Cemetery Junction (film)
Encyclopedia
Cemetery Junction is a coming-of-age
comedy-drama
film written and directed by Ricky Gervais
and Stephen Merchant
. The film was released in the United Kingdom on 14 April 2010.
, three friends spend their days joking, drinking, fighting and chasing girls. Freddie (Christian Cooke
) wants to leave their working-class world but cool, charismatic Bruce (Tom Hughes
) and lovable loser Snork (Jack Doolan
) are happy with life the way it is. When Freddie gets a new job as a door-to-door salesman and bumps into his old school sweetheart Julie (Felicity Jones
), the gang are forced to make choices that will change their lives forever.
Freddie gets a job working for Julie's dad (Ralph Fiennes
) selling life insurance.
. During the writing of the film, the Prudential allowed Gervais and Merchant to use their archives for research. However, after reading the finished script, the company decided it was not pleased with how the company was to be portrayed in the film and decided not to allow their name to be used. The new title comes from the name of the Cemetery Junction in the New Town district of the town of Reading
where the film takes place.
Principal photography began on 15 June 2009, Filming locations included Taylors Bell Foundry and the Great Central Railway
using Loughborough Central railway station
. However, the intermittent scenes which show the camera panning around a countryside landscape were filmed in Stroud, Gloucestershire. An extended trailer was broadcast on Channel 4
on 31 January 2010.
Cemetery Junction is set in 1973, in Reading
, where Gervais grew up. According to him, it is a "coming of age" story that is a cross between The Office
and Mad Men
.
Cemetery Junction is an actual road junction in Reading, where Wokingham Road divides from the London Road.
song "Thunder Road
". This sentiment was repeated by Gervais on 12 April 2010 when he appeared on The Graham Norton Show
.
Gervais has stated on Radio 5 Live that British New Wave films such as Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
were an influence on the film.
magazine giving it four out of five stars and calling it 'the most confident British debut since Shallow Grave
. Time Out magazine gave the film three stars and said it was 'refreshing to see a mainstream British film with the ambition to strut its stuff on studio terms'. Adam Smith of the Radio Times
commented that 'it's deftly written, unobtrusively directed and nicely acted' and also gave it three stars. OK!
appreciated the 'sweet characters and good actors' and also liked 'the vintage look of the film' and the 'great supporting cast'. The Daily Mirror gave the film a very positive review awarding it four stars and saying; 'The film is no simple-minded laugh-fest, but rather an astute, amusing and engaging coming-of-age tale with a killer soundtrack of 1970s classics.'. On the other hand, Uncut
called it a 'passable, mildly diverting, coming-of-age Brit-flick'. Andrew Barker of Variety
wrote, "It's a strange hybrid of a film, boasting loudmouth boorishness instead of wit, and fortune-cookie schmaltz instead of heart."
Columbia Pictures
, the US-based studio which released the film, has decided not to theatrically release the film in the company's home market. Accordingly, the film was released in the US and Canada by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
on August 17, 2010.
Coming-of-age film
Coming-of-age film is a film genre which focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood. Personal growth and change is an important characteristic of this genre, which relies on dialogue and emotional responses, rather than action. The main character is...
comedy-drama
Comedy-drama
Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...
film written and directed by Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais
Ricky Dene Gervais is an English comedian, actor, director, radio presenter, producer, musician, and writer.Gervais achieved mainstream fame with his television series The Office and the subsequent series Extras, both of which he co-wrote and co-directed with friend and frequent collaborator...
and Stephen Merchant
Stephen Merchant
Stephen James Merchant is an English writer, director, radio presenter, comedian, and actor. He is best known for his collaborations with Ricky Gervais, as the co-writer and co-director of the popular British sitcom The Office, as the co-writer, co-director and a co-star of Extras, and as the...
. The film was released in the United Kingdom on 14 April 2010.
Plot
In 1970s BritainUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, three friends spend their days joking, drinking, fighting and chasing girls. Freddie (Christian Cooke
Christian Cooke
Christian Louis Cooke is an English actor, known for playing Luke Kirkwall in Where the Heart Is, Luke Rutherford in Demons, Dorian Gaudain in Trinity, Freddie in Cemetery Junction and Len Matthews in the Channel 4 mini series The Promise.-Background:Cooke was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, where...
) wants to leave their working-class world but cool, charismatic Bruce (Tom Hughes
Tom Hughes (actor)
Tom Hughes is an English actor, best known for his roles as Jonty Millingden in ITV drama Trinity, Chaz Jankel in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, Bruce Pearson in Cemetery Junction, and Nick Slade in BBC legal drama Silk....
) and lovable loser Snork (Jack Doolan
Jack Doolan (actor)
Jack Doolan is an English actor. He is best known for portraying Tyler Boyce in the BBC sitcom The Green Green Grass alongside John Challis and Sue Holderness...
) are happy with life the way it is. When Freddie gets a new job as a door-to-door salesman and bumps into his old school sweetheart Julie (Felicity Jones
Felicity Jones
Felicity Jones is an English actress from Birmingham. She is best known to television audiences for her role as the school bully Ethel Hallow in the first series of The Worst Witch and its sequel Weirdsister College...
), the gang are forced to make choices that will change their lives forever.
Freddie gets a job working for Julie's dad (Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes is an English actor and film director. He has appeared in such films as The English Patient, In Bruges, The Constant Gardener, Strange Days, The Duchess and Schindler's List....
) selling life insurance.
Cast
- Christian CookeChristian CookeChristian Louis Cooke is an English actor, known for playing Luke Kirkwall in Where the Heart Is, Luke Rutherford in Demons, Dorian Gaudain in Trinity, Freddie in Cemetery Junction and Len Matthews in the Channel 4 mini series The Promise.-Background:Cooke was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, where...
as Freddie Taylor - Felicity JonesFelicity JonesFelicity Jones is an English actress from Birmingham. She is best known to television audiences for her role as the school bully Ethel Hallow in the first series of The Worst Witch and its sequel Weirdsister College...
as Julie - Tom HughesTom Hughes (actor)Tom Hughes is an English actor, best known for his roles as Jonty Millingden in ITV drama Trinity, Chaz Jankel in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, Bruce Pearson in Cemetery Junction, and Nick Slade in BBC legal drama Silk....
as Bruce Pearson - Jack DoolanJack Doolan (actor)Jack Doolan is an English actor. He is best known for portraying Tyler Boyce in the BBC sitcom The Green Green Grass alongside John Challis and Sue Holderness...
as Paul/Snork - Ricky GervaisRicky GervaisRicky Dene Gervais is an English comedian, actor, director, radio presenter, producer, musician, and writer.Gervais achieved mainstream fame with his television series The Office and the subsequent series Extras, both of which he co-wrote and co-directed with friend and frequent collaborator...
as Len Taylor - Julia DavisJulia DavisJulia Davis is an English comedy writer and performer, best known for writing and starring in the BBC Three comedy Nighty Night.-Background:...
as Mrs. Taylor - Albert WellingAlbert WellingAlbert Welling is a British actor. He has appeared in a number of television series including Cribb, Z Cars, The Sweeney, Rumpole of the Bailey, The Bretts, Inspector Morse and A Touch of Frost. His film credits include Cemetery Junction and Wilde...
as Mr. Waring - Katy MurphyKaty MurphyKaty Murphy is a Scottish actress who has appeared in Mike and Angelo, Spatz, B&B, The Steamie, The River, Takin' Over the Asylum, Casualty and perhaps most memorably Tutti Frutti. She played the part of Janet in the Radio 4 series Adventures of a Black Bag, and her most recent performance was in...
as Mrs. Waring - Ralph FiennesRalph FiennesRalph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes is an English actor and film director. He has appeared in such films as The English Patient, In Bruges, The Constant Gardener, Strange Days, The Duchess and Schindler's List....
as Mr. Kendrick - Emily WatsonEmily WatsonEmily Watson is an English actress. She gave an acclaimed debut film performance in Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves.- Early life :...
as Mrs. Kendrick - Burn GormanBurn GormanBurn Hugh Gorman is an American-born English actor and musician. Burn is best known for his roles as Owen Harper in Torchwood and as William Guppy in Bleak House.-Personal life:...
as Renwick - Matthew GoodeMatthew GoodeMatthew William Goode is an English actor. His notable films have included Match Point, Watchmen, Brideshead Revisited, Leap Year, Imagine Me and You and A Single Man.-Early life:...
as Mike Ramsay - Matthew HolnessMatthew HolnessMatthew Holness is an English comedian and actor from Whitstable in Kent. He attended Chaucer Technology School in Canterbury and read English at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he was vice-president of the Cambridge Footlights...
as Bandleader - Kirk Yeomans as Voice of Bandleader
- Steve Speirs as Sgt. Wyn Davies
- Anne ReidAnne ReidAnne Reid, MBE is a BAFTA Award-nominated English film and television actress from Newcastle upon Tyne, best known for her roles as Valerie Tatlock in Coronation Street and Jean in dinnerladies....
as Freddie's Gran - Michael JibsonMichael JibsonMichael Jibson is an English actor born in 1980, Hull, East Yorkshire, England. He is married to the stage actress Caroline Sheen. His father, Tim Jibson, was the programme director of KCFM in Hull. His brother is the actor Paul Jibson...
as Cliff - Francis MageeFrancis MageeFrancis Magee is an Irish actor best known for his portrayal of Liam Tyler in the long-running British soap opera EastEnders from 1993 to 1995. He has also appeared in numerous television shows and feature films, including Sahara , Layer Cake and The Calling...
as Mr. Pearson - Imdad Miah as Salesman #1
- David Earl as Brian the Cafe owner
- Bryony Hannah as Louise the Waitress
- Simone Richards as a Cafe worker
- Stephen MerchantStephen MerchantStephen James Merchant is an English writer, director, radio presenter, comedian, and actor. He is best known for his collaborations with Ricky Gervais, as the co-writer and co-director of the popular British sitcom The Office, as the co-writer, co-director and a co-star of Extras, and as the...
as Dougie
Production
The film was originally titled The Man from the Pru, a colloquial term (and later an advertising slogan) for agents of the Prudential insurance companyPrudential plc
Prudential plc is a multinational financial services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom.Prudential's largest division is Prudential Corporation Asia, which has over 15 million customers across 13 Asian markets and is a top-three provider of life insurance in mainland China, Hong...
. During the writing of the film, the Prudential allowed Gervais and Merchant to use their archives for research. However, after reading the finished script, the company decided it was not pleased with how the company was to be portrayed in the film and decided not to allow their name to be used. The new title comes from the name of the Cemetery Junction in the New Town district of the town of Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
where the film takes place.
Principal photography began on 15 June 2009, Filming locations included Taylors Bell Foundry and the Great Central Railway
Great Central Railway (preserved)
The Great Central Railway is a heritage railway split into two adjacent sections, one in Leicestershire and the other Nottinghamshire.The Leicestershire section is currently Britain's only double track mainline heritage railway, with of working double track, period signalling, locomotives and...
using Loughborough Central railway station
Loughborough Central railway station
Loughborough Central Station is a railway station on the Great Central Railway and the Great Central Railway serving Loughborough....
. However, the intermittent scenes which show the camera panning around a countryside landscape were filmed in Stroud, Gloucestershire. An extended trailer was broadcast on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
on 31 January 2010.
Cemetery Junction is set in 1973, in Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
, where Gervais grew up. According to him, it is a "coming of age" story that is a cross between The Office
The Office (UK TV series)
The Office is a British sitcom television series that was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 9 July 2001. Created, written, and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the programme is about the day-to-day lives of office employees in the Slough branch of the fictitious...
and Mad Men
Mad Men
Mad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The series premiered on Sunday evenings on the American cable network AMC and are produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and completed its fourth season on October 17, 2010. Each...
.
Cemetery Junction is an actual road junction in Reading, where Wokingham Road divides from the London Road.
Writing
In an interview with BBC Radio 2's Danny Wallace on 9 January 2010, Merchant stated the script was loosely based upon the lyrics of the Bruce SpringsteenBruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
song "Thunder Road
Thunder Road (song)
"Thunder Road" is a song written and performed by Bruce Springsteen, and the opening track on his 1975 breakthrough album Born to Run. It is ranked as one of Springsteen's greatest songs, and often appears on lists of the top rock songs of all time.Rolling Stone magazine placed it as #86 on its...
". This sentiment was repeated by Gervais on 12 April 2010 when he appeared on The Graham Norton Show
The Graham Norton Show
The Graham Norton Show is a British comedy chat show that is broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom. It was originally shown on BBC Two from February 2007 to May 2009 until it moved to BBC One from October 2009...
.
Gervais has stated on Radio 5 Live that British New Wave films such as Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning is the first novel by British author Alan Sillitoe and won the Author's Club First Novel Award.It was adapted by Sillitoe into a 1960 film starring Albert Finney, directed by Karel Reisz, and in 1964 was adapted by David Brett as a play for the Nottingham...
were an influence on the film.
Reception
Reviews of the film have been mixed. Total FilmTotal Film
Total Film is a British film magazine published 13 times a year by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched in 1997 and offers film, DVD and Blu-ray news, reviews and features...
magazine giving it four out of five stars and calling it 'the most confident British debut since Shallow Grave
Shallow Grave
-Track listing:# Leftfield – "Shallow Grave" – 4:38# Simon Boswell – "Shallow Grave Theme" – 3:30# Nina Simone – "My Baby Just Cares for Me" – 3:38# Simon Boswell – "Laugh Riot" – 3:02# Leftfield – "Release the Dubs" – 5:45...
. Time Out magazine gave the film three stars and said it was 'refreshing to see a mainstream British film with the ambition to strut its stuff on studio terms'. Adam Smith of the Radio Times
Radio Times
Radio Times is a UK weekly television and radio programme listings magazine, owned by the BBC. It has been published since 1923 by BBC Magazines, which also provides an on-line listings service under the same title...
commented that 'it's deftly written, unobtrusively directed and nicely acted' and also gave it three stars. OK!
OK!
OK! is a British weekly magazine specializing in celebrity news. Originally launched as a monthly, its first issue was published in April 1993. In September 2004, OK! publishers Northern and Shell launched in Australia as a monthly title – the magazine went weekly in October 2006...
appreciated the 'sweet characters and good actors' and also liked 'the vintage look of the film' and the 'great supporting cast'. The Daily Mirror gave the film a very positive review awarding it four stars and saying; 'The film is no simple-minded laugh-fest, but rather an astute, amusing and engaging coming-of-age tale with a killer soundtrack of 1970s classics.'. On the other hand, Uncut
UNCUT (magazine)
Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...
called it a 'passable, mildly diverting, coming-of-age Brit-flick'. Andrew Barker of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
wrote, "It's a strange hybrid of a film, boasting loudmouth boorishness instead of wit, and fortune-cookie schmaltz instead of heart."
Box office
The film had an opening weekend intake of £641,218. At the end of its theatrical run in the UK, the film took in £1,329,002.Home media
The UK DVD and Blu-Ray release is set for August 30, 2010. The DVD bonus features include a commentary track from writer/directors, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, deleted scenes and two featurettes including discussions with the cast and crew. The Blu-Ray release will feature all of these features but with several additional featurettes.Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
, the US-based studio which released the film, has decided not to theatrically release the film in the company's home market. Accordingly, the film was released in the US and Canada by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation. It was established in November 1979 as Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, releasing 20 titles: The Anderson Tapes, Bell, Book and Candle, Born Free, Breakout,...
on August 17, 2010.