Wicker Park (film)
Encyclopedia
Wicker Park is a 2004 American psychological drama/romantic mystery film directed by Paul McGuigan
and starring Josh Hartnett
. The film is a remake
of the 1996 French
movie L'Appartement
. It was nominated for the Grand Prix at the Montreal Film Festival, the city in which the movie was partially filmed.
The title refers to the Wicker Park
neighborhood on Chicago
's near northwest side.
), a young advertising executive, returns to Chicago with his fiancé, Rebecca (Jessica Paré
), after spending the last two years in New York. While in Bellucci's on a business meeting he thinks he spots Lisa (Diane Kruger
), a woman with whom he had fallen deeply in love with and had then vanished without a trace. Matt puts his life and his business trip to China on hold and is caught in an obsessive search for her. With a little help from his friend Luke (Matthew Lillard
), Matt tries to track Lisa down. His detective work leads him to a hotel room, but instead of Lisa, he finds her old compact. He is directed to her apartment and, with a key left by Daniel, (Christopher Cousins), he enters. He realizes someone is in the room and presumes her to be Lisa; the woman he meets tells him that she is Lisa (Rose Byrne
). She asks him to stay the night because she is afraid of a man who has been stalking her for several days; Matt agrees, and the two end up sleeping together. In the morning she leaves for work, telling him she's a nurse. On her way, we witness a flashback which reveals that she's actually Alex, Lisa's neighbor and friend. We learn that Alex saw Matt and fell in love with him, and that the day she came to speak with him was the day he fell in love with Lisa. In the present, Alex has been dating Matt's friend Luke and working as a theater artist (not a nurse), and when she finds out about Matt's return to town, she again plans to fulfill her dream and tries to stop him from finding Lisa. Meanwhile, Matt and Lisa cross paths a few time, never noticing one another. Matt begins to suspect something and eventually uncovers Alex's plan after he buys her a pair of shoes, the same pair of shoes Lisa broke at the restaurant and which she bought from Matt two years earlier, and discovers that they're too big for her. He knows something is up because Lisa's same size broken shoes are at that apartment. He follows Alex, and reaches the restaurant where she's having lunch with Luke. Matt finally sees through her; Alex admits that Lisa left for Europe, leaving a letter for Matt telling him that she loved him. Alex didn't deliver the letter and instead deleted all the messages Lisa left for Matt (using the key Lisa gave her to his apartment so she could drop the letter off); in the meantime, she told Lisa that she'd seen Matt with another woman. Luke tells Matt that Lisa called and said to ask Matt to meet her at 3 and that he'll know where. Alex tells him Lisa is leaving for London. Matt heads to Wicker Park but it's too late. He races to the airport, where he meets Rebecca (his girlfriend), there to pick him up from the business trip he never went on. He admits to her that he loves someone else and she leaves. Elsewhere, Lisa is crouched on the floor talking to Alex on the phone, as Alex confesses what she has done. Matt spots Lisa as she hangs up and begins to cry. He goes over, crouches behind her and starts crying. She turns around and they embrace.
gives the film a score of 23% based on reviews from 118 critics, with an average rating of 4.3 out of 10.
Roger Ebert
and Richard Roeper
gave the film "two thumbs up" on Ebert & Roeper
.
Paul McGuigan (filmmaker)
Paul McGuigan is a film director, best known for directing films such as Lucky Number Slevin and Push. He has also directed episodes of Sherlock and Monroe.-Filmography:-Awards:...
and starring Josh Hartnett
Josh Hartnett
Joshua Daniel "Josh" Hartnett is an American actor and aspiring producer. He first came to audiences' attention in 1997 as "Michael Fitzgerald" in the television series Cracker. He made his feature film debut in 1998, co-starring with Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later for Miramax...
. The film is a remake
Remake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
of the 1996 French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
movie L'Appartement
L'Appartement
L'Appartement is a 1996 French film directed by Gilles Mimouni and starring Vincent Cassel, Monica Bellucci and Romane Bohringer.-Plot:Max is a former bohemian and an amateur writer who gets a job in New York and leaves his girlfriend Lisa, who he was madly in love with, in mysterious circumstances...
. It was nominated for the Grand Prix at the Montreal Film Festival, the city in which the movie was partially filmed.
The title refers to the Wicker Park
Wicker Park, Chicago
Wicker Park is a Chicago neighborhood northwest of the Loop, south of Bucktown and west of Pulaski Park within West Town. Charles and Joel Wicker purchased of land along Milwaukee Avenue in 1870 and laid out a subdivision with a mix of lot sizes surrounding a park...
neighborhood on Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
's near northwest side.
Plot
Matt Simon (Josh HartnettJosh Hartnett
Joshua Daniel "Josh" Hartnett is an American actor and aspiring producer. He first came to audiences' attention in 1997 as "Michael Fitzgerald" in the television series Cracker. He made his feature film debut in 1998, co-starring with Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later for Miramax...
), a young advertising executive, returns to Chicago with his fiancé, Rebecca (Jessica Paré
Jessica Paré
Jessica Paré is a Canadian film and television actress. She has appeared in the films Stardom , Lost and Delirious , Wicker Park , Hot Tub Time Machine , and co-starred in the vampire horror-comedy Suck...
), after spending the last two years in New York. While in Bellucci's on a business meeting he thinks he spots Lisa (Diane Kruger
Diane Kruger
Diane Kruger is a German actress and former fashion model. She is known for roles such as Helen in Troy, Dr. Abigail Chase in National Treasure and its sequel, Bridget von Hammersmark in Inglourious Basterds, Anna in Mr...
), a woman with whom he had fallen deeply in love with and had then vanished without a trace. Matt puts his life and his business trip to China on hold and is caught in an obsessive search for her. With a little help from his friend Luke (Matthew Lillard
Matthew Lillard
Matthew Lyn Lillard is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his roles as Stu Macher in Scream, Stevo in SLC Punk , and Shaggy Rogers in the Scooby-Doo film series and the Animated reboot series.-Early life:Lillard was born in Lansing, Michigan, and grew up in Tustin, California...
), Matt tries to track Lisa down. His detective work leads him to a hotel room, but instead of Lisa, he finds her old compact. He is directed to her apartment and, with a key left by Daniel, (Christopher Cousins), he enters. He realizes someone is in the room and presumes her to be Lisa; the woman he meets tells him that she is Lisa (Rose Byrne
Rose Byrne
Mary Rose Byrne is an Australian actress.Byrne made her screen debut in 1994 with a small role in the film Dallas Doll...
). She asks him to stay the night because she is afraid of a man who has been stalking her for several days; Matt agrees, and the two end up sleeping together. In the morning she leaves for work, telling him she's a nurse. On her way, we witness a flashback which reveals that she's actually Alex, Lisa's neighbor and friend. We learn that Alex saw Matt and fell in love with him, and that the day she came to speak with him was the day he fell in love with Lisa. In the present, Alex has been dating Matt's friend Luke and working as a theater artist (not a nurse), and when she finds out about Matt's return to town, she again plans to fulfill her dream and tries to stop him from finding Lisa. Meanwhile, Matt and Lisa cross paths a few time, never noticing one another. Matt begins to suspect something and eventually uncovers Alex's plan after he buys her a pair of shoes, the same pair of shoes Lisa broke at the restaurant and which she bought from Matt two years earlier, and discovers that they're too big for her. He knows something is up because Lisa's same size broken shoes are at that apartment. He follows Alex, and reaches the restaurant where she's having lunch with Luke. Matt finally sees through her; Alex admits that Lisa left for Europe, leaving a letter for Matt telling him that she loved him. Alex didn't deliver the letter and instead deleted all the messages Lisa left for Matt (using the key Lisa gave her to his apartment so she could drop the letter off); in the meantime, she told Lisa that she'd seen Matt with another woman. Luke tells Matt that Lisa called and said to ask Matt to meet her at 3 and that he'll know where. Alex tells him Lisa is leaving for London. Matt heads to Wicker Park but it's too late. He races to the airport, where he meets Rebecca (his girlfriend), there to pick him up from the business trip he never went on. He admits to her that he loves someone else and she leaves. Elsewhere, Lisa is crouched on the floor talking to Alex on the phone, as Alex confesses what she has done. Matt spots Lisa as she hangs up and begins to cry. He goes over, crouches behind her and starts crying. She turns around and they embrace.
Cast
- Josh HartnettJosh HartnettJoshua Daniel "Josh" Hartnett is an American actor and aspiring producer. He first came to audiences' attention in 1997 as "Michael Fitzgerald" in the television series Cracker. He made his feature film debut in 1998, co-starring with Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later for Miramax...
as Matt Simon - Matthew LillardMatthew LillardMatthew Lyn Lillard is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his roles as Stu Macher in Scream, Stevo in SLC Punk , and Shaggy Rogers in the Scooby-Doo film series and the Animated reboot series.-Early life:Lillard was born in Lansing, Michigan, and grew up in Tustin, California...
as Luke - Diane KrugerDiane KrugerDiane Kruger is a German actress and former fashion model. She is known for roles such as Helen in Troy, Dr. Abigail Chase in National Treasure and its sequel, Bridget von Hammersmark in Inglourious Basterds, Anna in Mr...
as Lisa - Rose ByrneRose ByrneMary Rose Byrne is an Australian actress.Byrne made her screen debut in 1994 with a small role in the film Dallas Doll...
as Alex - Jessica ParéJessica ParéJessica Paré is a Canadian film and television actress. She has appeared in the films Stardom , Lost and Delirious , Wicker Park , Hot Tub Time Machine , and co-starred in the vampire horror-comedy Suck...
as Rebecca - Christopher Cousins as Daniel Ristelli
- Amy Sobol as Ellie
- Ted Whittall as Walter
Critical response
The film received negative reviews from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
gives the film a score of 23% based on reviews from 118 critics, with an average rating of 4.3 out of 10.
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...
and Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Richard E. Roeper is an American columnist and film critic for The Chicago Sun-Times and now a co-host on The Roe Conn Show on WLS-AM...
gave the film "two thumbs up" on Ebert & Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
At the Movies was a movie review television program produced by Disney-ABC Domestic Television in which two film critics shared their opinions of newly released films. The program aired under various names...
.