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Sundance Film Festival · 2007

Sundance Film Festival 2007

Premieres

This section comprises "17 selections of the latest work from established American and international directors and world premieres of highly anticipated films".

Programme

17 films · 11 reviews

Jump to a film

An American Crime

A fictionalised account of the true story of a young girl's torturous ordeal at the hands of a troubled mother of seven in 1960s Indianapolis.

(Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Tommy O'Haver; Writer: Tommy O'Haver, Irene Turner; Stars: Ellen Page, Catherine Keener, Hayley McFarland, Ari Graynor, Evan Peters, Bradley Whitford, Hannah Leigh Dworkin, Scout Taylor-Compton, Carlie Westerman, Nick Searcy, James Franco)

World Premiere

Away From Her

Review preview for Away From Her

Mesmerising, heart-wrenching, and a remarkably intimate vision.

Chris · 4 out of 5
A married couple come to terms with Alzheimer's. Enjoying a limited Valentine's re-release in some London cinemas.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2006; Director: Sarah Polley; Writer: Sarah Polley, adapted from the story by Alice Monro; Stars: Julie Christie, Gordon Pinsent, Olympia Dukakis, Michael Murphy, Kristen Thomson, Wendy Crewson, Alberta Watson)

Full review

US Premiere and Salt Lake City Gala

Black Snake Moan

Review preview for Black Snake Moan

On the one hand, Rae's feelings of lust are presented as unhealthy and a product of abuse; on the other, the audience is encouraged to lust over her.

Jennie Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
Bluesman tries to 'cure' nymphomaniac in messy melodrama, with chains.

(Country: US; Year: 2006; Director: Craig Brewer; Writer: Craig Brewer; Stars: Samuel L Jackson, Christina Ricci, John Cothran Jr, Justin Timberlake, S Epatha Merkerson, David Banner, Bevan Bell, Cody Block, Clare Grant, Robert L. Jacobs, Rhianna Kelling)

Full review See: Sundance Film Festival 2006: Day 8

World Premiere

Chapter 27

Review preview for Chapter 27

The film is more documentary-drama than exploitation fare.

Tony Sullivan · 4 out of 5
The days leading up to the assassination of John Lennon.

(Country: US, Canada; Year: 2007; Director: Jarrett Schaefer; Writer: Jarrett Schaefer; Stars: Jared Leto, Lindsay Lohan, Judah Friedlander, Ursula Abbott, George Bryant II, Kevin Cannon, Mark Lindsay Chapman, Melissa Demyan, Jeane Fournier, Molly Griffith, Matthew Humphreys,)

Full review

World Premiere

Chicago 10

Dramatised reconstruction and archival footage concerning the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago the subsequent “civil unrest” and trials that followed.

(Country: USA; Year: 2006; Director: Brett Morgen; Writer: Brett Morgen; Stars: Hank Azaria, Dylan Baker, David Dellinger, Abbie Hoffman, William Kunstler, Nick Nolte, Jerry Rubin, Mark Ruffalo, Roy Scheider, Liev Schreiber, Bobby Seale)

Full review

World Premiere. Opening night Park City

Clubland (Introducing The Dwights)

Review preview for Clubland

A touching and honest look at awkward teenage romance under the disapproving eye of mum.

Tony Sullivan · 4.5 out of 5
Comedy performer finds growing old is a funny business.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2007; Director: Cherie Nowlan; Writer: Keith Thompson; Stars: Brenda Blethyn, Emma Booth, Peter Callan, Khan Chittenden, Brendan Clearkin, Russell Dykstra, Rebecca Gibney, Frankie J. Holden, Philip Quast, Katie Wall, Richard Wilson)

Full review See: Sundance Film Festival 2007: Day 4

World Premiere

The Good Night

Review preview for The Good Night

Flawed, but with enough interest to suggest Jake Paltrow may be one to keep an eye out for in future.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
A pop-star turned jingle writer seeks solace from his midlife crisis in his dreams.

(Country: US, UK, Germany; Year: 2007; Director: Jake Paltrow; Writer: Jake Paltrow; Stars: Penélope Cruz, Martin Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Simon Pegg, Danny DeVito, Keith Allen, Skye Bennett, Steffan Boje, Franco Bulaon, Lucy DeVito, Sonia Doubell) , Trailer

Full review

World Premiere

King Of California

An unstable dad who after getting out of a mental institution tries to convince his daughter that there's Spanish gold buried somewhere under suburbia.

(Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Mike Cahill; Writer: Mike Cahill; Stars: Michael Douglas, Evan Rachel Wood, Willis Burks II, Laura Kachergus, Paul Lieber, Kathleen Wilhoite, Anne L. Nathan, Arthur Santiago, Ashley Greene, Ian Hopps, Anna Khaja)

World Premiere

Life Support

The African-American community's HIV crisis seen through the eyes of a survivor who is a mother, a former addict and an AIDS activist.

(Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Nelson George; Writer: Nelson George, Jim McKay, Hannah Weyer; Stars: Queen Latifah, Anna Deavere Smith, Wendell Pierce, Rachel Nicks, Evan Ross, Gloria Reuben, Tony Rock, Darrin Dewitt Henson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Limary Agosto, Carlo Alban)

World Premiere

Longford

Review preview for Longford

Excellent acting alone can’t stop the nagging suspicion that things are being grossly simplified.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Docudrama about penal reform campaigner Lord Longford, with particular reference to Moors murderer Myra Hindley.

(Country: UK; Year: 2006; Director: Tom Hooper; Writer: Peter Morgan; Stars: Jim Broadbent, Samantha Morton, Lindsay Duncan, Andy Serkis, Robert Pugh, Lee Boardman)

Full review

International Premiere

The Nines

Review preview for The Nines

After all the care taken in this film, it's sad that the resolution is so cliched.

Andrew Robertson · 3 out of 5
Alternative reality comedy thriller about a man who may or may not be a celebrity.

(Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: John August; Writer: John August; Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Hope Davis, Melissa McCarthy, Elle Fanning, Dahlia Salem, David Denman, Octavia Spencer, Ben Falcone, Sean Andrews, Greg Baine, Nicholas Garren) , Official site , Trailer

Full review

World Premiere

Resurrecting the Champ

A down on his luck sports reporter has his life and career upturned when he lands the story of his career: A former heavyweight boxing superstar, previously thought to be dead, is living his final years on the streets. Finally, he can earn the respect of his wife and editor-but the dark secret he finds may be too much for him to bear.

(Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Rod Lurie; Writer: Michael Bortman, Allison Burnett, Michael Bortman, Allison Burnett, JR Moehringer; Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Josh Hartnett, Kathryn Morris, Dakota Goyo, Alan Alda, Rachel Nichols, Teri Hatcher, Kristen Shaw, Nick Sandow, David Paymer, Harry J. Lennix)

World Premiere

The Savages

Review preview for The Savages

A disturbingly accurate portrayal of the New York intelligentsia.

Ben Sillis · 4.5 out of 5
A brother and sister must cope with their elderly father’s increasing care needs.

(Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Tamara Jenkins; Writer: Tamara Jenkins; Stars: Laura Linney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Philip Bosco, Peter Friedman, David Zayas, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Cara Seymour, Tonye Patano, Guy Boyd, Debra Monk, Rosemary Murphy)

Full review See: Laura Linney Interview about The Savages , Sundance Film Festival 2006: Day 10

World Premiere

Son Of Rambow (Son of Rambow: A Home Movie)

Review preview for Son Of Rambow

The script sizzles with humour, but more importantly, like Danny Boyle's Millions, it carries an emotional weight.

Amber Wilkinson · 5 out of 5
Delightful comedy about childlike imagination and love of the movies.

(Country: UK; Year: 2007; Director: Garth Jennings; Writer: Garth Jennings; Stars: Bill Milner, Will Poulter, Zofia Brooks, Neil Dudgeon, Tallulah Evans, Adam Godley, Diane Leach, Paul Ritter, Sam Spivack, Jessica Hynes, Eric Sykes) , Official site

Full review See: Garth Jennings interview about Son Of Rambow , Sundance Film Festival 2006: Day 7 , Sundance Film Festival 2007: Day 6

World Premiere

Summer Rain (El Camino De Los Ingleses)

The film is adapted from an award-winning novel written by the director's childhood friend, Antonio Soler, and is a deeply personal and poetic recreation of their generation growing up in Malaga in the late Seventies.

(Country: Spain, UK; Year: 2006; Director: Antonio Banderas; Writer: Antonio Soler, Antonio Soler; Stars: Alberto Amarilla, María Ruiz, Félix Gómez, Raúl Arévalo, Marta Nieto, Mario Casas, Fran Perea, Antonio Garrido, Antonio Zafra, Victor Perez, Cuca Escribano)

World Premiere

Trade

Adriana is a 13-year-old girl from Mexico City whose kidnapping by sex traffickers sets in motion a desperate mission by her 17-year-old brother, Jorge, to save her. As Jorge dodges immigration officers and incredible obstacles to track the girls' abductors, he meets Ray, a Texas cop whose own family loss to sex trafficking leads him to become an ally in the boy's quest.

(Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Marco Kreuzpaintner; Writer: Jose Rivera, Peter Landesman; Stars: Kevin Kline, Cesar Ramos, Alicja Bachleda-Curus, Paulina Gaitan, Marco Pérez, Linda Emond, Zack Ward, Kate del Castillo, Tim Reid, Pavel Lychnikoff, Natalia Traven)

World Premiere

Year Of The Dog

Review preview for Year Of The Dog

One of the rare chick flicks that doesn’t appear to hate women, Year Of The Dog contains its essentially sappy narrative within a membrane of stabbing humor and ingenious reaction shots.

The Exile · 4 out of 5
Offbeat fairytale about a woman who tries to fill a void in her life after her dog dies.

(Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Mike White; Writer: Mike White; Stars: Molly Shannon, Laura Dern, Peter Sarsgaard, John C Reilly, Regina King, Thomas McCarthy, Josh Pais, Amy Schlagel, Zoe Schlagel, Dale Godboldo, Inara George)

Full review

World Premiere