Case 39 (2009)

A social worker fights to save a girl from her abusive parents, only to discover that the situation is more dangerous than she ever expected.

Director:

Christian Alvart

Writer:

Ray Wright

Stars:

Renée Zellweger, Ian McShane, Jodelle Ferland

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Renée Zellweger	...	Emily Jenkins
Jodelle Ferland	...	Lilith Sullivan
Ian McShane	...	Detective Barron
Bradley Cooper	...	Doug
Callum Keith Rennie	...	Edward Sullivan
Adrian Lester	...	Wayne
Kerry O'Malley	...	Margaret Sullivan
Cynthia Stevenson	...	Nancy
Alexander Conti	...	Diego
Philip Cabrita	...	Javier
Vanesa Tomasino	...	Javier's Wife
Mary Black	...	Custody Judge
Domenico D'Ambrosio	...	Plainclothes Cop
Benita Ha	...	Therapist
J. Winston Carroll	...	Judge (as John Carroll)

Storyline

A social worker fights to save a girl from her abusive parents, only to discover that the situation is more dangerous than she ever expected.

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Plot Keywords:

social worker | supernatural horror | female feet | camera shot of feet | child welfare worker | 

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Taglines:

Some cases should never be opened.

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and terror including disturbing images

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie was released in New Zealand first on August 13, 2009, and it didn't get an American theatrical release for another year.

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Goofs

The insects attacking Douglas in the bathroom are said and believed to be Hornets. However their appearance is black and they look more like flies. Hornets would really be brown-and-yellow striped, with an appearance more akin to that of a wasp. Hornets are a species of wasp. Black hornets ( a species of Asian Giant Hornets) do exist, but they grow to be at least two inches long give or take and would not be able to fly out of Doug's ears and nose. But since it's all a hallucination based on his own fears & childhood memories, they don't have to be realistic.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Lillith Sullivan: [waking] I can see you.

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Connections

Referenced in Code Blue (2011)

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Soundtracks

Army Of Angels
Performed by Nadeshda Brennicke
Music by Michl Britsch and Nadeshda Brennicke
Lyrics by Nadeshda Brennicke

User Reviews

With pizza and beer - quite tasty.

It's a decent movie. I liked very much some cinematographic concepts cleverly used here to build solid tension, and mystery effect. We are used to very straight way of telling very straight stories, but sometimes it's good to move the camera off the basics a little (even if the story isn't very original), just to tell something more by the picture, than only what the picture depicts. Mr Bogdanski (DP) and Mr Alvart (DIR) have used some of those "tricks" carefully and wisely, gaining few disturbing shots which actually describe the feel of the whole movie. The story is simple, predictable, and has the "yep, I've seen this before" factor, but THOSE few (yes, only few) weird shots puts this movie slightly above the average. And there are Callum Keith Rennie, Kerry O'Malley and Ian McShane who work in the same business here with DP and Director - giving very intense and disturbing appearances in supporting, yet the movie tone establishing roles (especially Rennie not being too demonic). I'm glad that screenplay had provided them few very good sequences to play in.

But let's be frank - that's not enough to break the limits. We have to remember some major flaws: First - the movie is very predictable. Very. Second - Jodelle Ferland plays in a simple, cheap way, using far away easier acting methods, than her character needs. Third - a promise of originality made by DP and Director in the first part of the movie, is never kept because of the second half, where everything is put in WYSIWYG manner, known from shitty Hollywood.

Summing all up - You CAN watch it with a pizza and a beer, but hardly believable that you WILL manage without those. :)

Details

Official Sites:

MySpace Official site

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 October 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Case 39

Filming Locations:

Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$26,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,350,570, 3 October 2010

Gross USA:

$13,261,851

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$28,190,603

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Vantage, Misher Films, Anonymous Content

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1