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...

---

Plot Keywords:

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

---

Taglines:

Rebuilding is a process.

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some sexuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

WILHELM SCREAM: Heard on TV.

---

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.

---

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.

---

Connections

References Planet of the Apes (1968)

User Reviews

Short stories short on story

Everyone does a stellar job of being ordinary and boring. The movie hangs together well enough, its just not the slice of life I would want to view for any length of time. Shaloub was the motivation for watching the film, and he doesn't disappoint. Tony's "Monk" character is starting to capture his face and makes it hard not to think of Adrian. He might want to dump that part soon so he doesn't end up pigeon holed. There isn't enough Shaloub in the movie to redeem it for me. It was just a little uninteresting.

The couple with the psychotic son were unbelievable at best. I suppose its better than some. Decide for yourself. If you don't want to bounce between stories use the DVD special bonus feature that lets you watch each story individually.

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:

88 min 87 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1