Copperhead (2013)

An Upstate New York family is torn apart during the American Civil War.

Director:

Ron Maxwell (as Ronald F. Maxwell)

Writers:

Harold Frederic (novel), Bill Kauffman (screenplay)

Stars:

François Arnaud, Lucy Boynton, Casey Thomas Brown

3 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
François Arnaud	...	Warner Pitts
Lucy Boynton	...	Esther Hagadorn
Casey Thomas Brown	...	Jeff Beech (as Casey Brown)
Billy Campbell	...	Abner Beech
Mary Fay Coady	...	Janey Wilcox
Josh Cruddas	...	Jimmy
Ryan Doucette	...	Byron Truax
Brian Downey	...	Preacher Taggart
Ryan Drost	...	Dancer
Rod Ernest	...	Driver
Peter Fonda	...	Avery
Scott Horton	...	Poll Fighter#2
Brian Jamieson	...	Roselle Upman
Walter Learning	...	Inspector Two
Stephen LeBail	...	Farmhand

Storyline

An upstate New York families' clash over their views of the Civil War and the views of the religious towns people comes to a head when Jeff "Tom" Beech volunteers for the Army and word gets back that he is missing. Upon word of his troubles the son of a staunch abolitionist and enemy of the Beech family sets out to find his friend! What happens next will bring a divided community together again.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for an unsettling sequence

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 June 2013 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Kings Landing Historical Settlement, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$55,593, 30 June 2013, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$171,740, 11 August 2013

Company Credits

Production Co:

Swordspoint Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film marks the third time that director Ron Maxwell has teamed up with cinematographer Kees Van Oostrum. All three projects have been related to the American Civil War.

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Quotes

Abner Beech: The way to a woman's heart, boy, ain't by rejecting your own kin and parroting the asinine opinions of her father.

User Reviews

The best Civil War movie to come out in a long time. Has the feel of North and South but to me this was better.

"Springtime 1862, that's when the war came home and nothing was ever the same again." Abner Beech (Campbell) is a Copperhead, a northern Democrat who is against the Civil War. He tries to raise his son Jeff the same way. Like most kids do he rebels and decides to join the army and marches off to war. When the war begins to escalate the town, led by Jee Hagadorn (Macfadyen) starts to fully turn on Abner. Things only get worse for him from then on. I am a huge history buff and love Civil War stuff. I was a little leery about this going in though. For me the Civil War movie peaked with Glory and hit an all time low with Gods and Generals (which is easily one of the worst movies I have ever seen). Since this was a lower budget movie I was expecting to be bored with this. I was very wrong. This is a different type of war movie. While it takes place during the war this one deals with the families and those left behind rather then the soldiers. This really shows how the war affected everyone, and the neighbor vs neighbor or brother vs brother aspect is really shown here. I do have to say though that this would have been better as a mini-series rather then a movie. Overall, the best Civil War movie to come out in a long time. Has the feel of North and South but to me this was better. I give this a B+