Blood and Wine
Encyclopedia
Blood and Wine is a neo-noir
thriller directed by Bob Rafelson
from a screenplay written by Nick Villiers and Alison Cross. It stars Jack Nicholson
, Jennifer Lopez
, Stephen Dorff
, Judy Davis
and Michael Caine
. Rafelson has stated that the film forms the final part of his unofficial trilogy with Nicholson, with whom he made Five Easy Pieces
and The King of Marvin Gardens
in the 1970s.
Suzanne sets out to interrupt what she thinks is another one of Alex's weekend dalliances down in the Florida Keys, but is really his trip to pawn the jewels. Trouble escalates when she discovers the truth and gets involved.
was attracted to work with Rafelson due to what he perceived as the director's European sensibilities. He later remembered:
Blood and Wine was shot in Miami, South Florida and the Florida Keys
, including some scenes at the Caribbean Club in Key Largo
.Alex’s family home is located in the Coral Gables/Pinecrest area. Gabriela is shown to live in Little Havana
. The Reeses live in Millionaire’s Row in Miami Beach. Their house is next to Indian Creek
, and has a view of Collins Avenue
. Jason’s fishing boat is anchored in the Miami River
, near Downtown Miami
. Before the dance scene between Alex and Gabriela, we see a view of Southeast Financial Center in Downtown Miami.
lauded the drama and wrote, "Blood & Wine is a richly textured crime picture based on the personalities of men who make their living desperately. Jack Nicholson and Michael Caine are the stars, as partners in a jewel theft that goes wrong in a number of ways, each way illustrating deep flaws in how they choose to live. The film received poor reviews due to the fact that Lopez was supposed to play a mistress. She ignored her role and refused to play the risky role. She had fought with the director and often demanded she could keep the 3 million dollar jewel that was used in the film. Lopez was originally supposed to play Nicholoson's mistress but she refused to do any risky behavior in this film because of incidents referring to Oliver Stone's film U-Turn. Lopez focused on capturing the jewel and working as the manager of the boat house. Because of Lopez refusing to play the right role the movie was a major flop. Any risky scenes with Lopez were never filmed. ref> Ebert, Roger. Film review of Blood and Wine, Chicago Sun-Times
, February 21, 1997. Last accessed: February 2, 2008.
Neo-noir
Neo-noir is a style often seen in modern motion pictures and other forms that prominently utilize elements of film noir, but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media that were absent in films noir of the 1940s and 1950s.-History:The term Film Noir was coined by...
thriller directed by Bob Rafelson
Bob Rafelson
Robert "Bob" Rafelson is an Emmy Award winning American film director, writer and producer. He was an early member of the New Hollywood movement in the 1970s and is most famous for directing and co-writing the film Five Easy Pieces, starring Jack Nicholson, as well as being one of the creators of...
from a screenplay written by Nick Villiers and Alison Cross. It stars Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
, Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...
, Stephen Dorff
Stephen Dorff
Stephen Dorff is an American actor, best known for portraying Stuart Sutcliffe in Backbeat, Johnny Marco in Somewhere, and for his roles in Blade and Cecil B. DeMented.-Early life:...
, Judy Davis
Judy Davis
Judy Davis is an Australian actress best known for her roles in Husbands and Wives, Barton Fink, A Passage to India and in the TV miniseries Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows....
and Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
. Rafelson has stated that the film forms the final part of his unofficial trilogy with Nicholson, with whom he made Five Easy Pieces
Five Easy Pieces
Five Easy Pieces is a 1970 American drama film written by Carole Eastman and Bob Rafelson, and directed by Rafelson. The film stars Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, and Susan Anspach. The cast also includes Billy 'Green' Bush, Fannie Flagg, Ralph Waite, Sally Struthers, Lois Smith, Toni Basil, and...
and The King of Marvin Gardens
The King of Marvin Gardens
The King of Marvin Gardens is a 1972 American drama film. It stars Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern, Ellen Burstyn and Scatman Crothers. It is one of several collaborations between Nicholson and director Bob Rafelson. The majority of the film is set in a wintry Atlantic City, New Jersey, with the plot...
in the 1970s.
Plot
Nicholson plays Alex Gates, a wealthy wine merchant who has distanced himself from his alcoholic wife Suzanne (Judy Davis) with his philandering, and from his stepson Jason (Stephen Dorff) with his indifference. Alex is heavily in debt, and cases the house of his clients, the Reese family. After he steals a valuable diamond necklace with the help of his Cuban mistress Gabriela (Jennifer Lopez) and his safe-cracker partner Victor (Michael Caine), things start to fall apart fast.Suzanne sets out to interrupt what she thinks is another one of Alex's weekend dalliances down in the Florida Keys, but is really his trip to pawn the jewels. Trouble escalates when she discovers the truth and gets involved.
Cast
- Jack NicholsonJack NicholsonJohn Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
as Alex Gates - Stephen DorffStephen DorffStephen Dorff is an American actor, best known for portraying Stuart Sutcliffe in Backbeat, Johnny Marco in Somewhere, and for his roles in Blade and Cecil B. DeMented.-Early life:...
as Jason - Jennifer LopezJennifer LopezJennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...
as Gabriela "Gabby" - Judy DavisJudy DavisJudy Davis is an Australian actress best known for her roles in Husbands and Wives, Barton Fink, A Passage to India and in the TV miniseries Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows....
as Suzanne - Michael CaineMichael CaineSir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
as Victor "Vic" Spansky - Harold Perrineau Jr.Harold Perrineau Jr.Harold Perrineau is an American actor known for the roles of Michael Dawson in the U.S. television series Lost, Link in The Matrix films and games, Augustus Hill in the American television series Oz, and Mercutio in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet...
as Henry - Robyn Peterson as Dina Reese
- Mike StarrMike Starr (actor)Michael "Mike" Starr is an American actor. Starr is notable for his large size, standing 6 ft 3 1/2 in , and has typically been typecast as thugs or henchmen....
as Mike - John Seitz as Mr. Frank Reese
- Marc MacaulayMarc MacaulayMarc Macaulay is an American actor.He was born and raised in Millinocket, Maine. He graduated with a BFA in theater. He recently appeared in the new USA Network Series Burn Notice for five episodes as Agent Harris, and as "Blaine Bauer" in the horror film Thirteen Floors.Some of his most prominent...
as Guard - Dan Daily as Todd
- Marta Velasco as Gabriela's Cousin
Production
British producer Jeremy ThomasJeremy Thomas
Jeremy Jack Thomas, CBE is a British film producer, founder of the Recorded Picture Company. He was the producer of Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor, which won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Picture. In 2006 he received a European Film Award for Outstanding European Achievement in World...
was attracted to work with Rafelson due to what he perceived as the director's European sensibilities. He later remembered:
Blood and Wine was shot in Miami, South Florida and the Florida Keys
Florida Keys
The Florida Keys are a coral archipelago in southeast United States. They begin at the southeastern tip of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and extend in a gentle arc south-southwest and then westward to Key West, the westernmost of the inhabited islands, and on to the uninhabited Dry...
, including some scenes at the Caribbean Club in Key Largo
Key Largo
Key Largo is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and, at long, the largest of the Keys. It is also the northernmost of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, and the northernmost of the Keys connected by U.S. Highway 1...
.Alex’s family home is located in the Coral Gables/Pinecrest area. Gabriela is shown to live in Little Havana
Little Havana
Little Havana is a neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. Home to many Cuban immigrant residents, Little Havana is named after Havana, the capital and largest city in Cuba. The approximate boundaries are the Miami River , SW 16th Street , SR 9/West 27th Avenue and I-95...
. The Reeses live in Millionaire’s Row in Miami Beach. Their house is next to Indian Creek
Indian Creek
-Communities:* Indian Creek, California, unincorporated community in Calaveras County* Indian Creek, Florida, village in Miami-Dade County* Indian Creek, Illinois, village in Lake County* Indian Creek No...
, and has a view of Collins Avenue
Collins Avenue
Collins Avenue runs parallel to the Atlantic Ocean in Miami Beach, Florida, one block west. It is also State Road A1A. Collins Avenue was named for John S...
. Jason’s fishing boat is anchored in the Miami River
Miami River (Florida)
The Miami River is a river in the United States state of Florida that drains out of the Everglades and runs through the Downtown and the city of Miami. The long river flows from the terminus of the Miami Canal at Miami International Airport to Biscayne Bay...
, near Downtown Miami
Downtown Miami
Downtown Miami is an urban residential neighborhood, and the central business district of Miami, Miami-Dade County, and South Florida in the United States...
. Before the dance scene between Alex and Gabriela, we see a view of Southeast Financial Center in Downtown Miami.
Critical reception
Film critic Roger EbertRoger 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...
lauded the drama and wrote, "Blood & Wine is a richly textured crime picture based on the personalities of men who make their living desperately. Jack Nicholson and Michael Caine are the stars, as partners in a jewel theft that goes wrong in a number of ways, each way illustrating deep flaws in how they choose to live. The film received poor reviews due to the fact that Lopez was supposed to play a mistress. She ignored her role and refused to play the risky role. She had fought with the director and often demanded she could keep the 3 million dollar jewel that was used in the film. Lopez was originally supposed to play Nicholoson's mistress but she refused to do any risky behavior in this film because of incidents referring to Oliver Stone's film U-Turn. Lopez focused on capturing the jewel and working as the manager of the boat house. Because of Lopez refusing to play the right role the movie was a major flop. Any risky scenes with Lopez were never filmed. ref> Ebert, Roger. Film review of Blood and Wine, 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...
, February 21, 1997. Last accessed: February 2, 2008.
External links
- Blood and Wine film trailer