Weeds (1987)

A San Quentin inmate, sentenced to life without parole, writes a play that catches the interest of a reporter.

Director:

John D. Hancock (as John Hancock)

Writers:

Dorothy Tristan, John D. Hancock (as John Hancock)

Stars:

Nick Nolte, Rita Taggart, Ernie Hudson

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nick Nolte	...	Lee Umstetter
Ernie Hudson	...	Bagdad
Rita Taggart	...	Lillian Bingington
Mark Rolston	...	Dave
Lane Smith	...	Claude
John Toles-Bey	...	Navarro
Joe Mantegna	...	Carmine
Essex Smith	...	Vocalist
Sam L. Waymon	...	Vocalist
Orville Stoeber	...	Lead Guitar
Cyro Baptista	...	Bass Guitar
J.J. Johnston	...	Lazarus
William Forsythe	...	Burt the Booster
Anne Ramsey	...	Mom Umstetter
Ray Reinhardt	...	Pop Umstetter

Storyline

Lee Umstetter is a lifer at San Quentin prison and a multiple suicide attempter. Eventually, another prisoner suggests reading to find something better to do with his time. Lee takes that advice and finds himself inspired from what he reads to write a play about life in prison. He has auditions and assembles a cast from his fellow inmates. The play proves popular and it catches the attention of a female reporter who writes about it, creating publicity that allows for a parole for him. Once out, he later reassembles his cast when they come out to do the play professionally. However, they learn that the demands of the life outside are difficult to cope with for the newly released and their play needs to be changed in major ways while they struggle to make it succeed.

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Plot Keywords:

prison | writing a play | one word title | sex with collegiate | male nudity | 

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Taglines:

Feel what it's like from the inside.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 October 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der stählerne Vorhang

Filming Locations:

Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$132,970, 18 October 1987, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$2,325,444

Company Credits

Production Co:

De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG), Kingsgate Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Was a long standing project for Robert De Niro before Nolte became attached.

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Connections

Referenced in Monstrosity (1987)

User Reviews

uneven

Lee Umstetter (Nick Nolte) is in San Quentin serving life without the possibility of parole. He has a failed suicide attempt. He starts reading books, anything that is thick. He begins to appreciate literature and writes his own play "Weeds". The prisoners put on his plays and there is a change among them. San Francisco reporter Lillian Bingington takes an interest in him and gets him released. On the outside, he reunites with some of the prisoner-players from Quentin to go on the road with his latest play but it doesn't all go smoothly.

This start off as a serious prison drama but somewhere along the line, it becomes a dramedy about a traveling Broadway troupe. It's uneven to say the least. It can feel like a meandering journey but it never stops being interesting. The play is the least compelling part of the movie until they showed it in a prison. The movie threatens to get lost at various times but Nolte is able to lead the troupe home.