the tips of their arrows in the bonfire and shoot them at the ship. Ah, it must have been so beautiful, fire on the water...

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Connections

References The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962)

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Soundtracks

"I Can't Explain"
Written by Pete Townshend
Performed by David Bowie

User Reviews

Great movie about family diversity and interaction

This is a great movie to get a taste of how the rest of the world's families probably exist, at least in some ways. Of course, Hollywood has to spice things up past the point of normalcy, but you can see bits and pieces of your family in there and if they included it in a movie, it must be fairly common. Neurotic, depressed, gay and lesbian, just about every flavor of individual can appear in our families and when everyone gets together the conversation and interaction can be worth filming. It is always nice to see Patricia Clarkson in a movie - bravo to your success. (Go O.P. Walker) A new movie called Eulogy (2004) with Ray Romano carries a very similar plot and to see one is to see them both.