Red Letters (2000)

A college professor reluctantly hides an escaped female convict who tries to get him to help prove her innocent of a murder.

Director:

Bradley Battersby

Writers:

Tom Hughes, Bradley Battersby

Stars:

Peter Coyote, Nastassja Kinski, Fairuza Balk

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Coyote	...	Dennis Burke
Nastassja Kinski	...	Lydia Davis
Fairuza Balk	...	Gretchen Van Buren
Jeremy Piven	...	Thurston Clarque
Ernie Hudson	...	Detective Glen Teal
Paul Gleason	...	Dean Van Buren
Heather Ehlers	...	Karen Clarque
Steve Monroe	...	Schminick
Udo Kier	...	George Kessler
Layla Roberts	...	Cheryl Russo
Owen Bush	...	Old Man
Kenneth Ryan	...	Lawyer
Brian Leckner	...	Lenzo Russo
Susan Morgenstern	...	Nancy Maxwell
Antoinette Valente	...	Molly

Storyline

After a sexual harassment incident, Dennis Burke, a Nathaniel Hawthorne scholar, goes to work at a California college. He begins correspondence with an imprisoned murderer, Lydia Davis. Burke is finding old habits hard to break, developing relationships with obsessive coeds. Meanwhile, Lydia escapes from prison. Dennis and his colleague Thurston, a computer scientist and hacker, find themselves caught in a web of intrigue.

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Plot Keywords:

college | nathaniel hawthorne | murder | college professor | california | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong language including sexual dialogue, and for some nudity

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 November 2000 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

Späte Abrechnung

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Filmtown Entertainment, Red Letters Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Dennis Burke grabs a newspaper and reads a headline, relevant to the plot, that indicates State Manhunt Widens. But if you pause the frame and read the text of the article below the headline, you see it is a bogus article about teenage curfew, totally unrelated to the headline.

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Connections

References NFL Monday Night Football (1970)

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Soundtracks

"You Give"
from the album "Do You Remember"
Written and Performed by Emily Richards
Produced by Emily Richards

User Reviews

A guilty pleasure, and better than you might think

This was a surprise. Peter Coyote is one of the few actors I can imagine who actually convinces you that he is an expert on Hawthorne. Unlike many such movies, the college setting was convincing. Nastassja Kinski smolders quietly, and effectively, as the girl who may or may not be a murderer, Fairuza Balk is enticing and funny as the dean's daughter who falls for Coyote, and when is it not a pleasure to watch Jeremy Piven doing "Jeremy Piven"?

Any movie that makes you want to re-read Hawthorne is worth watching. Maybe For English Majors Only, but thoroughly enjoyable to the end.