You Can Thank Me Later
Encyclopedia
You Can Thank Me Later is a 1998
Canadian comedy drama film directed by Shimon Dotan
. The film is based on a play titled Hyper-Allergenic written and adapted for the screen by Oren Safdie
.
Shirley Cooperberg (Ellen Burstyn
) is the strong-willed matriarch of a well-heeled Montreal
Jewish family. While her husband is under the surgeon
's scalpel
, her children arrive at the hospital. Eli (Ted Levine) is an oft-divorced, failed writer; Susan (Amanda Plummer) has been pouring her myriad neuroses onto canvas but has yet to find an appreciative audience; and Edward (Mark Blum) is a successful producer of touring Broadway plays. They are the picture-perfect embodiment of a dysfunctional family
.
Expanding on Safdie's play, director Shimon Dotan wades into Neil Simon territory. The recriminations, failures and barely contained bile hurled amongst principals are familiar in their wickedly funny, combative bent. It's a dry humor laden with modern-day angst and given a slightly novel spin when transplanted from New York to bilingual Quebec. Otherwise, the uptown group share the affluence and anxieties of Simon's Manhattanites.
Also in the stew are a mistress (Geneviève Bujold
) posing as a nun, Eli's ex-wife (Mary McDonnell
) and son (Jacob Tierney
), a feisty nurse (Genevieve Brouillette
), Edward's wife (Macha Grenon) and an ever-present TV repairman (Roch Lafortune) who's a virtually mute witness to the bad behavior.
1998 in film
-Events:* February 14 - Sharon Stone marries Phil Bronstein.* Former child star Gary Coleman is charged with assaulting a young female bus driver at a California shopping mall.-Top grossing films:...
Canadian comedy drama film directed by Shimon Dotan
Shimon Dotan
Shimon Dotan is an award winning film director, screenwriter, and producer.-Early life:Shimon Dotan was born in Romania in 1949 and moved to Israel in 1959...
. The film is based on a play titled Hyper-Allergenic written and adapted for the screen by Oren Safdie
Oren Safdie
Oren Safdie is a Canadian-American-Israeli playwright and screenwriter, and the son of architect Moshe Safdie.Prior to embarking on a career in writing, he graduated with a Master's in Architecture from Columbia University. He also received an MFA from Columbia University in Fiction Writing...
.
Overview
Conduct under pressure is the source of caustic humor and poignancy in "You Can Thank Me Later." Set primarily in a hospital room where a family awaits the results of the father's operation, the emotional battlefield is a series of zingers that touch sensitive nerves and tickle the funnybone.Shirley Cooperberg (Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn is a leading American actress of film, stage, and television. Burstyn's career began in theatre during the late 1950s, and over the next ten years she appeared in several films and television series before joining the Actors Studio in 1967...
) is the strong-willed matriarch of a well-heeled Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
Jewish family. While her husband is under the surgeon
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
's scalpel
Scalpel
A scalpel, or lancet, is a small and extremely sharp bladed instrument used for surgery, anatomical dissection, and various arts and crafts . Scalpels may be single-use disposable or re-usable. Re-usable scalpels can have attached, resharpenable blades or, more commonly, non-attached, replaceable...
, her children arrive at the hospital. Eli (Ted Levine) is an oft-divorced, failed writer; Susan (Amanda Plummer) has been pouring her myriad neuroses onto canvas but has yet to find an appreciative audience; and Edward (Mark Blum) is a successful producer of touring Broadway plays. They are the picture-perfect embodiment of 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...
.
Expanding on Safdie's play, director Shimon Dotan wades into Neil Simon territory. The recriminations, failures and barely contained bile hurled amongst principals are familiar in their wickedly funny, combative bent. It's a dry humor laden with modern-day angst and given a slightly novel spin when transplanted from New York to bilingual Quebec. Otherwise, the uptown group share the affluence and anxieties of Simon's Manhattanites.
Also in the stew are a mistress (Geneviève Bujold
Geneviève Bujold
Geneviève Bujold is a Canadian actress best known for her portrayal of Anne Boleyn in the 1969 film Anne of the Thousand Days, for which she won a Golden Globe Award for best actress and was nominated for an Academy Award....
) posing as a nun, Eli's ex-wife (Mary McDonnell
Mary McDonnell
Mary Eileen McDonnell is an American film, stage, and television actress. She received an Academy Award nomination for her role as Stands With A Fist in Dances with Wolves, and she is also very well known for her performance as President Laura Roslin in Battlestar Galactica, the President's wife...
) and son (Jacob Tierney
Jacob Tierney
Jacob Daniel Tierney is a Canadian actor, film director and screenwriter.Tierney was born in Montreal, Quebec, the son of veteran producer Kevin Tierney...
), a feisty nurse (Genevieve Brouillette
Geneviève Brouillette
Geneviève Brouillette is a French Canadian television and film actress from Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec.Since 1998 she has gradually appeared in film and she appeared in A Sunday in Kigali in 2006....
), Edward's wife (Macha Grenon) and an ever-present TV repairman (Roch Lafortune) who's a virtually mute witness to the bad behavior.
Cast
- Ellen BurstynEllen BurstynEllen Burstyn is a leading American actress of film, stage, and television. Burstyn's career began in theatre during the late 1950s, and over the next ten years she appeared in several films and television series before joining the Actors Studio in 1967...
... Shirley Cooperberg - Amanda Plummer ... Susan Cooperberg
- Ted LevineTed LevineFrank Theodore "Ted" Levine is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs and Captain Leland Stottlemeyer in the television series Monk.-Early life and career:...
... Eli Cooperberg - Mark BlumMark BlumMark Blum is an American actor in movies, on television and stage.-Career:Blum started acting on stage in the 1970s. Beginning in the 1980s as an actor in movies like Lovesick, Desperately Seeking Susan and Crocodile Dundee, he later appeared in television series as guest, with the failed show...
... Edward Cooperberg - Mary McDonnellMary McDonnellMary Eileen McDonnell is an American film, stage, and television actress. She received an Academy Award nomination for her role as Stands With A Fist in Dances with Wolves, and she is also very well known for her performance as President Laura Roslin in Battlestar Galactica, the President's wife...
... Diane - Geneviève BujoldGeneviève BujoldGeneviève Bujold is a Canadian actress best known for her portrayal of Anne Boleyn in the 1969 film Anne of the Thousand Days, for which she won a Golden Globe Award for best actress and was nominated for an Academy Award....
... Joelle - Jacob TierneyJacob TierneyJacob Daniel Tierney is a Canadian actor, film director and screenwriter.Tierney was born in Montreal, Quebec, the son of veteran producer Kevin Tierney...
... Simon Cooperberg - Roc LaFortune ... TV Repairman
- Macha Grenon ... Linda
- Geneviève BrouilletteGeneviève BrouilletteGeneviève Brouillette is a French Canadian television and film actress from Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec.Since 1998 she has gradually appeared in film and she appeared in A Sunday in Kigali in 2006....
... Nurse - Dorothée BerrymanDorothée BerrymanDorothée Berryman is a noted Canadian actress and singer.- Biography :Born in Quebec City, Quebec, she has played roles in many stage productions, films, and television series including The Red Violin, Rivière-des-Jérémie, Le Déclin de l'empire américain, Les Invasions barbares, Scanners II: The...
... Art Patron