Surrender, Dorothy (2006)

When her daughter Sara (Davalos) unexpectedly passes away, Natalie (Keaton) retreats to the summer home where she and Sara used to visit. Time with her best friends and some of Sara's friends help her deal with her loss.

Director:

Charles McDougall

Writers:

Meg Wolitzer (novel), Matthew McDuffie (teleplay)

Stars:

Diane Keaton, Tom Everett Scott, Alexa Davalos

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Diane Keaton	...	Natalie Swerdlow
Tom Everett Scott	...	Adam
Alexa Davalos	...	Sara
Lauren German	...	Maddy
Josh Hopkins	...	Peter
Chris Pine	...	Shawn
Peter Riegert	...	Mel
Marnie Crossen	...	Mrs. Moyles
Myra McWethy	...	Bearded Lady
Roy Werner	...	Harvey
Liam Lynch	...	Sara's Lover
Ron Christopher Jones	...	Gay Bar Patron (as RC Jones)
Emil Lin	...	Gay Bar Friend
Leonard Stone	...	Neighbor
Michael Hagiwara	...	Sushi Chef

Storyline

After Sara Swerdlow's death in a nightly car accident, her excessively self-righteous mother Natalie shamelessly invites herself to move into her room at the remote summer house where her friends are on holiday as often before. Gay playwright Adam fails to evict her because of happily married Peter's cavalier hospitality. Soon everyone suffers facing Sara's, and their own past and present, as Nathalie only thought she really knew her 'all-confiding' daughter, which shifts several reports.

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Plot Keywords:

summer | playwright | car accident | mother daughter relationship | long brown hair | 

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Taglines:

The hardest part is letting go.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 January 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Aika luopua

Filming Locations:

San Diego, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

CBS Productions,Stu Segall Productions,Wendy Finerman Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min (DVD) 120 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When the group of friends is sitting on the roof, Adam nervously grabs a Marlboro Light cigarette and tries to light it. In the next shot, the cigarette he is holding has a brown filter. Marlboro Lights have a white filter.

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Goofs

The baby's hair length changes as Keaton's character cuddles it in the kitchen, 2/3 of the way through the movie.

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Connections

References The Brady Bunch (1969)

User Reviews

One of the worst movies for TV I have seen in quite awhile

Although the casting for this film was admirable, particularly Dianne Keaton and Tom Everett Scott, the quality of the writing was so poor that it would be impossible for any actor or director to make this film worth watching.

My wife and I decided that the reason we watched the entire film was that it was like a train wreck, and it was almost impossible to turn away. It may have been that we "hoped" that the message would eventually make itself apparent, and that we would be able to glean some meaning from this effort. Unfortunately, this did not happen.

Of course the audience may have been able to "make sense" of this convoluted tale, a credit to the ingenuity of the human brain to make sense of the absurd. The writers, however, did NOTHING to facilitate this innate need we seem to have for finding meaning.

It was apparent that those involved were simply going through the motions of their respective crafts, and that any intrinsic passion for the characters or the story was either secondary or non-existent.

Unfortunately, made-for-TV movies have seemed to devolve over the years. Whereas communicating a message to the audience may to have been the primary interest of the writers in the past, present-day writers and producers seem condescending to their audience, concentrating primarily on manipulating us to "stay-tuned" through the incessant advertising which seems to be the only reason movies such as Surrender, Dorothy are made.