Geraldine's Fortune
Encyclopedia
Geraldine's Fortune is a 2004 Canadian comedy
/drama film
. It was directed
by John N. Smith
, written
by Tim Burns and based on the play
Les Belles-sœurs by Michel Tremblay
.
who gains local fame as she is about to appear on a gameshow called Bring Home the Bacon (a show with a pig
theme similar to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
) with a top prize of $
2 million dollars. As friends and family gather to watch Geraldine on television, family secrets come to surface and a physical fight occurs, bringing all the family and friends outdoors. As the fight is happening, Geraldine calls them for help with a question during the gameshow. After the question is asked, the scene turns back to the home where the fight is happening outdoors and where only Geraldine's elderly mother, who has less that her full faculties, is left alone, inside near the phone. The telephone rings and rings and rings, until finally she answers. Geraldine, realizing the senility of the woman, doesn't know whether to trust her answer. Geraldine and her husband return to announce whether she answered the question correctly or not, only to discover long buried family truths have come to light.
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
/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...
. It was directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
by John N. Smith
John N. Smith
John N. Smith is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. He began his career making documentary and short films before moving on to feature films and then finally working primarily in television. His work has been nominated in the Academy Awards, Genie Awards, and Gemini Awards, but has only...
, written
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
by Tim Burns and based on the play
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
Les Belles-sœurs by Michel Tremblay
Michel Tremblay
Michel Tremblay, CQ is a Canadian novelist and playwright.Tremblay grew up in the Plateau Mont-Royal, a French-speaking neighbourhood of Montreal, at the time of his birth a neighbourhood with a working-class character and joual dialect, something that would heavily influence his work...
.
Plot
Geraldine Liddle (Curtin) is a small town woman from New BrunswickNew Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
who gains local fame as she is about to appear on a gameshow called Bring Home the Bacon (a show with a pig
Pig
A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...
theme similar to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a television game show which offers large cash prizes for correctly answering a series of multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty. The format is owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Television International. The maximum cash prize is one million pounds...
) with a top prize of $
Canadian dollar
The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
2 million dollars. As friends and family gather to watch Geraldine on television, family secrets come to surface and a physical fight occurs, bringing all the family and friends outdoors. As the fight is happening, Geraldine calls them for help with a question during the gameshow. After the question is asked, the scene turns back to the home where the fight is happening outdoors and where only Geraldine's elderly mother, who has less that her full faculties, is left alone, inside near the phone. The telephone rings and rings and rings, until finally she answers. Geraldine, realizing the senility of the woman, doesn't know whether to trust her answer. Geraldine and her husband return to announce whether she answered the question correctly or not, only to discover long buried family truths have come to light.
Cast
- Jane CurtinJane CurtinJane Therese Curtin is an American actress and comedienne. She is commonly referred to as Queen of the Deadpan.First coming to prominence as an original cast member on Saturday Night Live in 1975, she went on to win back-to-back Emmy Awards for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series on the 1980s...
... as Geraldine Liddle - Mary Walsh ... as Rose
- Sheila McCarthySheila McCarthySheila McCarthy is a Canadian film, stage, television actress, and singer. She is one of the most honoured actors in Canada, having won two Genie Awards , two Gemini Awards , and two Dora Awards among multiple nominations. As of 2007, she can be seen on the Canadian television series Little...
... as Tina - Matt FrewerMatt FrewerMatthew "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:...
... as Cameron Geary - Peter MacNeillPeter MacNeillPeter MacNeill is a Canadian film and television actor who has starred in several TV shows and movies.His film credits have included The Hanging Garden , Geraldine's Fortune, Giant Mine, Lives of Girls and Women, The Events Leading Up to My Death, Dog Park, Something Beneath and A...
... as Henry Liddle - Monique MercureMonique MercureMonique Mercure, is a Canadian actress.-Career:Mercure was born in Montreal, Quebec. At the 1977 Cannes Film Festival she won the award for Best Actress for the film J.A. Martin Photographer...
... as Olive Larose - Marina OrsiniMarina OrsiniMarina Orsini is a Canadian actress of Italian background.-Background:Orsini had an extensive acting career starting in 1986 after a brief career in modeling in which she participated in a pageant in 1982...
... as Cilla - Pascale MontpetitPascale MontpetitPascale Montpetit is a French Canadian actress, born in 1961. In 1990 she won a Best Actress Genie Award for Darrell Wasyk's H and in 2002 for Mario Azzopardi's Savage Messiah, 2 Gémeaux Awards, a Jutra Award and a Mons International Festival of Love Films award. She is also a well-known stage...
... as Diede Murphy - Patrick McKennaPatrick McKennaPatrick McKenna born May 8, 1960 in Sylvania, Saskatchewan is a Canadian comedic and actor. He is best known for playing Harold Green on the television series The Red Green Show, Marty Stephens on Traders, and the Trudeau miniseries. McKenna is a member of Toronto's The Second City comedy troupe...
... as Louie Owen - Jennifer Morehouse ... as Greta Jones
- Nicole Maillet ... as Linda Liddle
- Tori Mitchell ... as Luara Larose
- Dylan Smith ... as Josh Fisher