A Home at the End of the World (film)
Encyclopedia
A Home at the End of the World is a 2004
2004 in film
The year 2004 in film involved some significant events. Major releases of sequels took place. It included blockbuster films like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, Blade: Trinity, Spider-Man 2, Alien vs. Predator, Kill Bill Vol...

 drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

 directed by Michael Mayer
Michael Mayer (director)
Michael Mayer is an American stage and film director. He won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical in 2007 for directing Spring Awakening.-Biography:...

. The screenplay by Michael Cunningham
Michael Cunningham
Michael Cunningham is an American writer, best known for his 1998 novel The Hours, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award in 1999.-Early life and education:...

 was adapted from his 1990
1990 in literature
The year 1990 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*J. K. Rowling gets the idea for Harry Potter while on a train ride from Manchester to London. She says "I was staring out the window, and the idea for Harry just came. He appeared in my mind's eye, very fully formed...

 novel of the same title
A Home at the End of the World
A Home at the End of the World is a 1990 novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning American author Michael Cunningham.The book is narrated in the first person, with the narrator changing in each chapter. Bobby and Jonathan are the main narrators, but several chapters are narrated by Alice, Jonathan's mother,...

.

Plot synopsis

The film focuses on a trio of disparate individuals who struggle to create a family of their own. Bobby Morrow's (Farrell) life in suburban Cleveland has been tinged with tragedy since he was a young boy, losing first his older hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...

 brother to a freak accident and then his mother to illness. As a rebellious teenager, he meets the conservative and gawky Jonathan Glover in high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

, and he becomes a regular visitor to the Glover home, where he introduces his friend - and his mother Alice - to marijuana and the music of Laura Nyro
Laura Nyro
Laura Nyro was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist. She achieved considerable critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums Eli and the Thirteenth Confession and New York Tendaberry, and had commercial success with artists such as Barbra Streisand and The 5th...

. Bobby and Jonathan also indulge in adolescent mutual masturbation during their frequent sleepover
Sleepover
A sleepover, also known as a pajama party or a slumber party, is a party most commonly held by children or teenagers, where a guest or guests are invited to stay overnight at the home of a friend, sometimes to celebrate birthdays or other special events...

s. Bobby helps Alice accept her son's homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...

, and she teaches Bobby how to bake, unintentionally setting him on a career path that eventually takes him to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, where Jonathan is sharing a colorful East Village
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...

 apartment with the bohemian and somewhat older Clare. Bobby moves in, and the three create their own household.

Although Jonathan is openly gay and highly promiscuous
Promiscuity
In humans, promiscuity refers to less discriminating casual sex with many sexual partners. The term carries a moral or religious judgement and is viewed in the context of the mainstream social ideal for sexual activity to take place within exclusive committed relationships...

, he is deeply committed to Clare and the two have tentatively planned to have a baby. Clare seduces and starts a relationship with Bobby, and she eventually becomes pregnant by him. Their romance occasionally is disrupted by sparks of jealousy between the two men until Jonathan, tired of being the third wheel, disappears without warning. He re-enters their lives when his father Ned dies and Bobby and Clare travel to Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...

 for the services. The three take Ned's car back east with them, and they impulsively decide to buy a house near Woodstock, New York
Woodstock, New York
Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 at the 2000 census.The Town of Woodstock is in the northern part of the county...

, where Bobby and Jonathan open and operate a cafe while Clare raises the baby daughter she and Bobby have had.

Jonathan discovers what appears to be a Kaposi's sarcoma
Kaposi's sarcoma
Kaposi's sarcoma is a tumor caused by Human herpesvirus 8 , also known as Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus . It was originally described by Moritz Kaposi , a Hungarian dermatologist practicing at the University of Vienna in 1872. It became more widely known as one of the AIDS defining...

 lesion
Lesion
A lesion is any abnormality in the tissue of an organism , usually caused by disease or trauma. Lesion is derived from the Latin word laesio which means injury.- Types :...

 on his thigh and, although Bobby tries to convince him it's simply a bruise, others soon appear. Clare takes the baby for what ostensibly is a brief visit to her mother in Philadelphia, but Bobby and Jonathan accurately suspect she has no intention of returning and Bobby decides to care for Jonathan during his last days. On a cold winter day some months later, they scatter Ned's ashes in the field behind their home, and Jonathan (who now visibly appears to be ill) makes Bobby promise he will scatter his in the same place following his now inevitable early death from complications due to AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

.

Production

The film was shot on location in New York City, Phoenix, and Schomberg
Schomberg, Ontario
Schomberg is an unincorporated village in northwestern King, Ontario, Canada. Situated north of the Oak Ridges Moraine and south of the Holland River, the village is surrounded by natural attractions....

 and Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 in Ontario, Canada.

The film premiered at the New York Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival
NewFest: The New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival put on by The New Festival, Inc., is one of the most comprehensive forums of international LGBT film/video in the world....

 and was shown at the Nantucket Film Festival, the Provincetown International Film Festival
Provincetown International Film Festival
The Provincetown International Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1999 and held in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The festival presents a wide array of American and international narrative features, documentaries and short films for five days in June of each year.With panel...

, the San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, and the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
Outfest
Outfest is an LGBT-oriented film showcase and festival in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1982 as the "Gay and Lesbian Media Festival and Conference", the name was changed to Outfest in 1994.-Programs:...

 before going into limited release in the US. It grossed $64,728 on five screens on its opening weekend. It eventually earned $1,029,872 in the US and $519,083 in foreign markets for a total worldwide box office of $1,548,955.

Cast

  • Colin Farrell
    Colin Farrell
    Colin James Farrell is an Irish actor, who has appeared in such film as Tigerland, Miami Vice, Minority Report, Phone Booth, The Recruit, Alexander and S.W.A.T....

     ..... Bobby Morrow (1982)
  • Dallas Roberts
    Dallas Roberts
    Dallas Mark Roberts is an American stage and screen actor.Roberts was born in Houston, Texas. He is a graduate of Juilliard School. He is primarily based in New York City, where he regularly appears in theatrical productions...

     ..... Jonathan Glover (1982)
  • Robin Wright ..... Clare
  • Sissy Spacek
    Sissy Spacek
    Sissy Spacek is an American actress and singer. She came to international prominence for her for role as Carrie White in Brian De Palma's 1976 horror film Carrie for which she earned her first Academy Award nomination...

     ..... Alice Glover
  • Matt Frewer
    Matt Frewer
    Matthew "Matt" Frewer is a Canadian American stage, TV and film actor. Acting since 1983, he is known for portraying the 1980s icon Max Headroom and the retired villain Moloch in the film adaptation of Watchmen.-Life and career:...

     ..... Ned Glover
  • Erik Scott Smith ..... Bobby Morrow (1974)
  • Harris Allan
    Harris Allan
    Harris Allan is an actor and recording artist under the moniker Fallan Soldier. He attended Lord Roberts Elementary and King George Secondary High School in Vancouver, B.C....

     ..... Jonathan Glover (1974)
  • Asia Vieira
    Asia Vieira
    Asia Molly Vieira is a Canadian actress.- Biography :She began her career as a child model at the age of four, later gaining her first major role in 1988 starring alongside Liam Neeson and Diane Keaton in The Good Mother. She is an accomplished gymnast and graduated from the Etobicoke School of...

     .... Emily

Critical reception

A.O. Scott of the New York Times observed, "As a novelist Mr. Cunningham can carry elusive, complex emotions on the current of his lovely, intelligent prose. A screenwriter, though, is more tightly bound to conventions of chronology and perspective, and in parceling his story into discrete scenes, Mr. Cunningham has turned a delicate novel into a bland and clumsy film . . . so thoroughly decent in its intentions and so tactful in its methods that people are likely to persuade themselves that it's better than it is, which is not very good . . . The actors do what they can to import some of the texture of life into a project that is overly preoccupied with the idea of life, but the mannered self-consciousness of the script and the direction keeps flattening them into types."

Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...

 of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...

said, "The movie exists outside our expectations for such stories. Nothing about it is conventional. The three-member household is puzzling not only to us, but to its members. We expect conflict, resolution, an ending happy or sad, but what we get is mostly life, muddling through . . . Colin Farrell is astonishing in the movie, not least because the character is such a departure from everything he has done before."

Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle is an American Mick LaSalle is an [[United States|American]] Mick LaSalle is an [[United States|American]] [[film reviewer] and the author of two books on pre-[[Motion Picture Production Code|Hays Code]] Hollywood...

 of the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...

stated, "What we have here . . . is a movie about a friendship and about the changing nature of families. We also have a movie about what it was like to be a child in the late 1960s, a teenager in the mid-1970s and a young adult in the early 1980s. In these aspects, the film is sensitive, sociologically accurate and emotionally true. But the picture is also the story of one character in particular, Bobby, and when it comes to Bobby, A Home at the End of the World is sappy and bogus." He added, "Farrell is not the first actor anyone would cast as an innocent, and he seems to know that and is keen on making good. His speech is tentative but true. His eyes are darting but soulful. The effort is there, but it's a performance you end up rooting for rather than enjoying, because there's no way to just relax and watch."

Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Peter Travers is an American film critic, who has written for, in turn, People and Rolling Stone. Travers also hosts a celebrity interview show called Popcorn on ABC News Now and ABCNews.com.-Career:...

 of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

awarded the film three out of four stars, calling it "funny and heartfelt" and "a small treasure." He added, "Farrell's astutely judged portrayal . . . is a career highlight" and "Stage director Michael Mayer (Side Man
Side Man
Side Man is a memory play by Warren Leight. His inspiration was his father Donald, who worked as a sideman, in jazz parlance a musician for hire who can blend in with the band or star as a solo performer, according to what is required by the gig.-Plot:...

) makes a striking debut in film."

David Rooney of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...

called the film "emotionally rich drama" "driven by soulful performances." He added, "Strong word of mouth could help elevate this touching film beyond its core audience of gay men and admirers of the book."

Awards and nominations

The film was cited for Excellence in Filmmaking by the National Board of Review
National Board of Review Awards 2004
The 76th National Board of Review Awards, honoring the best in film for 2004, were given on 1 December 2004.-Top 10 films:#Finding Neverland#The Aviator#Closer#Million Dollar Baby #Sideways#Kinsey...

 and was nominated for the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film in Wide Release but lost to Kinsey
Kinsey (film)
Kinsey is a 2004 biographical film written and directed by Bill Condon. It describes the life of Alfred Kinsey , a pioneer in the area of sexology. His 1948 publication, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male was one of the first recorded works that tried to scientifically address and investigate...

. Michael Cunningham was nominated for the Chlotrudis Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film
The Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film is a Boston-area non-profit organization that teaches audiences to view films actively through discussion, formal and informal education, discourse, film festivals, special screenings and collaboration. Their focus is on international and independent film...

, Dallas Roberts was nominated for the Gotham Award for Breakthrough Performance
Gotham Awards
The Gotham Awards is an annual ceremony of awards presented to the makers of independent films which takes place in New York City...

, and Colin Farrell was nominated for the Irish Film Award for Best Actor
Irish Film and Television Awards
The Irish Film and Television Awards were first awarded in 2003. Its sole aim is to celebrate Ireland's notably talented film and television community...

.

See also

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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