My One and Only (2009)

After leaving her philandering husband, an elegant socialite takes her two sons on a road trip across America in search of a better life.

Director:

Richard Loncraine

Writer:

Charlie Peters

Stars:

Renée Zellweger, Logan Lerman, Mark Rendall

2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Renée Zellweger	...	Anne Devereaux
Logan Lerman	...	George Devereaux
Kevin Bacon	...	Dan Devereaux
Troy Garity	...	Becker
David Koechner	...	Bill Massey
J.C. MacKenzie	...	Tom
Eric McCormack	...	Charlie
Chris Noth	...	Dr. Harlan Williams
Molly C. Quinn	...	Paula (as Molly Quinn)
Mark Rendall	...	Robbie
Nick Stahl	...	Bud
Phoebe Strole	...	Wendy
Steven Weber	...	Wallace McAllister
Robin Weigert	...	Hope
Dan John Miller	...	Car Salesman #1

Storyline

After leaving her philandering husband, an elegant socialite takes her two sons on a road trip across America in search of a better life.

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Plot Keywords:

road trip | panties hit the floor | looking at oneself in a mirror | cotton gloves | kansas city missouri | 

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Taglines:

An almost perfect portrait of a family comedy

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Genres:

Adventure | Biography | Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual content and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 September 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cansada de buscar marido

Filming Locations:

Belen, New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$58,692, 21 August 2009

Gross USA:

$2,475,970

Company Credits

Production Co:

Herrick Entertainment, George Hamilton Productions, Merv Griffin Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although Dr. Harlan Williams' (Chris Noth) military service is never specifically addressed in the movie, he is seen wearing the insignia of the 45th Infantry ("Thunderbird") Division on one of his uniforms. This unit fought in both World War II and Korea.

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Goofs

When the family arrives in Saint Louis for the first time, a US flag can be seen flying. However, this flag has 50 stars and in 1953 there were only 48 states.

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Quotes

Paula: Have you ever seen breasts?
George Devereaux: Sure... one.
Paula: You saw one breast?
George Devereaux: No, I meant once. I saw some once.
Paula: Some?
George Devereaux: Two. I saw two, once...
Paula: You wanna see mine?
George Devereaux: Who? Me? Now?
Paula: Ready?
George Devereaux: Okay. Sure, yeah.
[...]

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Crazy Credits

During the movie, we see Robbie doing cross stitch many times. At the end of the movie, we see Ann sitting in a chair, finishing the same cross stitch of their entire adventure, with "THE END." This goes right into the credits, which are done entirely in cross stitch.

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Connections

Features The Big Heat (1953)

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Soundtracks

New Miss America Beauty Book
Music by Jerry Abbott

User Reviews

Entertaining family snapshot of an era

This is in many ways a fascinating movie. It is certainly entertaining and moves quite well, and everybody puts their best into it. (The "making of" featurette on the DVD is a wonderful look into the making of a higher budgeted 'indie' movie by the way.) But there is one serious flaw to the film, and that is Renée Zellweger's performance. Whenever the character undergoes pressure, she gets all wobbly and quirky, like a character actor playing a supporting role - but she's not only the lead, she's what the picture is all about, so this is definitely a flaw that threatens to derail the whole project.

Fortunately, it doesn't. First, of course, everyone else in the picture submits wonderful performances. Logan Lerman is a marvelous young actor who strikes chemistry with practically everyone he interacts with. And the film is really beautiful to look at, and filled with pleasantly eccentric characters, in situations highly evocative of the era in which they occur, the 1950s.

Secondly, part of the problem with Zellweger's performance may have to do with the character herself. Although she fancies herself a Deep-South Southern Belle, deserving of the better things in life, once we meet her sister we realize that she really comes from the mid-South commercial class, and that her attitude of entitlement is a self-delusion. She is thus out of touch with her own life, and in need of review of her identity. On the other hand, her desperate search for a husband to support her has a realistic edge - the '50's America was not kind to single moms. The question thus becomes whether the inner struggles involved in her effort to survive repeated crises is well presented. I'm not sure it is, but not from want of trying on Ms. Zellweger's part. It may be that the core of the character is really hard to define.

Otherwise, I have no trouble recommending this often amusing, insightful glimpse into a complex family during an era of change. It may have no more weight than an old family snapshot of the era, but it is as telling and well-developed a snapshot as one could wish.