Hurlyburly (1998)

Director:

Anthony Drazan

Writers (WGA):

David Rabe (play)
David Rabe (screenplay)

Release Date:

25 December 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Hollywood movers and shakers dissect their own personal lives when everything seems to clash together.

Plot Keywords:

Hollywood | Baby | Suicide | Hollywood California | Brunette

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Sean Penn	...	Eddie
Kevin Spacey	...	Mickey
Robin Wright Penn	...	Darlene
Chazz Palminteri	...	Phil
Garry Shandling	...	Artie
Anna Paquin	...	Donna
Meg Ryan	...	Bonnie
Gianna Ranaudo	...	Susie (as Gianna Renaudo)
David Fabrizio	...	Store Manager
Kenny Vance	...	Singer
Michaline Babich	...	Receptionist
Elaine Corral Kendall	...	TV Anchor (as Elaine Corral)
Sharon Tay	...	TV Reporter
Frank Somerville	...	TV Anchor
Bob Jimenez	...	Newscaster

Also Known As:

À Beira do Caos (Brazil) [pt]
Ano kato (Greece) [el]
Bugie, baci, bambole & bastardi (Italy) [it]
Caos mental (Mexico) (TV title) [es]
Casting Director (Japan: English title) [en]
Descontrol (Spain) [es]
Eddien maailma (Finland) [fi]
Hollywood Sunrise (France) [fr]
Senli benli (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]

MPAA:

Rated R for constant drug use, pervasive strong language and sexual material.

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Iceland:16 | USA:R (certificate #36014) | Australia:MA | France:U | Hong Kong:III | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | UK:18 | Germany:16 | Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

FilmColony

Trivia:

The cast of the Chicago stage premiere in 1984: William Hurt as Eddie; Christopher Walken as Mickey; Sigourney Weaver as Darlene; Harvey Keitel as Phil; Jerry Stiller as Artie; Cynthia Nixon as Donna; Judith Ivey as Bonnie. On Broadway, Ron Silver replaced Christopher Walken.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Eddie lies under the glass table while Mickey and Artie talk to him, the location (and amount) of cocaine changes between shots.

Quotes:

Mickey: You don't know what you're saying. You don't.
Eddie: I do.
Mickey: No. I know you think you know what you're saying, but you're not saying it.
Eddie: No, I know what I'm saying. I don't know what I mean, but I know what I'm saying. Is that what you mean?
Mickey: Yeah.
Eddie: Right. But it's not like anybody knows what anything means, right? It's not like anybody knows that. So at least I know I don't know what I mean, which is better than most people. They probably think they know what they mean, not just what they think they mean.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Game K N B: (2007-03-03)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

There Goes the Neighborhood

Don't take it literally

This was an incredibly interesting movie. Besides an exceptional cast, the dialogue is sharp and witty and there are some very intriguing issues raised. However, it seems that these positive points are lost on most viewers. My guess is it's because you cannot remain a passive viewer or an idiot and expect to find any redeeming qualities in this movie. On the surface, Hurlyburly is populated by extremely unsympathetic characters that become more debased as the movie progresses. Eddie (Penn) provides the central thrust of the movie. Eddie is also almost continually snorting coke that fuels extended often seemingly disjointed dialogue. But most of the meaning is lost and the movie can become a bit tedious if you take this dialogue literally. The drugs and depravity serve to create a plausible environment for the expression of a much greater range of thoughts and emotions. It would be hard to swallow Eddie's neurosis and paranoia if he wasn't high all the time. And, Eddie's drug addled observations and frustrations are the glue of the movie. The drugs provide the writer with a device to verbalise many thoughts that normally would not be uttered aloud. More traditionally this type of problem might be solved by using a narrator. Eddie's problems and fears are not all that different from most people ... they are just extremely amplified.