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$5 a Day

  • 2008
  • PG-13
  • 1h 38m
IMDb RATING
6.3/10
3.5K
YOUR RATING
$5 a Day (2008)
Trailer for this road movie about a con man and his son
Play trailer2:05
1 Video
53 Photos
ComedyDrama

The son of a thrifty conman begrudgingly joins his father on the road.The son of a thrifty conman begrudgingly joins his father on the road.The son of a thrifty conman begrudgingly joins his father on the road.

  • Director
    • Nigel Cole
  • Writers
    • Neal H. Dobrofsky
    • Tippi Dobrofsky
  • Stars
    • Christopher Walken
    • Alessandro Nivola
    • Sharon Stone
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    6.3/10
    3.5K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Nigel Cole
    • Writers
      • Neal H. Dobrofsky
      • Tippi Dobrofsky
    • Stars
      • Christopher Walken
      • Alessandro Nivola
      • Sharon Stone
    • 25User reviews
    • 25Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    $5 A Day
    Trailer 2:05
    Watch $5 A Day

    Photos53

    Sharon Stone and Alessandro Nivola in $5 a Day (2008)
    Sharon Stone, Christopher Walken, and Alessandro Nivola in $5 a Day (2008)
    Christopher Walken and Alessandro Nivola in $5 a Day (2008)
    $5 a Day (2008)
    Amanda Peet and Alessandro Nivola in $5 a Day (2008)
    Christopher Walken and Alessandro Nivola in $5 a Day (2008)
    Christopher Walken and Alessandro Nivola in $5 a Day (2008)
    Nigel Cole in $5 a Day (2008)
    $5 a Day (2008)
    $5 a Day (2008)
    $5 a Day (2008)
    $5 a Day (2008)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Christopher Walken
    Christopher Walken
    • Nat Parker
    Alessandro Nivola
    Alessandro Nivola
    • Ritchie Flynn Parker
    Sharon Stone
    Sharon Stone
    • Dolores Jones
    Dean Cain
    Dean Cain
    • Rick Carlson
    Peter Coyote
    Peter Coyote
    • Burt Kruger
    Amanda Peet
    Amanda Peet
    • Maggie
    Luis Avalos
    Luis Avalos
    • Martinez
    Beth Bailey
    Beth Bailey
    • Real Estate Lady
    Marya Beauvais
    Marya Beauvais
    • Realtor
    Frank Bond
    Frank Bond
    • Bar Manager
    Vic Browder
    Vic Browder
    • Salesman
    Gregory Chase
    • Reporter
    • (as Greg Chase)
    Christopher Dempsey
    Christopher Dempsey
    • Tim Webber
    Judith Greentree
    • IHOP Waitress
    Christopher Hagen
    Christopher Hagen
    • Marty
    Jim Hatch
    • Health Dept. Supervisor
    Anne Johns
    • Kruger's wife
    Diana Maimin
    • Desk Clerk
    • Director
      • Nigel Cole
    • Writers
      • Neal H. Dobrofsky
      • Tippi Dobrofsky
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Sharon Stone spent three days filming, and it wasn't difficult to get her after she found out Christopher Walken was attached.
    • Goofs
      When Nat and Ritchie start out on their trip, Nat makes Ritchie pull over quickly to get a haircut; a tollbooth is visible in the background. Later in the film In the background you can see a toll booth. Later in the film the same tollbooth is in the background when they swerve off the freeway.
    • Quotes

      Nat Parker: The fact is, I don't want you to do this. I need you to. I need to make things copacetic between us. I know I've been a terrible father. It's not a thing I can ignore. Sometimes for no particular reason, life falls off and knocks you flat. Slams you so hard against the wind, you think that all your insides are busted. But if you look for something to replace what's broken, if you're luck, you can find it.

      [looks at his son]

      Nat Parker: You're all I have.

    • Connections
      Features Old Yeller (1957)
    • Soundtracks
      I Don't Mind
      Written and Performed by Marcus Foster

    User reviews25

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    10/10
    The Idea May Not Be New, But This Film Is FRESH!
    It seems like every year or so the cinema comes out with a 'road movie' - an extended revelation of character deficiencies and nobilities played out on the open road (such as 'La Strada', 'Easy Rider', 'Thelma and Louise', 'About Schmidt', 'Motorcycle Diaries', 'The Adventures of Felix', 'Central Station' etc). They usually do well at the box office as a type of catharsis for the audience. That '$5 A DAY', given an excellent script by writing team Neal and Tippi Dobrofsky, a director with the comic timing such as Nigel Cole, and one of the finest groomed casts around, wasn't a major hit is puzzling. Timing, I suppose, but at least we have the great opportunity to see this little jewel of a movie on DVD. By all means pay attention.

    Richie Flynn Parker (the gem of an actor Allesandro Nivola who can play comedy as well as he handles drama) is unhappy: he is a conservative Health inspector of restaurants - fired when his police record is uncovered (he had taken the wrap for one of his father's capers), married to Maggie (Amanda Peet) who is leaving him because he never communicates about who he really is, and discovers a letter from his gallivanting grifter huckster father Nat Parker (Christopher Walken in a pitch perfect comedic role) who claims he is dying from a brain tumor and needs a ride to New Mexico for a special treatment. Because Flynn's life is such a mess he consents to go and he and his father set out in a 'Sweet and Low' advertising little auto. Nat shows how he can live on $5 a day by sleeping in empty homes, pulling shenanigans to get free food, entry into parties (Dean Cain plays an 'old acquaintance'), and money and gas. The two spar about why Nat was never there for Flynn, how their relationship is broken, and gradually Flynn discovers the realities of his background - realities he nightly shares on voicemail to his wife Maggie. Along the way the two make stops including a visit to Flynn's previous babysitter Dolores (Sharon Stone, better than ever!), a woman who knows how to bolster Nat's morale and brighten his life - as well as fill Flynn in on some important truths about his parental past. Flynn questions whether Nat really is dying or is just pulling off a scam to get a trip to New Mexico. But in Albuquerque Nat meets up with an old debtor Kruger, now wealthy because of Nat's assistance years ago, and in the process of correcting problems with the past, Flynn's true identity is revealed. What began as a raw, near hostile relationship between Nat and Flynn is transformed in a very touching manner.

    It is such a pleasure to jump into the trip and go along with this entertaining ride with Walken and Nivola because they are so very fine in their roles that we feel like we know them well. The balance between hilarity and pathos is excellent and the quality of every aspect of this little Indie film is first class. Highly recommended!

    Grady Harp
    helpful•24
    9
    • gradyharp
    • Aug 31, 2010

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 11, 2009 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Five Dollars a Day
    • Filming locations
      • Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
    • Production companies
      • Capitol Films
      • Aramid Entertainment Fund
      • Carol Baum Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 38 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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