Life as a House (2001)

Director:

Irwin Winkler

Writer (WGA):

Mark Andrus (written by)

Release Date:

9 November 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Seen from a distance, it's perfect.

Plot:

When a man is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he takes custody of his misanthropic teenage son, for whom quality time means getting high, engaging in small-time prostitution, and avoiding his father.

Plot Keywords:

House | Cancer | House Construction | Dog | Construction

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Kevin Kline	...	George Monroe
Kristin Scott Thomas	...	Robin Kimball
Hayden Christensen	...	Sam Monroe
Jena Malone	...	Alyssa Beck
Mary Steenburgen	...	Colleen Beck
Mike Weinberg	...	Adam Kimball
Scotty Leavenworth	...	Ryan Kimball
Ian Somerhalder	...	Josh
Jamey Sheridan	...	Peter Kimball
Scott Bakula	...	Officer Kurt Walker
Sandra Nelson	...	Nurse #1
Sam Robards	...	David Dokos
John Pankow	...	Bryan Burke
Kim Delgado	...	Bob Larson
Barry Primus	...	Tom
Margo Winkler	...	Barbara
Brandon Kessel	...	Marek
Jon Foster	...	Corey
Art Chudabala	...	Steven Gardner
Claire Yarlett	...	Receptionist
Michael O'Guinne	...	Dale (as Mike O'Guinne)
Tannis Benedict	...	Secretary
Anne Betancourt	...	Lois
Jeff LeBeau	...	Officer
Gwen McGee	...	Nurse #2
Lisa Lovett-Mann	...	Young Woman
Hillary Tuck	...	Alyssa's Friend
Steven Artenian	...	Contractor
Charles Winkler	...	Trailer Park Man
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Richard Cummings Jr.	...	Housing Inspector (uncredited)
Michael Hertlein	...	Radio Announcer (uncredited)
Owen Kline	...	Young Sam on Videotape (uncredited)
William Russ	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Irwin Winkler

Writing credits (WGA)
Mark Andrus		(written by)

Produced by
Rob Cowan	....	producer
Michael De Luca	....	executive producer
Brian E. Frankish	....	executive producer (as Brian Frankish)
Lynn Harris	....	executive producer
Irwin Winkler	....	producer

Original Music by
Mark Isham

Cinematography by
Vilmos Zsigmond		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Julie Monroe

Casting by
Sarah Finn		(as Sarah Halley Finn)
Randi Hiller

Production Design by
J. Dennis Washington		(as Dennis Washington)

Art Direction by
Thomas T. Taylor		(as Tom Taylor)

Set Decoration by
Denise Pizzini

Costume Design by
Molly Maginnis

Makeup Department
Tammy Ashmore	....	makeup artist
Bonita DeHaven	....	key makeup artist
Virginia G. Hadfield	....	key hair stylist
Barbara Lorenz	....	hair stylist: Kevin Kline
Michele Payne	....	hair stylist (as Michelle Payne)
Christina Smith	....	makeup artist: Kevin Kline
Jo-Anne Smith-Ojeil	....	makeup artist: Ms. Scott Thomas (as Jo-Anne Smith)

Production Management
Brian E. Frankish	....	unit production manager (as Brian Frankish)
Carla Fry	....	executive in charge of production
Don Tardino	....	production supervisor
Jay Vinitsky	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Phil Dupont	....	second assistant director (as Philippe Dupont)
Phil Dupont	....	second unit director
Vincent Lascoumes	....	first assistant director
Christophe Le Chanu	....	second second assistant director

Art Department
John W. Aldys	....	greensman
Alan Baptiste	....	set dresser (as Alan Baptiste Hoisington)
Bryan Belair	....	construction coordinator
David B. Brenner	....	foreman (as David Brenner)
Mark W. Brown	....	set dresser (as Mark Brown)
Gary DeBortoli	....	painter
Martin Gantman	....	construction engineer
Scott C. Garrett	....	drapery foreman (as Scott Garrett)
Rick Glenn	....	set dresser
Ann Harris	....	set designer
Tim Jackson	....	general foreman (as Timothy Jackson)
Ritchie Kremer	....	property master
David Ross Lawrence	....	foreman
John Leimanis	....	set designer
Louis M. Mann	....	set designer (as Louis Mann)
April Martens	....	greens lead (as April K. Martens)
Canyon Martens	....	greensman
Randy Martens	....	key greens supervisor
Augustine Mendez Jr.	....	foreman
J. Craig Morrison	....	foreman (as Craig Morrison)
Joseph Musso	....	illustrator (as Joe Musso)
Monica Perez	....	assistant property master
Kenneth Robertson	....	lead painter (as Kenneth H. Robertson)
Nicholas Rymond	....	leadman (as Nick Rymond)
Greg Sanger	....	leadman
Brian Seccombe	....	assistant property master
Alex Sessing	....	greensman
Sino Tour	....	art department coordinator
Scott Vollmer	....	foreman
Joshua Warner	....	on-set dresser (as Josh Warner)
Gary Worthington	....	greensman
Kelly Berry	....	assistant set decorator (uncredited)

Sound Department
Joe Barnett	....	additional sound re-recording mixer
Javier Bennassar	....	sound effects editor
Susan Cahill	....	assistant sound editor
Gabriel Cubos	....	boom operator
Jed M. Dodge	....	dialogue editor
Matt Dubin	....	digital transfer engineer
George Flores	....	sound utility
Alan Freedman	....	adr mixer
Robert Getty	....	dialogue editor
David Grant	....	dialogue editor
Tony Gray	....	sound utility
Michael Hertlein	....	dialogue editor
Chato Hill	....	assistant sound editor
Robert Jackson	....	dialogue editor (as Robert C. Jackson)
Thomas Jones	....	adr supervisor
Craig Jurkiewicz	....	foley editor
Michael Kamper	....	sound effects editor
Richard Lightstone	....	production sound mixer
Carrie Lisonbee	....	sound effects editor (as Carrie Tippets)
Derek Marcil	....	sound re-recording mixer
Diane Marshall	....	foley artist (as S. Diane Marshall)
Michael Mullane	....	sound effects editor
Vince Perry	....	digital transfer engineer (as Vincent Perry)
John Ross	....	sound re-recording mixer
Alec St. John	....	assistant sound editor
Lucy Sustar	....	foley mixer
Florian Tessloff	....	mixing assistant
Jerry Trent	....	foley artist
Mathew Waters	....	sound re-recording mixer
Mathew Waters	....	sound supervisor
David Abrahamsen	....	sound (uncredited)
Johanna Turner	....	transfer engineer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Robbie Knott	....	special effects coordinator
Christy Sumner	....	special effects
Jaroslava Fernandez	....	special effects contact lens technician (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Johnathan R. Banta	....	digital artist: Sassoon Film Design
R. Christopher Biggs	....	digital artist (as Chris Biggs)
Chris Brown	....	visual effects supervisor (as Chris 'C.B.' Brown)
Catherine Ferrez	....	digital artist
Anthony Longman	....	digital artist
Lauren Ritchie	....	executive in charge of visual effects
Tim Sassoon	....	digital effects supervisor

Stunts
Danny Downey	....	stunt double: Josh
Gary J. Wayton	....	stunt coordinator (as Gary Wayton)

Camera and Electrical Department
Brad Boyer	....	grip (as Bradley Boyer)
Chuck Brown	....	grip
Colin J. Campbell	....	chief lighting technician (as Colin Campbell)
Steven D. Castaneda	....	electrician
Dick Deats	....	key grip (as Dicky Deats)
Jerry C. Deats	....	best boy grip
Sean Devine	....	dolly grip
Robert Dudley	....	grip
Don Duffield III	....	second assistant camera: "a" camera (as Don Duffield)
Brad Edmiston	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera, additional photography
John Emory	....	grip
Ray Garcia	....	grip
Antonio V. Garrido	....	dolly grip
Harold Groshon	....	electrician (as Hal Groshon)
Tom Hutchinson	....	camera loader
Alex Jaworski	....	electrician (as Alex M. Jaworski)
Jason Jensen	....	second assistant camera: "a" camera, additional photography (as Jason E. Jensen)
Jimmy E. Jensen	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera (as Jimmy Jensen)
Johnny E. Jensen	....	director of photography: additional photography
Roger C. Johnson	....	video assist operator (as Roger Johnson)
Key Kolb	....	grip (as Key Kolb III)
Michael Listorti	....	grip (as Michael E. Listorti)
Dwayne McClintock	....	camera operator: SpaceCam
Kelsey Shaw McNeal	....	second assistant camera: "b" camera (as Kelsey McNeal)
Doug Mercer	....	grip
Tony Nagy	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
Brian W. Nordheim	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera (as Brian Nordheim)
John Reeves	....	electrician
Jonathan Sela	....	camera intern
Nick Shuster	....	second assistant camera: "b" camera
Chris Squires	....	Steadicam operator
Chris Squires	....	camera operator: "b" camera
John Taylor	....	electrician (as John 'JT' Taylor)
Joseph D. Urbanczyk	....	camera operator: "a" camera (as Joseph Urbanczyk)
Christopher Warren	....	best boy electric (as Chris Warren)
Merie Weismiller Wallace	....	still photographer
Mark Wojciechowski	....	grip
Greg Lopez	....	lamp operator (uncredited)
Dylan Verrechia	....	casting videographer (uncredited)

Casting Department
David Jaffe	....	casting assistant
Rebecca Mangieri	....	casting associate

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Tammy Hynes	....	set costumer (as Tammy S. Hynes)
Angelique Keenan	....	costume production assistant (as Angelique Curtis)
Josephine Monmaney	....	set costumer
Mary Elizabeth Still	....	key set costumer (as Mary Still)
Emma Trenchard	....	costume supervisor

Editorial Department
F. Paul Benz	....	associate editor
Rob Boyd	....	apprentice editor
Gary Burritt	....	negative cutter
Terry Haggar	....	color timer
Jennifer Hatton	....	assistant editor
Jody Levin	....	executive in charge of post-production
David Waco	....	post-production coordinator (uncredited)

Music Department
Paul Broucek	....	music executive
Thomas A. Carlson	....	music editor (as Tom Carlson)
Sandy DeCrescent	....	music contractor
Doop	....	music consultant
Steve Genewick	....	assistant score recording engineer
Jimmy Hoyson	....	assistant score recording engineer
Mark Isham	....	music programmer
Mark Kaufman	....	music clearance executive
Stephen Krause	....	score mixer
Stephen Krause	....	score recordist
Ken Kugler	....	conductor
Ken Kugler	....	orchestrator
Jason La Rocca	....	assistant score mixing engineer (as Jason LaRocca)
Jason La Rocca	....	music programmer (as Jason LaRocca)
John Rodd	....	assistant music recording engineer
Erin Scully	....	music executive
Lori Silfen	....	music business affairs
Tom Steel	....	assistant music recording engineer
Bill Talbott	....	assistant music recording engineer
Damon Tedesco	....	assistant music recording engineer
Richard Ziegler	....	additional music editor
Tom Boyd	....	musician: oboe soloist (uncredited)
Peter Erskine	....	musician (uncredited)
Cindy O'Connor	....	music assistant: additional arrangements (uncredited) (uncredited)
James Thatcher	....	musician: french horn (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Dave Amberik	....	driver
Danny Brooks	....	driver (as Dan Brooks)
James R. Brown	....	transportation co-captain (as James Brown)
Michael Cain	....	driver
Howard Chapman	....	driver
John J. Hess	....	driver
Anthony Lovullo	....	driver
William F. Luehm	....	driver (as William Luehm)
Dan Morgan	....	driver (as Daniel E. Morgan)
James A. Murphy	....	driver (as Jim Murphy)
James Nordberg	....	driver
Paul Ripple	....	transportation dispatcher
Bob Rosen	....	driver
Timothy P. Ryan Jr.	....	driver
Timothy P. Ryan	....	transportation captain (as Tim Ryan)
Sean Shepherd	....	driver
Don Tardino	....	transportation coordinator
Jon A. Tardino	....	driver
Jon M. Tardino	....	driver
Andrew Wooten	....	driver
Daniel Davis	....	driver (uncredited)

Other crew
Martin Alvarez	....	caterer
Michael Wesley Aycock	....	assistant location manager (as Michael Wesley)
Lynell Bangs	....	production accountant
Lisa Behlendorf	....	post-production accountant
Carolyn Blackwood	....	production attorney
Amy Bradley	....	first assistant: Mr. Kline
Francie Brown	....	dialect coach: Ms. Scott Thomas
Angelina Burnett	....	production secretary
Robert Burns	....	set medic
Jules Carideo	....	assistant production coordinator (as Julie Carideo)
Scott Carino	....	stand-in
Laurie Cartwright	....	risk management
Al Casal	....	dive safety officer: additional photography
Rick Coffee	....	first assistant accountant
June Czerwinski	....	associate: Winkler Films
Ron Davis	....	second assistant accountant
Jenny DeArmitt	....	production office assistant
Jeff Egan	....	production safety
Devon Evans	....	head animal trainer
Cliff Fleming	....	helicopter pilot (as Cliff Flemming)
Erin Gaynor	....	assistant: Ms. Scott Thomas
Karen Ruth Getchell	....	production coordinator
Eric Glasser	....	production assistant
Emily Glatter	....	supervising production coordinator
Robbie Goldstein	....	location manager
Oscar Gonzalez	....	caterer
David Goodman	....	assistant: Ms. Malone and Mr. Christensen
Bill Gucwa	....	second assistant: Mr. Kline (as William Gucwa)
Vic Heutschy	....	unit publicist
Erik Holmberg	....	production executive
Marc Jacobs	....	production resources
Tony Jacobs	....	assistant: Mr. Winkler
Bonnie Kolber	....	production assistant
Martee La Comette	....	stand-in (as Marty LaComette)
Ginny Martino	....	contract administrator
Andrew Matthews	....	financial consultant
Paul McCauley	....	nutritionist
Julie Milstead	....	assistant: Mr. Cowan
Jennifer Mount	....	risk management
Michael O'Guinne	....	stand-in (as Mike O'Guinne)
Lisa Barkin Oxley	....	production attorney
Scott Pitman	....	office production assistant
Denise Anderson Poore	....	key set production assistant
Paul Prokop	....	production controller
Stephen Ross	....	production office assistant
Albert G. Ruben	....	insurance
Amy Russell	....	clearance
Mel Ray Sandvik	....	accounting assistant
Rhonda Sherman	....	studio teacher
Christopher Starr	....	craft service assistant
John Starr	....	craft service
Sara E. Tower	....	payroll accountant (as Sara Tower)
Judi Townsend	....	script supervisor
Jaime Trujillo	....	caterer
Lee Tucker	....	preview technical supervisor
Jack E. Herman	....	extras set coordinator (uncredited)
June Jordan	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Christie Moreau	....	adr loop group (uncredited)

Thanks
Ramona Evelyn Andrus	....	dedicatee: in memory of

Production Companies

• Winkler Films

Distributors

• New Line Cinema (2001) (USA) (theatrical)
• Fox-Warner (2002) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• RCV Film Distribution (2002) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2002) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner Roadshow Film Distributors (Greece) (theatrical)
• 01 Distribuzione
• Alliance Atlantis Communications (Canada)
• Distribution Company (Argentina)
• Metropolitan Filmexport
• RCV Film Distribution (Belgium)
• RCV Film Distribution (Luxembourg)
• RCV Home Entertainment (2002) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• RCV Home Entertainment (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (Switzerland) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Sogefilms A.I.E. (Spain)

Special Effects

• Effects Group, The
• Sassoon Film Design

Other Companies

• AON  insurance
• Bill Dance Casting  extras casting
• Boone's Animals for Hollywood  animal supplier
• Capitol Studios  additional score recording
• Cast & Crew Payroll Services  payroll
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  cranes and dollies
• Clear Choice, The  clearances
• Digital Sound and Picture  sound post-production re-recording
• Direct Tools & Fasteners  expendables
• Executive Assurance  security
• Hayen Music Services  music preparation
• Howard Anderson Company, The  titles and opticals
• International Film Guarantors  completion guaranty
• Newman Scoring Stage, Twentieth Century Fox Studios, The  score recording
• Playback Technologies  video playback
• Rockbottom Rentals  cell phone rentals
• Sony Pictures Studios Post Production Facilities  telecine services
• Spacecam Systems  SPACECAM aerial camera system
• Wet Dog Studios  score mixing

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for language, sexuality and drug use

Runtime:

125 min | Argentina:122 min | Finland:120 min | Spain:127 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:14A | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:6 | Netherlands:AL | Norway:11 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:R21 | Spain:13 | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | Iceland:12 | Malaysia:18PL (uncut version) | Malaysia:U (cut version) | USA:R (certificate #38322) | South Korea:15 | Philippines:R-18 | Brazil:14

Filming Locations:

Bermuda

Company:

Winkler Films

Trivia:

The original script called for the Guster song "All the Way up to Heaven" to be used in the "car" scene that used the Guster song "Rainy Day" instead.

Goofs:

Continuity: The direction(s) Sam faces as he stands on the doorstep talking to Mrs. Beck.

Quotes:

George:Sam, if you were a house, this is where you would want to be built. On rock, facing the sea, listening.

Movie Connections:

Features A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Soundtrack:

Rearranged

Incredible movie

I am a college professor and teach a variety of psychology classes, general, adolescent, child, human relations, etc. I have shown this movie to every class and it never fails to grab everyone's attention. Every time I see it I find something else to admire...usually a line I've missed previously. It took about 10 times for me to pick up on "Thinking of jumping? No, pushing." Granted, I'm slow. It is a film that every parent and child should see, together. The acting is meticulous. Hayden Christensen is so good as a troubled teen that I hated him as Darth Vader. He will always be Sam. If you aren't crying or fighting back the tears than you obviously were born without a heart. Oh yes, I'm a father.