20th Century Women (2016)

The story of a teenage boy, his mother, and two other women who help raise him among the love and freedom of Southern California of 1979.

Director:

Mike Mills

Writer:

Mike Mills

Stars:

Annette Bening, Elle Fanning, Greta Gerwig

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 12 wins & 70 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Annette Bening	...	Dorothea Fields
Elle Fanning	...	Julie Hamlin
Greta Gerwig	...	Abbie Porter
Billy Crudup	...	William
Lucas Jade Zumann	...	Jamie Fields
Alison Elliott	...	Julie's Mother
Thea Gill	...	Gail Porter
Vitaly Andrew LeBeau	...	Young Jamie Fields (as Vitaly A. Lebeau)
Olivia Hone	...	Julie's Sister
Waleed Zuaiter	...	Charlie
Curran Walters	...	Matt
Darrell Britt-Gibson	...	Julian
Alia Shawkat	...	Trish
Nathalie Love	...	Cindy
Cameron Protzman	...	Teen in Therapy

Storyline

Love, life, and the struggles of a mother bringing up a son in the the late 70's. The ignorance of a free spirit against the needs of a young man trying to find his true character and beliefs. Living in a bohemian household shared with 3 like minded spirited people to help pay the rent, his mother tries to establish bonds that he cannot deal with. She cannot deal with his inability to talk, and enlists the help of other females in his life to share the burden of his upbringing. Slowly life unravels for them all without understanding how. In spite of their perceived struggles, they all go on to live defined lives without any serious consequences.

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Plot Keywords:

feminist | feminism | parenting | mother son relationship | teenage boy | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual material, language, some nudity and brief drug use

Details

Official Sites:

A24 Films Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 January 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

Twentieth Century Women

Filming Locations:

East Beach, Santa Barbara, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$111,200, 1 January 2017, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$5,663,855, 28 April 2017

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$5,757,620, 21 March 2017

Company Credits

Production Co:

A24, Annapurna Pictures, Modern People

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Black and White (archive footage)

Aspect Ratio:

2.00 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The house location was used for the exterior shots in the film adaptation of Running with Scissors (2006), also starring Annette Bening.

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Goofs

Dorothea is variously depicted discussing her stock portfolio with her son Jamie, quoting NYSE share prices in decimals, doing this in 1979. However, the switch to decimal from fractional stock prices in the U.S. did not occur until the year 2000.

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Quotes

Abbie: Whatever you think your life is going to be like, just know, it's not gonna be anything like that.

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Connections

Featured in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Felicity Jones/Billy Crudup/Car Seat Headrest (2016)

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Soundtracks

After Hours on Dream Street
Performed by Sandy Williams

User Reviews

Beige. Vanilla. Passive.

It took the incredible skill and talent of an amazing cast (especially Annette Bening) to keep this otherwise disastrously weak script from entirely falling apart. The film attempts to do a character study, but fails to commit to any one character enough to be well understood or relatable. Invoking next to no emotion from the viewer, I have left the film feeling neither sad or elated, as if I have spent the last 2 hours doing nothing. Perhaps I am being unfair...as an otherwise non- critical viewer, I have strong emotions about leaving a film without something. Was that the mission?!

5/10 stars, all 5 for a cast that worked with nothing and still managed to come up with something.