I Am the Cheese (film)
Encyclopedia
I Am the Cheese is a 1983 American film adaptation
of Robert Cormier
's 1977 novel of the same name
, about a young man's journey to find the truth behind his family.
) seeks to unearth the many secrets locked in his subconscious. Adam's journey through his mind is paralleled with a bike trip to Rutterburg, Vermont, with a package for his father. As he travels through several small towns, he starts to remember past events from his life.
Adam's trip is prompted by a call from his girlfriend, Amy (Cynthia Nixon
), who says her father met a reporter from Adam's alleged hometown of Rawlings, Pennsylvania, and the reporter had never heard of anyone named Farmer living there. Suspicious, Adam begins spying on his parents and finds two birth certificates with his name on them, but with different birthdates - Feb. 14 (Valentine's Day) and July 14 (Bastille Day). Adam confronts his father, who admits some shocking truths.
Adam's real name is Paul Delmonte and the family was forced to relocate in a Witness Protection
-type program after his father testified in state and federal trials against corrupt government officials. In reality, Adam is not biking to Vermont; he is riding in circles around the psychiatric facility where he has been held for the past three years, and the people he meets along the way are patients and workers at the facility. His "journey" is a quest to discover the whereabouts of his parents, who mysteriously disappeared (in truth, they were "terminated" by the adversaries they sought to elude). The memories Adam recounts are documented in "psychiatric sessions," which are, in fact, interviews to determine whether or not he knows more about his father's involvement with the government than he's telling. Adam's final interview ends with two possible outcomes, neither of which bode well for the boy: "Terminating" him or continuing to questioning him until he dies.
Film adaptation
Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
of Robert Cormier
Robert Cormier
Robert Edmund Cormier was an American author, columnist and reporter, known for his deeply pessimistic, downbeat literature. His most popular works include I Am the Cheese, After the First Death, We All Fall Down and The Chocolate War, all of which have won awards. The Chocolate War was challenged...
's 1977 novel of the same name
I Am the Cheese
I Am the Cheese is a novel written by American author Robert Cormier and first published in 1977. It is categorized as young adult literature.- Plot summary :...
, about a young man's journey to find the truth behind his family.
Plot
In this adaptation of Robert Cormier's novel, 14-year-old Adam Farmer (Robert MacNaughtonRobert MacNaughton
Robert MacNaughton is an American actor, best known for his role as Elliott's brother Michael in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, for which he won a 1983 Young Artist Award as Best Young Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture...
) seeks to unearth the many secrets locked in his subconscious. Adam's journey through his mind is paralleled with a bike trip to Rutterburg, Vermont, with a package for his father. As he travels through several small towns, he starts to remember past events from his life.
Adam's trip is prompted by a call from his girlfriend, Amy (Cynthia Nixon
Cynthia Nixon
Cynthia Ellen Nixon is an American actress, known for her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series Sex and the City . She has received two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and a Grammy Award....
), who says her father met a reporter from Adam's alleged hometown of Rawlings, Pennsylvania, and the reporter had never heard of anyone named Farmer living there. Suspicious, Adam begins spying on his parents and finds two birth certificates with his name on them, but with different birthdates - Feb. 14 (Valentine's Day) and July 14 (Bastille Day). Adam confronts his father, who admits some shocking truths.
Adam's real name is Paul Delmonte and the family was forced to relocate in a Witness Protection
Witness protection
Witness protection is protection of a threatened witness or any person involved in the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during and after a trial, usually by police...
-type program after his father testified in state and federal trials against corrupt government officials. In reality, Adam is not biking to Vermont; he is riding in circles around the psychiatric facility where he has been held for the past three years, and the people he meets along the way are patients and workers at the facility. His "journey" is a quest to discover the whereabouts of his parents, who mysteriously disappeared (in truth, they were "terminated" by the adversaries they sought to elude). The memories Adam recounts are documented in "psychiatric sessions," which are, in fact, interviews to determine whether or not he knows more about his father's involvement with the government than he's telling. Adam's final interview ends with two possible outcomes, neither of which bode well for the boy: "Terminating" him or continuing to questioning him until he dies.
Cast
- Robert MacNaughtonRobert MacNaughtonRobert MacNaughton is an American actor, best known for his role as Elliott's brother Michael in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, for which he won a 1983 Young Artist Award as Best Young Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture...
as Paul Delmonte / Adam Farmer - Cynthia NixonCynthia NixonCynthia Ellen Nixon is an American actress, known for her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series Sex and the City . She has received two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and a Grammy Award....
as Amy Hertz - Robert WagnerRobert WagnerRobert John Wagner is an American actor of stage, screen, and television.A veteran of many films in the 1950s and 1960s, Wagner gained prominence in three American television series that spanned three decades: It Takes a Thief , Switch , and Hart to Hart...
as Dr. Brint - Don MurrayDon MurrayDon Murray may refer to:*Don Murray , jazz musician*Don Murray *Don Murray , Pulitzer Prize winning writer for the Boston Herald*Don Murray , of the group The Turtles...
as David Farmer - Hope LangeHope LangeHope Elise Ross Lange was an American stage, film, and television actress.- Early life :Lange was born into a theatrical family in Redding, Connecticut...
as Betty Farmer - Robert CormierRobert CormierRobert Edmund Cormier was an American author, columnist and reporter, known for his deeply pessimistic, downbeat literature. His most popular works include I Am the Cheese, After the First Death, We All Fall Down and The Chocolate War, all of which have won awards. The Chocolate War was challenged...
as Mr. Hertz
External links
- Maslin, Janet (11 November 1983). Movie Review: I Am the Cheese. New York Times.
- Null, Christopher (2005). I Am the Cheese Movie Review. FilmCritic.com.