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.

---

Taglines:

A Re-Coming of Age Story

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama

---

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.

---

Goofs

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

---

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?

---

Connections

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

---

Soundtracks

"Mambo"
Written by Chucho Merchán

User Reviews

Pure Gold

Wheelchair bound curmudgeon and heavy drinker Monte Wildhorn (Morgan Freeman), a writer of western stories house-sits for a friend in Belle Isle and softens considerably when he befriends single mother Charlotte O'Neil (Virginia Madsen) and her three children.

I don't remember liking a movie as much as this one since THE ASTRONAUT FARMER. The cast were perfect. The dialogues were spot on and very entertaining. The banter between Monte and 9-year old Finnegan O'Neil (Emma Fuhrmann) was pure gold and proved to be the beginnings of Monte softening his outlook on life. I wished that banter never ended. Like I said Pure Gold. Kudos to the writers.

This is indeed a feel good movie with a low key pacing and you never wanted it to end.

For starters we see curmudgeon Monte be bam-boozled into reading an obituary for someone he "didn't know;" getting a side-kick in Carl (Ash Christian) a somewhat special needs person; giving aspirin to Ringo, the dog (that he renames Spot) with stiff hind quarters; and helping Finnegan learn to write stories. All this sets the stage for everything that follows. And, everything that follows shows growth of all characters.

Sometimes like a big juicy cheeseburger you just "gotta have" you also "gotta see" a pure gold movie like this. (10/10)

FYI: Virginia Madsen was also in the Astronaut Farmer.

Violence: No. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: No.

Rating: A