Big Eden (2000)

Big Eden is a small, fictional northwestern Montana town.

Director:

Thomas Bezucha

Writer:

Thomas Bezucha

Stars:

Arye Gross, Eric Schweig, Tim DeKay

9 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Arye Gross	...	Henry Hart
Eric Schweig	...	Pike Dexter
Tim DeKay	...	Dean Stewart
Louise Fletcher	...	Grace Cornwell
George Coe	...	Sam Hart
Nan Martin	...	Widow Thayer
O'Neal Compton	...	Jim Soams
Corinne Bohrer	...	Anna Rudolph
Veanne Cox	...	Mary Margaret Bishop
Douglas Sebern	...	John Cornwell
Parker Livingston	...	Andrew Stewart
Cody Wayne	...	Ben Stewart
Josie Adams	...	Becky Rudolph
Mark Twogood	...	Lloyd
Christopher Kendra	...	Bird

Storyline

Big Eden is a tiny fictional town in northwestern Montana, as Preston Sturges or Frank Capra might have envisioned it. Timber and Cowboy country. This is the story of Henry Hart, a successful New York Artist, who returns to the town of his childhood to care for the ailing grandfather who raised him. Back in Big Eden, Henry must come to terms with his relationship to Dean Stewart, his best friend from high School, as well as the object of his unrequited love. All these years Henry has been pining for a dream image of Dean from back then. This is also the story of Pike Dexter, the shy, unassuming Native American owner of the town's general store, who is as surprised as anyone to find himself falling in love with Henry. The people of Big Eden conspire and attempt to bring Henry and Pike together.

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Plot Keywords:

montana | artist | store | new york | unrequited love | 

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Taglines:

A Small Miracle

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some mature thematic material

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 April 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Big Eden - Un petit miracle

Filming Locations:

Apgar Village, Montana, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$26,198 (USA) (15 June 2001)

Gross:

$503,796 (USA) (26 October 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Chaiken Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min 117 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Jim Soams: There's so few nice surprises in life. Seems to me that it'd be kind of a shame to squander one of them, don't ya think?

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Connections

References Casablanca (1942)

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Soundtracks

"In Christ There Is No East or West"
Traditional Hymn

User Reviews

Perfect Recipe: Just enough hearfelt sweetness, and no "FABulousness"!!

Big Eden is a breath of fresh air!

I would like to shake director Thomas Bezucha's hand and thank him for the kind of film I have been waiting for for years: a film in which gay men were represented in all shapes and sizes, where they actually were OVER the age of 30, and where they were just regular guys! No drag queens, no fey lispy men snapping their fingers saying "you go, girl," no circuit boys and their designer drugs, no latest club hit from Cher, no stereotypes played for laughs. I was happy that the film All Over The Guy was a step in the right direction, and Big Eden is the one film that has broken through that barrier and gosh darn it, SOMEONE had to do this!

Realists and critics like Roger Ebert have totally missed the point of this film, saying no town could be this welcoming to gays and lesbians and supportive of their lives. The filmmakers wanted to present a "what if" situation in which there was no bigotry, so that the focus of the story would be on the self discovery of the three main leads and the romance. What's so wrong with that for a change? The fact that this was done so well helps even more. Takes you back to films from the 1940s and beyond. Think of it this way, if this were a story about heterosexual love, then there would be no question about the whole town's support and helping get the lovers together. That's the focus of the story, so by eliminating the "bigotry and hate" aspect, we can just sit back and enjoy what this film is supposed to be about: intimacy and where you belong.

As Henry (Arye Gross) is visiting his hometown, he finds he still has feelings for a friend from his childhood, Dean(Tim DeKay). In the meantime, Henry is perplexed about the behaviour of the Native American store owner named Pike (Eric Schweig), thinking the guy doesn't like him (a deleted scene elaborates on this fact, Henry says "he didn't even like me back in high school.") Ah, but what is REALLY behind Pike's actions? There is quite a bit of vague behaviour so that you're left thinking "who's really smitten with whom here?" Eventually, Henry realizes the true meaning of his feelings for Dean and with a heartfelt film like this, you just know that somehow everyone will find a degree of happiness and not be left hurt.

This is a film about friends and family, and most of all, HOPE. It's refreshing to see a focus on the story without trying to make sure there's enough cussing to garner a certain rating or "cute, naked bodies" to lure some in who would normally not be watching a film like this in the first place. One reviewer was offended by the casting of a Native American in Big Eden, well I say KUDOS to to casting Eric Schweig -- I personally know gay Native Americans and as that saying goes, "we are everywhere" and you can't deny that certain races or nationalities have gays and lesbians in them. In a time where too much focus is on lipstick lesbians and how you can just work a movie around that, it's so wonderful to have a film like Big Eden defy all the typical cliches and dare to give us a rather wholesome, healthy portrayal of gays -- one in which we do value our families and their support, and have other values instead of what people seem to think it's like from watching Queer As Folk.

I've always felt Arye Gross would be given a great lead role one day, and he plays Henry so well, so much like a "regular guy." I for one am so happy that a film like this is showing gay men do have lives beyond the age of 30, and can be just as desirable. Tim DeKay may be eye candy without a shirt for some, but his character is still grounded in reality and he handles that part quite well. Eric Schweig is simply perfect, his character shows that you can't just look at someone and say "that's gay for sure." Louise Fletcher is so loving you just want to hug her, and George Coe gives his role a lot of respect.

Big Eden was a big winner at numerous film festivals, and I am so happy that all involved in making this dream of a film a reality (and a REAL reality situation for our lives someday soon) are being given a lot of respect for this vision!