My One and Only (film)
Encyclopedia
My One and Only is a 2009 comedy film
loosely based on a story about George Hamilton's
early life on the road with his mother and brother, featuring anecdotes that Hamilton had told to Merv Griffin
. Griffin pitched the idea for the script, and had shepherded the project from idea to production, until his death in 2007. His company serves as one of the film's producers.
My One and Only is directed by Richard Loncraine
, written by Charlie Peters and stars Renée Zellweger
as Hamilton's mother.
in 1953, Ann Deveraux lives with her bandleader husband Danny, their 15-year-old son George, and Ann's somewhat older effeminate son Robbie. Ann does not seem very interested in her children's lives; she does not even remember which school they attend. After catching Danny in an affair, Ann tells him she is leaving him and taking the children with her. She removes cash from her safe deposit box and sends George out with it to buy a Cadillac. The salesmen are suspicious, but Ann drops by later herself.
Ann embarks with Robbie and George on a road trip through the United States, in search of a husband to fund a new life for her and her boys. They first stay in Boston
and Pittsburgh. Several men turn out to be disappointments for Ann. One has financial problems and asks for a large sum of money; when she does not seem willing to give it, he steals the money in her purse, unable to pay for the lavish dinner they both shared. Another man, one Ann met briefly at a party a year before, offers to pay for it, eventually leading the two to date and become engaged. But when Ann and George discover his abusiveness, they leave. One man sexually assaults her; one is in love with another woman. She becomes engaged to a man who she later discovers is a polygamist. Ann is briefly put in jail after chatting in a bar with a man who turns out to be an undercover
police officer, who takes her for a prostitute and charges her with solicitation
.
George decides he wants to live with his father, but Danny turns him down because he is often on the road for his work. George is greatly disappointed and concludes that Danny does not love him. Later, when George asks Danny why he does not support them financially, he says he sent money several times, but Ann always returned it.
Ann does not like her sister in St. Louis. She has always said she would have to be desperate to go to her. Now, however, they go there anyway, so George concludes that Ann has become officially desperate. While they stay there, George and his sister agree that he will go on living there when Ann moves on with Robbie to Los Angeles
. Unhappy that his mother does not know him personally, they argue; when Ann gets frustrated she slaps him, causing him to walk out of the house. Ann first protests, but, to George's surprise, accepts his decision after all. Near Albuquerque, when Ann and Robbie give a couple a ride, the man attempts to rob them, threatening Ann with a knife, but he is foiled when Robbie points a gun at him and fires a warning shot. Ann and Robbie invite the woman to come with them, and she accepts but later steals their money. They phone George, and he leaves his aunt, who reluctantly gives him the rest of his living allowance, allowing him to join Ann and Robbie.
Robbie is an amateur actor and wants to be a professional in Hollywood. George wants to be a writer and move to New York. Danny dies and George goes to the funeral in New York, where he decides to remain. However, later he returns to Los Angeles, and it turns out that George is better at acting than Robbie. Therefore George decides to stay in California with Ann and Robbie. Robbie gets work in costumes. This is where George realizes that they didn't need anyone to take care of them, that they could take care of themselves, and that they were going to be just fine.
area beginning on June 9, 2008. Part of this filming took place in the Institute of Notre Dame
private high school. Other locations included Mount Vernon, Baltimore and the 26 acres (105,218.4 m²) estate Tyrconnell near Lake Roland
. For several weeks in early August 2008, further filming took place in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Many of the scenes include the use of an azure blue 1953 Cadillac Eldorado
. The 1953 Eldorado "hero car" (#87 out of just 532 Cadillac Eldorados made that year) was used at the film's premiere in New York City on August 18, 2009 at the Paris Theater, Manhattan.
, who recorded it with a 20-piece jazz orchestra ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the LA Sound Gallery in Burbank, California
.
, New York
, and Los Angeles, California
. On September 4, 2009 the release was expanded to 20 markets across the US. The film was also released in the Netherlands
on September 10, 2009.
gave the film a rating of 71% based on 65 reviews.
Selected top critics gave the film a rating of 80% based on 20 reviews.
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
loosely based on a story about George Hamilton's
George Hamilton (actor)
George Stevens Hamilton is an American film and television actor.-Early life:Hamilton was the youngest son of bandleader George "Spike" Hamilton and his first wife, Ann Stevens . He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and lived in Blytheville, Arkansas...
early life on the road with his mother and brother, featuring anecdotes that Hamilton had told to Merv Griffin
Merv Griffin
Mervyn Edward "Merv" Griffin, Jr. was an American television host, musician, actor, and media mogul. He began his career as a radio and big band singer who went on to appear in movies and on Broadway. From 1965 to 1986 Griffin hosted his own talk show, The Merv Griffin Show on Group W Broadcasting...
. Griffin pitched the idea for the script, and had shepherded the project from idea to production, until his death in 2007. His company serves as one of the film's producers.
My One and Only is directed by Richard Loncraine
Richard Loncraine
Richard Loncraine is a British film and television director.Loncraine received early training in the features department of the BBC, including a season directing items for Tomorrow's World...
, written by Charlie Peters and stars Renée Zellweger
Renée Zellweger
Renée Kathleen Zellweger is an American actress and producer. Zellweger first gained widespread attention for her role in the film Jerry Maguire , and subsequently received two nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her roles as Bridget Jones in the comedy Bridget Jones's Diary ...
as Hamilton's mother.
Plot
In New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1953, Ann Deveraux lives with her bandleader husband Danny, their 15-year-old son George, and Ann's somewhat older effeminate son Robbie. Ann does not seem very interested in her children's lives; she does not even remember which school they attend. After catching Danny in an affair, Ann tells him she is leaving him and taking the children with her. She removes cash from her safe deposit box and sends George out with it to buy a Cadillac. The salesmen are suspicious, but Ann drops by later herself.
Ann embarks with Robbie and George on a road trip through the United States, in search of a husband to fund a new life for her and her boys. They first stay in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
and Pittsburgh. Several men turn out to be disappointments for Ann. One has financial problems and asks for a large sum of money; when she does not seem willing to give it, he steals the money in her purse, unable to pay for the lavish dinner they both shared. Another man, one Ann met briefly at a party a year before, offers to pay for it, eventually leading the two to date and become engaged. But when Ann and George discover his abusiveness, they leave. One man sexually assaults her; one is in love with another woman. She becomes engaged to a man who she later discovers is a polygamist. Ann is briefly put in jail after chatting in a bar with a man who turns out to be an undercover
Undercover
Being undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or evidence...
police officer, who takes her for a prostitute and charges her with solicitation
Solicitation
Literally, solicitation means: 'urgently asking'. It is the action or instance of soliciting; petition; proposal. In criminal law, it most commonly refers to either the act of offering goods or services, or the act of attempting to purchase such goods or services...
.
George decides he wants to live with his father, but Danny turns him down because he is often on the road for his work. George is greatly disappointed and concludes that Danny does not love him. Later, when George asks Danny why he does not support them financially, he says he sent money several times, but Ann always returned it.
Ann does not like her sister in St. Louis. She has always said she would have to be desperate to go to her. Now, however, they go there anyway, so George concludes that Ann has become officially desperate. While they stay there, George and his sister agree that he will go on living there when Ann moves on with Robbie to Los Angeles
Los 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...
. Unhappy that his mother does not know him personally, they argue; when Ann gets frustrated she slaps him, causing him to walk out of the house. Ann first protests, but, to George's surprise, accepts his decision after all. Near Albuquerque, when Ann and Robbie give a couple a ride, the man attempts to rob them, threatening Ann with a knife, but he is foiled when Robbie points a gun at him and fires a warning shot. Ann and Robbie invite the woman to come with them, and she accepts but later steals their money. They phone George, and he leaves his aunt, who reluctantly gives him the rest of his living allowance, allowing him to join Ann and Robbie.
Robbie is an amateur actor and wants to be a professional in Hollywood. George wants to be a writer and move to New York. Danny dies and George goes to the funeral in New York, where he decides to remain. However, later he returns to Los Angeles, and it turns out that George is better at acting than Robbie. Therefore George decides to stay in California with Ann and Robbie. Robbie gets work in costumes. This is where George realizes that they didn't need anyone to take care of them, that they could take care of themselves, and that they were going to be just fine.
Cast
- Renée ZellwegerRenée ZellwegerRenée Kathleen Zellweger is an American actress and producer. Zellweger first gained widespread attention for her role in the film Jerry Maguire , and subsequently received two nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her roles as Bridget Jones in the comedy Bridget Jones's Diary ...
as Ann Deveraux (based on Ann Hamilton Spalding) - Logan LermanLogan LermanLogan Wade Lerman is an American actor, known for playing the title role in the 2010 fantasy-adventure Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. He appeared in commercials in the mid 1990s, before starring in the series Jack & Bobby , and the movies The Butterfly Effect and Hoot...
as 15-year-old George Deveraux - Mark RendallMark RendallMark Rendall is a Canadian actor, perhaps best known for starring in the title role of the 2004 film, Childstar, as well as Mick in Season 1 of the Canadian television drama series ReGenesis. He played Bastian Bux in the TV series, Tales from the Neverending Story, and the title character in The...
as George's older half-brother, Robbie - Chris NothChris NothChristopher David "Chris" Noth is an American actor. He is known for long-running television roles as Det. Mike Logan on the police procedural and legal drama television series, Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and as Big on Sex and the City. For the latter role, he has been...
as Harlan - Nick StahlNick StahlNicolas Kent "Nick" Stahl is an American actor. Starting out as a child actor, he gained recognition for his performance in the 1993 film The Man Without a Face and then embarked on a successful career as a child actor...
as Bud - Steven WeberSteven Weber (actor)Steven Robert Weber is an American actor. He is best known for his role in the television show Wings which aired throughout the 1990s on NBC.-Early life:...
as Wallace - Kevin BaconKevin BaconKevin Norwood Bacon is an American film and theater actor whose notable roles include Animal House, Diner, Footloose, Flatliners, Wild Things, A Few Good Men, JFK, Apollo 13, Mystic River, The Woodsman, Trapped, Friday the 13th, Hollow Man, Tremors, Death Sentence, Frost/Nixon, Crazy, Stupid, Love....
as Danny Deveraux - Eric McCormackEric McCormackEric James McCormack is a Canadian American actor, musician, writer and producer. Born in Toronto, he began his acting career performing in school plays at Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute High School...
as Charlie - Robin WeigertRobin WeigertRobin Weigert is an American television and film actress.Weigert was born in Washington, D.C. of Jewish heritage. After graduating from Brandeis University in 1991, Weigert attended New York University, earning a Master of Fine Arts degree in the acting program at the Tisch School of the Arts...
as Anne's sister, Hope - David KoechnerDavid KoechnerDavid Michael Koechner is an American comedian, musician, and character actor. Koechner began studying improvisational comedy in Chicago at the ImprovOlympic, under the teachings of Del Close, before joining the Second City Northwest...
as Bill Massey - Molly C. QuinnMolly C. QuinnMolly Caitlyn Quinn is an American actress whose works have included theatre, film, and television.-Life and career:Quinn is of Irish descent and was born in Texarkana, Texas. She began taking weekly acting lessons from retired director and producer Martin Beck after performing in her community's...
as Paula
Production
Filming took place in the BaltimoreBaltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
area beginning on June 9, 2008. Part of this filming took place in the Institute of Notre Dame
Institute of Notre Dame
The Institute of Notre Dame is a private Catholic all-girls high school located in Baltimore, Maryland. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore.-History:...
private high school. Other locations included Mount Vernon, Baltimore and the 26 acres (105,218.4 m²) estate Tyrconnell near Lake Roland
Lake Roland (Maryland)
Lake Roland is a reservoir in Baltimore County, Maryland. It served as the first municipal water supply for the city of Baltimore, starting in 1861. Although located outside of the city limits, it is owned and managed by the city. The city stopped using the lake as a drinking water source in...
. For several weeks in early August 2008, further filming took place in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Many of the scenes include the use of an azure blue 1953 Cadillac Eldorado
Cadillac Eldorado
The 1953 Eldorado was a special-bodied, low-production convertible . It was the production version of the 1952 El Dorado "Golden Anniversary" concept car, and borrowed bumper bullets from the 1951 GM Le Sabre show car...
. The 1953 Eldorado "hero car" (#87 out of just 532 Cadillac Eldorados made that year) was used at the film's premiere in New York City on August 18, 2009 at the Paris Theater, Manhattan.
Music
The jazzy score to My One and Only was composed by Mark IshamMark Isham
Mark Isham is an American trumpeter, synthesist, and film composer. He works in a variety of genres, including jazz, electronic, and film.-Life and career:...
, who recorded it with a 20-piece jazz orchestra ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the LA Sound Gallery in Burbank, California
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
.
Release
The film was released on August 21, 2009, in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. On September 4, 2009 the release was expanded to 20 markets across the US. The film was also released in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
on September 10, 2009.
Reception
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...
gave the film a rating of 71% based on 65 reviews.
Selected top critics gave the film a rating of 80% based on 20 reviews.