Urbania (2000)

A series of urban legends take place around the life of a troubled man who is searching New York City for a mysterious stranger.

Director:

Jon Shear

Writers:

Daniel Reitz (play), Daniel Reitz (screenplay)

Stars:

Dan Futterman, Scott Denny, Paige Turco

5 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Dan Futterman	...	Charlie
Sam Ball	...	Dean (as Samuel Ball)
Lothaire Bluteau	...	Bill
Alan Cumming	...	Brett
Josh Hamilton	...	Matt
Matt Keeslar	...	Chris
James Simon	...	Sam
Megan Dodds	...	Deedee
Gabriel Olds	...	Ron
Barbara Sukowa	...	Clara - The Married Woman
Gerry Bamman	...	Don
Scott Denny	...	Ken
Pamela Shaw	...	Judy - The Photo Lady
David Wheir	...	Gary
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Christopher Bradley	...	Efraim - The Window Couple

Storyline

Charlie takes an odyssey through grief during a fall weekend in New York City. His encounters are planned and chance: with a homeless man who sleeps by his building, with a friend who's dying, with the couple who lives (and noisily loves) in the flat above him, with a bartender and a one-night-stand he follows home, and with a tattooed stranger whom he seeks out and befriends. Along the way, Charlie inhabits a city full of moments of violence and of stories and legends: a kidney thief, a microwaved poodle, a rat in a hot dog bun, a baby left on a car top, a tourist's toothbrush, needles in public-phone change slots. Charlie lives and tells his own stories. What caused his melancholy?

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Plot Keywords:

kidney thief | man with tattoo | public urination | gay main character | daylight savings | 

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Taglines:

Hear any good stories lately?

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violent and sexual content, including related dialogue, and for language and some drug use

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Matt is describing his encounter with Clara, she eats the cherry the moment he gives her the drink, but in subsequent shots, the cherry is still floating on the surface of the drink.

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Quotes

Charlie: Distract me, man. Take me out of my own head for two minutes.

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Connections

References Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)

User Reviews

Fascinating character study and so much more.

Urbania starts out with the protagonist asking us: "Heard any good stories lately?" Next, we see a couple well-known urban legends played out, and this sets the tone and theme for the rest of the film, which starts out to be about a man trying to come to terms with recent past events, while pursuing a potential love interest (but you don't really learn much about this man until the plot unravels.) This movie was so fascinating I watched it twice in one weekend. I rarely do that, but this seems to demand multiple viewings. This is easily the best movie I've seen about urban legends. It utilizes a bleak urban setting to weave this popular folklore with the story of one man's night and the difficult time he has struggling to face his past and gain control of his life. Fantasy and reality are appropriately difficult to separate, just as it is with urban legends. The cinematography is excellent and innovative, the script is tight, the acting is perfect (Dan Futterman is outstanding as the lead), the character development is exceptional. This is quite brilliant, really. Like a David Lynch film, every second, every sound, every word, every image tells you something important. Finally, this is a film that (going along splendidly with the urban legend theme) questions assumptions some groups of of people have about "the other" (and vice versa). My Rating: 9/10.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 August 2001 (Israel)

Also Known As:

Urban Folk Tales

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$225,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$72,129, 17 September 2000

Gross USA:

$1,032,075

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,032,075

Company Credits

Production Co:

Daly-Harris Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min 106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1