The Magic of Belle Isle (2012)

In an effort to tap into his original talent, a wheelchair-bound author moves to a rural town, where he befriends a single mother and her three kids, who help reignite his passion for writing.

Director:

Rob Reiner

Writer:

Guy Thomas

Stars:

Morgan Freeman, Virginia Madsen, Emma Fuhrmann

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Morgan Freeman	...	Monte Wildhorn
Kenan Thompson	...	Henry
Virginia Madsen	...	Charlotte O'Neil
Emma Fuhrmann	...	Finnegan O'Neil
Madeline Carroll	...	Willow O'Neil
Nicolette Pierini	...	Flora O'Neil
C.J. Wilson	...	Fire Captain
Ash Christian	...	Carl Loop
Debargo Sanyal	...	Mahmoud
Fred Willard	...	Al Kaiser
Jessica Hecht	...	Karen Loop
Christopher McCann	...	Bookstore Owner
Lucas Caleb Rooney	...	Clown (as Lucas Rooney)
Kevin Pollak	...	Joe Viola
Boyd Holbrook	...	Luke Ford

Storyline

In an effort to tap into his original talent, a wheelchair-bound author moves to a rural town, where he befriends a single mother and her three kids, who help reignite his passion for writing.

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Taglines:

A Re-Coming of Age Story

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild thematic elements and language including some suggestive comments

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 July 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Summer at Dog Dave's

Filming Locations:

Greenwood Lake, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$10,367 (USA) (6 July 2012)

Gross:

$100,910 (USA) (31 August 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Magnolia Pictures, Castle Rock Entertainment, Revelations Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The sour mash whiskey Morgan Freeman's character is drinking is Stranahans Colorado Whiskey.

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Goofs

In the store, the number of Slim Jim packets changes suddenly from one to two and back to one.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Monte Wildhorn: What's all that crap on the windshield?
Henry: It's ash from the fire.
Monte Wildhorn: This is where you're bringing me?
Henry: It's rent free.
Monte Wildhorn: Before or after it burns down?

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Connections

Featured in Maltin on Movies: Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012)

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Soundtracks

"You Know Me By Heart"
Performed by Jay Condiotti, Nadia Fay

User Reviews

A great family movie about finding yourself again. Great acting and excellent message. I recommend this. I say A.

"It don't happen often but sometimes we do bring out the best in each other." After the death of his wife famous writer Monte Wildhorn (Freeman) stops writing and takes up drinking. He moves into a lake house to escape everyone and relax. After meeting his neighbor Charlotte O'Neil (Madsen) and her daughters he begins to change the way he feels about life. One of the biggest problems I have with movies is that about 70% of them are so predictable that after ten minutes you know how it will end. Sometimes that affects how good a movie is and sometimes it doesn't matter. This movie is the later. After fifteen minutes I could have written the ending myself and it would have been identical to the way this one ended. All that said this is a great movie still and Morgan Freeman is about the only actor who can take a very ornery character and make you like him even at his worst. There are not many non-cartoon movies that are great for the whole family to watch. This is one of them. Rated PG but this is still something that you can put in with your kids and not have to worry about what they are seeing. This is a perfect example of how excellent a movie can be simply by using the best actors you can find and having a great idea. No special effects or nudity or swearing. What a strange idea. Overall, a superb family movie that I highly recommend. I give it an A.