The clues to a young woman's death come together as the lives of seemingly unrelated people begin to intersect.The clues to a young woman's death come together as the lives of seemingly unrelated people begin to intersect.The clues to a young woman's death come together as the lives of seemingly unrelated people begin to intersect.
- Awards
- 2 wins & 4 nominations
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe film cast includes two Oscar winners: Mary Steenburgen and Marcia Gay Harden; and five Oscar nominees: Piper Laurie, Toni Collette, Josh Brolin, James Franco and Bruce Davison.
- GoofsWhen Melora meets Rosetta, her face is beaten up. When she takes Rosetta out to eat, her face looks normal. When she drops Rosetta back at the motel, her face is a mess again.
- Quotes
Melora: Did she tell you why she ran away?
Rosetta: She probably wasn't happy
Melora: Did she tell you why?
Rosetta: Other than her stepfather sticking his dick in her? I don't think so, she probably thought "hey man fuck it, if I'm going to do it I might as well get paid" and her mother was too much of a dish rag to do anything about it, you know typical the husband or the kids they always trust the husband...
Melora: Did she tell you that?
Rosetta: What?
Melora: That her mother knew and chose him?
Rosetta: She probably likes it right? Probably took some of the load off, like having one of your kids help with the laundry
Melora: [starts crying]
Rosetta: You her mom?
- Alternate versionsIn the theatrical release, there are two references to Arden's dead brother: when her mother mentions him, causing Arden's frenzy, and when she packs his picture before she leaves. There is an extended sequence that shed light on this relationship, and the shared tragedy that bound Arden to her mother for many years.
The Stranger stars Toni Collette as the woman who discovered the body, and how she gets thrust into the media limelight, yet yearning for that freedom to flee from her domineering mother. The Sister tells of a pathologist's inability to fight on and continue her family's believe that her missing sister is still out there somewhere, and not to throw in the towel and give up hope. The Wife will manage to rile you up, with the story of a neglected wife, and her hopes for reconciling with her estranged husband, who prefers gallivanting late at night to spending time with her, and of course, with her decision to protect her husband's secrets to losing him for sure altogether when revealed. And The Mother reminds you that a mother's love knows no bounds. Hurt by her daughter's disappearance, the worse case scenario happens, and Mum has got to heal old wounds. It's a touching short, and I thought one of the most powerful amongst the rest. And rounding it up, like the last pieces of a jigsaw, is The Dead Girl's story, where we see a foul mouthed Brittany Murphy bringing it all on.
The movie had excellent performances all round by the ensemble cast, and it doesn't have any big bang moments to shock and awe. It's a dramatic story, rather than a mystery- thriller-whodunnit. I was glad that it didn't go down the torture porn route, although it could have, but didn't need to. Leaving it where it is will already allow your imagination to run wild what the outcome will be. However, this might serve as a let down to some as it might seem that it failed to want to bridge the missing gap in the timeline. Fragmented timeline and multiple, parallel stories do seem to be the rage these days (Babel anyone?), but it all boils down to how much of a story you can make out of a single drop in the pond. That's what The Dead Girl feels like, with the stories the inevitable ripples that fan out.
You Are My Sunshine looks like a song very popularly used in end credits, and so far I had thought that it was a simple childhood nursery song. But when used in this context, it had a profound depth telling of longing and missing, that everyone has their own sunshine that they hold very dear to. Recommended movie, especially if you're into the fragmented timeline fad.
- DICK STEEL
- Sep 29, 2007
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Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $19,875
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $6,613
- Dec 31, 2006
- Gross worldwide
- $905,291
- Runtime1 hour 25 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1