Illusion (2004)

A once-powerful, but now ailing movie director nears the end of his life. As he awaits death, he slips into a "dream" and is shown three "snippets" of the movie of his son's life. At first ... See full summary »

Director:

Michael A. Goorjian

Writers:

Tressa DiFiglia, Michael A. Goorjian

Stars:

Kirk Douglas, Michael A. Goorjian, Karen Tucker

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kirk Douglas	...	Donald Baines
Michael A. Goorjian	...	Christopher
Karen Tucker	...	Isabelle
Bryan Cranston	...	David
Richmond Arquette	...	Mortimer
Ron Marasco	...	Stan
Ted Raimi	...	Ian
Kristen Clement	...	Sara
Kevin Weisman	...	Kay
Ronald Víctor García	...	Andrew
Michael Kemmerling	...	Seymour
Jules Bruff	...	Renee
Nancy Jeffries	...	Anastasia
Steve Chabon	...	Bishop
Gibson Frazier	...	Interviewer

Storyline

A once-powerful, but now ailing movie director nears the end of his life. As he awaits death, he slips into a "dream" and is shown three "snippets" of the movie of his son's life. At first suspicious, then curious, and ultimately captivated, he watches his son's growth from mid-teens to mid-thirties as the son pursues his life-long love, Isabelle. The two constants through these snippets are his pursuit of Isabelle and the imagined voice of his father, telling him that he is worthless and unwanted. It is not until the story reaches its conclusion, that the old man discovers the surprising truth about his son and himself.

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Taglines:

The only person who could change the story of his life...was the father he never knew.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some violence

Details

Official Sites:

Illusion Productions

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

October 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Ilusion

Filming Locations:

Oakland, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Daniel Fried Productions, Entitled Entertainment, Illusion Productions LLC

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Michael Goorjian spent about six and a half years of his life working on this film.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: The story doesn't end when you get here, like you think it might. All the mortal pieces have scattered, but the impressions remain. Every last one of them.

User Reviews

The celestial movies

The concept of our lives somehow being recorded by some celestial camera and ready for viewing at Judgment Day is an old one. What distinguishes Illusion is that there is no judgment except the one in your own mind as life on this plane ends.

That's what is happening to legendary film director Kirk Douglas as his life ends. During some dream he's visited by the ghost of a former film editor passed away long ago. And they go to the movies and see a life of his estranged son played by film creator Michael Goorjian and his pursuit of the love of his life Karen Tucker.

In the end Douglas asks for a different ending to the film and some heavenly editing.

Illusions is an ambitious undertaking and while it doesn't totally succeed there's enough there for us to enjoy and appreciate life. God knows we all look back at things we might have done differently, would we could edit out portions of our lives. In fact I'm not sure of an autobiography exists where the author is 100% truthful.

Goorjian and Douglas give wonderful performances. And Kirk did come back to do one more. But I think in many ways this is an epitaph film for him.