The Guitar (2008)

The life of a woman is transformed after she is diagnosed with a terminal disease, fired from her job and abandoned by her boyfriend. Given two months to live, she throws caution to the wind to pursue her dreams.

Director:

Amy Redford

Writer:

Amos Poe

Stars:

Saffron Burrows, Isaach De Bankolé, Paz de la Huerta

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Saffron Burrows	...	Melody Wilder
Isaach De Bankolé	...	Roscoe Wasz
Paz de la Huerta	...	Constance 'Cookie' Clemente
Mia Kucan	...	Young Mel
Adam Trese	...	Mr. Laffs
Janeane Garofalo	...	Dr. Murray
Owen McCarthy	...	Himself - Everyothers' Singer
Joel Cannon	...	Himself - Everyothers' Guitar Player (as Joel B. Cannon)
Ben Toro	...	Himself - Everyothers' Bass Player
John Melville	...	Himself - Everyothers' Drummer
Reg Rogers	...	Brett
David Wain	...	Phone Man
Elizabeth Marvel	...	Ma Wilder
Bill Camp	...	Pa Wilder
Richard Short	...	Loser Musician

Storyline

The transformation of a woman after she is diagnosed with a terminal illness, fired from her thankless job and abandoned by her boyfriend. Given two months to live, she blows her savings and maxes out her credit cards to pursue her dreams, which include romance and learning to play the electric guitar.

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Plot Keywords:

panties | female in shower | pubic hair | female pubic hair | female full frontal nudity | 

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Genres:

Drama | Music | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content, nudity and some language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Mandarin Punjabi

Release Date:

18 January 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Gitara

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Applecreek Productions, RedGuitar, Breakout Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was shot in 21 days.

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Goofs

She bought a 1963 Stratocaster on the phone. But there is a brief scene where you see the back of the head stock. It says "Made in Mexico." Strats were not made in Mexico until the 90s.

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Quotes

Melody Wilder: I just bought a guitar.
Roscoe Wasz: Great.
Melody Wilder: And then I have to get, you know, amps and stuff for the guitar. What?
Roscoe Wasz: You're spending money like there's no tomorrow.
Melody Wilder: There is no tomorrow. All my tomorrows are yesterday. Anyway, I'm charging it.

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Soundtracks

John I'm Only Dancing
Written by David Bowie

User Reviews

Why haven't more directors borrowed Burrows for their movies! She is a find!

Even though it is not the feel & sound good movie of the year, "The Guitar" rocks! Saffron Burrows mesmerizing performance is all the string it needs for this movie to be helmed a success. Burrows stars as Melody Wilder, a grieving New York woman who is told she has terminal throat cancer by her pessimistic doctor. Unfortunately, Melody's life tunes continue to be somber when she is downsized by her employer, and downsized by her boyfriend. Melody is about to take the suicidal route until she sees an ad for a short-term rental for a NY loft apartment. She then decides to hibernate during her last days of existence in the loft while charging all her credit cards to the max on food, furniture, and eventually The Guitar. Melody since childhood has been yearning to own & learn to play the guitar, but had never amplified (whatever that means) herself to do so until now. In the loft, Melody self teaches herself to play the guitar and all its melodies. Situations turn a bit more sexually wilder for Ms. Wilder when she beds a black furniture mover employee and a pizza delivery girl during her loft stay. I will not reveal more of "The Guitar" because it will spoil some dead or not-so-dead issues which the film's plot line reveals. "The Guitar" had a sundance twist to it as it was helmed by novice Director Amy Redford, daughter of Robert. Ms. Redford's impressive debut is worth a Sundance Festival salute. Amos Poe's semi-implicit screenplay worked brilliantly; it's "quality" not "quantity" wording approach was "poewerful". But it was Burrows' stunning acting was what I thought jammed the most about "The Guitar". Her facial expressions and nonverbal cues spoke volumes on stellar acting. Her commendable characterizations will not succumb to acting death any time soon. Remind me, why wasn't she nominated for acting awards last year? "The Guitar" is slow moving and its not an easy plot sell, but do not pass on playing this Guitar notably for Burrows' resounding acting! **** Good