The Great New Wonderful (2005)

The Great New Wonderful weaves five stories against the backdrop of an anxious and uncertain post-9-11 New York City.

Director:

Danny Leiner

Writer:

Sam Catlin

Stars:

Maggie Gyllenhaal, Seth Gilliam, Jim Parsons

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Maggie Gyllenhaal	...	Emme Keeler
Seth Gilliam	...	Clayton
Jim Parsons	...	Justin
Martha Millan	...	Alexa
Will Arnett	...	Danny Keeler
Nancy McDoniel	...	Agnes Whitehead
Fred Burrell	...	Wexler Whitehead
Jillian Crane	...	Crying Woman
Mario Polit	...	Elvis Cedeno
Tony Kushner	...	Tony Kushner
Edie Falco	...	Safarah Polsky
Finnerty Steeves	...	Isabelle
Priscilla Shanks	...	Priscilla Krindel
Bernie McInerney	...	Duff Krindel
Ari Graynor	...	Lisa Krindel

Storyline

In New York City, five concurrent and ultimately intersecting stories of emotional despair are presented leading up to the first anniversary of 9/11. Emme Keeler, a high end cake designer, and her businessman husband Danny are all about presenting the perfect life, much like the perfection Emme strives for with her cake designs. Despite that perfection, Emme and her team have lost most of the recent contracts against their main competitor, Safarah Polsky. Emme is hoping things will change with the upcoming annual competition to win the lucrative contract to provide the birthday cake for now teenager, spoiled heiress Lisa Krindle, Emme who will do whatever she can to get a leg up on Safarah. Married Allison and David Burbage do whatever they need to to provide for their adolescent son Charlie, who is in expensive therapy to deal with disruptive sometimes bordering on violent behavior against others. They may not realize that they are really placing their own relationship at risk in not...

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Plot Keywords:

security guard | five stories | cake | new york city | lost | 

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Taglines:

Rebuilding is a process.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some sexuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

WILHELM SCREAM: Heard on TV.

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Goofs

Avi says that the Mall of America in Minneapolis is the largest mall in the world. Actually, at the time of the store, CentralWorld Mall in Thailand is larger, opening in 1990.

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Quotes

David: [discussing his son] I mean, deep down he's a good kid.
Allison: He's actually a great kid.
Mr. Peersall: No, he's actually a selfish, incorrigible monster with a heart made out of shit and splinters.

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Connections

References The Matrix (1999)

User Reviews

Good Cast Cannot Hide Story Deficiencies in an Omnibus Look at Post-9/11 Trauma

It's admirable that director Danny Leiner and screenwriter Sam Catlin have attempted to tackle the inarticulate emotional toll that 9/11 has taken on a group of New Yorkers rather than tell a more visceral story directly related to the tragedy (like Paul Greengrass' "United 93" or Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center"). Unfortunately, the filmmakers' intended cathartic exercise falls significantly short due to a too-subtle patchwork narrative and the film's relentlessly enervating pace. Five unconnected stories begin a year after 9/11, and we are taken through the characters' paces in dealing with some form of emotional denial. The most pertinent thread is initially the most comic one in which a seemingly well-adjusted office worker named Sandie talks to a sardonic psychologist, Dr. Trabulous, about the impact of the tragedy.

The other episodes are somewhat more removed from the events of that day - Avi and Satish, a couple of bickering Indian security agents overseeing the speaking engagement of a foreign diplomat; a married couple, David and Allison, whose overweight adolescent son Charlie has become socially dysfunctional; Judie, an older woman in Brooklyn quietly seething about her tedious marriage as she seeks the company of Jerry, an old schoolmate; and an upscale cake designer named Emme who is trying to land a big client at the expense of her famous rival, Safarah. None of the stories really connect with each other except for a rather contrived scene in an elevator, though that seems to be the filmmakers' point, that the scope of 9/11 affected each of their immediate situations in idiosyncratic ways. The movie only runs 87 minutes, but it takes at least an hour for the stories to take shape toward some common dramatic point. Even then, it still feels too nebulous to make a resonant emotional impact, and consequently, the opportunity for catharsis feels frittered away.

It's not for the lack of a good cast. Stand-up comic Jim Gaffigan brings out Sandie's inner torment palpably as Tony Shalhoub listens with oblique bemusement; Maggie Gyllenhaal displays the steely shallowness of Emme as she faces an unexpected turn; Naseeruddin Shah and Sharat Saxena dexterously show their characters' opposing views on life and what secrets may lie beneath; Judy Greer and Tom McCarthy bring surprising depth to a couple confounded by their son's eruptive violence; and Olympia Dukakis is stoic strength personified as Judie. Edie Falco has nothing more than a cameo as Safarah, but her moments count. New York City is captured crisply by cinematographer Harlan Bosmajian on high-definition video. The DVD has a rather informal but somewhat interesting commentary track by Leiner and Catlin, as well as several deleted scenes and unused footage of the city. An intriguing extra is the ability to watch each of the five episodes separately as individual shorts. There is also the theatrical trailer, a gallery of stills accompanied by the soundtrack, and a helpful blurb about the outreach program organized to deal with post-9/11 trauma.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Hindi Italian

Release Date:

22 April 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

New York City

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$39,712, 25 June 2006

Gross USA:

$150,142

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$193,968

Company Credits

Production Co:

Serenade Films, Sly Dog Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1