Tape (2001)

Three old high school friends meet in a Michigan motel room to dissect painful memories from their past.

Director:

Richard Linklater

Writers:

Stephen Belber (screenplay), Stephen Belber (play)

Stars:

Ethan Hawke, Robert Sean Leonard, Uma Thurman

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Ethan Hawke	...	Vin
Robert Sean Leonard	...	Jon
Uma Thurman	...	Amy

Storyline

Twenty-eight year olds Jon and Vince, friends from high school, meet in Vince's seedy motel room in Lansing, Michigan. Jon had invited Vince to town from his current residence of Oakland to help celebrate the fact of his latest movie, independently shot, having a screening at the local film festival the following day, the first public screening of one of his movies. While Jon seems to have grown up in having this career path and a nice room in an upscale hotel provided by the festival, Vince, who, in preparing for the evening has already had a few beer by the time Jon arrives, hasn't, he who deals drugs for a living with no change on the horizon, and his girlfriend, who was supposed to accompany him to Lansing, having broken up with him, indirectly because of his immaturity. This divergence quickly becomes an issue of contention between the two. But as Vince's behavior is seemingly more and more substance affected, he having broken out the weed and coke, his intention with Jon may be ...

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Plot Keywords:

single set production | single location | high school | motel | filmmaker | 

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Taglines:

Some things can't be erased

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and drug content

Did You Know?

Trivia

Vince is never seen leaving or entering the motel room.

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Goofs

Vince changes positions in bed during the "why are you lecturing me" dialogue.

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Quotes

Vin: Do you have any idea how much those drugs cost?
Amy: There'll be other drugs, Vincent.
Vin: I know... but, I really liked those ones.

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Crazy Credits

The end credits move across the screen in the motions of tape inside a playing cassette.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Movies That Take Place in One Room (2016)

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Soundtracks

I'm Sorry
Performed by Brenda Lee
Written by Ronnie Self and Dub Allbritten
Published by Universal Champion Music
Courtesy of MCA Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises
[Played during end credits]

User Reviews

Richard Linklater gains my respect

The moment the credits were finishing rolling on my rented VHS copy of TAPE last night, I immediately rewound it and watched the movie through til the end a second time. It's that good. With this experimental and brilliantly realized piece, Richard Linklater proves he's no 'slacker' but rather a cunning force to be reckoned with in the movie world. Based on a play which takes place in one room with only 3 characters, you will either love or hate this movie - it's an all-or-nothing proposition, plain and simple. I recommend you get your hands on it, get extremely, ahem, RELAXED and find out which category it falls in for you.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 July 2002 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

Tape

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$100,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$28,424, 4 November 2001

Gross USA:

$490,475

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$515,900

Company Credits

Production Co:

Detour Filmproduction, IFC Productions, InDigEnt (Independent Digital Entertainment)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1