''Dear Eleanor'' is a 2016 American film, directed by Kevin Connolly, and starring

Isabelle Fuhrman Isabelle Fuhrman (born February 25, 1997) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Esther in the horror film ''Orphan'' (2009) and its prequel '' Orphan: First Kill'' (2022). She also portrayed Clove in the dystopian adventure film ' ...

Josh Lucas Joshua Lucas Easy Dent Maurer (born June 20, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in various films, including '' American Psycho'' (2000), '' You Can Count on Me'' (2000), '' The Deep End'' (2001), '' A Beautiful Mind'' (20 ...

Liana Liberato Liana Daine Liberato (born August 20, 1995) is an American actress. She played the younger version of the female lead in the 2014 film '' The Best of Me'' and starred in the drama films '' The Last Sin Eater'' (2007) and '' Trust'' (2010), the th ...

, and

Jessica Alba Jessica Marie Alba ( ; born April 28, 1981) is an American actress and businesswoman. She began her television and movie appearances at age 13 in '' Camp Nowhere'' and '' The Secret World of Alex Mack'' (1994), and rose to prominence at age 19 ...

. Written by Cecilia Contreras and Amy Garcia, it is a

coming of age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...

story about two best friends traveling across the U.S. in 1962 to meet their childhood hero,

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

Plot

In 1962, in the shadow of the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...

, two teenage girls (

and

) break out of their normal life, jump in the car and embark on a trip across the country in search of the former

First Lady of the United States The first lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is the title held by the hostess of the White House, usually the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never ...

. Their ''

Thelma & Louise ''Thelma & Louise'' is a 1991 American road crime comedy-drama film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Callie Khouri. It stars Susan Sarandon as Louise and Geena Davis as Thelma, two friends who embark on a road trip that ends up in unfores ...

'' cross-country adventure is a mix of hilarious joy ride and an empowering personal odyssey that not only tests their friendship for the first time but also lands the girls in jail.

Cast

as Maxine ”Max the Wax” Wax *

as Eleanor ”Ellie” Potter *

as Aunt el *

as Frank Morris * Ione Skye as Charlotte * Luke Wilson as Bob Potter *

Patrick Schwarzenegger Patrick Arnold Shriver Schwarzenegger (born September 18, 1993) is an American model, actor, investor, and entrepreneur. He is the son of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver. Early life and family Schwarzenegger was born at Providence St ...

as Bud *

Joel Courtney Joel Courtney (born January 31, 1996)Joel Courtney Bio
is an American actor known for his role in the 2011 ...

as Billy *

Paul Johansson Paul Joseph Otto Johansson (born January 26, 1964) is an American-born Canadian actor and director in film and television, best known for playing Dan Scott on the WB/ CW series, ''One Tree Hill'', and for his role as Nick Wolfe on the short l ...

as Hugh *

Claire van der Boom Clair or Claire may refer to: *Claire (given name), a list of people with the name Claire * Clair (surname) Places Canada * Clair, New Brunswick, a former village, now part of Haut-Madawaska * Clair Parish, New Brunswick * Pointe-Claire, Qu ...

as Caroline Potter

Production

Chuck Pacheco, Hillary Sherman and Caleb Applegate produced the film, which began shooting in

Boulder County, Colorado Boulder County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado of the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 330,758. The most populous municipality in the county and the county seat is Boulder. Boulder County comprises ...

on May 14, 2013. The town of Niwot doubled for 1960s town of Manteca, California. Towns in Colorado's

Front Range The Front Range is a mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America located in the central portion of the U.S. State of Colorado, and southeastern portion of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is the first mountain range encountere ...

section of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

, including

Longmont The City of Longmont is a home rule municipality located in Boulder and Weld counties, Colorado, United States. Longmont is located northeast of the county seat of Boulder and north-northwest of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. Longmont's ...

Lyons Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of th ...

, Nederland,

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

and

Hygiene Hygiene is a series of practices performed to preserve health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refer ...

, were also used as locations. Filming took place in

Downtown Denver Downtown Denver is the main financial, commercial, business, and entertainment district in Denver, Colorado. There is over of office space in downtown Denver, with 132,000 workers. The downtown area consists mostly of the neighborhoods of Uni ...

at the Paramount Theatre before shooting wrapped in mid-June.

Re-shoot In filmmaking, a pick-up is a small, relatively minor shot filmed or recorded after the fact to augment footage already shot. When entire scenes are redone, it is referred to as a re-shoot or additional photography. On set During principal photo ...

s occurred approximately a year later. A Colorado state economic incentive program helped to attract the production, which would spend $2.5 million in the state.

Release

The film was released on

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

on July 5, 2016.

References

External links

* * {{Kevin Connolly 2016 films 2016 comedy-drama films 2010s coming-of-age comedy-drama films American coming-of-age comedy-drama films American road comedy-drama films Cultural depictions of Eleanor Roosevelt Destination Films films Films about the Cuban Missile Crisis Films directed by Kevin Connolly Films scored by Aaron Zigman Films set in 1962 Films shot in Colorado 2010s English-language films 2010s American films