The New Age (1994)

Episodic movie about a rich yuppie couple who, going broke, can't decide if they want to stay together and meanwhile openly sleep around and experiment with different lifestyles.

Director:

Michael Tolkin

Writer:

Michael Tolkin

Stars:

Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Patrick Bauchau

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Weller	...	Peter Witner
Judy Davis	...	Katherine Witner
Patrick Bauchau	...	Jean Levy
Rachel Rosenthal	...	Sarah Friedberg
Adam West	...	Jeff Witner
Paula Marshall	...	Alison Gale
Bruce Ramsay	...	Misha
Tanya Pohlkotte	...	Bettina
Susan Traylor	...	Ellen Saltonstall
Patricia Heaton	...	Anna
John Diehl	...	Lyle
Maureen Mueller	...	Laura
Sandra Seacat	...	Mary Netter
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Dale Deveaux
Audra Lindley	...	Sandi Rego

Storyline

Peter and Katherine Witner are Southern California super-yuppies with great jobs but no center to their lives. When they both lose their jobs and begin marital infidelities, their solution is to start their own business together. In order to find meaning to their empty lives, they follow various New Age gurus and other such groups. Eventually, they hit rock bottom and have make some hard decisions.

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Plot Keywords:

yuppie | tattoo | death | failing marriage | party | 

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Taglines:

A shopping spree for the morally bankrupt.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexuality and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 September 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

A legeslegújabb kor

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$245,217 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alcor Films, Ixtlan, New Regency Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Did You Know?

Trivia

Isabelle Adjani was cast in Judy Davis' role, but left the production before shooting began.

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Quotes

Katherine Witner: I'm following my bliss.

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Why Gump, Why Now? (1994)

User Reviews

A film off the beaten path.

The response to this film was a little more negative than I expected. I liked the film better than Tolkin's "The Rapture." It's one of my favorites to watch for non-serious viewing.

The film has a quirkiness, even a spookiness, that, apparently, many dislike and don't understand. I wanted to recount the plot; however, since that's not desired, I don't see why other reviewers think the plot is so implausible.

Peter Weller's and Judy Davis' characters seem to be mismatched partners, but is that so implausible? This dissonance was probably intended, but disliked by many viewers. Anyway, the main characters compromise themselves in many ways: I think Peter and Judy do well in the movie.

I also like Adam West in his small part, and the under-rated Patrick Bachau plays his part as a new-age guru with urbane spookiness. Corbin Bernsen has a small part at the beginning as the boss for Peter Weller's character (Weller's character is conveniently named "Peter.")

Finally, I like the depictions of certain new-age ceremonies and personalities--this is rare in movies.... I think the movie is thoughtful. It does not have much action, but don't most action films today flagrantly violate the law of "suspension of disbelief?"

This film will not be liked by the multitude in America with the attention span of a gnat.