Stone (2010)

A convicted arsonist looks to manipulate a parole officer into a plan to secure his parole by placing his beautiful wife in the lawman's path.

Director:

John Curran

Writer:

Angus MacLachlan

Stars:

Edward Norton, Milla Jovovich, Robert De Niro

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert De Niro	...	Jack
Edward Norton	...	Stone
Milla Jovovich	...	Lucetta
Frances Conroy	...	Madylyn
Enver Gjokaj	...	Young Jack
Pepper Binkley	...	Young Madylyn
Sandra Love Aldridge	...	Miss Dickerson
Greg Trzaskoma	...	Guard Peters
Rachel Loiselle	...	Candace
Kylie Tarnopol	...	Young Candace
Bailey Tarnopol	...	Young Candace
Madison Tarnopol	...	Young Candace
Peter Gray Lewis	...	Warden (as Peter Lewis)
Sarab Kamoo	...	Janice
Richard Murphy	...	Guard #1

Storyline

Parole officer Jack Mabry (Robert De Niro) has only a few weeks left before retirement and wishes to finish out the cases he's been assigned. One such case is that of Gerald "Stone" Creeson (Edward Norton), a convicted arsonist who is up for parole. Jack is initially reluctant to indulge Stone in the coarse banter he wishes to pursue and feels little sympathy for the prisoner's pleas for an early release. Seeing little hope in convincing Jack by himself, Stone arranges for his wife, Lucetta (Milla Jovovich), to seduce the officer, but motives and intentions steadily blur amidst the passions and buried secrets of the corrupted players in this deadly game of deception.

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Plot Keywords:

character name as title | parole | arsonist | parole officer | deception | 

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Taglines:

Some People Tell Lies. Others Live Them.

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexuality and violence, and pervasive language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Edward Norton spent time with real prisoners in the Southern Michigan Correctional Facility. He adopted his character's accent and cornrow hairstyle from the prisoners. Norton inserted phrases he heard from the prisoners into the dialogue.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Young Madylyn: Look at me.
Young Jack: Hmm?
Young Madylyn: I'm not standing for this.
Young Jack: Say what?
Young Madylyn: You keep my soul in a dungeon. I'm leaving.
Young Jack: [runs up the stairs, grabs his daughter out of bed, and holds her out the window] If you leave me, I'll throw her.

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Connections

Referenced in Maltin on Movies: No Strings Attached (2011)

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Soundtracks

Stone
Musical Modules
Written by Jon Brion
Published by You Can't Take It With You Music (ASCAP)

User Reviews

It's a film about religion

How do we make sense of our lives and keep going despite all the bad things that happen to us? Most people find the answers to those questions in religion, and the characters in this film line up like a rainbow of answers: Jack (DeNiro), a prison bureaucrat, is agnostic; his wife Madylyn (Conroy) is a mainline Protestant; Stone (Norton) is a convict but also a seeker who finds his answers in a New Age religion; his wife (Jovovich) is an unabashed atheist. Throughout the film, evangelical radio frequently plays in the background, another stripe in the religious rainbow.

As a miserable young Madylyn hints to the viewers in the first scene of the film, the prison setting is a metaphor of the dungeon of the soul. For these four characters, loveless marriages, life work that seems futile, and memories of violence are their dungeon walls. Jack, Madylyn, and Stone all struggle with depression. Stone's is so deep that he edges toward suicide, but he searches for answers among the religious readings in the prison library and finds one that makes sense, especially after he witnesses a brutal stabbing at a range so close that the blood spatters his own face and he sees the murdered man eye to eye.

Jack seeks pastoral counseling after church one Sunday, admitting finally that the Episcopal framework of his life has never made sense. The minister quotes the Bible to him, "Be still and know that I am God," that is, listen for the answers that God provides. Oddly, that is exactly the prescription that Stone gets from his new religion too. It teaches that "God" or Truth speaks to us through everyday noises – insects buzzing, the voices of a prison exercise yard, talk radio, or a spoken mantra – if we just listen to the universe.

Stone does listen, and he begins to change. His new hairstyle, speech, and demeanor all signal to the viewer that he is a man reborn. The prison walls within Stone's mind fall away so that by the time his parole is finally granted, it hardly matters to him anymore.

Jack, meanwhile, hears nothing in the noise of his troubled life, nor can he makes sense of what Stone tries to share with him. As his retirement nears, he grows more and more reckless. Blind to the transformation that Stone has undergone, Jack suspects that he is being played. To the end, Jack remains suspicious and fearful of Stone who has come to terms with this past and feels only gratitude toward the aging jailer.

If you are looking for a conventional action flick with good guys and bad guys, this is not it. If you want an intelligent film about how desperate people search for faith and solace, you will not be disappointed.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 October 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Stone

Filming Locations:

15 E Michigan Ave, Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$22,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$75,766, 10 October 2010

Gross USA:

$1,810,078

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$10,300,416

Company Credits

Production Co:

Millennium Films, Mimran Schur Pictures, Mimran Schur Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1