Expired
Encyclopedia
Expired is a 2008 comedy-drama
film and is the first writer-director credit for Cecilia Miniucchi, whose previous credits include the documentary on the work of artist Hermann Nitsch
entitled Nitsch 1998. It stars Samantha Morton
, Jason Patric
, Ileana Douglas and Teri Garr
.
The film was shown at several festivals over 2007 and 2008 but has not yet gone into general release in the US or Europe.
streets and stumbles into an old flame, who introduces Claire to his wife and ill-behaved daughter. Reeling from the chance encounter, she steps out onto the street and is hit by a passing vehicle.
Returning to work, Claire attracts the attention of another parking attendant, an extremely blunt and aggressive man named Jay whose home life consists mainly of entertaining himself using the services of a webcam porn site and phone service. Claire witnesses him fighting with her best friend, a neighbor working for a delivery service who parks on the curb to unload her consignment, but does not bring it up with either party.
She develops a crush on Jay, but in each conversation Jay takes issue with some entirely innocuous comment Claire has made and storms off in disgust. Nonetheless, he keeps coming back for more. One night as Claire prepares to join him at the office party, she finds her mother slumped over—dead—in a bowl of mashed potato.
In shock, she simply picks up her coat and leaves for the party. She sits alone, watching Jay dance with another woman, until finally Jay asks in brutal terms what is the matter. She takes him home to show him the problem.
Claire decides that rather than call an ambulance she prefers to have the situation dealt with by family. She calls her mother's vain and self-obsessed sister, who lives in a different part of the city. Her aunt says it is too far to come at that hour of the night, but if she wants to, Claire can come pick up a necklace belonging to her mother.
Jay insists on staying the night to "take care" of Claire, promising to sleep on the couch. But he goes to Claire's narrow bed and starts to remove her clothes. After a few seconds of brutal thrusting, during which he talks to her as if she were the phone sex service he uses so frequently, he rolls over and falls asleep.
From that point on, Jay and Claire maintain a tenuous sort of relationship, hung mainly on Claire's optimism and Jay's desire for sex and attention. At work, Jay is suspended for his aggressive behavior with parking offenders, which has earned him an impressive complaints record. He watches a crafts documentary on carpentry and decides to make a love seat.
Jay offers to drive Claire to her aunt's house to pick up her mother's necklace, lying to her over his disciplining at work. He drives her to the other side of the city, with her seated on the makeshift love seat in his parking attendant's vehicle. Her aunt insists that they all go out drinking; Jay and Claire end up in a hotel room. Jay gives Claire a tiny, pink PVC bikini and tells her she should lose weight, which Claire takes in stride, as she has previously with his other insinuations and outright insults.
During her next shift, Claire is informed that she is being promoted for her exemplary behavior. To celebrate she goes to Jay's apartment but swiftly realizes that he was visited by a prostitute immediately before her arrival. She leaves in disgust.
Jay goes to her apartment to apologize. Dressed in a more fashionable and confident style, she is outspokenly skeptical about his behavior, but submits when he pulls her to the floor for another round of uncomfortable sex. When it is over, Jay expresses that he has burgeoning feelings of commitment to Claire, but she asks him to leave.
In the end, Claire once again walks her beat alone. Another vehicle nearly catches her at the site of her prior accident, but this time she escapes unscathed, and smiles in relief.
that inspired the story for Expired:
Cecilia Miniucchi stole the film idea (Xpired) from Tim Sullivan, and twisted the idea a little, who had the script copyrighted at the Writers Guild in Burbank.
reported that 75% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 12 reviews. Metacritic
reported the film had an average score of 65 out of 100, based on 6 reviews.
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 and is the first writer-director credit for Cecilia Miniucchi, whose previous credits include the documentary on the work of artist Hermann Nitsch
Hermann Nitsch
Hermann Nitsch is an Austrian artist who works in experimental and multimedia modes.Born in Vienna, Nitsch received training in painting during the time he studied at the Wiener Graphische Lehr-und Versuchanstalt. He is called an "actionist" or a performance artist...
entitled Nitsch 1998. It stars Samantha Morton
Samantha Morton
Samantha Jane Morton is an English actress and film director. She began her performing career with guest roles in television shows such as Soldier Soldier and Boon before making her film debut in the 1997 drama film This Is the Sea, playing the character of Hazel Stokes...
, Jason Patric
Jason Patric
Jason Patric is an American film, television and stage actor. He may be best-known for his roles in the films The Lost Boys, Sleepers, Your Friends & Neighbors, Narc, The Losers and Speed 2: Cruise Control. His father was actor/playwright Jason Miller...
, Ileana Douglas and Teri Garr
Teri Garr
-Early life:Garr was born in Lakewood, Ohio in 1947. Her father, Eddie Garr , was a vaudeville performer, comedian and actor whose career peaked when he briefly took over the lead role in the Broadway drama Tobacco Road...
.
The film was shown at several festivals over 2007 and 2008 but has not yet gone into general release in the US or Europe.
Plot
Claire, a mild-mannered parking attendant, lives in a small flat with her mother who is recovering from a recent stroke. In the opening sequence she patrols the Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
streets and stumbles into an old flame, who introduces Claire to his wife and ill-behaved daughter. Reeling from the chance encounter, she steps out onto the street and is hit by a passing vehicle.
Returning to work, Claire attracts the attention of another parking attendant, an extremely blunt and aggressive man named Jay whose home life consists mainly of entertaining himself using the services of a webcam porn site and phone service. Claire witnesses him fighting with her best friend, a neighbor working for a delivery service who parks on the curb to unload her consignment, but does not bring it up with either party.
She develops a crush on Jay, but in each conversation Jay takes issue with some entirely innocuous comment Claire has made and storms off in disgust. Nonetheless, he keeps coming back for more. One night as Claire prepares to join him at the office party, she finds her mother slumped over—dead—in a bowl of mashed potato.
In shock, she simply picks up her coat and leaves for the party. She sits alone, watching Jay dance with another woman, until finally Jay asks in brutal terms what is the matter. She takes him home to show him the problem.
Claire decides that rather than call an ambulance she prefers to have the situation dealt with by family. She calls her mother's vain and self-obsessed sister, who lives in a different part of the city. Her aunt says it is too far to come at that hour of the night, but if she wants to, Claire can come pick up a necklace belonging to her mother.
Jay insists on staying the night to "take care" of Claire, promising to sleep on the couch. But he goes to Claire's narrow bed and starts to remove her clothes. After a few seconds of brutal thrusting, during which he talks to her as if she were the phone sex service he uses so frequently, he rolls over and falls asleep.
From that point on, Jay and Claire maintain a tenuous sort of relationship, hung mainly on Claire's optimism and Jay's desire for sex and attention. At work, Jay is suspended for his aggressive behavior with parking offenders, which has earned him an impressive complaints record. He watches a crafts documentary on carpentry and decides to make a love seat.
Jay offers to drive Claire to her aunt's house to pick up her mother's necklace, lying to her over his disciplining at work. He drives her to the other side of the city, with her seated on the makeshift love seat in his parking attendant's vehicle. Her aunt insists that they all go out drinking; Jay and Claire end up in a hotel room. Jay gives Claire a tiny, pink PVC bikini and tells her she should lose weight, which Claire takes in stride, as she has previously with his other insinuations and outright insults.
During her next shift, Claire is informed that she is being promoted for her exemplary behavior. To celebrate she goes to Jay's apartment but swiftly realizes that he was visited by a prostitute immediately before her arrival. She leaves in disgust.
Jay goes to her apartment to apologize. Dressed in a more fashionable and confident style, she is outspokenly skeptical about his behavior, but submits when he pulls her to the floor for another round of uncomfortable sex. When it is over, Jay expresses that he has burgeoning feelings of commitment to Claire, but she asks him to leave.
In the end, Claire once again walks her beat alone. Another vehicle nearly catches her at the site of her prior accident, but this time she escapes unscathed, and smiles in relief.
Inspiration for the film
In an interview with Cinema Without Border's Bijan Tehrani, Cecilia Miniucchi describes the event in Santa MonicaSanta Mônica
Santa Mônica is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...
that inspired the story for Expired:
I was walking by and witnessed a rather disturbing incident between a rough and impolite man and a gentle parking officer, a woman that was more scared than anything else. Then later, I was victim myself of one of those unwanted and unnecessary tickets, given to me by an angry parking officer, a man that was totally abusing his small authority. I thought to myself: I wonder what would happen if two of these parking officers, diametrically opposite in temperament, would meet and fall in love... I thought of this as a metaphor for life: the price any of us can, could and would pay for love
Cecilia Miniucchi stole the film idea (Xpired) from Tim Sullivan, and twisted the idea a little, who had the script copyrighted at the Writers Guild in Burbank.
Critical reception
The film received generally positive reviews from critics. As of June 20, 2008, the review aggregator 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...
reported that 75% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 12 reviews. Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
reported the film had an average score of 65 out of 100, based on 6 reviews.
External links
- Expired official website, expiredthemovie.com
- Cinema Without Borders feature on Expired by Bijan Tehrani, including an interview with Cecilia Miniucchi