Affliction (1997)

Director:

Paul Schrader

Writers (WGA):

Russell Banks (novel)
Paul Schrader (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 January 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Wade Whitehouse is frightened to death of following in his father's footsteps.

Plot:

A deeply troubled small town cop investigates a suspicious hunting death while events occur that cause him to mentally disintergrate.

Plot Keywords:

Hunting | Small Town | Sheriff | Dysfunctional Family | Self Dentistry

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 7 wins & 13 nominations

Cast

Nick Nolte	...	Wade Whitehouse
Brigid Tierney	...	Jill Whitehouse
Holmes Osborne	...	Gordon LaRiviere
Jim True-Frost	...	Jack Hewitt (as Jim True)
Tim Post	...	Chick Ward
Christopher Heyerdahl	...	Frankie Lacoy (as Chris Heyerdahl)
Marian Seldes	...	Alma Pittman
Janine Theriault	...	Hettie Rogers
Mary Beth Hurt	...	Lillian Whitehouse Horner
Paul Stewart	...	Mr. Horner
Sissy Spacek	...	Margie Fogg
Wayne Robson	...	Nick Wickham
Sean McCann	...	Evan Twombley
Sheena Larkin	...	Lugene Brooks
Penny Mancuso	...	Woman Driver

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language.

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Netherlands:12 (re-rating) | Netherlands:16 | South Korea:18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Chile:18 | France:U | Germany:12 | Peru:18 | Portugal:M/16 (video premiere) | Singapore:PG | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #35428) | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Beloeil, Québec, Canada

Company:

JVC Entertainment Networks

Trivia:

During their praise of the film, Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel noted that James Coburn was the perfect kind of person that seems like he could intimidate a man like Nick Nolte, who is famous for playing domineering and blustery men.

Goofs:

Continuity: When on the deer hunt, in a shot from above Jack is shown putting the index finger of his left hand to his mouth to signal his wealthy customer to be silent, but in the next shot it's his right index finger.

Quotes:

Rolfe Whitehouse: [First lines] This is the story of my older brother's strange criminal behaviour and disappearance. We who loved him no longer speak of Wade. It's as if he never existed.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 56th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1999) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Open the Door to Your Heart

What did you expect?

A walk in the park, a fine romance, a Indy Jones and the Last Crusade. Come on, a combination of Russell Banks and Paul Shrader, the author who explores a school bus accident and the writer/director from Taxi Driver, or The Comfort of Strangers. Did you really expect a happy ending? The film is a dark side vision of Richard Russo's Nobody's Fool, which Paul Newman and Robert Benton turned into a tale of redemption on screen in that same part of the world. No redemption here. As Wade's brother's final voice-over lets you know that Wade is still out there, reliving his father's life, you are relieved to be permitted to leave this claustrophobic world.

Painful scene after painful scene are piled on each other, none more so than the painful rejection of Wade by his little girl. Children go through periods where their parents are embarrassments to them, but in this case, it is more of a fear than a shame of Wade that makes her want to be in her mother's arms.

This is a great film of uncompromising realism. It is a modern Jude The Obscure, but at least you were allowed to see Jude when he had hope and some happiness, and at the end he simply wore himself out. At the end of Affliction, all that you know is that Wade is out there in the world, his angers banked.

The film works because of Nolte's performance. Coburn has an easier job, but he carries it off. The sub-plots mean little, but show us Wade/Nolte in a field of action, and demonstrate that it is not only his personal life that is a mess.

Odd that Banks' The Sweet Hereafter locale was moved from upstate New York to British Columbia, and this film of bare rock, flinty New Hampshire was made in Canada also.