The Greatest (2009)

A drama that is centered around a troubled teenage girl, and a family that is trying to get over the loss of their son.

Director:

Shana Feste

Writer:

Shana Feste

Stars:

Carey Mulligan, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Pierce Brosnan

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Carey Mulligan	...	Rose
Aaron Taylor-Johnson	...	Bennett Brewer (as Aaron Johnson)
Pierce Brosnan	...	Allen Brewer
Susan Sarandon	...	Grace Brewer
Johnny Simmons	...	Ryan Brewer
Kevin Hagan	...	Priest
Amy Morton	...	Lydia
Deirdre O'Connell	...	Joyce
Miles Robbins	...	Sean Brewer
Cara Seymour	...	Janis
Ramsey Faragallah	...	Dr. Shamban
Jennifer Ehle	...	Joan
Colby Minifie	...	Latent
Maryann Urbano	...	Cheryl
Zoë Kravitz	...	Ashley

Storyline

Teenagers Rose and Bennett were in love, and then a car crash claimed Bennett's life. He left behind a grieving mother, father and younger brother, and Rose was left all alone. She has no family to turn to for support, so when she finds out she's pregnant, she winds up at the Brewer's door. She needs their help, and although they can't quite admit it, they each need her so they can begin to heal.

---

Plot Keywords:

loss | teenage mother | self help group | car crash | bikini | 

---

Genres:

Drama | Romance

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some sexual content and drug use

Details

Official Sites:

The Greatest Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 November 2009 (Israel)

Also Known As:

Pour l'amour de Bennett

Filming Locations:

Rockland, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$33,616, 4 April 2010, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$115,862, 25 April 2010

Company Credits

Production Co:

Barbarian Films, Oceana Media Finance, Silverwood Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min 96 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although Johnny Simmons is four years older than his Aaron Taylor-Johnson, he plays his younger brother.

---

Goofs

In the scene where Allen is in hospital on the day of his release, the white sheet on the bed slips down and then is magically back up again. This happens several times.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Bennett Brewer: All right, I have a secret to tell you.
Rose: You're in the middle of the road.
Bennett Brewer: I know. Do you wanna hear it?
Rose: Do you want to move your car first?
Bennett Brewer: No, not really. I just wanna tell you one more thing.
Rose: All right.
[takes a Polaroid picture of him]
Bennett Brewer: What? That's not gonna be good.
Rose: [laughing] Okay, tell me.
[...]

---

Soundtracks

Bottlecaps
Performed by Inara George

User Reviews

Great substance, clumsy movie, but a tearjerker anyway...yeah, a confused mess, actually

The Greatest (2009)

A crisis of youth becomes a crisis for a whole family, and it's serious stuff. There's an attempt, very conspicuous in gesture and angst filled expressions, to be gritty and real, and it's a believable scenario. It's a tearjerker, surely, an intimate psychodrama dripping in sentiment.

However, the movie depends almost purely on this terrible crisis to succeed, and that's actually slightly backwards, in movie terms. That is, it should be the writing and acting that sweeps us in and makes us share the grief of the main characters. You end up wanting to empathize, but it's sometimes despite the movie, which pushes very hard, like a friend who wants to make you feel bad about something. It has such touching moments it's hard to quite accept that a lot of it is clumsily written, almost like a high budget beginner's film, which sounds worse than I mean it. But you'll see, I think, even if you love it thoroughly, that it works modestly. So accept its flaws, ignore the obvious flashbacks to the good times, skip the dining room table where people are sitting all on one side so we can see them all from the camera, ignore the patter that is meant to make life ordinary and doesn't, and so on. Be forgiving or give it a pass.

What saves the movie (somewhat) from its excesses is the performance of the lead girl, Rose (Carey Mulligan), and the father, Mr. Brewer, played by Pierce Brosnan, who is a nuanced dad, whatever his James Bond pedigree, though neither one is given decent lines to work with. (Brosnan was also a producer, go figure.) The mother is meant to be disturbed in her grief, and she sure is. The sexy grad assistant is too too obvious even for the movies. And the brother, well, what is his role, actually, just to add a second improbable plot? And there is surveillance video of the crash, which is beyond even reasonable open-mindedness, given the isolation implied by the first several minutes of the movie. The sensationalism of that, alone, will warn you of what's to come.

Okay, one last confession. It gets so emotionally atomic at times, with the throbbing cellos coming in the background, I had to laugh out loud. I swear. And yet, I see how it deals with some truly, believably gorgeous stuff.