Little Boy Blue (film)
Encyclopedia
Little Boy Blue is a 1997
film directed by Antonio Tibaldi. The screenplay was by Michael Boston.
), a compliant wife, Kate (Nastassja Kinski
), and a 19-year-old son, Jimmy (Ryan Phillippe
) living outside their home (in the warehouse). Ray and Kate seem to be a normal couple running their bar, raising their two sons (around 3 and 5 year-old), but as they return home from work Ray turns into an abusive man. At his insistence Kate and Jimmy have an incestuous relationship in the car at a gunpoint. Ray goes even as far as to call Jimmy "Little boy blue" and to shout that he knows Jimmy liked it.
As it turns out during Jimmy's conversation with his girlfriend, Traci (Jenny Lewis
) he does not want to leave for college, even though he has full scholarship, because he cannot leave his brothers with his father. He explains that if he is not there Ray will take all his rage onto his little brothers, and that's one thing he cannot bare. Traci can understand that, but she cannot give up her own future and they eventually break up.
In the course of the events it becomes clear that Ray harbors a secret he cannot share with anyone. When a stranger appears in his bar and wants to befriend with Ray, the latter gets suspicious and in an attempt to knock down the man, he kills whoever appears to be a private detective. Jimmy starts getting suspicious about his father being a murderer and one night when Kate visits him in the warehouse he asks her to take the boys and leave Ray for good. While Kate is explaining that she cannot imagine what she can do in a place unknown to her and it frightens her, Ray enters the warehouse and upon seeing Kate in Jimmy's arms he makes a scandal and insists that Kate and he should tell Jimmy the truth. Kate manages to calm him down, but Jimmy is still too frustrated and the next morning he goes to Traci's place to talk to her and to say his final goodbye. She listens to his shocking story about Ray's abusive behavior and is startled when Jimmy says that he cannot leave his own sons with such a monster (the war had left Ray an impotent, he could not have kids). He leaves her house and goes back to his place. On his way he is stopped by Ray who takes advantage of the absence of Kate and the boys and tells Jimmy that he needs to know who he really is and why he keeps on calling Jimmy "Little boy blue". Figuring out where Ray is going Jimmy wants to stop him and a fight is started for which Ray is obviously ready and has been expecting it all along.
A few days after that Jimmy is nowhere to be seen (with everyone except Traci assuming that he has left the town) a mysterious woman (Shirley Knight
) appears in town looking for her private detective. As the police interrogate her the secret unfolds about Ray, Jimmy and herself. Years ago she had met Ray when she, her husband and their newborn baby where driving their family minivan and Ray needed a ride. While Ray had complemented them on their beautiful baby-boy and conducted a cheerful, friendly conversation, she was reading a book to her son (the same "little boy blue" book Ray had been keeping among his personal things and which Jimmy had taken from his elder son earlier to prevent Ray from punishing the boy for stealing), without any hint of what was coming. Hours after they had picked up Ray, she was tied to a tree, beaten severely, her partner killed and watching as Ray walked away with her son, got into the minivan and drove away. As she breaks into tears while telling the story, she does not forget to mention that it was 19 years ago and that nobody helped her then and did not find her son.
The police send her to her motel room and guard her so she will not do anything "stupid" before they get an order to interrogate Ray, but she slips away at night and goes directly to Ray's house. With the boys out at the lake and Kate out in the warehouse to find a hint where Jimmy might have gone, Ray wakes up to find her pointing a gun to his head. While he starts mumbling that she has got the wrong person, that he has not done anything bad to her, she shoots him several times and heads to the warehouse where Kate is hiding near Jimmy's bed. As the woman starts looking around the place, she finds the "Little boy blue" book lying on the table and breaks into tears. Right then she hears Kate crying, too, and without any remorse shoots her dead as well. The boys, who had been hiding under the house, run towards the warehouse, but are stopped by a police officer, who had come to find the woman. She comes out of the warehouse waving her gun at the officer and as she is about to shoot, she is shot dead by the policeman. The boys spend the night in the police car, and in the morning the elder brother remembers that their father had been recently working a lot around their minivan. The policeman sets everyone to work and as the minivan and the soil under it are removed they find doors in the ground. As the doors are opened, the viewer gets an inside look at unconscious Jimmy tied up to the wooden shelves like on a cross, all bloody and bruised. As the ambulance is cutting the ropes and placing him in the ambulance car, Jimmy has a vision of his future. There he is a policeman, married to Traci, playing with his sons and his newborn baby in the park. As he slowly wakes up from his dreams, he hears his sons calling his name and assuring them that everything's okay and that he is never going to leave them, Jimmy smiles. The final scene shows the ambulance car drive away as the credits start to roll.
The DVD release of the film contains no extra features, and is only available in a fullscreen format. There are no plans to re-release the film on DVD/Blu-ray in widescreen format.
1997 in film
-Events:* The original Star Wars trilogy's Special Editions are released.* Production begins on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.* Titanic becomes the first film to gross US$1,000,000,000 at the box office making it the highest grossing film in history until Avatar broke the record in 2010.*...
film directed by Antonio Tibaldi. The screenplay was by Michael Boston.
Plot
Living in rural Texas is the dysfunctional West family: an abusive, war veteran father, Ray (John SavageJohn Savage (actor)
John Savage is an American film actor, producer, production manager, and composer.- Acting career :...
), a compliant wife, Kate (Nastassja Kinski
Nastassja Kinski
Nastassja Kinski is a German-born American-based actress who has appeared in more than 60 films. Her starring roles include her Golden Globe Award-winning portrayal of the title character in Tess and her roles in two erotic films , as well as parts in Wim Wenders' films The Wrong Move; Paris,...
), and a 19-year-old son, Jimmy (Ryan Phillippe
Ryan Phillippe
Matthew Ryan Phillippe , better known as Ryan Phillippe, is an American actor. After appearing on the soap opera One Life to Live, he came to fame in the late 1990s starring in a string of films, including I Know What You Did Last Summer, Cruel Intentions, and 54...
) living outside their home (in the warehouse). Ray and Kate seem to be a normal couple running their bar, raising their two sons (around 3 and 5 year-old), but as they return home from work Ray turns into an abusive man. At his insistence Kate and Jimmy have an incestuous relationship in the car at a gunpoint. Ray goes even as far as to call Jimmy "Little boy blue" and to shout that he knows Jimmy liked it.
As it turns out during Jimmy's conversation with his girlfriend, Traci (Jenny Lewis
Jenny Lewis
Jennifer Diane Lewis , is an American singer-songwriter musician and actress. She was the primary vocalist of the indie rock band Rilo Kiley, and has released two solo albums. She currently performs as part of the duo Jenny & Johnny with boyfriend Johnathan Rice...
) he does not want to leave for college, even though he has full scholarship, because he cannot leave his brothers with his father. He explains that if he is not there Ray will take all his rage onto his little brothers, and that's one thing he cannot bare. Traci can understand that, but she cannot give up her own future and they eventually break up.
In the course of the events it becomes clear that Ray harbors a secret he cannot share with anyone. When a stranger appears in his bar and wants to befriend with Ray, the latter gets suspicious and in an attempt to knock down the man, he kills whoever appears to be a private detective. Jimmy starts getting suspicious about his father being a murderer and one night when Kate visits him in the warehouse he asks her to take the boys and leave Ray for good. While Kate is explaining that she cannot imagine what she can do in a place unknown to her and it frightens her, Ray enters the warehouse and upon seeing Kate in Jimmy's arms he makes a scandal and insists that Kate and he should tell Jimmy the truth. Kate manages to calm him down, but Jimmy is still too frustrated and the next morning he goes to Traci's place to talk to her and to say his final goodbye. She listens to his shocking story about Ray's abusive behavior and is startled when Jimmy says that he cannot leave his own sons with such a monster (the war had left Ray an impotent, he could not have kids). He leaves her house and goes back to his place. On his way he is stopped by Ray who takes advantage of the absence of Kate and the boys and tells Jimmy that he needs to know who he really is and why he keeps on calling Jimmy "Little boy blue". Figuring out where Ray is going Jimmy wants to stop him and a fight is started for which Ray is obviously ready and has been expecting it all along.
A few days after that Jimmy is nowhere to be seen (with everyone except Traci assuming that he has left the town) a mysterious woman (Shirley Knight
Shirley Knight
Shirley Enola Knight is an American stage, film and television actress. She has been nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, in 1960 for The Dark at the Top of the Stairs and in 1962 for Sweet Bird of Youth....
) appears in town looking for her private detective. As the police interrogate her the secret unfolds about Ray, Jimmy and herself. Years ago she had met Ray when she, her husband and their newborn baby where driving their family minivan and Ray needed a ride. While Ray had complemented them on their beautiful baby-boy and conducted a cheerful, friendly conversation, she was reading a book to her son (the same "little boy blue" book Ray had been keeping among his personal things and which Jimmy had taken from his elder son earlier to prevent Ray from punishing the boy for stealing), without any hint of what was coming. Hours after they had picked up Ray, she was tied to a tree, beaten severely, her partner killed and watching as Ray walked away with her son, got into the minivan and drove away. As she breaks into tears while telling the story, she does not forget to mention that it was 19 years ago and that nobody helped her then and did not find her son.
The police send her to her motel room and guard her so she will not do anything "stupid" before they get an order to interrogate Ray, but she slips away at night and goes directly to Ray's house. With the boys out at the lake and Kate out in the warehouse to find a hint where Jimmy might have gone, Ray wakes up to find her pointing a gun to his head. While he starts mumbling that she has got the wrong person, that he has not done anything bad to her, she shoots him several times and heads to the warehouse where Kate is hiding near Jimmy's bed. As the woman starts looking around the place, she finds the "Little boy blue" book lying on the table and breaks into tears. Right then she hears Kate crying, too, and without any remorse shoots her dead as well. The boys, who had been hiding under the house, run towards the warehouse, but are stopped by a police officer, who had come to find the woman. She comes out of the warehouse waving her gun at the officer and as she is about to shoot, she is shot dead by the policeman. The boys spend the night in the police car, and in the morning the elder brother remembers that their father had been recently working a lot around their minivan. The policeman sets everyone to work and as the minivan and the soil under it are removed they find doors in the ground. As the doors are opened, the viewer gets an inside look at unconscious Jimmy tied up to the wooden shelves like on a cross, all bloody and bruised. As the ambulance is cutting the ropes and placing him in the ambulance car, Jimmy has a vision of his future. There he is a policeman, married to Traci, playing with his sons and his newborn baby in the park. As he slowly wakes up from his dreams, he hears his sons calling his name and assuring them that everything's okay and that he is never going to leave them, Jimmy smiles. The final scene shows the ambulance car drive away as the credits start to roll.
Cast
- Jimmy West (son) – Ryan PhillippeRyan PhillippeMatthew Ryan Phillippe , better known as Ryan Phillippe, is an American actor. After appearing on the soap opera One Life to Live, he came to fame in the late 1990s starring in a string of films, including I Know What You Did Last Summer, Cruel Intentions, and 54...
- Ray West (father) – John SavageJohn Savage (actor)John Savage is an American film actor, producer, production manager, and composer.- Acting career :...
- Kate West (wife) – Nastassja KinskiNastassja KinskiNastassja Kinski is a German-born American-based actress who has appeared in more than 60 films. Her starring roles include her Golden Globe Award-winning portrayal of the title character in Tess and her roles in two erotic films , as well as parts in Wim Wenders' films The Wrong Move; Paris,...
- Mikey West (brother) – Adam BurkeAdam BurkeAdam Burke is a qualified PE teacher and ocean rower originally from Skerries, Dublin, Ireland. He currently holds two Guinness world records; firstly as a crew member on the Sara G, the fastest ocean rowing boat to have crossed the Atlantic Ocean east to west , and secondly, as a member of the...
- Mark West (brother) – Devon Michael
- Traci (Jimmy's girlfriend) – Jenny LewisJenny LewisJennifer Diane Lewis , is an American singer-songwriter musician and actress. She was the primary vocalist of the indie rock band Rilo Kiley, and has released two solo albums. She currently performs as part of the duo Jenny & Johnny with boyfriend Johnathan Rice...
- Doris (Mysterious woman, Jimmy's real mother) - Shirley KnightShirley KnightShirley Enola Knight is an American stage, film and television actress. She has been nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, in 1960 for The Dark at the Top of the Stairs and in 1962 for Sweet Bird of Youth....
DVD release
- Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. DVD
- Release date: July 11, 2006
- Run time: 99 minutes
The DVD release of the film contains no extra features, and is only available in a fullscreen format. There are no plans to re-release the film on DVD/Blu-ray in widescreen format.