White Palace (1990)

Still getting over the death of his wife, a young advertising executive meets an older waitress, a woman that might set him free.

Director:

Luis Mandoki

Writers:

Glenn Savan (novel), Ted Tally (screenplay)

Stars:

Susan Sarandon, James Spader, Jason Alexander

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Susan Sarandon	...	Nora Baker
James Spader	...	Max Baron
Jason Alexander	...	Neil
Kathy Bates	...	Rosemary
Eileen Brennan	...	Judy
Steven Hill	...	Sol Horowitz
Rachel Chagall	...	Rachel (as Rachel Levin)
Corey Parker	...	Larry Klugman
Renée Taylor	...	Edith Baron (as Renee Taylor)
Jonathan Penner	...	Marv Miller
Barbara Howard	...	Sherri Klugman
Kim Myers	...	Heidi Solomon (as Kim Meyers)
Hildy Brooks	...	Ella Horowitz
Mitzi McCall	...	Sophie Rosen
K.C. Carr	...	Stripper

Storyline

Max Baron (James Spader) is a 27-year-old high-flying advertising executive still recovering from the death of his wife. One night he is in a bar when he meets Nora Baker (Susan Sarandon), a 43-year-old waitress with a fixation on Marilyn Monroe. The couple gradually fall in love, though age and social differences mean that the path of true love is strewn with problems.

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Plot Keywords:

older woman younger man relationship | love | advertising executive | waitress | sex scene | 

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Taglines:

The story of a younger man, and a bolder woman.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 October 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

The White Castle

Filming Locations:

1521 West Billon Avenue, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$17,487,531

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures,Mirage Enterprises,Double Play

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to show-business trade paper Variety, actor James Spader portrays "the same sort of character Spader played in Pretty in Pink (1986)".

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Goofs

When Nora first visits Max's place, the boom Mic can be seen reflected. On the bookcase there is a framed photograph, the boom is reflected in it and can be seen moving to follow the conversation.

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Quotes

Nora: Wait a minute, we get naked with each other and touch each other and you get inside of me and you can't tell me how much rent you pay. Your landlord knows, you're not even fucking him.

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Breakthrough Stars of 1992 (1992)

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Soundtracks

O Mio Babbino Caro
(Aria from the Opera "Gianni Schicchi")
Performed by The Münchner Rundfunkorchester
Conducted by Kurt Eichhorn (as Karl Eichhorn)
Soprano by Lucia Popp
Courtesy of Acanta Records/Sounds of Film, Ltd.
Written by Giacomo Puccini

User Reviews

Loss of love, trying to find it again...

there are very few romance or romantic comedies, which strike a real note for the audience, or anyone who appreciates reality and decent acting.

This film does have that. Sarandon is very good; she is a "down-at-heel" waitress, almost twenty years older than the character portrayed by Spader. Some of the interactions are amusing and sad. Her drinking, her loss of a child. Spader's background is respectable, white-collar but bored, he meets Sarandon after missing his deceased wife.

Films like this are sometimes underrated. There was not a lot of hype about this film, which is one of the reasons I like it (We do not need Hollywood to tell us what's good, i.e. "The Break Up", which was actually not good).

While the scenes with Spader's relatives were a bit stereotyped, overall there are a few good messages here. Life doesn't always work out how we want, "perfect couples" aren't necessarily happy, and the Spader character was actually quite good, not being the negative insensitive character here. Definitely worth viewing. 8/10.