Affliction (1997)

A deeply troubled small town cop investigates a suspicious hunting death while events occur that cause him to mentally disintegrate.

Director:

Paul Schrader

Writers:

Russell Banks (novel), Paul Schrader (screenplay)

Stars:

Nick Nolte, Sissy Spacek, James Coburn

Won 1 Oscar. Another 7 wins & 19 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nick Nolte	...	Wade Whitehouse
Brigid Tierney	...	Jill Whitehouse
Holmes Osborne	...	Gordon LaRiviere
Jim True-Frost	...	Jack Hewitt (as Jim True)
Tim Post	...	Chick Ward
Christopher Heyerdahl	...	Frankie Lacoy (as Chris Heyerdahl)
Marian Seldes	...	Alma Pittman
Janine Theriault	...	Hettie Rogers
Mary Beth Hurt	...	Lillian Horner
Paul Stewart	...	Mr. Horner
Sissy Spacek	...	Margie Fogg
Wayne Robson	...	Nick Wickham
Sean McCann	...	Evan Twombley
Sheena Larkin	...	Lugene Brooks
Penny Mancuso	...	Woman Driver

Storyline

Boston University History professor Rolfe Whitehouse tells of the events leading up to the unexplained but not totally surprising disappearance of his older troubled brother, Wade Whitehouse. Wade, Rolfe and their sister Lena grew up in small town Lawford in upstate New Hampshire, where Wade and their parents, Glen and Sally Whitehouse, still lived. Wade was the town's police officer, in addition to having a multitude of side jobs directed his way by businessman and town selectman Gordon LaRiviere, in order to supplement his meager income. Wade was living on the edge emotionally. Long divorced from his since married second ex-wife, Lillian Horner, who moved to the city following the divorce, Wade had only infrequent visitation rights to his and Lillian's adolescent daughter, Jill Whitehouse, who seemed to love her father only because he was her father, but who seemed to see their visits solely as obligations rather than wants. Because of the animosity in his and Lillian's break-up, ...

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Plot Keywords:

hunting | sheriff | small town | drunkenness | domestic violence | 

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Taglines:

Wade Whitehouse is frightened to death of following in his father's footsteps.

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

Details

Official Sites:

Lionsgate Home Entertainment [United States]

Country:

USA Canada Japan

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 February 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Den jagede

Filming Locations:

Huntingdon, Quebec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$63,979, 3 January 1999, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$6,302,154, 16 May 1999

Company Credits

Production Co:

JVC Entertainment Networks, Kingsgate Films, Largo Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Black and White (some scenes) Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

'James Coburn''s part was first turned down by Paul Newman and then James Garner, both turned it down because they felt that it would be very tiring to play such a dark, awful character. Both actors were friends of Coburn, and Garner suggested him for the part.

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Goofs

The jackets the NHSP were wearing were not used since the 1980s, and the badges worn were also fake.

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Quotes

Wade Whitehouse: You need me. Even pop for God's sake he needs me! This *town* needs me!

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Connections

Referenced in Bad Movie Beatdown: When in Rome (2011)

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Soundtracks

Put the Hurt On You
Written by Marc Ferrari
Courtesy of Mastersource
[Song playing in Jack's truck while he's taking a nightly joyride with his girl and Wade after the school play.]

User Reviews

Deep, complex, depressing

"Affliction" doesn't have an immediate plot. It's mostly a delve into a man's (Nick Nolte) psyche, a divorced alcoholic man who was abused as a child by his drunken father (James Coburn). He tries to cope, he tries to make something of himself by attempting to solve a hunting accident which he thinks is really a murder. He claims that after this, everyone will remember him as a hero.

Luckily the audience isn't made to believe Nolte's cause, to us he looks just as mad as he does to the characters around them. This is well done, because it could've been presented as some big twist at the end.

Anyway, the "mystery" element to the film isn't that important. It's mostly about how hard - and almost impossible - it is to prevent an emotionally abused man to make the same mistakes his father made. This idea is presented well, but by the end it just feels so thick and depressing that it's hard to take anything from the film, because you don't want to remember it.

Acting-wise the movie is quite good. Nolte delivers what I think is his best performance here, with a quiet desperation wonderfully put out by his eyes, voice, face, and so on. James Coburn does his usual well, but I have to question just why he won an Oscar for this. Don't get me wrong, he was a terrific actor and his performance in this is great, but he's not in many scenes, and the scenes he is in are mostly just a variation of the same thing: Coburn drunkenly and violently mumbles at his sons and eventually starts to yell and thrash. This is all well and good, but his scenes never go beyond that, except for (maybe) at the end when he spews his own sort of twisted philosophy to Nolte.

Other great performances come from Sissy Spacek as Nolte's increasingly uneasy girlfriend. Also Willem Dafoe as Nolte's brother who is so concerned with being quiet and not problematic that he cant prevent the build-up of violence and abuse in his family. I'd say that this performance is more Oscar worthy than Coburn's.

This is a good movie with a great message, but it doesn't put enough on the table, 7/10.