| My One and Only | |
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Promotional film poster |
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| Directed by | Richard Loncraine |
| Produced by | Aaron Ryder Ara Katz Art Spigel |
| Written by | Charlie Peters |
| Starring | Renée Zellweger Logan Lerman Mark Rendall Eric McCormack Chris Noth Nick Stahl Steven Weber Kevin Bacon |
| Music by | Mark Isham |
| Distributed by | Herrick Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | August 21, 2009 (limited) |
| Running time | 108 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2,484,006[1] (Worldwide) |
My One and Only is a 2009 comedy film loosely based on a story about George Hamilton's early life on the road with his mother and brother, featuring anecdotes that Hamilton had told to Merv Griffin.[2] Griffin pitched the idea for the script, and had shepherded the project from idea to production, until his death in 2007. His company serves as one of the film's producers.[2]
My One and Only is directed by Richard Loncraine, written by Charlie Peters and stars Renée Zellweger as Hamilton's mother.[2]
Contents |
In New York City in 1953, Ann Deveraux lives with her bandleader husband Danny, their 15-year-old son George, and Ann's somewhat older effeminate son Robbie. Ann does not seem very interested in her children's lives; she does not even remember which school they attend. After catching Danny in an affair, Ann tells him she is leaving him and taking the children with her. She removes cash from her safe deposit box and sends George out with it to buy a Cadillac. The salesmen are suspicious, but Ann drops by later herself.
Ann embarks with Robbie and George on a road trip through the United States, in search of a husband to fund a new life for her and her boys. They first stay in Boston and Pittsburgh. Several men turn out to be disappointments for Ann. One has financial problems and asks for a large sum of money; when she does not seem willing to give it, he steals the money in her purse, unable to pay for the lavish dinner they both shared. Another man, one Ann met briefly at a party a year before, offers to pay for it, eventually leading the two to date and become engaged. But when Ann and George discover his abusiveness, they leave. One man sexually assaults her; one is in love with another woman. She becomes engaged to a man who she later discovers is a polygamist. Ann is briefly put in jail after chatting in a bar with a man who turns out to be an undercover police officer, who takes her for a prostitute and charges her with solicitation.
George decides he wants to live with his father, but Danny turns him down because he is often on the road for his work. George is greatly disappointed and concludes that Danny does not love him. Later, when George asks Danny why he does not support them financially, he says he sent money several times, but Ann always returned it.
Ann does not like her sister in St. Louis. She has always said she would have to be desperate to go to her. Now, however, they go there anyway, so George concludes that Ann has become officially desperate. While they stay there, George and his sister agree that he will go on living there when Ann moves on with Robbie to Los Angeles. Unhappy that his mother does not know him personally, they argue; when Ann gets frustrated she slaps him, causing him to walk out of the house. Ann first protests, but, to George's surprise, accepts his decision after all. Near Albuquerque, when Ann and Robbie give a couple a ride, the man attempts to rob them, threatening Ann with a knife, but he is foiled when Robbie points a gun at him and fires a warning shot. Ann and Robbie invite the woman to come with them, and she accepts but later steals their money. They phone George, and he leaves his aunt, who reluctantly gives him the rest of his living allowance, allowing him to join Ann and Robbie.
Robbie is an amateur actor and wants to be a professional in Hollywood. George wants to be a writer and move to New York. Danny dies and George goes to the funeral in New York, where he decides to remain. However, later he returns to Los Angeles, and it turns out that George is better at acting than Robbie. Therefore George decides to stay in California with Ann and Robbie. Robbie gets work in costumes. This is where George realizes that they didn't need anyone to take care of them, that they could take care of themselves, and that they were going to be just fine.
Filming took place in the Baltimore area beginning on June 9, 2008. Part of this filming took place in the Institute of Notre Dame private high school.[3] Other locations included Mount Vernon, Baltimore and the 26-acre (110,000 m2) estate Tyrconnell near Lake Roland. For several weeks in early August 2008, further filming took place in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Many of the scenes include the use of an azure blue 1953 Cadillac Eldorado.[2] The 1953 Eldorado "hero car" (#87 out of just 532 Cadillac Eldorados made that year) was used at the film's premiere in New York City on August 18, 2009 at the Paris Theater, Manhattan.
The jazzy score to My One and Only was composed by Mark Isham, who recorded it with a 20-piece jazz orchestra ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the LA Sound Gallery in Burbank, California.[6]
The film was released on August 21, 2009, in New York City, New York, and Los Angeles, California.[7] On September 4, 2009 the release was expanded to 20 markets across the US.[8] The film was also released in the Netherlands on September 10, 2009.[9]
Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a rating of 71% based on 65 reviews.[10] Selected top critics gave the film a rating of 80% based on 20 reviews.[11]
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