Don McKay (film)
Encyclopedia
Don McKay is a 2009 independent
drama thriller film written and directed by Jake Goldberger and starring Thomas Haden Church
and Elisabeth Shue
. It premiered at the 8th Annual Tribeca Film Festival
in April 2009 and received a limited release
on April 2, 2010.
) is a lonely high school janitor who one day receives a letter from his high school sweetheart, Sonny (Elizabeth Shue). In it, she asks him to come visit her back in their home town, because she is dying of an unnamed disease. At first he is reluctant because he had been a suspect in a murder case there years before, but Don decides to go. He arrives and gets a ride to Sonny's house by an eccentric cab driver named Samuel (M. Emmet Walsh
).
Don meets Sonny, as well as her strange caregiver Marie (Melissa Leo
). Marie's coldness towards Don makes it clear that she doesn't approve of his presence. Don spends the night, and he and Sonny make love. The next morning, Sonny's Doctor, Lance Pryce (James Rebhorn
) visits. While Marie and Sonny are out, Pryce attacks Don, and after a struggle, Don kills the man, and hides the body in a bed of leaves behind the garden. However, Don had just suffered an allergic reaction to a bee sting, and blacks out shortly after hiding the body. He awakens in the hospital, where Sonny proposes marriage and claims that she had recently spoken to Pryce.
Don goes to see his old friend Otis (Keith David
), and tells him what happened. Otis agrees to help Don get rid of the body that night, but when he arrives it has vanished. Sonny rushes out, thinking the men are burglars, and Otis runs off. After an argument, Don returns home for a few days, eventually getting another letter from Sonny asking him to come back to her. He does.
Samuel picks Don up again, but they are intercepted and kidnapped by a man named Mel (Pruitt Taylor Vince
). Mel takes Don to a hotel room, where it's revealed that both Mel and Marie were planning all along to kill Don and take an inheritance Don would receive upon Don's marriage. Don tries to reason with the two stating that there is no inheritance, and that he has no idea what they are talking about. Marie refuses to believe him and tells him to go along with the plan, or they will go to the police about the death of Pryce. With Samuel in Mel's trunk, the four drive back to Sonny's house, and demand that Don go in wearing a wire, threatening to go to the police if he doesn't cooperate with their plan.
Upon arriving at the house, Don hastily proposes to Sonny, stating that he was confused before, but realizes now that he loves her. Sonny quickly peels away Don's story, realizes he is wearing a recording device, and calls his bluff. The doorbell rings; It's Marie and Mel, who enter the house. After a long confrontation, Sonny hits Marie over the head with a frozen ham, and kills her. Sonny then grabs the phone and calls 911 for help, stating that a man pretending to be a private detective just killed someone in her house.
She tells Don to kill Mel, and Don refuses. She grabs an ax and again asks him to kill Mel, but he refuses. Sonny then asks Mel to kill Don, and a struggle over the ax ensues between the men. Sonny kills Mel with the same frozen ham she killed Marie with, and tries to concoct a story to cover all of it. She tells Don that she'd been planning all along to take a large inheritance from Pryce, not Don, that he had received from a relative. It's also revealed that Pryce was her husband, and that the two were going to kill him together, but Pryce jumped the gun on the scam. Don then tells her that he knows that she wasn't actually Sonny, as he had killed his girlfriend before leaving town years ago, but gotten away with it.
The police arrive and Sonny lets them into the house. They find the bodies of Marie and Mel, and immediately arrest Don. Sonny is taken away in a police car, and the police start to take Don away. The sound of screaming starts to erupt from Mel's trunk. The police find Samuel and question Don about Samuel's involvement. Don asks Samuel to explain his knowledge of the situation to the police. In the ensuing investigation, Samuel backs up Don's story, and it seems that he will be okay. The detective in charge asks him why he would go through all of it if he knew that it wasn't Sonny, and Don answers that he was "lonely".
Don receives a ride to the bus station from Samuel, who tells him to contact him if he ever needs anything. Don takes Samuel's phone number and boards the bus back home. At home, Don is seen sitting in a chair, a bee lands on his cheek and the movie ends, leaving Don's fate unknown.
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
drama thriller film written and directed by Jake Goldberger and starring Thomas Haden Church
Thomas Haden Church
Thomas Haden Church is an American actor. After co-starring in the 1990s sitcom Wings, Church became well known for his film roles, including his Academy Award-nominated performance in Sideways and his role as the Sandman in Spider-Man 3.-Early life:Church, the fourth of six children, was born...
and Elisabeth Shue
Elisabeth Shue
Elisabeth Judson Shue is an American actress and producer, most famous for her roles in the films The Karate Kid, Adventures in Babysitting, Cocktail, Back to the Future Parts II and III and Leaving Las Vegas, for which she won five acting awards and was nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden...
. It premiered at the 8th Annual Tribeca Film Festival
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Film Festival is a film festival founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff in a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the consequent loss of vitality in the TriBeCa neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.The mission of the festival...
in April 2009 and received a limited release
Limited release
Limited release is a term in the American motion picture industry for a motion picture that is playing in a select few theaters across the country ....
on April 2, 2010.
Plot
Don McKay (Thomas Haden ChurchThomas Haden Church
Thomas Haden Church is an American actor. After co-starring in the 1990s sitcom Wings, Church became well known for his film roles, including his Academy Award-nominated performance in Sideways and his role as the Sandman in Spider-Man 3.-Early life:Church, the fourth of six children, was born...
) is a lonely high school janitor who one day receives a letter from his high school sweetheart, Sonny (Elizabeth Shue). In it, she asks him to come visit her back in their home town, because she is dying of an unnamed disease. At first he is reluctant because he had been a suspect in a murder case there years before, but Don decides to go. He arrives and gets a ride to Sonny's house by an eccentric cab driver named Samuel (M. Emmet Walsh
M. Emmet Walsh
Michael Emmet Walsh is an American actor who has appeared in over 100 film and television productions.-Life and career:Walsh was born in Ogdensburg, New York, the son of Agnes Kathrine and Harry Maurice Walsh, Sr., a customs agent...
).
Don meets Sonny, as well as her strange caregiver Marie (Melissa Leo
Melissa Leo
Melissa Chessington Leo , is an American actress. After appearing on several television shows and films in the late '80s, her breakthrough role came in 1993 as Det. Sgt. Kay Howard on the television series Homicide: Life on the Street for the show's first five seasons from 1993 – 1997...
). Marie's coldness towards Don makes it clear that she doesn't approve of his presence. Don spends the night, and he and Sonny make love. The next morning, Sonny's Doctor, Lance Pryce (James Rebhorn
James Rebhorn
James Robert Rebhorn is an American character actor who has appeared in over 100 television shows, feature films and plays.-Personal life:...
) visits. While Marie and Sonny are out, Pryce attacks Don, and after a struggle, Don kills the man, and hides the body in a bed of leaves behind the garden. However, Don had just suffered an allergic reaction to a bee sting, and blacks out shortly after hiding the body. He awakens in the hospital, where Sonny proposes marriage and claims that she had recently spoken to Pryce.
Don goes to see his old friend Otis (Keith David
Keith David
Keith David Williams , better known as Keith David, is an American film, television, voice actor, and singer. He is perhaps most known for his live-action roles in such films as Crash, There's Something About Mary, Barbershop and Men at Work...
), and tells him what happened. Otis agrees to help Don get rid of the body that night, but when he arrives it has vanished. Sonny rushes out, thinking the men are burglars, and Otis runs off. After an argument, Don returns home for a few days, eventually getting another letter from Sonny asking him to come back to her. He does.
Samuel picks Don up again, but they are intercepted and kidnapped by a man named Mel (Pruitt Taylor Vince
Pruitt Taylor Vince
Pruitt Taylor Vince is an American award-winning character actor who has made many appearances in film and television.-Personal life:Vince was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana...
). Mel takes Don to a hotel room, where it's revealed that both Mel and Marie were planning all along to kill Don and take an inheritance Don would receive upon Don's marriage. Don tries to reason with the two stating that there is no inheritance, and that he has no idea what they are talking about. Marie refuses to believe him and tells him to go along with the plan, or they will go to the police about the death of Pryce. With Samuel in Mel's trunk, the four drive back to Sonny's house, and demand that Don go in wearing a wire, threatening to go to the police if he doesn't cooperate with their plan.
Upon arriving at the house, Don hastily proposes to Sonny, stating that he was confused before, but realizes now that he loves her. Sonny quickly peels away Don's story, realizes he is wearing a recording device, and calls his bluff. The doorbell rings; It's Marie and Mel, who enter the house. After a long confrontation, Sonny hits Marie over the head with a frozen ham, and kills her. Sonny then grabs the phone and calls 911 for help, stating that a man pretending to be a private detective just killed someone in her house.
She tells Don to kill Mel, and Don refuses. She grabs an ax and again asks him to kill Mel, but he refuses. Sonny then asks Mel to kill Don, and a struggle over the ax ensues between the men. Sonny kills Mel with the same frozen ham she killed Marie with, and tries to concoct a story to cover all of it. She tells Don that she'd been planning all along to take a large inheritance from Pryce, not Don, that he had received from a relative. It's also revealed that Pryce was her husband, and that the two were going to kill him together, but Pryce jumped the gun on the scam. Don then tells her that he knows that she wasn't actually Sonny, as he had killed his girlfriend before leaving town years ago, but gotten away with it.
The police arrive and Sonny lets them into the house. They find the bodies of Marie and Mel, and immediately arrest Don. Sonny is taken away in a police car, and the police start to take Don away. The sound of screaming starts to erupt from Mel's trunk. The police find Samuel and question Don about Samuel's involvement. Don asks Samuel to explain his knowledge of the situation to the police. In the ensuing investigation, Samuel backs up Don's story, and it seems that he will be okay. The detective in charge asks him why he would go through all of it if he knew that it wasn't Sonny, and Don answers that he was "lonely".
Don receives a ride to the bus station from Samuel, who tells him to contact him if he ever needs anything. Don takes Samuel's phone number and boards the bus back home. At home, Don is seen sitting in a chair, a bee lands on his cheek and the movie ends, leaving Don's fate unknown.
Cast
- Thomas Haden ChurchThomas Haden ChurchThomas Haden Church is an American actor. After co-starring in the 1990s sitcom Wings, Church became well known for his film roles, including his Academy Award-nominated performance in Sideways and his role as the Sandman in Spider-Man 3.-Early life:Church, the fourth of six children, was born...
as Don McKay - Elisabeth ShueElisabeth ShueElisabeth Judson Shue is an American actress and producer, most famous for her roles in the films The Karate Kid, Adventures in Babysitting, Cocktail, Back to the Future Parts II and III and Leaving Las Vegas, for which she won five acting awards and was nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden...
as Sonny - James RebhornJames RebhornJames Robert Rebhorn is an American character actor who has appeared in over 100 television shows, feature films and plays.-Personal life:...
as Dr. Lance Pryce - Melissa LeoMelissa LeoMelissa Chessington Leo , is an American actress. After appearing on several television shows and films in the late '80s, her breakthrough role came in 1993 as Det. Sgt. Kay Howard on the television series Homicide: Life on the Street for the show's first five seasons from 1993 – 1997...
as Marie - M. Emmet WalshM. Emmet WalshMichael Emmet Walsh is an American actor who has appeared in over 100 film and television productions.-Life and career:Walsh was born in Ogdensburg, New York, the son of Agnes Kathrine and Harry Maurice Walsh, Sr., a customs agent...
as Samuel - Keith DavidKeith DavidKeith David Williams , better known as Keith David, is an American film, television, voice actor, and singer. He is perhaps most known for his live-action roles in such films as Crash, There's Something About Mary, Barbershop and Men at Work...
as Otis Kent - Pruitt Taylor VincePruitt Taylor VincePruitt Taylor Vince is an American award-winning character actor who has made many appearances in film and television.-Personal life:Vince was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana...
as Mel - Robert WahlbergRobert WahlbergRobert G. Wahlberg is an American actor. He has appeared in such films as Southie, Mystic River, and The Departed.-Early life:...
as Alfred