Empire Falls
by Fred Schepisi
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DVD details
Author: Richard RussoActor: Ed Harris, Helen Hunt, Joanne Woodward, Paul Newman, Robin Wright-penn
Director: Fred Schepisi
Brand: Empire
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 180 minutes
Published: 2005-09-01
DVD Release Date: 2005-09-13
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Model: 92753
Studio: HBO Home Video
Product features:
- Adapted by author Richard Russo from his 2001 Pulitzer Prize winning novel, EMPIRE FALLS is a portrait of the gritty drama and human comedy that make up everyday life in blue-collar America. On a daily basis, goodhearted restaurant manager Miles Roby (Ed Harris "Glengarry Glen Ross") tries to keep his Empire Grill going, even as the wealthy and powerful Mrs. Whiting(Joanne Woodward "Philadelphia")
DVD Reviews of Empire Falls
DVD Review: Watch the Empire Fall
Summary: 5 Stars
"Empire Falls" is an amazing production, nominated for an Emmy for best mini-series or TV movie. The HBO mini-series is in two parts with four "chapters" on each DVD. Australian director Fred Schepisi does an excellent job with the pacing in each segment. He previously directed "Roxanne" (1987) with Steve Martin and "The Russia House" (1990) with Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer. He was nominated for a Best Director Emmy for this series.
This show has an amazing all-star cast. The lead is Ed Harris as Miles Robey. Poor Ed! He's been nominated for four Oscars, three times in the supporting category ["Apollo 13" (1995), "The Truman Show," (1998), "The Hours" (2002)], and once for Best Actor for "Pollock" (2000). He finally gets nominated for a Best Actor Emmy and doesn't win. But his performance is intense as the responsible son who runs the Empire Grill.
The only Emmy the show did win was for Paul Newman who played the obstreperous ex-con daddy Max who bugs out for Florida on money stolen from the church cashbox. Newman's career has included a long list of Oscar nominations for Best Actor ["Cat On a Hot Tin Roof" (1958), "The Hustler" (1961), "Hud" (1963), "Cool Hand Luke" (1967), "Absence of Malice" (1981), "The Verdict" (1982) & "Nobody's Fool" (1994)] and as Best Supporting Actor for "The Road to Perdition" (2002). He'll have this Emmy to join his Oscar for 1986's "The Color of Money." He does an amazing job, both comic and dramatic! My favorite moment in the series is when we realize that Max probably knows that David is not his biological son, but claims him without reservation.
As the wealthy town matron Francine Whiting, Joanne Woodward also has a long list of credits. She won the Oscar for "The Three Faces of Eve" in 1957 as well as for nominations for "Rachel, Rachel" (1968), "Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams" (1973), and "Mr. & Mrs. Bridge" (1990). She was nominated here for the Best Supporting Actress Emmy as the icy-veined wheeler dealer who manipulates the town's purse strings and the lives of many of its residents. Her cat in the series deserves a special mention who should win a "Meanest Cat" award!
Helen Hunt who won her Best Actress Oscar for "As Good As It Gets" in 1997 plays Ed Robey's wife Janine, an insecure woman who needs love. Danielle Panabaker from "Sky High" plays Tick their daughter. It's one of the scariest sequences when a preoccupied Janine tries to drive away before Tick is all the way out of the car and drags her. Philip Seymour Hoffman who was great as the runaway preacher in "Cold Mountain" was nominated for Best Supporting Actor Emmy as C.B. Whiting, the man who flees to Mexico and shoots himself in the head rather than live with Francine.
There are numerous other fine supporting performances. Perhaps the most chilling is Lou Taylor Pucci who plays loner John Voss. Pucci played another loaner recently in "Thumbsucker" with Keeanu Reeves and serves as the butt of local kids' jokes until pushed over the edge. The Columbine-type ending seems to come from the blue, but Taylor is marvelous with few words.
Aiden Quinn from "Cavedweller" plays Miles' brother David. Robin Wright Penn plays their mother Grace in the series' many flashbacks. William Fichtner from "Black Hawk Down" & "The Perfect Storm" plays small-town cop Jimmy Minty who has a chip on his shoulder where Miles is concerned. His son Zack is played by Trevor Morgan who also played the bully in "The Sixth Sense" and was in "The Patriot." He does a great job of pushing John Voss over the edge. Newcomer Delia Robertson plays Tick's friend Candace who gets shot in the art room. Kate Burton who is doing a super job in her re-occurring role in TV's "Gray's Anatomy" as Dr. Gray, the alzheimer mother patient of the main character, and who will soon be in "Stay" with Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts & Ryan Gosling, is excellent as the handicapped Cindy Whiting who has a crush on Miles. Theresa Russell as Charlene, the stoned waitress, does a great job.
The cast is excellent in this mini-series. The direction is excellent. The metaphor of the Maine town "Empire Falls" where we watch the Whiting empire also fall is excellent writing and earned a deserved Emmy nomination for Richard Russo. This 2-disc series is a treat & thrill. Enjoy!
Description of Empire Falls
TRAPPED WITHIN THE CONFINES OF EMPIRE DALLS MAINE SINCE THE DEATH OF HIS MOTHER, MILES HAS BEEN UNABLE TO SEVER HIS MANYTIES TO HIS DILAPIDATED HOMETOWN, INCLUDING HIS REFORMEDBROTHER, HIS LAY-ABOUT FATHER, HIS SOON-TO-BE-EX-WIFE, & THEIRINTELLIGENT, IF AWKWARD DAUGHTER, TICK.Bestsellers in DVD
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