The Cider House Rules (1999)

A compassionate young man, raised in an orphanage and trained to be a doctor there, decides to leave to see the world.

Director:

Lasse Hallström

Writers:

John Irving (novel), John Irving (screenplay)

Stars:

Tobey Maguire, Charlize Theron, Michael Caine

Won 2 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 30 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tobey Maguire	...	Homer Wells
Charlize Theron	...	Candy Kendall
Delroy Lindo	...	Mr. Rose
Paul Rudd	...	Wally Worthington
Michael Caine	...	Dr. Wilbur Larch
Jane Alexander	...	Nurse Edna
Kathy Baker	...	Nurse Angela
Erykah Badu	...	Rose Rose
Kieran Culkin	...	Buster
Kate Nelligan	...	Olive Worthington
Heavy D	...	Peaches
K. Todd Freeman	...	Muddy
Paz de la Huerta	...	Mary Agnes
J.K. Simmons	...	Ray Kendall
Evan Parke	...	Jack (as Evan Dexter Parke)

Storyline

Homer is an orphan in remote St. Cloud, Maine. Never adopted, he becomes the favorite of orphanage director Dr. Larch, who imparts his full medical knowledge on Homer, who becomes a skilled, albeit unlicensed, physician. But Homer yearns for a self-chosen life outside the orphanage. When Wally and pregnant Candy visit the orphanage Dr. Larch provides medically safe, albeit illegal, abortions Homer leaves with them to work on Wally's family apple farm. Wally goes off to war, leaving Homer and Candy alone together. What will Homer learn about life and love in the cider house? What of the destiny that Dr. Larch has planned for him?

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Plot Keywords:

premarital sex | woman dies from abortion | jim crow | abortion | sexual attraction | 

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Taglines:

A story about how far we must travel to find the place where we belong.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements, sexuality, nudity, substance abuse and some violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 January 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Cider House Rules

Filming Locations:

Vermont, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$24,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$110,098, 12 December 1999, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$57,545,092

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$88,545,092

Company Credits

Production Co:

FilmColony, Miramax, Nina Saxon Film Design

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Three of the actors went on to become superheroes, and one played someone close to the superhero. Tobey Maguire went on to portray Spiderman. Charlize Theron was Mary, in Hancock. Paul Rudd recently played Ant-Man, and Michael Caine was Alfred in The Dark Knight trilogy. J.K. Simmons played J. Jonah Jameson with Toby Maguire in the Spider-Man trilogy and Commissioner Gordon in the DC universe.

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Goofs

As the train pulls up to the station at the beginning of the film the clang of the bell on the train corresponds to the engineer pulling the lanyard to swing the bell except for the last clang, the lanyard is not pulled.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[Opening narration; a couple of snippets of interspersed dialog are omitted]
Dr. Wilbur Larch: In other parts of the world young men leave home and travel far and wide in search of a promising future. Their journeys are often fueled by dreams of triumphing over evil, finding a great love, or the hopes of fortunes easily made. Here in St. Cloud's not even the decision to get off the train is easily made, for it requires an earlier, more difficult decision - add a child to your life, or leave one ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Girlboss: Ladyshopper99 (2017)

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Soundtracks

All I Want Is Just One Girl
Composed by Leo Robin / Richard A. Whiting
Performed by Gus Arnheim and His Cocoanut Grove Ambassadors
Published by Famous Music Corp. (ASCAP)
Courtesy of the RCA Records Label of BMG Entertainment

User Reviews

Caine's Rules

The Cider House Rules is a folksy tale about a boy from an orphanage and his coming of age. He's been trained to deliver babies at the orphanage by the benevolent Dr. Wilbur Larch (Michael Caine).

Notably this boy's passage into manhood necessitates him accepting the responsibility of also performing illegal abortions! Now there's a twist. John Irving, also wrote the books The World According To Garp and The Hotel New Hampshiire, made into films of the same name, as well as A Prayer For Owen Meany which was made into the puzzling Simon Birch, a film Irving vigourously disowns. Irving subsequently, in the case of Cider House, has also written the screenplay.

The actual cider house rules are a minor element of a rambling film that is full of such minor events.They are a non-consequential, ignored set of laws meant to govern the behaviour of the workers who bunk in the cider house on an apple farm.

But life's like that, or so John Irving and his film would have you believe. It's just that usually films concentrate a little more on life's more tumultuous moments.

Young Homer Wells (our budding unlicensed doctor) is played delightfully by Tobey Maguire (Pleasantville)with a sweet smile and sleepy eyes. Those of you who prefer your actors to be more dynamic might find Maguire to be too even, but in this film his style was just the ticket.

He's one of the boys who were never chosen to be adopted at the orphanage. There are some touching scenes centred around the children in particular not being selected, hovering with their bags packed.

Homer sets off to see the world with new friends Candy (Charlize Theron) and Wally (Paul Rudd). They had attended the orphanage for an abortion.

Homer sees the sea for the first time. He learns how to pick apples and to get on with his work mates. He has a romance. And he learns how to accept responsibility for his and other's actions away from the shelter of the orphanage. And that's about it. And that's just enough.

The mood of the film accentuates a dreamy continuance; years and seasons merge. Life goes on. The apples grow. Relationships develop. The scenery is beautiful. The black labourers accept their lot.

This is life (and death) seen from the personal; a snapshot of middle, rural America; a land where you're meant to just get on with it and accept your lot.

The Cider House Rules is sensitively directed and written with an emphasis on people caring for each other. It's a bit of a weepy. Even villains are given their good sides.