Sour Grapes (1998)

Steven Weber and Craig Bierko see their friendship go sour after one wins a slots jackpot with two quarters bummed from the other.

Director:

Larry David

Writer:

Larry David

Stars:

Steven Weber, Craig Bierko, Jack Burns

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jack Burns	...	Eulogist
Viola Harris	...	Selma Maxwell
Scott Erik	...	Teenage Richie
Michael Resnick	...	Teenage Evan
Steven Weber	...	Evan Maxwell
Craig Bierko	...	Richie Maxwell
Jennifer Leigh Warren	...	Millie
Karen Sillas	...	Joan
Robyn Peterman	...	Roberta
Anthony Parziale	...	Blackjack Dealer
Abraham Kessler	...	Crap Dealer
Fred Goehner	...	Floor Manager
Amy Hohn	...	Waitress
Denise Bessette	...	Cocktail Waitress
Angelo Tiffe	...	Chauffeur

Storyline

Two cousins and friends, Richie and Evan, go to Atlantic City to gamble. Richie loses all he has at slot machines and asks Evan for two more coins for a last attempt. That last attempt brings a $400,000 jackpot for Richie. No wonder Evan turns greedy and jealous.

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Plot Keywords:

columbia tristar | jackpot | slot machine | money | bulgaria | 

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Taglines:

They're cousins and best friends... until debt do them part!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and sex-related humor

Did You Know?

Trivia

Larry David has expressed regrets over directing the film. References of the film were made on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" where his character had a poster of the film in his office, but according to the season one commentary, David took the poster down because he was sick of looking at it, and another one featured friends borrowing the film and saying they liked it, but Larry knowing they were all lying.

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Goofs

(at around 1h) When Richard leaves the chiropractor's office and the cops pull up to talk to him, the potted plant on the right moves between shots. Note the position in relation to the little square window on the building.

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Quotes

Studio Executive: Hey, they got their bad element just like anybody else. Somebody's going to steal a canoe at some point.

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Crazy Credits

During the opening credits, we see a bowl of grapes rotting as each name comes on the screen.

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Connections

Referenced in Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Pants Tent (2000)

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Soundtracks

I'll Catch You If You Fall (Guys and Gals Theme)
Composed by Jonathan Wolff
Performed By Jack Diamond

User Reviews

not quite prime-cut Larry David material, but enjoyable all the same

Although it's been a long time since I've seen Sour Grapes, the experience of seeing it- preferably alongside another Seinfeld fan- was fairly pleasant, in that biting Larry David tone. This was the only time David wrote and directed a film, and it does show that he's giving a good try to tell a story within the framework of a film feature all the way through. It's somehow quite an entertaining piece of quietly (or not so quietly) deranged satire on envy, sexual frustration, and the condition of a principle of something. The premise is simple- two good friends go out to Las Vegas to gamble, one friend asks the other for a quarter for a slot machine, and via the quarter in the slot machine the guy wins a helluva lot of money. By the friend with the original quarter's estimation, a part of that change is his, but the friend now says that it isn't. A likely Seinfeld sub-plot is stretched out so that the ideas are given a little breathing room, even if one recognizes that, perhaps, it would be a masterpiece if it were simply a Seinfeld episode, or more appropriately a Curb Your Enthusiasm with even more acidic humor and total unease thrown at the situation.

Around the premise, David also tosses in a supporting character who has one of his testicles removed- the wrong one by the doctor, who is one of the friends- and despite his now high voice (ho-ho) he seeks out some payback. That's one of the clearest big gags, as obvious as it is, is the moment when the 'testicle-man', as one might be tempted to describe him, is told by the doctor that the wrong one was taken out during surgery, to his immediate fainted response in a cut-away. On top of this, David experiments with some stupid sex humor (not that there wasn't at least a little later on on CYE, eg Jeff's mother's ass at a stoplight), like with Bierko's character in the self-humiliation of not being able to, um, 'service' himself in a certain way, under the stress of the tear in the friendship. As mentioned, none of this really makes for the kind of classic comedy one might expect, or crave, from maybe one of the only geniuses (yeah, I said it) working in comedy today. But as almost something of a fluke, it does its job well.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 April 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sour Grapes

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$123,104, 19 April 1998

Gross USA:

$123,104

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$123,104

Company Credits

Production Co:

Castle Rock Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1