Nobel Son
Encyclopedia
Nobel Son is a 2007 American black comedy
about a dysfunctional family
dealing with the kidnapping of their son for ransom following the father's winning of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
. The film features Alan Rickman
as the prize-winning professor and Mary Steenburgen
as his wife, with Bryan Greenberg
as their kidnapped son.
Principal photography
for Nobel Son started on October 6, 2005 in Venice Beach, California and ended on November 17, 2005. The official trailer and website were released on January 12, 2007.
), a self-involved chemistry professor, learns he has been awarded the Nobel Prize. After verbally abusing his wife, son, colleagues, and nominal girlfriend, he heads off to Sweden with his wife, Sarah (Mary Steenburgen
), to collect his award. His son, Barkley (Bryan Greenberg
), misses the flight.
Barkley Michaelson has chosen to study not chemistry but anthropology, and this perceived failure triggers constant torrents of abuse from his father. His missing the flight, though, is the apparently innocent result of having been kidnapped by the deranged Thaddeus James (Shawn Hatosy
), who claims to be Eli Michaelson's son by the wife of a former colleague. Thaddeus successfully obtains a ransom of $2 million, which he then splits with Barkley, who, it appears, has orchestrated the kidnapping to obtain money from his father.
Shortly after Barkley's release, Thaddeus rents a garage apartment from the Michaelsons and begins to charm Eli with his knowledge of chemistry. Barkley undertakes a campaign of psychological terror aimed at Thaddeus and his girlfriend, performance artist City Hall (Dushku). This ultimately results in the death of Thaddeus and commitment to a mental hospital for City.
Meanwhile, Barkley kidnaps Eli and threatens to expose the scientific fraud that lead to Eli receiving a Nobel prize that he did not deserve. Eli's long suffering wife, Sarah, demands a divorce while praising her son for his devious behavior.
In the final scenes, Sarah, Barkley, and Sarah's police detective boyfriend, Max Mariner (Pullman) are seen on a tropical beach. Mariner appears to have been in the dark through most of the movie, but has figured out towards the end that he wants to be with Sarah and can live with the theft of $2 million from her scoundrel husband. Eli is seen in his classroom unrepentantly flirting with another student. He has lost his wife, son, and the money, but it's unclear whether he still has his Nobel Prize.
Cameos
include Ted Danson
and Tracey Walter
as university colleagues of Eli Michaelson, and Ernie Hudson
as a police detective aiding in the ransom negotiation.
in New York City
. The entire cast attended the premiere and all of the screenings were sold-out. It received broadly negative reviews, with only a 23% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes,. Manohla Dargis, writing for The New York Times described the film as "an aggressively noisy exercise in style over substance about nasty people doing nasty things to one another." Roger Ebert
gave it a positive review. The film was also called "entertaining" by a reviewer on Ain't It Cool News.
Over a year after its initial public screening at the Tribeca Film Festival, Nobel Son was picked up for distribution by Freestyle Releasing
and was released in theaters on December 5, 2008. In the United Kingdom, copies of the film were given away with the Mail on Sunday on October 4, 2009.
In the United Kingdom, the scene where a character's thumb is severed was deleted, but was later edited back in and the film was given higher ratings.
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
about a dysfunctional family
Dysfunctional family
A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often abuse on the part of individual members occur continually and regularly, leading other members to accommodate such actions. Children sometimes grow up in such families with the understanding that such an arrangement is...
dealing with the kidnapping of their son for ransom following the father's winning of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature,...
. The film features Alan Rickman
Alan Rickman
Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman is an English actor and theatre director. He is a renowned stage actor in modern and classical productions and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company...
as the prize-winning professor and Mary Steenburgen
Mary Steenburgen
Mary Nell Steenburgen is an American actress. She is best known for playing the role of Lynda Dummar in Jonathan Demme's Melvin and Howard, which earned her an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.-Early life:...
as his wife, with Bryan Greenberg
Bryan Greenberg
Bryan E. Greenberg is an American actor and musician, known for his starring role as Ben Epstein in the HBO original series How to Make It in America as well as a recurring role as Jake Jagielski in the The WB TV series One Tree Hill and as Nick Garrett on the short-lived ABC drama October Road...
as their kidnapped son.
Principal photography
Principal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
for Nobel Son started on October 6, 2005 in Venice Beach, California and ended on November 17, 2005. The official trailer and website were released on January 12, 2007.
Plot
Eli Michaelson (Alan RickmanAlan Rickman
Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman is an English actor and theatre director. He is a renowned stage actor in modern and classical productions and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company...
), a self-involved chemistry professor, learns he has been awarded the Nobel Prize. After verbally abusing his wife, son, colleagues, and nominal girlfriend, he heads off to Sweden with his wife, Sarah (Mary Steenburgen
Mary Steenburgen
Mary Nell Steenburgen is an American actress. She is best known for playing the role of Lynda Dummar in Jonathan Demme's Melvin and Howard, which earned her an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.-Early life:...
), to collect his award. His son, Barkley (Bryan Greenberg
Bryan Greenberg
Bryan E. Greenberg is an American actor and musician, known for his starring role as Ben Epstein in the HBO original series How to Make It in America as well as a recurring role as Jake Jagielski in the The WB TV series One Tree Hill and as Nick Garrett on the short-lived ABC drama October Road...
), misses the flight.
Barkley Michaelson has chosen to study not chemistry but anthropology, and this perceived failure triggers constant torrents of abuse from his father. His missing the flight, though, is the apparently innocent result of having been kidnapped by the deranged Thaddeus James (Shawn Hatosy
Shawn Hatosy
Shawn Wayne Hatosy is an actor with over 40 film and television credits to his name.-Personal life:Hatosy was born in Frederick, Maryland, the son of Carol , a loan officer, and Wayne Hatosy, a graphic designer and event planning director...
), who claims to be Eli Michaelson's son by the wife of a former colleague. Thaddeus successfully obtains a ransom of $2 million, which he then splits with Barkley, who, it appears, has orchestrated the kidnapping to obtain money from his father.
Shortly after Barkley's release, Thaddeus rents a garage apartment from the Michaelsons and begins to charm Eli with his knowledge of chemistry. Barkley undertakes a campaign of psychological terror aimed at Thaddeus and his girlfriend, performance artist City Hall (Dushku). This ultimately results in the death of Thaddeus and commitment to a mental hospital for City.
Meanwhile, Barkley kidnaps Eli and threatens to expose the scientific fraud that lead to Eli receiving a Nobel prize that he did not deserve. Eli's long suffering wife, Sarah, demands a divorce while praising her son for his devious behavior.
In the final scenes, Sarah, Barkley, and Sarah's police detective boyfriend, Max Mariner (Pullman) are seen on a tropical beach. Mariner appears to have been in the dark through most of the movie, but has figured out towards the end that he wants to be with Sarah and can live with the theft of $2 million from her scoundrel husband. Eli is seen in his classroom unrepentantly flirting with another student. He has lost his wife, son, and the money, but it's unclear whether he still has his Nobel Prize.
Cast
- Alan RickmanAlan RickmanAlan Sidney Patrick Rickman is an English actor and theatre director. He is a renowned stage actor in modern and classical productions and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company...
as Eli Michaelson, a philandering chemistry professor who wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. - Bryan GreenbergBryan GreenbergBryan E. Greenberg is an American actor and musician, known for his starring role as Ben Epstein in the HBO original series How to Make It in America as well as a recurring role as Jake Jagielski in the The WB TV series One Tree Hill and as Nick Garrett on the short-lived ABC drama October Road...
as Barkley Michaelson, the down-on-his-luck college student son of Eli Michaelson, who is kidnapped for ransom following his father's winning of the Nobel PrizeNobel PrizeThe Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
. - Shawn HatosyShawn HatosyShawn Wayne Hatosy is an actor with over 40 film and television credits to his name.-Personal life:Hatosy was born in Frederick, Maryland, the son of Carol , a loan officer, and Wayne Hatosy, a graphic designer and event planning director...
as Thaddeus James, Barkley's kidnapper with a dark past. - Mary SteenburgenMary SteenburgenMary Nell Steenburgen is an American actress. She is best known for playing the role of Lynda Dummar in Jonathan Demme's Melvin and Howard, which earned her an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.-Early life:...
as Sarah Michaelson, a forensic psychiatristForensic psychiatryForensic psychiatry is a sub-speciality of psychiatry and an auxiliar science of criminology. It encompasses the interface between law and psychiatry...
; wife of Eli and mother of Barkley. - Bill PullmanBill PullmanWilliam James "Bill" Pullman is an American film, television, and stage actor. Pullman made his film debut in the supporting role of Earl Mott in the 1986 film Ruthless People. He has since gone on to star in other films, including Spaceballs, Independence Day, Lost Highway, Casper and Scary Movie 4...
as Max Mariner, the police detective investigating Barkley's kidnapping. - Eliza DushkuEliza DushkuEliza Patricia Dushku is an American actress known for her television roles, including recurring appearances as Faith on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff series Angel. She starred in two Fox series, Tru Calling and Dollhouse...
as City Hall, a local poet/artist on whom Barkley has a crush. - Danny DeVitoDanny DeVitoDaniel Michael DeVito, Jr. , better known as Danny DeVito, is an American actor, comedian, director and producer. He first gained prominence for his portrayal of Louie De Palma on the ABC and NBC television series Taxi , for which he won a Golden Globe and an Emmy.DeVito and his wife, Rhea Perlman,...
as George Gastner, the Michaelsons' guest house tenant who is learning to control his obsessive-compulsive disorderObsessive-compulsive disorderObsessive–compulsive disorder is an anxiety disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts that produce uneasiness, apprehension, fear, or worry, by repetitive behaviors aimed at reducing the associated anxiety, or by a combination of such obsessions and compulsions...
.
Cameos
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
include Ted Danson
Ted Danson
Edward Bridge “Ted” Danson III is an American actor best known for his role as central character Sam Malone in the sitcom Cheers, and his role as Dr. John Becker on the series Becker. He also plays a recurring role on Larry David's HBO sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm and starred alongside Glenn Close...
and Tracey Walter
Tracey Walter
Tracey Walter is an American character actor. He has appeared in over 100 films and television shows.-Life and career:Walter was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, the son of a truck driver....
as university colleagues of Eli Michaelson, and Ernie Hudson
Ernie Hudson
Ernest Lee "Ernie" Hudson is an American actor known for his roles as Winston Zeddemore in the Ghostbusters film series, Sergeant Albrecht in The Crow, and Warden Leo Glynn on HBO's Oz.-Early life:...
as a police detective aiding in the ransom negotiation.
Release
The film was screened from April 28 – May 2, 2007 at the 2007 Tribeca Film FestivalTribeca 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 New York City
New 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...
. The entire cast attended the premiere and all of the screenings were sold-out. It received broadly negative reviews, with only a 23% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes,. Manohla Dargis, writing for The New York Times described the film as "an aggressively noisy exercise in style over substance about nasty people doing nasty things to one another." Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave it a positive review. The film was also called "entertaining" by a reviewer on Ain't It Cool News.
Over a year after its initial public screening at the Tribeca Film Festival, Nobel Son was picked up for distribution by Freestyle Releasing
Freestyle Releasing
Freestyle Releasing is an independent film studio founded in 2003, specializing in helping other people/companies to release their films theatrically for getting distribution fees...
and was released in theaters on December 5, 2008. In the United Kingdom, copies of the film were given away with the Mail on Sunday on October 4, 2009.
In the United Kingdom, the scene where a character's thumb is severed was deleted, but was later edited back in and the film was given higher ratings.