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:

1.78 : 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 Wizard of Oz (1939)

User Reviews

Good cast, mediocre movie

This was okay. Good cast and interesting "slice of life" storyline however the movie itself was kinda all over the place. Diane Keaton plays her usual loopy self which I generally like but not in a role that requires her to be grieving over the death of her daughter. She was still all bubbly and silly which just didn't work here.

Anyways, she plays Natalie, who had always thought she had a close relationship with her daughter. However when she is killed Natalie becomes determined to find out exactly who her daughter really was, by spending the summer with her friends.

It was super fun to see Chris Pine in an early role here playing a gay man and Josh Hopkins from Cougar Town was good too. Then there was the bearded lady; who may have just put me off soft serve ice cream forever! 05.11