Twister (1989 film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Twister

Directed by	Michael Almereyda
Produced by	Dan Ireland William J. Quigley Wieland Schulz-Keil
Written by	Mary Robison Michael Almereyda
Starring	Suzy Amis Crispin Glover Harry Dean Stanton Dylan McDermott Jenny Wright William S. Burroughs
Music by	Hans Zimmer
Distributed by	Vestron Pictures Ltd. Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s)	June 1989
Running time	93 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Twister is a 1989 comedy film starring Suzy Amis, Crispin Glover, Harry Dean Stanton, and Dylan McDermott.

[edit] Plot

The film relates the story of the eccentric Cleveland family during the event of a tornado hitting their rural Kansas home. The head of the family is Eugene Cleveland (Stanton), who built a soda pop empire and lives off the proceeds. His two adult children, Maureen (Amis), and Howdy (Glover), still live with him in his mansion along with Maureen's daughter Violet and a housekeeper. The siblings Maureen and Howdy are directionless and conspire to find their mother who left unexpectedly when they were young.

Howdy finds an envelope with their Mother's address and he and Maureen take Violet with them in an effort to track her down.

The address on the envelope leads them to a farm in which they meet an unnamed character played by William Burroughs. Burroughs tells them he bought the farm from her and met her once when they were in escrow; that "Jim" spoke with her mostly. When the kids ask if they can speak to Jim Burroughs replies "Jim, got kicked in the head by a horse last year. [He] went around killing horses for a while, until he ate the insides of a clock and he died" (a line originally found in John Millington Synge's 1907 play Playboy of the Western World). He then indicates that he thinks she moved to Ireland and that becomes the focus of their drive to see her and forgive her. At dinner one evening, Howdy reveals to his father that he and Maureen have actively attempted to find their mother. Eugene informs them that she died in a mental institution and didn't even recognize him toward the end. Maureen's boyfriend Chris (McDermott), the father of Violet, appears after a lengthy absence determined to win Maureen back. He eventually wins her over and they decide to get married. Meanwhile, Eugene absconds from his immediate family with his housekeeper in tow.