Marvin's Room (1996)

A leukemia patient attempts to end a twenty-year feud with her sister to get her bone marrow.

Director:

Jerry Zaks

Writers:

Scott McPherson (play), Scott McPherson (screenplay)

Stars:

Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio, Diane Keaton

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Meryl Streep	...	Lee
Leonardo DiCaprio	...	Hank
Diane Keaton	...	Bessie
Robert De Niro	...	Dr. Wally
Hume Cronyn	...	Marvin
Gwen Verdon	...	Ruth
Hal Scardino	...	Charlie
Dan Hedaya	...	Bob
Margo Martindale	...	Dr. Charlotte
Cynthia Nixon	...	Retirement Home Director
Kelly Ripa	...	Coral
John Callahan	...	Lance
Olga Merediz	...	Beauty Shop Lady
Joe Lisi	...	Bruno
Steve DuMouchel	...	Gas Station Guy (as Steve Dumouchel)

Storyline

Estranged since their father's first stroke some 17 years earlier, Lee and Bessie lead separate lives in separate states. Lee's son, Hank, finds himself committed to a mental institution after setting fire to his mother's house. His younger brother, Charlie, seems unfazed by his brother's eccentricities or his mother's seeming disinterest. When Lee comes to the asylum to spring Hank for a week in Florida so that he can be tested as a possible bone marrow donor for Bessie, Hank is incredulous. "I didn't even know you had a sister," he says. "Remember, every Christmas, when I used to say 'Well, looks like Aunt Bessie didn't send us a card again this year?'" "Oh yeah," Hank says. Meanwhile, Marvin, the two women's bedridden father, has "been dying for the past twenty years." "He's doing it real slow so I don't miss anything," Bessie tells Dr. Wally. In Bessie's regular doctor's absence, it has fallen to Dr. Wally to inform Bessie that she has leukemia and will die without a bone marrow ...

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Plot Keywords:

cigarette smoking | leukemia | mental institution | transplant | nursing home | 

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Taglines:

Sometimes the people you know the least...are the ones you need the most!

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements and brief language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 February 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Marvinova soba

Filming Locations:

Greystone Park & Mansion - 905 Loma Vista Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$23,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$57,739, 22 December 1996, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$12,782,508, 20 April 1997

Company Credits

Production Co:

Scott Rudin Productions, Tribeca Productions, Marvin Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Writer Scott McPherson died of complications from A.I.D.S. shortly after completing this adaptation of his stage play. It marks as his only film screenplay.

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Goofs

When Lee and Bessie are waiting in the retirement home, when Lee says "I feel like my life is finally starting" you can see the boom mic in the top left hand corner, above her head.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Bessie: Uh, Janine, I wonder if you could tell me how long I might have to wait, because I left Aunt Ruth at home in charge of dad, and...
Janine: You'll have to see Doctor Wally, because Doctor Serrot is on vacation.
[finishes typing "I quit" letter]
Bessie: See "Doctor who"?

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Crazy Credits

The producers wish to thank ... the staff and guests of Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom, Orlando Florida, ... the residents and staff of The Florida Manor Nursing Home ...

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Connections

Referenced in Jersey Girl (2004)

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Soundtracks

Again
(1995)
Written by Jerry Cantrell, Layne Staley and Sean Kinney
Published by Buttnuggett Publishing/Jack Lord Music/Lugclam Music
Performed by Alice in Chains
Courtesy of Columbia Records
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

Keaton/Streep Melodrama

Marvin's Room (1996) Dir: Jerry Zaks Finally a movie of substance that harkens back to Keaton's earlier successes. Keaton co-stars with drama heavyweight Meryl Streep as two estranged sisters who reunite to deal with Keaton's recently diagnosed leukemia. Keaton's character is hopeful that Streep or one of her two screen sons can be a bone marrow donor for her and thereby possibly save her life. Meanwhile, Keaton has been caring for the sister's long suffering and long dying father, Marvin (Hume Croyn). Adding a little box office punch to the flick is current heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio as one of Streep's "problem" boys. Though the plot reads like melodrama, and to an extent it is, the movie is fairly subtle and unexpected in its story line choices. If nothing else, one doesn't have the feeling that the writers wrote the screenplay over beers and an episode of Married with Children.

Nominated for Best Actress, Keaton gets to present a more controlled and quiet persona than she usually displays. Streep is typically fine as a used to be good time girl who finally is about to graduate out of beauty school and is having trouble dealing with her sick sister, her dying father and her whacked-out teen son. Definitely worth a view if for no other reason than to fill in the missing Keaton and/or Streep movies you may have missed. And gosh, doesn't Leo look cute!