Treed Murray (2001)

Director:

William Phillips

Writer:

William Phillips (written by)

Release Date:

30 November 2001 (Canada)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Life's a beech.

Plot:

An advertising executive, trapped in a tree by a gang of would-be muggers, manipulates them into fighting to save his life.

Plot Keywords:

Tree | Gang | Advertising Executive | Briefcase | Accidental Shooting

Awards:

4 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

David Hewlett	...	Murray
Aaron Ashmore	...	Dwayne
Clé Bennett	...	Shark
Kevin Duhaney	...	Carter
Jessica Greco	...	Kelly
Carter Hayden	...	KC
Julian Richings	...	Homeless Man

Directed by
William Phillips

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
William Phillips		written by

Produced by
Paula Devonshire	....	line producer
Helen Du Toit	....	producer
Bryan Gliserman	....	executive producer
Mehra Meh	....	co-producer
Marguerite Pigott	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Jim McGrath		(as James McGrath)

Cinematography by
John Holosko

Film Editing by
Brett Sullivan

Casting by
Jenny Lewis

Production Design by
Diana Magnus

Art Direction by
Dan Norton

Set Decoration by
Tracy Buchanan

Costume Design by
Anne Dixon

Makeup Department
Barbara Barkey	....	key makeup artist
Shannon Burnett	....	key hair stylist
Allan Cooke	....	special makeup effects artist
Paul Jones	....	special makeup designer

Production Management
Paula Devonshire	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Shelley Fairfield	....	second assistant director
Trent Hurry	....	first assistant director
Janet Martel	....	third assistant director
Jeff Muhsoldt	....	third assistant director
Brett Sullivan	....	second unit director

Art Department
John Allen	....	property master
Jeff Helgason	....	head scenic artist
Dave Watt	....	construction coordinator

Sound Department
Kevin Banks	....	sound effects editor
Stephen Barden	....	adr editor
Stephen Barden	....	supervising sound editor
Todd Beckett	....	sound re-recording mixer
Joe Bracciale	....	sound editor
Jennifer Brass	....	foley assistant
Christian Carruthers	....	sound re-recording assistant
Rod Chicorli	....	boom operator
J.R. Fountain	....	assistant sound editor
Herwig Gayer	....	sound mixer
Pat Grehan	....	foley assistant
Peter Persaud	....	foley recordist
Trent Richmond	....	assistant sound editor
Nathan Robitaille	....	assistant sound editor
Bissa Scekic	....	sound mixer (as Bisa Scekic)
Greg Shim	....	adr recordist
John Sievert	....	foley artist
Iain Stewart	....	boom operator
Virginia Storey	....	foley artist
Todd Warren	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Todd B. Warren)

Stunts
Bryan Renfro	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Sumit Ajwani	....	camera trainee: second unit
Robin L.P. Bain	....	first assistant camera (as Robin Bain)
Marcus Elliott	....	camera operator: second unit
Antony Ellis	....	camera operator
Edward Firth	....	electric
Wojciech Kozlowski	....	jib arm operator (as Wojtek Koslowski)
George Lajtai	....	jib arm operator
Ryan Lee	....	gaffer
Matthew Lococo	....	best boy electric
Ray McCormick	....	genny operator
David Nardi	....	camera trainee
David Nardi	....	second assistant camera: second unit
Matthew Sharpe	....	fourth grip
Clayton Shirt	....	dolly grip
Clayton Shirt	....	second grip
Robert Sinko	....	third grip
Michael Tawadros	....	electric
Jeff Tuckwell	....	first assistant camera: second unit
Jeff Tuckwell	....	second assistant camera
Pief Weyman	....	still photographer (as L. Pief Weyman)
Mael Yaxley	....	key grip

Casting Department
Sara Cuthbert	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Masumi Suzuki	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Alfredo Frasson	....	color timer
Shannon Perreault	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Michael Banton-Jones	....	strings recordist and mixer
Daryn Barry	....	music mixer
Robert Bartolucci	....	musician: acoustic and electric guitar
Jonathan Goldsmith	....	string session producer
Dustin Harris	....	assistant music recordist
Martin Loomer	....	music preparation
Jim McGrath	....	conductor (as James McGrath)
Jim McGrath	....	orchestrator (as James McGrath)
Vlad Nickolic	....	music mixer assistant (as Vlad Nikolic)
Doug Parry	....	music contractor (as Doug Perry)
Tim Welch	....	musician: electric guitar

Transportation Department
Peter Berzlapa	....	driver
Ken Coleman	....	driver
Ray McCormick	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Doug Allen	....	post production accountant
Nick Balletto	....	location production assistant
Tom Enright	....	assistant location manager
Ralphy Gignac	....	helicopter flight engineer (as Corporal Ralphy 'Boy' Gignac)
Carolyn Gossage	....	set tutor
Karen Henry	....	production coordinator
Brad Hopkins	....	director's shadow
Gregg Hunter	....	production assistant
Matt Jameson	....	location production assistant
Kimberly Killam	....	production accountant (as Kim Killam)
Tery Lebel	....	helicopter pilot (as Captain Tery 'Bean' Lebel)
Trish Mason	....	script supervisor
Jason McKenzie	....	assistant production coordinator
Naomi Mitten	....	helicopter flight observer (as Officer Cadet Naomi 'Kitten' Mitten)
Mike Rode	....	helicopter co-pilot (as Captain Mike 'Madman' Rode)
Alison Rose	....	publicist
Carrie Paupst Shaughnessy	....	story editor (as Carrie Paupst-Shaughnessy)
Mark Sullivan	....	helicopter admin (as Captain Mark 'Farkel' Sullivan)
Robin Taylor	....	production assistant
Robin Taylor	....	production assistant
John Temou	....	location manager
Nick Veziris	....	gun wrangler (as Nick Ezirus)

Production Companies

• Odeon Films

Distributors

• Alliance Atlantis Communications

Special Effects

• Film Effects (visual effects)
• Paul Jones Effects Studio (special effects makeup)
• Performance Solutions (special effects)

Other Companies

• Absolutely Famished  catering
• Deluxe Post-Production  post-production facilities
• Film Effects  opticals
• Hot & Ready  craft service
• Little Feet Construction  tree construction
• McClear Digital  strings recording and mixing
• Sound Dogs Toronto  sound editing

Also Known As:

"Get Down" - USA (DVD title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some violence and drug use

Runtime:

90 min | Argentina:89 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival)

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Odeon Films

Quotes:

Murray:You see, I know people. And if you had a way to get me down, like a gun or something, you'd have used it by now.
Shark:[laughs] A gun? Murray! Using a gun is like making your baby sister cry uncle.

Movie Connections:

References West Side Story (1961)

Soundtrack:

Falling Forward

Near impossible to turn the TV off during this one

A man named Murray gets into an altercation with a gang after getting lost in a park. The gang then chases him and Murray is forced to hide in a tree. Of course it doesn't take the gang longer than a minute to find him hiding up there (and thankfully it didn't take them longer... that would've made for a poor movie). This is how Treed Murray begins. The rest of the movie takes place over the course of one night, with Murray hiding in the tree, and the gang waiting, taunting, intimidating, and threatening him from down on the ground.

Of course Treed Murray isn't as simple or basic as the plot may lead you to believe. At only 90 minutes long, it manages to be more intriguing, fascinating and brilliant than any movie I think I've seen in the past year. The dialogue, which makes up 95% of the film, is more than enough to carry the entire movie on it's own. On top of that there are amazing performances from all the actors. David Hewlett, who was the best thing about the Canadian show Traders, is in almost every scene as the main character, Murray. He brings so much to the movie and his character. At every point in the movie you sympathize with him, despite his character being a bit of a low life. It seemed like every other scene had some new revelation about Murray that gives you good reason to hate him, yet Hewlett still makes him a likeable guy somehow. If Treed Murray can get as much great exposure as one of Hewlett's earlier movies CUBE got, he could become one of Canada's next big acting exports.

But as brilliant as David Hewlett was in Treed Murray, myself and everyone else who watched it with me thought he was upstaged by Cle Bennett, who plays the gang leader Shark. Bennett is powerful and charismatic, an odd thing for a young and fairly inexperienced actor. One of the questions brought up in the story is why Shark is the leader, and why he makes all the decisions for the rest of the gang. I'm thinking if I knew someone like him, I'd probably do whatever he said too. I hope there's a Director out there looking to hire Bennett, because he has such star potential.

In the end what really works about Treed Murray is it's realism and character development. Even though Murray is the hero of the film, he has many flaws. And even though all the gang members would be clear cut villains in a typical American movie, here they have several redeemable qualities. I loved that all the characters had interesting and honest things to say. Despite the fact they're trying to kill a guy for no reason, I found myself agreeing with so much that they said.

Treed Murray is one of those rare movies that you not only can't turn off once it begins, but you can also watch over and over and over again. I give it 10 out of 10. If I was allowed to give it anything higher, I would. I LOVE this movie.