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.

---

Plot Keywords:

park | playground

---

Taglines:

A mother's love never dies

---

Genres:

Drama

---

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.

---

Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

A pretty competent drama

Some people suppose that since I am a fan of cinema,I also gotta be a fan of theatre,but it is not like that.I do not hate the theatre and I appreciate all the effort coming from the scenic art,but for some reason,all the plays I went to see did not leave me very satisfied,because I felt on them that the playwrights thought that the the most important characteristic of theatre would be enough for compensating the various fails from their plays.The characteristic I am obviously talking about is the presence of actors on live.There is an undeniable energy which flows between interpreters and spectators,which makes the drama more immediate and the emotions more intense.What I want to say is that although the presence of the actors on live may make the experience more cathartic,many playwrights use that as an excuse for presenting weak and predictable stories.

The movie The Girl in the Park is based on a play,and maybe because of that I did not expect too much from it,because without the presence of the actors on live,I thought we would only have a weak story.Fortunately,that did not happen and I finished liking this movie pretty much.This movie represents the first work as a director from playwright David Auburn,who wrote the original play.He had already been involved on cinema,adapting one of his plays to the film Proof and writing the screenplay from The Lake House.And,most recently,he has had a pretty solid debut as a director with The Girl in the Park,at the same time he also made a good work as a screenwriter on it.

The Girl in the Park brought me a satisfactory and very interesting experience.The best element from it is definitely the excellent performance from Sigourney Weaver.She perfectly depicts the emotional evolution from her character,and she is absolutely involved on it.Kate Bosworth,Alessandro Nivola and Keri Russell also bring competent performances,although they feel a bit darkened by Weaver.And,although he is on a small role,the great David Rasche brings a detailed and solid performance.

The movie keeps a good tone and the story is always interesting.The fails I found on this movie are the following : on the one hand,some moments from the screenplay could have had more elaboration; and on the other hand,the ending feels a bit abrupt.

There have been various cases of playwrights who make very competent works on cinema on the directing and screen writing fields.Movies like Doubt,Yes and Titus are examples of that.The Girl in the Park is a new addition to that list,and in sight of it,I am definitely interested in watching more movies written and directed by Auburn.I recommend this movie,because I found it to be an entertaining and pretty interesting drama.