The Pallbearer
Encyclopedia
The Pallbearer is a 1996 American
romantic comedy film
starring David Schwimmer
, Gwyneth Paltrow
, Toni Collette
, Michael Vartan
, Michael Rapaport
, and Barbara Hershey
. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard
section at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival
.
) is a 25-year-old man who sleeps in a bunk bed and lives with his mother. One day Tom is contacted by an old high school classmate's mother, Ruth Abernathy (Barbara Hershey
), to tell him that his 'best friend,' Bill Abernathy, committed suicide, and is asked to give a eulogy at the funeral. Tom does not remember his friend, but out of sympathy attends the funeral as a pallbearer
. While Ruth struggles with her loss and Tom with his supposedly failed memory the two develop a romance. Meanwhile, Tom's unrequited high school crush, Julie DeMarco (Gwyneth Paltrow
), re-enters his life.
At the late Abernathy's funeral, Tom's vague and impersonal eulogy confuses the Abernathy family and amuses Tom's friends. Afterwards, Julie upset at their lack of respect, tries to leave as the pallbearers carry Bill's coffin out of the church. Tom, as one of the pallbearers, drags the coffin and the rest of the pallbearers after Julie. He asks her if she knew Bill, since she cried when she saw him in the coffin. She replies that she did not know Bill, but was saddened by the image of Bill in the coffin. Tom asks Julie out for coffee still holding up Bill's coffin. Upset about Tom's indifference towards Bill, he is forcefully relieved of his duty as a pallbearer by Bill's relatives. Visibly upset, Ruth states that Tom is in Bill's will.
Afterwards, Tom calls Julie about the coffee date and tries to hide that he lives with his mother. Julie asks if Scott and Cynthia come along for a double date. Tom inherits Bill's car in the late Abernathy's will. It is the same one Bill used to commit suicide. During dinner with Scott and Cynthia, it is apparent that Julie and Scott have more in common and listen to the same musicians. Conversation between Tom and Julie is stilted and awkward, while Scott slips up and reveals that Tom still lives with his mother.
Disgusted by Scott's behavior during dinner, Tom reluctantly follows through with the plan to drive Julie home separating from Scott and Cynthia. When they reached Julie's home, Julie reveals that she remembered Tom in high school. As Tom leans in for a kiss, Julie turns her head colliding against Tom's. Julie states she had gave off the wrong signal to Tom, since she is planning on moving away.
Tom is rejected at the end of his second interview and goes to Ruth Abernathy's to help pack Bill's belongings. While looking through pictures of Bill growing up, Ruth and Tom kiss and have sex on Bill's bed. Ruth tells Tom about Bill's father, a Vietnam
War veteran, who is implied to have died in the war
. Tom in turn tells Ruth about Bill's fictitious love interest based completely on Tom's infatuation with Julie. Tom and Ruth continue to see each other as Tom reveals more about his own affections for Julie in the guise of Bill's affections and Tom's attempts to forget about Julie in Ruth's arms.
Tom repeatedly watches Julie working at a records store while parked on the street. One day after the shop closed, Tom sees Julie let Scott into the store. Jumping into the driver's seat, Tom drives by and stops to see Scott lean in to kiss Julie. When Scott sees Tom, Tom drives off.
The next morning, Julie comes by to talk to Tom about Scott's attempt of infidelity, not knowing Tom had witnessed the entire event. Reminiscing about high school band, Julie tells Tom that she wants to just drive away for a year just to be on her own. Julie invites Tom to a concert she had planned on going with her former fiancé, Jed.
When arriving at Ruth's, Tom is rushed to a family gathering of Abernathy's. At Aunt Lucille's, Tom sees that Ruth had overheard him talking to Julie about their date later that evening. When Tom's car breaks down, Julie finds Ruth's charm bracelet, so Tom tells her that he has been helping Bill Abernathy's mother since the funeral. Julie mistakenly assumes an innocent relationship between Tom and Ruth.
After a tow truck takes Tom and Julie back to Tom's house, Tom sneaks into his mother's room to get her car keys, while Julie enters Tom's room. Tom reveals he wanted to dance with her at a homecoming dance and she kisses him. As they fall into Tom's bed, Ruth calls Tom finding out that Julie is in the room with him.
When Tom goes to see Brad for advice, he tells Tom to drop the bracelet with a letter into a mailbox for a clean break with Ruth. Tom does as Brad tells him and proceeds to continue dating Julie. For Julie's birthday, Julie ask Tom to go with her to meet her parents. On that morning, Tom sees Ruth carrying the envelope with her bracelet and Tom's letter, so Tom sneaks away through the back door. At brunch with Julie's parents, it is immediately apparent that her father disapproves of Tom and Julie's relationship when he keeps asking why he is there with them. After Tom pleads with Julie to abandon her plans to leave for a year, Ruth barges into the restaurant and humiliates Tom by revealing their past relationship alienating Julie.
At Brad's bachelor party, Tom makes a scene at the strip club telling Brad not to marry Lauren. Tom says Lauren is an albatross around his neck and Scott thinks so as well. The next day, Scott apologizes to Tom and they reconcile. While talking about past crushes growing up, they both realize that there was another Tom who moved away after junior high school. Tom brings the other Tom to Ruth, who appreciates the gesture to reminisce about her son. They come to an understanding about needing someone at the time, Ruth mourning her son and Tom being rejected by his childhood crush, Julie.
At Brad's wedding, Tom patches his friendship with Brad approving of his marriage to Lauren, as Scott and Cynthia appear to talk civilly together hinting of reconciliation. During the reception, Tom sees Julie and gives her the keys to his car as a belated birthday present for her trip. She hints to him from a previous conversation that she wants to dance.
Tom moves into Julie's apartment while she is on her trip.
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
romantic comedy film
Romantic comedy film
Romantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily"...
starring David Schwimmer
David Schwimmer
David Lawrence Schwimmer is an American actor and director of television and film. He was born in New York City, and his family moved to Los Angeles when he was two. He began his acting career performing in school plays at Beverly Hills High School. In 1988, he graduated from Northwestern...
, Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Kate Paltrow is an American actress and singer. She made her acting debut on stage in 1990 and started appearing in films in 1991. After appearing in several films throughout the decade, Paltrow gained early notice for her work in films such as Se7en and Emma...
, Toni Collette
Toni Collette
Antonia "Toni" Collette is an Australian actress and musician, known for her acting work on stage, television and film as well as a secondary career as the lead singer of the band Toni Collette & the Finish....
, Michael Vartan
Michael Vartan
Michael S. Vartan is a French-American film and television actor. He is probably best known for the role of Michael Vaughn on the American television action drama Alias...
, Michael Rapaport
Michael Rapaport
Michael David Rapaport is an American, actor, director and a comedian. He has acted in more than forty films since the early 1990s...
, and Barbara Hershey
Barbara Hershey
Barbara Hershey , also known as Barbara Seagull, is an American actress. In a career spanning nearly 50 years, she has played a variety of roles on television and in cinema, in several genres including westerns and comedies...
. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's Official Selection. It is run at the Salle Debussy, parallel to the competition for the Palme d'Or.This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob...
section at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival
1996 Cannes Film Festival
-Jury:*Francis Ford Coppola *Nathalie Baye *Greta Scacchi, actrice *Michael Ballhaus *Henry Chapier *Atom Egoyan *Eiko Ishioka *Krzysztof Piesiewicz *Antonio Tabucchi...
.
Plot Synopsis
Tom Thompson (David SchwimmerDavid Schwimmer
David Lawrence Schwimmer is an American actor and director of television and film. He was born in New York City, and his family moved to Los Angeles when he was two. He began his acting career performing in school plays at Beverly Hills High School. In 1988, he graduated from Northwestern...
) is a 25-year-old man who sleeps in a bunk bed and lives with his mother. One day Tom is contacted by an old high school classmate's mother, Ruth Abernathy (Barbara Hershey
Barbara Hershey
Barbara Hershey , also known as Barbara Seagull, is an American actress. In a career spanning nearly 50 years, she has played a variety of roles on television and in cinema, in several genres including westerns and comedies...
), to tell him that his 'best friend,' Bill Abernathy, committed suicide, and is asked to give a eulogy at the funeral. Tom does not remember his friend, but out of sympathy attends the funeral as a pallbearer
Pallbearer
A pall-bearer is one of several funeral participants who helps carry the casket of a deceased person from a religious or memorial service or viewing either directly to a cemetery or mausoleum, or to and from the hearse which carries the coffin....
. While Ruth struggles with her loss and Tom with his supposedly failed memory the two develop a romance. Meanwhile, Tom's unrequited high school crush, Julie DeMarco (Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Kate Paltrow is an American actress and singer. She made her acting debut on stage in 1990 and started appearing in films in 1991. After appearing in several films throughout the decade, Paltrow gained early notice for her work in films such as Se7en and Emma...
), re-enters his life.
At the late Abernathy's funeral, Tom's vague and impersonal eulogy confuses the Abernathy family and amuses Tom's friends. Afterwards, Julie upset at their lack of respect, tries to leave as the pallbearers carry Bill's coffin out of the church. Tom, as one of the pallbearers, drags the coffin and the rest of the pallbearers after Julie. He asks her if she knew Bill, since she cried when she saw him in the coffin. She replies that she did not know Bill, but was saddened by the image of Bill in the coffin. Tom asks Julie out for coffee still holding up Bill's coffin. Upset about Tom's indifference towards Bill, he is forcefully relieved of his duty as a pallbearer by Bill's relatives. Visibly upset, Ruth states that Tom is in Bill's will.
Afterwards, Tom calls Julie about the coffee date and tries to hide that he lives with his mother. Julie asks if Scott and Cynthia come along for a double date. Tom inherits Bill's car in the late Abernathy's will. It is the same one Bill used to commit suicide. During dinner with Scott and Cynthia, it is apparent that Julie and Scott have more in common and listen to the same musicians. Conversation between Tom and Julie is stilted and awkward, while Scott slips up and reveals that Tom still lives with his mother.
Disgusted by Scott's behavior during dinner, Tom reluctantly follows through with the plan to drive Julie home separating from Scott and Cynthia. When they reached Julie's home, Julie reveals that she remembered Tom in high school. As Tom leans in for a kiss, Julie turns her head colliding against Tom's. Julie states she had gave off the wrong signal to Tom, since she is planning on moving away.
Tom is rejected at the end of his second interview and goes to Ruth Abernathy's to help pack Bill's belongings. While looking through pictures of Bill growing up, Ruth and Tom kiss and have sex on Bill's bed. Ruth tells Tom about Bill's father, a Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
War veteran, who is implied to have died in the war
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Tom in turn tells Ruth about Bill's fictitious love interest based completely on Tom's infatuation with Julie. Tom and Ruth continue to see each other as Tom reveals more about his own affections for Julie in the guise of Bill's affections and Tom's attempts to forget about Julie in Ruth's arms.
Tom repeatedly watches Julie working at a records store while parked on the street. One day after the shop closed, Tom sees Julie let Scott into the store. Jumping into the driver's seat, Tom drives by and stops to see Scott lean in to kiss Julie. When Scott sees Tom, Tom drives off.
The next morning, Julie comes by to talk to Tom about Scott's attempt of infidelity, not knowing Tom had witnessed the entire event. Reminiscing about high school band, Julie tells Tom that she wants to just drive away for a year just to be on her own. Julie invites Tom to a concert she had planned on going with her former fiancé, Jed.
When arriving at Ruth's, Tom is rushed to a family gathering of Abernathy's. At Aunt Lucille's, Tom sees that Ruth had overheard him talking to Julie about their date later that evening. When Tom's car breaks down, Julie finds Ruth's charm bracelet, so Tom tells her that he has been helping Bill Abernathy's mother since the funeral. Julie mistakenly assumes an innocent relationship between Tom and Ruth.
After a tow truck takes Tom and Julie back to Tom's house, Tom sneaks into his mother's room to get her car keys, while Julie enters Tom's room. Tom reveals he wanted to dance with her at a homecoming dance and she kisses him. As they fall into Tom's bed, Ruth calls Tom finding out that Julie is in the room with him.
When Tom goes to see Brad for advice, he tells Tom to drop the bracelet with a letter into a mailbox for a clean break with Ruth. Tom does as Brad tells him and proceeds to continue dating Julie. For Julie's birthday, Julie ask Tom to go with her to meet her parents. On that morning, Tom sees Ruth carrying the envelope with her bracelet and Tom's letter, so Tom sneaks away through the back door. At brunch with Julie's parents, it is immediately apparent that her father disapproves of Tom and Julie's relationship when he keeps asking why he is there with them. After Tom pleads with Julie to abandon her plans to leave for a year, Ruth barges into the restaurant and humiliates Tom by revealing their past relationship alienating Julie.
At Brad's bachelor party, Tom makes a scene at the strip club telling Brad not to marry Lauren. Tom says Lauren is an albatross around his neck and Scott thinks so as well. The next day, Scott apologizes to Tom and they reconcile. While talking about past crushes growing up, they both realize that there was another Tom who moved away after junior high school. Tom brings the other Tom to Ruth, who appreciates the gesture to reminisce about her son. They come to an understanding about needing someone at the time, Ruth mourning her son and Tom being rejected by his childhood crush, Julie.
At Brad's wedding, Tom patches his friendship with Brad approving of his marriage to Lauren, as Scott and Cynthia appear to talk civilly together hinting of reconciliation. During the reception, Tom sees Julie and gives her the keys to his car as a belated birthday present for her trip. She hints to him from a previous conversation that she wants to dance.
Tom moves into Julie's apartment while she is on her trip.
Cast
- David SchwimmerDavid SchwimmerDavid Lawrence Schwimmer is an American actor and director of television and film. He was born in New York City, and his family moved to Los Angeles when he was two. He began his acting career performing in school plays at Beverly Hills High School. In 1988, he graduated from Northwestern...
as Tom Thompson - Gwyneth PaltrowGwyneth PaltrowGwyneth Kate Paltrow is an American actress and singer. She made her acting debut on stage in 1990 and started appearing in films in 1991. After appearing in several films throughout the decade, Paltrow gained early notice for her work in films such as Se7en and Emma...
as Julie DeMarco - Toni ColletteToni ColletteAntonia "Toni" Collette is an Australian actress and musician, known for her acting work on stage, television and film as well as a secondary career as the lead singer of the band Toni Collette & the Finish....
as Cynthia - Michael VartanMichael VartanMichael S. Vartan is a French-American film and television actor. He is probably best known for the role of Michael Vaughn on the American television action drama Alias...
as Scott - Michael RapaportMichael RapaportMichael David Rapaport is an American, actor, director and a comedian. He has acted in more than forty films since the early 1990s...
as Brad Schorr - Barbara HersheyBarbara HersheyBarbara Hershey , also known as Barbara Seagull, is an American actress. In a career spanning nearly 50 years, she has played a variety of roles on television and in cinema, in several genres including westerns and comedies...
as Ruth Abernathy - Carol KaneCarol KaneCarolyn Laurie "Carol" Kane is an American actress. Kane has worked on the stage, on the screen and in television. She appeared on the television series Taxi in the early 1980s, as the wife of the character played by Andy Kaufman. She received two Emmy Awards for her work...
as Mrs. Thompson - Bitty SchramBitty SchramElizabeth Natalie "Bitty" Schram is an American actress, most widely known for having played Sharona Fleming in the television series Monk.-Career:...
as Lauren - Jean De Baer as Suzanne DeMarco
- Mark MargolisMark MargolisMark Margolis is an American actor who has been making films since 1976.Margolis went to Temple University briefly before moving to New York City, where he studied drama with Stella Adler and at the Actors Studio...
as Philip DeMarco - Elizabeth FranzElizabeth FranzElizabeth Franz is an American stage and television actress.-Life and career:Franz was born Betty Jean Frankovich in Akron, Ohio, the daughter of a factory worker....
as Aunt Lucille