The Big White
Encyclopedia
The Big White is a 2005 black comedy
picture directed by Mark Mylod
starring Robin Williams
, Holly Hunter
, Giovanni Ribisi
, Woody Harrelson
, Tim Blake Nelson
, W. Earl Brown
and Alison Lohman
.
). Heavily in debt and attempting to find a cure for his wife's apparent Tourette Syndrome
, he stages a disfiguring animal attack with the body in order to cash in his missing brother's life-insurance policy, for which a corpse is required.
Local police are convinced, but a promotion-hungry insurance agent (Giovanni Ribisi
) is not. The Mafia hitmen
are also in search of the corpse for proof to collect their payment. They take Paul's wife (Holly Hunter
) hostage to ensure that they will get the body. Paul stays in his brother's cottage.
Paul's missing brother Raymond (Woody Harrelson
) returns home, beats him, and demands a portion of the insurance money. By suggesting the insurance agent has assaulted him, Paul speeds up the delivery of the million dollar insurance payment. He has the body exhumed and agrees to exchange it and a portion of the money for his wife. In fear that Raymond will attempt to kill his wife to keep her quiet, Paul considers killing his brother in his sleep, but cannot bring himself to do so.
The next morning Paul leaves his brother asleep and meets the hit-men for the exchange. Raymond is angered at his brother's deception and arrives as well, and is told by the insurance agent, who has finally pieced together what has happened about his million dollar policy.
Raymond then pulls out a pistol and shoots Paul's fleeing wife in the back. He is in turn shot in the stomach by one of the hit-men (Tim Nelson
). Paul finds his wife alive, the insurance money he had hidden in his jacket his wife was wearing stopped the bullet. The brothers reflect on childhood memories as Raymond dies.
Using the money, Paul takes his wife on a flight to a tropical location, his love for his wife being the sole motivation for the whole situation.
, though it was filmed in the Yukon Territory; the film had a $1 million impact on the territory's economy, including the employment of 200 Yukoners. Most of the outdoor scenes and cinematography were shot at summit of the White Pass
along the border of Alaska and British Columbia
. The bulk of the film was shot in April, 2004.
, after seeing the film at the AFI Fest in Los Angeles, called it "snowed under by misjudgment on every level", with "frigid" commercial prospects. In March 2006, David Mattin of the BBC gave it three stars out of five, saying the film "wants to be a cross between small-screen hits Northern Exposure
and Frasier
" but "can't resist the lure of cheap and obvious one-liners"; Mattin calls William's performance is "typically slushy and ultimately likeable" and "Ribisi's a performance that "really shines", but notes that the viewer is mostly subjected to "limp gags based on [Hunter]'s compulsive swearing, and Harrelson's cliché-ridden small-town hick stupidity/"
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...
picture directed by Mark Mylod
Mark Mylod
Mark Mylod is a British film and television director. Mylod has directed several shows both in the United States and in the United Kingdom, many of them being for the BBC...
starring Robin Williams
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
, Holly Hunter
Holly Hunter
Holly Hunter is an American actress. Hunter starred in The Piano for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She has also been nominated for Oscars for her roles in Broadcast News, The Firm, and Thirteen...
, Giovanni Ribisi
Giovanni Ribisi
Giovanni Ribisi is an American actor. His film credits include Gone in 60 Seconds, Boiler Room, Saving Private Ryan, The Mod Squad, The Gift, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Lost in Translation and more recently, Public Enemies and Avatar...
, Woody Harrelson
Woody Harrelson
Woodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson is an American actor.Harrelson's breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd...
, Tim Blake Nelson
Tim Blake Nelson
Tim Blake Nelson is an American director, writer, singer, and actor.-Early life:Nelson was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Ruth Kaiser Nelson, who is a noted social activist and philanthropist in Tulsa, and a geologist father...
, W. Earl Brown
W. Earl Brown
W. Earl Brown is an American character actor who has appeared in many mainstream film and television projects. He is perhaps best known as Dan Dority on the HBO series Deadwood...
and Alison Lohman
Alison Lohman
Alison Marion Lohman is an American actress. She has had lead roles in the films White Oleander, Where the Truth Lies, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Flicka and Drag Me to Hell as well as smaller parts in Matchstick Men, Big Fish, Gamer, and Beowulf...
.
Plot
A body left in a dumpster by Mafia hitmen is discovered by financially troubled travel agent Paul Barnell (Robin WilliamsRobin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
). Heavily in debt and attempting to find a cure for his wife's apparent Tourette Syndrome
Tourette syndrome
Tourette syndrome is an inherited neuropsychiatric disorder with onset in childhood, characterized by multiple physical tics and at least one vocal tic; these tics characteristically wax and wane...
, he stages a disfiguring animal attack with the body in order to cash in his missing brother's life-insurance policy, for which a corpse is required.
Local police are convinced, but a promotion-hungry insurance agent (Giovanni Ribisi
Giovanni Ribisi
Giovanni Ribisi is an American actor. His film credits include Gone in 60 Seconds, Boiler Room, Saving Private Ryan, The Mod Squad, The Gift, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Lost in Translation and more recently, Public Enemies and Avatar...
) is not. The Mafia hitmen
Hitman
A hitman is a person hired to kill another person.- Hitmen in organized crime :Hitmen are largely linked to the world of organized crime. Hitmen are hired people who kill people for money. Notable examples include Murder, Inc., Mafia hitmen and Richard Kuklinski.- Other cases involving hitmen...
are also in search of the corpse for proof to collect their payment. They take Paul's wife (Holly Hunter
Holly Hunter
Holly Hunter is an American actress. Hunter starred in The Piano for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She has also been nominated for Oscars for her roles in Broadcast News, The Firm, and Thirteen...
) hostage to ensure that they will get the body. Paul stays in his brother's cottage.
Paul's missing brother Raymond (Woody Harrelson
Woody Harrelson
Woodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson is an American actor.Harrelson's breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd...
) returns home, beats him, and demands a portion of the insurance money. By suggesting the insurance agent has assaulted him, Paul speeds up the delivery of the million dollar insurance payment. He has the body exhumed and agrees to exchange it and a portion of the money for his wife. In fear that Raymond will attempt to kill his wife to keep her quiet, Paul considers killing his brother in his sleep, but cannot bring himself to do so.
The next morning Paul leaves his brother asleep and meets the hit-men for the exchange. Raymond is angered at his brother's deception and arrives as well, and is told by the insurance agent, who has finally pieced together what has happened about his million dollar policy.
Raymond then pulls out a pistol and shoots Paul's fleeing wife in the back. He is in turn shot in the stomach by one of the hit-men (Tim Nelson
Tim Blake Nelson
Tim Blake Nelson is an American director, writer, singer, and actor.-Early life:Nelson was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Ruth Kaiser Nelson, who is a noted social activist and philanthropist in Tulsa, and a geologist father...
). Paul finds his wife alive, the insurance money he had hidden in his jacket his wife was wearing stopped the bullet. The brothers reflect on childhood memories as Raymond dies.
Using the money, Paul takes his wife on a flight to a tropical location, his love for his wife being the sole motivation for the whole situation.
Production
According to one insider, it was Collin Friesen's script that "drew the talent needed to get the production off the ground." Production was based in WinnipegWinnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, though it was filmed in the Yukon Territory; the film had a $1 million impact on the territory's economy, including the employment of 200 Yukoners. Most of the outdoor scenes and cinematography were shot at summit of the White Pass
White Pass
White Pass is a mountain pass through the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains on the border of the U.S. state of Alaska and the province of British Columbia, Canada...
along the border of Alaska and British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. The bulk of the film was shot in April, 2004.
Reception
In November 2005, VarietyVariety (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...
, after seeing the film at the AFI Fest in Los Angeles, called it "snowed under by misjudgment on every level", with "frigid" commercial prospects. In March 2006, David Mattin of the BBC gave it three stars out of five, saying the film "wants to be a cross between small-screen hits Northern Exposure
Northern Exposure
Northern Exposure is an American television series that ran on CBS from 1990 to 1995, with a total of 110 episodes.-Overview:The series was given a pair of consecutive Peabody Awards: in 1991–92 for the show's "depict[ion] in a comedic and often poetic way, [of] the cultural clash between a...
and Frasier
Frasier
Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...
" but "can't resist the lure of cheap and obvious one-liners"; Mattin calls William's performance is "typically slushy and ultimately likeable" and "Ribisi's a performance that "really shines", but notes that the viewer is mostly subjected to "limp gags based on [Hunter]'s compulsive swearing, and Harrelson's cliché-ridden small-town hick stupidity/"