Sweet November (2001 film)

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Sweet November

Directed by	Pat O'Connor
Produced by	Elliott Kastner Steven Reuther Deborah Stoff Erwin Stoff
Written by	Paul Yurick Kurt Voelker
Starring	Keanu Reeves Charlize Theron Jason Isaacs Greg Germann Liam Aiken Michael Rosenbaum
Music by	Christopher Young
Cinematography	Edward Lachman
Editing by	Anne V. Coates
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	2001
Running time	119 min.
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	$40,000,000
IMDb profile

This article is about the 2001 film, for the article on the 1968 version, see Sweet November (1968 film).

Sweet November is a romantic drama starring Charlize Theron and Keanu Reeves. The film is based on an earlier version made in 1968 and written by Herman Raucher. Due to its poor reception by critics the film was nominated for Worst Remake or Sequel and both Reeves and Theron nominated for Worst Actor and Worst Actress (respectively) at the 2001 Golden Raspberry Awards.

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The movie begins as a man named Nelson Moss (Keanu Reeves) climbs out of bed one morning, ignoring his girlfriend Angelica (Lauren Graham) and climbing into the shower thinking of nothing except his new "hot dog" advertising client. His girlfriend tells him they need to talk but he has other things on his mind. It is revealed that he's a cocky, highly paid advertising executive and has won many awards for his campaigns.

Nelson gets to work in a high rise office in downtown San Francisco and barks out orders to his staff, trying to put the final touches on the proper way to sell a hot dog. His secretary reminds him that he has a 1:00 appointment at the DMV and he can't break it.

He reluctantly goes down to the DMV office and prepares to take the written test. A woman named Sara Deever (Charlize Theron) sits in a chair beside him and makes a spectacle of herself, dropping groceries and making quite a disturbance. Nelson gets stumped on one questions and whispers to Sara for help. She whispers back that she hasn't gotten that far yet. The instructor hears her and kicks her out of the class.

When Nelson finishes and goes to his car, Sara is there waiting for him, sitting on his Mercedes. He offers to give her some money to "buy redemption" but she won't take it. Nelson orders her off his car and drives away.

That night, Nelson's bellman calls up to his room to say there is a strange woman there asking for him. He goes down to find Sara, who wants a ride and when Nelson refuses, she starts making a scene. To quiet her down, he agrees to take her to wherever she wants.

She directs him all the way to Oakland and has him park his car in a warehouse area. She puts on a wig and glasses, takes his keys and runs inside. Suddenly alarms start going off and she runs back to his car carrying a bag with a couple puppies. Turns out they were going to be used for experimentation and she rescued them.

Nelson drives Sara home and she tells him that if he comes up for some cocoa, she will call it even. He says no, so she tells him to meet her tomorrow at 8:00. He goes upstairs and she tells him of her plan for him. She explains that he is living in a dark box. She wants him to spend the entire month of November with her so she can open the box and let some light into his life. He decides she's nuts and leaves.

The next day Nelson presents his "hot dog" sales pitch, which ends with a couple almost pornographic images of girls and big hot dogs. The Hot Dog executives aren't at all happy and decide to take their business elsewhere. Nelson is fired and when he gets home, discovers that his girlfriend is leaving him.

His bellman rings and tells him he has a package for him from "that crazy girl." He opens the box and finds one of the puppies that she earlier rescued. He races to her apartment and has it out with her once and for all. One thing leads to another and they end up making out on the couch. They get into another argument and he begins to leave when she finally convinces him to spend the night.

The next morning Nelson meets Sara downstairs neighbor Chaz (Jason Isaacs). In fact, she has thrown out Nelson's clothes and replaced them with some of Chaz's jeans and sweatshirt. Nelson leaves again and when he gets outside finds a wierd young kid, a strange neighborhood and realizes he is in a real predicament. He finally concedes to stay for one day.

Nelson and Sara spend the day roaming the beach, walking dogs, eating ice cream and just having a great time. He is starting to fall in love with her.

Nelson set up a meeting with the areas top advertising firm and is very impressive at lunch. The man offers Nelson a job but he is also very rude to a waitress. Nelson with the training that Sara has given him, realizes that he could never work for a man like this and turns him down.

Nelson rushes to meet with Sara and she is very hurt because she's sure he accepted a new job. He tells her that he turned the job down, gives her flowers and proposes to her but she says no. This was only supposed to last a month. Any shorter wouldn't be enough and any longer would lead to marriage proposals.

They are invited to dinner and dancing at Chaz's house. Nelson is shocked when he discovers that Chaz is a transvestite and he and his "girlfriend", another transvestite have a wonderful dinner prepared for he and Sara, who isn't fealing very well and they skip the dancing and leave early. The reason for this is that Sara is always having headaches and is over-medicating herself behind Nelson's back. Nelson confronts her he discovers all the medicine and demands to know what is going on. She starts vomiting and is rushed to the hospital. Chaz tells him that she was diagnosed with cancer a year ago and refuses any treatment. She wants to live each day to its fullness. She has Keanu take her from the hospital and he carries her home. She tells him to leave because she doesn't want him to see her like this... it's over between them.

At a thanksgiving dinner with Chaz and some of her neighbors, Nelson appears at the window wearing a santa outfit and carrying a big bag of presents. Everyone leaves while Nelson gives her presents, one at a time.

Nelson and Sara spend the night together again but in the morning, she is packing. She tells him that her condition is getting worse and she wants all his memories of her to be happy ones. She is going to leave and be with her family. She runs out the door and he chases after her. They get outside and have another little talk. She blindfolds him and he starts walking toward her. He stops, takes the blindfold off and she's gone.