''Children on Their Birthdays'' is a 2002 American independent drama film directed by
Mark Medoff
Mark Medoff (March 18, 1940 – April 23, 2019) was an American playwright, screenwriter, film and theatre director, actor, and professor. His play '' Children of a Lesser God'' received both the Tony Award and the Olivier Award. He was nominat ...
, and starring
Sheryl Lee
Sheryl Lynn Lee (born April 22, 1967) is a German-born American film, stage, and television actress. After studying acting in college, Lee relocated to Seattle, Washington to work in theater, where she was cast by David Lynch as Laura Palmer and ...
,
Jesse Plemons
Jesse Plemons (; born April 2, 1988) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor and achieved a career breakthrough with his major role as Landry Clarke in the NBC drama series '' Friday Night Lights'' (2006–2011). He subseque ...
,
Joe Pichler
Joseph David Wolfgang Pichler (February 14, 1987 – disappeared January 5, 2006) was/is an American former child actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in '' Varsity Blues'' (1999), ''Beethoven's 3rd'' (2000) and ''Beethoven's 4th'' (2 ...
,
Tania Raymonde
Tania Raymonde Helen Katz, is an American actress and artist. Her career first caught traction when she played the recurring character of Cynthia Sanders on the Fox sitcom '' Malcolm in the Middle'' between 2000 and 2002, followed by the role o ...
,
Christopher McDonald
Christopher McDonald (born February 15, 1955) is an American film, television, theatre and voice actor.
McDonald is best known for playing the villainous professional golfer Shooter McGavin in the 1996 comedy ''Happy Gilmore''. Other notable ...
, and
Tom Arnold Tom Arnold may refer to:
* Tom Arnold (actor) (born 1959), American actor
* Tom Arnold (economist) (born 1948), Irish CEO of Concern Worldwide
* Tom Arnold (footballer) (1878–?), English footballer
* Tom Arnold (literary scholar) (1823–1900), ...
. The screenplay written by Douglas Sloan is based on "
Children on Their Birthdays
''Children on Their Birthdays'' is a 2002 American independent drama film directed by Mark Medoff, and starring Sheryl Lee, Jesse Plemons, Joe Pichler, Tania Raymonde, Christopher McDonald, and Tom Arnold. The screenplay written by Douglas Sloan ...
", the short story of the same title by
Truman Capote
Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics, ...
. This was the last film appearance by Pichler before his disappearance in 2006.
Plot
In the summer of 1947, a pretentious thirteen-year-old girl called "Miss" Lily Jane Bobbit is liked by two boys, who are best friends. Using the funniest
vocabulary
A vocabulary is a set of familiar words within a person's language. A vocabulary, usually developed with age, serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge. Acquiring an extensive vocabulary is one of the la ...
and the ever so heavy
accent, she manages to win the attraction of the town's people, including the love of the two best friends. As the story continues, it must be decided as to whether or not the two boys will remain best friends, as only one of them can win Miss Bobbit's heart.
Production
The film was shot in
Aurora
An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
,
Lemont and
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
.
Critical reception
''Children on Their Birthdays'' won the Platinum Award for Independent Theatrical Feature Films - Family/Children at WorldFest Houston.
External links
*
Reference list
Artisan Entertainment films
Films based on short fiction
2002 films
2002 drama films
Films set in 1947
Films shot in Illinois
Plaion
Films based on works by Truman Capote
2000s English-language films
{{2000s-drama-film-stub