''Amongst Friends'' is a 1993 film written and directed by
Rob Weiss
Rob Weiss is an American television and film producer, screenwriter, actor, and director. His break came in 1993 when he wrote and directed the 1993 film ''Amongst Friends''. The film was well received at film festivals and scored Weiss a nomina ...
and starring
Patrick McGaw,
JosephLindsey,
Steve Parlavecchio, and
Mira Sorvino
Mira Katherine Sorvino (; born September 28, 1967) is an American actress. She won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Woody Allen's ''Mighty Aphrodite'' (1995).
She also starred in the films ...
.
Plot
Andy, Trevor, and Billy are childhood friends.
As young adults, Billy sells drugs and Andy does deliveries for him.
One night, Trevor delivers instead and gets busted by narcs.
5 years later, Trevor is released from jail and learns his girlfriend Laura is now with Billy.
Trevor gets back with her and decides to rob a local mobster. Trevor wants some cash to buy Laura some gifts and Andy was told by some local mobsters that they are investing money with huge profits and he wants some cash to buy in. However, their robbery is very sloppy and the head mobster quickly figures out what happened. However, he and Andy's grandfather were good friends, so he tells Andy and Trevor that they can work off what they owe by smuggling stolen diamonds.
Billy finds out what is going on and is mildly amused by it until he realizes that Trevor has gotten back together with Laura behind his back. He retaliates by convincing the mobsters that Trevor is a junkie and is stealing the diamonds that he is supposed to be delivering to supply his habit. He also convinces the diamond dealer that Trevor cannot be trusted with real diamonds and he gives him fake diamonds instead. When he delivers them to the mob, they quickly spot them as fakes and assume Trevor switched them.
Billy figured by doing this, the mobsters would send a goon to kill Trevor and with him out of the picture, he could have Laura back with no blood on his hands. However, since he was the one to notify the mobsters, they tell him if he wants Trevor dead he has to do the killing himself.
He finds Trevor at Laura's house having just made love and kidnaps him at gunpoint. He takes Trevor to a field to kill him. Even though Trevor begs for his life and Billy struggles with his conscience for the briefest of moments, he pulls the trigger anyway, killing Trevor in cold blood.
It doesn't take long for Andy and Laura to notice Trevor missing and they get worried. Andy asks the local mobsters who are investing his money if they've seen Trevor and not knowing they are friends, they proudly tell him about how Billy became a made mobster by killing him. Andy sadly informs Laura that Trevor is gone and they privately mourn his death. Then Andy goes to Billy's house and asks him how he could do that to their friend. Without waiting for an answer, Andy pulls out a gun and points it at Billy. Billy tries to talk Andy into putting down the gun by reminding Andy that he is a made mobster and hurting him could get Andy killed. However, Andy decides to take his chances and shoots Billy anyway.
Andy goes back to the local mobsters investing his money and convinces them that he has incurred some debt with some loan sharks and he needs his money returned to him to pay them off. They quickly get it for him and he pays off the head mobster in full what he owes.
With his debt settled, he takes Trevor's motorcycle and leaves the city. Earlier Trevor had mentioned going to California on his motorcycle to start a new life and it is now implied that Andy will be following that advice.
Background
The film received considerable attention at the 1993
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
and opened in New York City in July. Weiss grew up in
Baldwin, New York on the
South Shore of
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
, close to the
Five Towns
The Five Towns is an informal grouping of villages and hamlets in Nassau County, United States on the South Shore of western Long Island adjoining the border with Queens County in New York City. Although there is no official Five Towns de ...
, and lived with his father in
Lawrence
Lawrence may refer to:
Education Colleges and universities
* Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States
* Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States
Preparator ...
for a period of time. While emphasizing that the characters in the film are fictional, Weiss acknowledged that "I'm going to try to hide during the Five Towns screening."
Production
The film was produced for $900,000, most of which was raised from friends and family, and was shot on location in the Five Towns. With finances tight, a scene in which Weiss opens a bag of
Doritos
Doritos () is an American brand of flavored tortilla chips produced since 1964 by Frito-Lay, a wholly owned subsidiary of PepsiCo. The original Doritos were not flavored. The first flavor was Toasted Corn, released in 1966, followed by Taco in ...
was filmed using yellow cardboard triangles.
[
The film was distributed by ]Fine Line Features
Fine Line Features (often spelled as FineLine Features) was the specialty films division of New Line Cinema. From 1991 to 2005, under founder and president Ira Deutchman, Fine Line acquired, distributed and marketed films of a more "indie" flavor ...
, a division of New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after acq ...
.
Mira Sorvino
Mira Katherine Sorvino (; born September 28, 1967) is an American actress. She won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Woody Allen's ''Mighty Aphrodite'' (1995).
She also starred in the films ...
was hired to work on the film in pre-production as third assistant director, then was promoted to casting director
In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, casting, or a casting call, is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra (acting), extra for a particular role or part in a scr ...
, then to assistant producer, and was finally offered a lead role. Positive reviews received for her role in the film helped jump start her career. Her grandfather, Ford Sorvino, appears in the film, providing comic relief.
Reviews
Peter Travers
Peter Joseph Travers (born ) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film interview prog ...
of ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' gave the film three stars, stating that Weiss made "a sensational debut as writer and director", despite the lack of stars or a big budget in a film written with the "pitch-perfect eloquence about the mean streets he knows."
Soundtrack
A soundtrack containing hip hop and alternative rock was released on August 31, 1993, by Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
.
References
External links
*
* {{Amg movie, 121370, Amongst Friends
1993 films
Films set in New York (state)
Five Towns
American crime drama films
1993 crime drama films
1990s English-language films
1990s American films
sv:Amongst Friends