Bed of Roses (1996)

Romantic drama about a young career girl who is swept off her feet by a shy florist, who fell in love with her after one glimpse through a shadowy window.

Director:

Michael Goldenberg

Writer:

Michael Goldenberg

Stars:

Christian Slater, Mary Stuart Masterson, Pamela Adlon

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christian Slater	...	Lewis Farrell
Mary Stuart Masterson	...	Lisa Walker
Pamela Adlon	...	Kim (as Pamela Segall)
Josh Brolin	...	Danny
Brian Tarantina	...	Randy
Debra Monk	...	Lewis' Mom
Mary Alice	...	Alice
Kenneth Cranham	...	Simon
Ally Walker	...	Wendy
Anne Pitoniak	...	Grandma Jean
Michael Haley	...	Lewis' Dad (as R.M. Haley)
Cass Morgan	...	Aunt Meg
Gina Torres	...	Francine
Nick Tate	...	Bayard
Víctor Sierra	...	Jimmy

Storyline

Romantic drama about a young career girl who is swept off her feet by a shy florist, who fell in love with her after one glimpse through a shadowy window.

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Plot Keywords:

florist | flower | widower | rooftop | painting | 

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Taglines:

Fall in love for the first time, or all over again

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild language and thematic elements

Did You Know?

Trivia

There is an interesting Matrix connection here. Mary Alice who is the librarian would go on to play the Oracle in the Matrix sequels. Gina Torres is the partner of Laurence Fishburne/Morpheus.

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Quotes

Kim: He's the romantic equivalent of a night-light.
Lisa Walker: You say that as if that's a bad thing. I don't have time in my life for anything more.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Screamers/Richard III/Bed of Roses/Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored/Angels and Insects (1996)

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Soundtracks

Nervous Heart
Written by Mark Addison & Joe Zimmerman (as Josef Zimmerman)
Performed by The Borrowers

User Reviews

Definitely for the Romantics!

This movie definitely stands as one of the most romantic films I've ever seen! I loved the very basis on which the movie was based - presenting a bouquet of flowers is such a day to day affair but how beautifully this little ritual was transformed into a touching love story between two people who need soul mates. There's Lisa, the busy VP of a company, an orphan who has had an unhappy childhood with her foster father but whose death at the start of the movie leaves her with a deep sense of shock and loss and there's Lewis, a florist, living in his own floral world, with a huge family but someone who is no stranger to loss himself, having lost his wife. These two people from considerably different backgrounds are destined to meet and fall in love...

Christian Slater's character is every girl's living dream! Lewis as a man is perfect, make Chritian Slater play him and it seldom gets better than that! ;) This was the first movie with Mary Stuart Masterson that I saw and I was sold! The woman is excellent! I saw films like 'Fried Green Tomatoes' and 'Digging to China' later just for her! I don't agree with what one more viewer over here has written - that MSM is just not the kind of girl a guy like Christian Slater would fall for. Making Lisa too beautiful would have lessened the human-ness of her character I think... Lisa, that way, is moderate in all ways, beautiful in a class of her own, not the most romantic person and with a past which makes her a trifle cautious about love, since she herself has received it in grudging doses...

Analysis apart, see this movie for an hour and a half of "unadulterated" romance... With a beautiful music score(Scarlet's 'Independent love song', Sarah McLachlan's 'Ice Cream' and Michael Convertino's ethereal music!) I have the OST of this film and it's one of the best I've heard! The dialogues - "..nothing like a finicky agapanthus..", "..it must have been some mistake in the floral world.." - are quite witty! If not ANYthing, just watch to have a peek at Lewis's dream-like terrace "garden"! Sigh! If all guys had such gardens on their terraces, all the girls would be bowled over like Lisa is and the ozone layer for once wouldn't be depleting! ;) Those are highly unromantic thoughts to occur while writing about love and romance in full bloom (pun intended..!)

But all said and done, this film is definitely for the romantic at heart! Those who're not, are perhaps likely to dismiss it as rosy mush! I liked it because the film had substance. 'Bed of Roses' wouldn't fall into the Romantic Comedy genre, 'cos a comedy it certainly isn't. And thank god for that! There are unfortunately very few rom-coms that are mercifully devoid of the same formulaic dialogue, contrived plot-settings and characters...in fact most are disappointingly mediocre('Notting Hill' is one classic example...) 'Bed of Roses' is just a romantic movie - it doesn't have comedy elements that are inserted in films more often as ploys to rope in a wider audience than for the need of them in the story per se...anyone who dismisses 'Bed of Roses' because of its lack of comedy or because they think it's a "chick-flick" - too bad! You're missing out on a good film!

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 January 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Amelia and the King of Plants

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,117,558, 28 January 1996

Gross USA:

$19,030,691

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$27,315,527

Company Credits

Production Co:

Juno Pix, New Line Cinema

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1