Hush (1998 film)

Hush
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jonathan Darby
Produced by	Douglas Wick Helen Whitfield
Written by	Jonathan Darby Jane Rusconi (screenplay) Jonathan Darby (story)
Starring	Jessica Lange Gwyneth Paltrow
Music by	Christopher Young
Cinematography	Andrew Dunn
Editing by	Lynzee Klingman Robert Leighton Dan Rae
Distributed by	TriStar Pictures
Release dates	March 6, 1998 (1998-03-06)
Running time	96 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$13,583,690

Hush is a 1998 American thriller starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Johnathon Schaech, and Jessica Lange.

Plot

Helen and Jackson live together in New York City. At the beginning of the film, the two are driving towards the Kentucky farmhouse, Kilronan, where Jackson grew up, primarily to introduce Helen to Jackson's mother, Martha (Lange).

After returning to New York, Helen discovers she is pregnant. When she informs Jackson of this, he asks her to marry him and she accepts. The wedding is held at Kilronan, at which Helen meets Jackson's paternal grandmother, Alice, who tells Helen she doesn't trust Martha.

After returning to New York apartment, Helen is assaulted by a man who steals her locket. When Helen says she's pregnant, he cuts her abdomen and leaves. The fetus was not injured.

Martha arrives and says she wants to sell Kilronan because she cannot run it alone. Helen tells Jackson she wants to move to Kentucky and in with Martha for a year and help renovate the land. Jackson tells Helen his father died in that house when he was seven and he blames himself because he ran into his father pushing him down the stairs. Jackson also tells Helen that his father had been cheating on Martha with Robin Hayes. Helen says they should go back so Jackson can face his "old ghosts".

The couple move in with Martha who attempts to divide the couple. Suspicious, Helen talks to Alice who tells her that Jackson is wrong about his father's death. The father landed on a nail puller at the bottom of the stairs, crushing his sternum, which, according to news reports was a freak accident.

Helen tells Jackson that Martha is tearing their marriage apart. He agrees to go back to New York and tells his mother.

That evening, Martha bakes a cake for Helen laced with pitocin, a labor inducer. When wakes up the next morning, she feels strange. She finds a baby room set up by Martha for Helen's child. She also finds the locket that was stolen from her in New York. When Martha finds her, and tries unsuccessfully to escape.

With Martha's assistance, Helen gives birth. Martha leaves the room to answer a phone call from Jackson. She tells him that everything is okay, but when Helen screams in pain, Martha hangs up.

Helen begs Martha to hand her the baby, but Martha ignores her, telling the baby she is his mother. Martha tries to inject morphine in Helen's arm, but Helen knocks the syringe away. When Martha retrieves it, she hears Jackson's footsteps. In a scramble, she quickly cleans up, meeting Jackson at the door. She tells him to leave Helen alone, as he has no idea what she's been through. The two leave Helen asleep, with Martha giving the baby to Jackson.

That night, Martha enters Helen's bedroom with the syringe. She finds Jackson in a chair next to the bed. Despite his mother's insistence that he return to bed, he stays. The next morning, Helen awakens to see Jackson. She tells Jackson to ask Martha to make breakfast.

At breakfast, Helen enters the house with an object in her bag. Helen says that it is the object that killed Jackson's father. Martha becomes enraged and denies any role in her husband's death. Helen says that no one is accusing her of murder, and that many cheating women do not kill their husbands. She explains that Robin Hayes, the "woman" Martha had told Jackson his father had cheated on her with, was actually a male horse wrangler, with whom Martha had an affair. Helen also reveals a bruise she has from Martha's murder attempt. Jackson tells Martha he never wants to see her again. Martha claims that Helen is only doing this because she is jealous: "She wants to be me.". Helen slaps Martha who falls to the ground sobbing. Helen and Jackson leave.

In the final scene, the couple visit Alice, presenting her with her great-grandson.

Cast

• Jessica Lange as Martha
• Gwyneth Paltrow as Helen
• Johnathon Schaech as Jackson
• Nina Foch as Alice

Soundtrack

Intrada released a limited edition album of Christopher Young's score on November 12, 2012.

1. Hush (18:32)
2. Little Baby (4:41)
3. Don't (7:56)
4. You (3:43)
5. Cry (5:39)
6. Mama's Gonna (10:36)
7. Buy You (4:44)
8. A (4:37)
9. Hush (Concert Suite) (15:01)

Reception

The movie has earned a 13% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes movie review website based on 39 reviews, widely panned by critics.

Roger Ebert has been quoted as saying that Hush is "the kind of movie where you walk in, watch the first 10 minutes, know exactly where it's going, and hope devoutly that you're wrong. It's one of those Devouring Woman movies where the villainess never plays a scene without a drink and a cigarette, and the hero is inattentive to the victim to the point of dementia."^[1]

Jessica Lange earned a Golden Raspberry Award nomination for Worst Actress, losing to the Spice Girls for Spice World.

References

External links

• Hush at the Internet Movie Database
• Hush at allmovie
• Hush at Box Office Mojo