The Girl in the Park (2007)

Enduringly traumatized by the disappearance of her 3-year-old daughter 15 years ago, Julia Sandburg has cut herself off from anyone once near and dear to her, including her husband Doug and... See full summary »

Director:

David Auburn

Writer:

David Auburn

Stars:

Sigourney Weaver, Kate Bosworth, Alessandro Nivola

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sigourney Weaver	...	Julia
Kate Bosworth	...	Louise
Alessandro Nivola	...	Chris
Keri Russell	...	Celeste
Daisy Tahan	...	Maggie
David Rasche	...	Doug
Patricia Kalember	...	Amanda
Ian McWethy	...	Dean
Elias Koteas	...	Raymond
Michael Patterson	...	Dave
Joanna Gleason	...	Sarah
Stephen Kunken	...	Leo
Brendan Sexton III	...	Stuart
Elisabeth Waterston	...	Alice
Richard Holmes	...	Trendy Restaurant Manager (as Rick Vincent Holmes)

Storyline

Enduringly traumatized by the disappearance of her 3-year-old daughter 15 years ago, Julia Sandburg has cut herself off from anyone once near and dear to her, including her husband Doug and her son Chris, who tried for years to penetrate her wall of isolation and despair, without success. But when Julia meets Louise, a troubled young woman with a checkered past, all Julia's old psychic wounds painfully resurface, as does her illogical and increasingly irrational hope that Louise may be the daughter she lost so long ago.

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Plot Keywords:

park | playground

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Taglines:

A mother's love never dies

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 December 2008 (UK)

Also Known As:

A Garota do Parque

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Furst Films, Girl in the Park, The, Oak 3 Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min 109 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Julia's co-worker brings her a coffee to try out from his new coffee machine, he places it on her desk. The shot changes to him a few seconds later. When back to her, the coffee cup is turned 180 degrees - the handle is on the other side, the computer mouse is moved, and a stack of papers near her planner is moved. She did not move all of these things in those few seconds because she is holding some papers that she was reading when he walked into her office.

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Soundtracks

"Intoit"
Written by Stan Getz and Al Haig
Performed by Stan Getz
Published by Prestige Music (BMI)
Courtesy of Prestige Records
Used by permission of Concord Music Group, Inc.

User Reviews

Good build up, weak ending...

While Girl in the Park is never great, it manages to be a solid drama about the loss of a young child and its effect on a mother (Sigourney Weaver).

Everything here is well crafted but a little bland and formulaic. We meet tons of characters who have the seeds to provide good drama but many of them (The ex husband, the son, the romantic interest at the office, the daughter in law and her pregnancy) are left with unfinished business by the end of the movie, feeling like little more than plot points. As for Louise, for all the flashiness she offers, she brings very little to the table in the end.

In the end, you will feel you have spent a nice evening. The cast does a nice job. Sigourney Weaver gives some soul to her performance and Kate Bosworth is very well cast and provides some sparks and a nice contrast to Weaver.

It's a good movie, but not a great one. Some more development, some twists and turns in the second half of the movie would have considerably improved the movie. Instead, we're left with a cheap Hollywood ending, the catalyst of which is too dumb to even write down here.

Worth watching as a rental if you like dramas.