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The Real Howard Spitz (1998)
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Overview
User Rating:
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Director:
Writer:
Jurgen Wolff (screenplay)
Release Date:
28 August 1998 (UK)
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Plot:
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User Reviews:
A very uneven film that just about has enough going for it to make it worth a look
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Cast
(in credits order) | Kelsey Grammer | ... | Howard Spitz |
 | Genevieve Tessier | ... | Samantha Kershaw |
| Joseph Rutten | ... | Lou |
 | Amanda Donohoe | ... | Laura Kershaw |
| Kay Tremblay | ... | Theodora Winkle |
 | Patrick McKenna | ... | Roger |
| Lex Gigeroff | ... | Ronnie Relish |
| Gary Levert | ... | Red Allen |
| Jeffrey Hirschfield | ... | Lawrence - Primrose Rep (as Jeff Hirschfield) |
| Denny Doherty | ... | Balthazar Mishkin |
| Joanne Hagen | ... | Waitress |
| Edward Gregson | ... | Aaron |
| Ciel Crosby | ... | Librarian (as Cathy Lee Crosby) |
| John Loverin | ... | Bartender - Cop Bar |
| John Fulton | ... | Ted the Cop |
| Claude Jean | ... | Waiter - French Restaurant |
| David Christoffel | ... | Bill Sellers |
| Jennifer Overton | ... | Mother of Aaron |
| Glenn Wadman | ... | Sales Clerk - Book Store (as Glen Wadman) |
| Nancy Marshall | ... | Customer - Pool Store |
| Adam Bent | ... | Stuart |
 | Allie MacDonald | ... | Little Girl - Library (as Alexandra MacDonald) |
| Paul Ash | ... | Parking Ticket Officer |
| Deborah Allen | ... | Shopper - Supermarket |
| Angus Duncan | ... | Manager - Supermarket |
| Kim Jenkins | ... | Sample Lady - Supermarket |
| Diane Marie Regan | ... | Blonde - Cop Bar |
| Heather Blackburn | ... | Brunette - Cop Bar |
| Jody Myers | ... | Mime Artist |
| Josh MacDonald | ... | Mark - actor |
| Tom Scott | ... | Larry - actor |
| Michael David Hirshbach | ... | Charlie - actor |
| George Leblanc | ... | Gerald |
| Justin Friesen | ... | Lionel - TV Show Kid |
| Sydney Little | ... | Lilly - TV Show Kid |
| Tom Haney | ... | Mover 1 |
 | John Dunsworth | ... | Clown - Amusement Park |
| John Poulton | ... | Chauffeur |
| Ted Soutar | ... | Newpaper Man |
| Ian Gilmore | ... | Page - Pool Fair |
| Daniel MacMillan | ... | Boy - Book Fair |
 | Christopher Shore | ... | Photographer - Book Fair (as Chris Shore) |
 | Carlos Jacott | ... | Door Guard - L.A. |
 | Jim Gaffigan | ... | Storekeeper |
| Dean Cooper | ... | Newpaper Boy with Bike - L.A. |
 | Dwayne L. Barnes | ... | Tyrone |
| Jose Urbina | ... | Gang Member #2 |
| Jurgen Wolff | ... | Man in Deli |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Brad Armitage | ... | Security Guard |
Directed by | |||
| Vadim Jean | |||
Writing credits | ||
| Jurgen Wolff | (screenplay) | |
Produced by | |||
| Paul Brooks | .... | producer | |
| James Gay-Rees | .... | producer | |
| Sara Giles | .... | associate producer | |
| Alan Martin | .... | producer | |
| William Ritchie | .... | associate producer | |
| Christopher Zimmer | .... | producer | |
Original Music by | |||
| David A. Hughes | |||
| John Murphy | |||
Cinematography by | |||
| Glen MacPherson | (director of photography) | ||
Film Editing by | |||
| Pia Di Ciaula | (as Pia di Ciaula) | ||
Casting by | |||
| Jon Comerford | |||
Production Design by | |||
| Chris Townsend | |||
Art Direction by | |||
| Charles Infante | |||
| Angela Murphy | |||
Set Decoration by | |||
| Caroline Smith | |||
Costume Design by | |||
| Martha Curry | |||
Makeup Department | |||
| Paulette Cable | .... | daily makeup artist | |
| Gloria Pasqua Casny | .... | additional makeup artist | |
| Rose Klatt | .... | daily makeup artist | |
| Elizabeth Kuchurean | .... | daily makeup artist | |
| Laura Mackay | .... | daily makeup artist | |
| Jacques Nazaretian | .... | daily hair stylist | |
| Cathy O'Connell | .... | key makeup artist | |
| Robert Raniere | .... | daily hair stylist | |
| Norma Richard | .... | key hair stylist | |
| Lynn Rodgers | .... | additional makeup artist | |
| Colleen Ryan | .... | swing hair stylist | |
| Colleen Ryan | .... | swing makeup artist | |
| Ian Marc Smith | .... | daily hair stylist | |
| Nancy E. Warren | .... | daily hair stylist (as Nancy Warren) | |
Production Management | |||
| Jennie McClean | .... | post-production supervisor | |
| David Pomier | .... | production supervisor: Los Angeles | |
| Elizabeth Young | .... | production manager: Nova Scotia | |
Sound Department | |||
| Peter Gleaves | .... | assistant dubbing mixer | |
| David Halbert | .... | boom operator | |
| Stephen Halbert | .... | sound mixer | |
| Zane Hayward | .... | sound editor: London | |
| Stewart Henderson | .... | dialogue editor: London | |
| Aidan Hobbs | .... | sound mixer | |
| Frank Kavanagh | .... | boom operator | |
| Geo Major | .... | daily boom operator | |
| Clive Pendry | .... | dubbing mixer | |
| Michael Redfern | .... | foley editor: London | |
| Ted Swanscott | .... | adr mixer | |
| Ted Swanscott | .... | foley mixer | |
Visual Effects by | |||
| Derryn Clark | .... | visual effects producer | |
| Anna Laurie | .... | visual effects coordinator | |
Stunts | |||
| Gary Baxley | .... | stunts | |
| Eddie Braun | .... | stunts | |
| Laura Dash | .... | stunts | |
| Julius LeFlore | .... | stunt coordinator | |
| Julius LeFlore | .... | stunts | |
Animation Department | |||
| Steff Adair | .... | animator | |
| John Legere | .... | animator | |
| Sharon Molloy | .... | animator | |
| Susan Pfeiffer | .... | animator | |
| Glen Schachowskoj | .... | animator | |
| Lee Tanner | .... | animator | |
Casting Department | |||
| John Dunsworth | .... | additional casting: Halifax | |
| Sarah Dunsworth | .... | additional casting | |
| Michele Weaver | .... | additional casting: Los Angeles | |
Costume and Wardrobe Department | |||
| Lin Chapman | .... | wardrobe assistant | |
| Kate Delamage | .... | head wardrobe | |
| Vincent Lapper | .... | costume supervisor: Los Angeles | |
| Lori Lewis | .... | first wardrobe assistant | |
| Cara Porter | .... | wardrobe assistant | |
| Sian Morris Ross | .... | wardrobe daily | |
| James A. Worthen | .... | wardrobe set supervisor (as James Worthern) | |
Editorial Department | |||
| Pamela Allen | .... | post-production coordinator | |
| Charlotte Disher | .... | assistant editor | |
| Peter Ferrari | .... | color timer | |
| James Lingard | .... | assistant editor: London | |
| Karoline Moser | .... | second assistant editor: London | |
Music Department | |||
| Nicola Fletcher | .... | music supervisor | |
| Mark Hinton Stewart | .... | music supervisor | |
| Greg Francis | .... | orchestrator (uncredited) | |
Transportation Department | |||
| Linda Mixon | .... | driver: cast (as Linda Nitsch) | |
| Lawrence Morgan | .... | transportation coordinator: Los Angeles | |
| Kelly Peterson | .... | transportation captain | |
| Michael Sullivan | .... | transportation coordinator | |
Production Companies
- Metrodome Films (as A Metrodome/ImageX Production)
- Mob Film Company, The
- Nova Scotia Film Development Corporation
- Téléfilm Canada
- imX Communications
- Artisan Entertainment
- Highlight Video
- Live Film & Mediaworks Inc.
- Teleview International (1998) (Lebanon) (TV) (Middle East)
- Adner Animation animation
- Production Services Atlanta camera and lighting equipment
Additional Details
Also Known As:
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MPAA:
Rated PG for language and mild thematic elements
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
USA:102 min
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 See more »
Sound Mix:
Filming Locations:
Company:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
Howard Spitz, played by Kelsey Grammer, says, "Writing a sitcom's not hard. You just have a married couple, a bar in Boston or a psychiatrist on the radio." This is a reference to both "Cheers" (1982) and "Frasier" (1993), both of which starred Grammer as Dr Frasier Crane, a psychiatrist who hung out at a Boston bar on "Cheers" before moving to Seattle to start a radio call in show in "Frasier".See more »
FAQ
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Howard Spitz is a writer of gritty detective thrillers; problem is more people have been on the moon than actually buy his books and the debts are piling up. Bitter and angry, he has a revelation when he meets Theodora Winkle – an author of children's books who sells millions of simple books at $9 each. Spitz cannot believe it could be so simple to print cash and decides to bash out a book about "Crafty Cow", get it printed and watch the money roll in. Reading books in the kids section of the library, he meets Samantha Kershaw who tells him all kids love the books and off he goes. However when his first draft is a gritty detective thriller featuring a dead cow he returns to the library and asks for Samantha's help in writing the book. In return he tells her he will look for her father – who left Sam's mother before she was born. Everything is simple until he finds out that he will have to meet the children his books sell to.
Late one night in the UK, this film was screened on terrestrial television and several of the top reviewers on IMDb settled down to watch it – namely MovieCritic and Theo; what was this classic you ask? Well "The Real Howard Spitz". And what a rather uneven affair it is too, in many regards. When you look at the basic premise it sounds good and parts of the film are funny and enjoyable; but the plot is cluttered with some ideas that don't work as well as others and it makes the film feel rather messy and full of as many good moments as average/weak moments. Generally it is enjoyable but it is a very uneven film that requires you to be a bit forgiving and undemanding. The direction strangely matches this feel; mostly it is straightforward but it also throws in lots of strange angles and uses weird lenses occasionally – it doesn't take a great deal away from the film but it doesn't add anything either (although some of the camera work was pretty cool). Also, as others have seen, the use of music was strange as well.
The performances are mixed. Personally I thought Grammar was pretty good – a nice step away from his usual Fraiser character but yet still with a similar dark wit to him that works. Donohue could have been anybody and was unmemorable. Tessier was pretty much an annoyingly cute kid but what makes her performance good is that her and Grammar have chemistry and go together pretty well. The support cast are so-so, not making a great impression at any point without really being "bad"; but the film is Grammar's and I enjoyed him.
Overall this is a mixed and uneven affair that just about did enough to entertain me. The ideas are mostly good but the scattergun feel to it doesn't help it work and it really could have done with being tighter and more fully developed. It is quite funny, quite interesting and quite engaging – not great, but distracting and different enough to be worth seeing.