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

The leather jacket worn by Saffron Burrows went on to become her favorite clothing item.

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Goofs

Isaach De Bankolé plays a character named "Roscoe", and according to the movie he is named after a small town in upstate New York. This implies that he's a NY native, though he speaks with a reasonably-thick African accent (the actor is from the Ivory Coast).

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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

Inspiring with a touch of irk

The storyline is engaging and thought provoking. There were moments where I felt inspired by the main character's plight.

However, throughout the movie, I could not help but feel irked by a number of the unoriginal and overused techniques the director employed to force the audience to feel something. For example: the slow, melodramatic montage scenes in which the main character twirls in the sunlight with a shawl wrapped around her; the scenes in which the main character, reflecting on her childhood,is shown as a 7 year old girl sitting sadly by herself on the stairs as she watches and hears her parents argue.

There was also a lack of honesty about the character. One example in which this lack of honesty manifested itself was in the 'heroin-chic' appearance that the main character took on as she rapidly accepted that she was going to die. This says more about the director and the director's 90's influence than it does about the actual character.

Either way, this movie is definitely worth a look just for the life lessons alone.