The Caveman's Valentine (2001)

A cave-dwelling man sets out to track down the killer of a homeless boy, and bring him to justice.

Director:

Kasi Lemmons

Writers:

George Dawes Green (novel), George Dawes Green (screenplay)

Stars:

Samuel L. Jackson, Colm Feore, Ann Magnuson

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Romulus
Colm Feore	...	Leppenraub
Ann Magnuson	...	Moira
Damir Andrei	...	Arnold
Aunjanue Ellis	...	Lulu
Tamara Tunie	...	Sheila
Peter MacNeill	...	Cork
Jay Rodan	...	Joey / No Face
Rodney Eastman	...	Matthew
Anthony Michael Hall	...	Bob
Kate McNeil	...	Betty
Leonard L. Thomas	...	Shaker / Greater No Face (as Leonard Thomas)
Joris Jarsky	...	Boy Toy / Andy (as Joris Jorsky)
Pierre Alcide	...	Toupee
Richard Fitzpatrick	...	Walter

Storyline

Romulus is mentally ill, a troglodyte in a New York City park. He's also a gifted composer and the father of a city cop. On Valentine's Day, a young man freezes in a tree near his cave. The police determine it's the accidental death of someone behaving bizarrely, but Romulus believes a friend of the dead youth who says that noted avant-garde photographer, David Leppenraub, murdered him. Romulus, urged on by hallucinations of his wife as a young woman, resolves to catch the killer and manages to be invited to Leppenraub's farm to play a new composition. Can Romulus hold it together long enough to get to the bottom of the death and also to make a breakthrough with his daughter?

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Plot Keywords:

juilliard school | male frontal nudity | male full frontal nudity | pubic hair | male pubic hair | 

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Taglines:

Romulus Ledbetter lives on the edge. The view is incredible.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Music | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some violence and sexuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

Throughout the film, Romulus raves at, and about, a fictional man named Stuyvesant. In Samuel L. Jackson's earlier film One Eight Seven (1997), his character works at a school in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn.

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Goofs

In one shot when Bob and Betty toast Romulus in his new suit, Bob's "z-ray" green drink is orange (though this may have been intentional, since it is unclear if the "z-rays" are simply in Romulus's mind).

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Quotes

[first lines]
Romulus Ledbetter: Don't you watch me! You think you're gonna crawl into my brain and see a show? That what I am? Is that what you think?
Social Worker: What I think, Mr. Ledbetter, is that the temperature is dropping.
Romulus Ledbetter: I got freezing temperatures all over my brain. And I got legends of angels up there! Like little moths, and they'll beat the hell out of you with their wings!

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Crazy Credits

For "Billie" 1955-1999 - "love you baby. always have. always will."

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Connections

Referenced in Ebert Presents: At the Movies: Episode #2.21 (2011)

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Soundtracks

Regnava nel Silenzio from Lucia di Lammermoor
By Gaetano Donizetti
Performed by Ying Wong and London Symphony Orchestra (as The London Symphony)
Conducted by James Conlon
Courtesy of Sony Classical
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

There's no mystery here

I would have to agree with the review of PC Dean. It seems that Hollywood felt that they had to generate a reason to make this film. I have these horrible visions of a production meeting with people trying to figure out how they were going to be able to make a quality film and still dupe the public into going to see it. Then deciding the solution was writing in a half hearted mystery theme. Though I do applaud most of the performances in this film, Jackson shining wonderfully, I get the impression that there wasn't enough effort put into the other characters (scriptwise), just throwing talented actors/actresses into thin air won't suddenly make your characters fly. Overall I liked the movie and applaud it's approaching the subject of mental illness. I just wonder about the attempts at main stream "popularizing" that went along with it.

Details

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 September 2001 (Malaysia)

Also Known As:

The Caveman's Valentine

Filming Locations:

Bryant Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$13,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$112,041, 4 March 2001

Gross USA:

$687,194

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$794,481

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Franchise Pictures, Jersey Shore

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1