''Don's Plum'' is a 2001

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

lengthened short film directed by

R. D. Robb R. D. Robb (born March 31, 1972) is an American actor who appeared as Schwartz in the 1983 film ''A Christmas Story''. He was nominated for an Edda Award in 2005. In 2001 he co-wrote and directed the film ''Don's Plum''. Acting Robb has over 20 a ...

, starring Leonardo DiCaprio,

Tobey Maguire Tobias Vincent Maguire (born June 27, 1975) is an American actor and film producer. He is best known for playing Peter Parker (Sam Raimi film series), the title character from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man in film#Sam Raimi films, ''Spider-Man'' tril ...

and Kevin Connolly. It was filmed in 1995–1996, and written by Robb with

Bethany Ashton Bethany Ashton Wolf is an American film director and screenwriter. Wolf is the writer and director of ''Forever My Girl'' (2018), and was one of the writers of ''Don's Plum'', a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire which has been pr ...

, Tawd Beckman, David Stutman and Dale Wheatley. The film takes place over the course of one night in which a group of young adults discuss life while eating at a diner. The film was blocked from release in the U.S. and Canada, as DiCaprio and Maguire claim that they had only agreed to star in a short film but not a feature film.

Blake Sennett Blake Sennett (born September 22, 1976) is an American musician and actor who served as the lead guitarist for indie rock band Rilo Kiley, as well as the lead singer/lead guitarist for his alt-rock side project the Elected. Until 2017 he led Nigh ...

Rilo Kiley Rilo Kiley ( ) was an American indie rock band based in Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1998, the band consisted of Jenny Lewis, Blake Sennett, Pierre de Reeder, and Dave Rock. The group released their debut album ''Take-Offs and Landings'' ...

provided the soundtrack for the film. His bandmate

Jenny Lewis Jennifer Diane Lewis (born January 8, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She was the lead singer, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist for the indie rock band Rilo Kiley. Lewis gained prominence in the 1980s as a child a ...

has a role as Sara. It is the second film on-screen collaboration between Maguire and DiCaprio, the first film ''

This Boy's Life ''This Boy's Life'' is a 1993 American biographical coming-of-age drama film based on the memoir of the same name by author Tobias Wolff. It was directed by Michael Caton-Jones and stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Tobias "Toby" Wolff, Robert De Niro ...

'', released in 1993, and the third film ''

The Great Gatsby ''The Great Gatsby'' is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts First-person narrative, first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious mil ...

'', released in 2013.

Plot

Don's Plum is centered around a friend group of young twenty-year-olds who meet at a restaurant called "Don's Plum" every Saturday night. The four male friends usually each bring a girl with them to all hang out. Drama ensues, including verbal and physical altercations between the friends and other members in the restaurant. There is very little concrete plot, with more of a friends-hanging-out movie.

Cast

* Leonardo DiCaprio as Derek *

as Ian * Kevin Connolly as Jeremy *

Scott Bloom Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sask ...

as Brad *

as Sara *

Amber Benson Amber Nicole Benson (born January 8, 1977) is an American actress, singer, writer, director, and producer. She is best known for her role as Tara Maclay on the TV series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1999–2002), and has also directed, produced ...

as Amy *

Heather McComb Heather Ann McComb (born March 2, 1977) is an American actress. Career McComb started acting at age two in a commercial for Publisher's Clearing House. In 1989 she played the title character in Francis Ford Coppola's segment, "Life Without Z ...

as Constance *

Meadow Sisto Meadow Sisto (born September 30, 1972, in Grass Valley, California) is an American actress mostly known for playing Caroline in the 1992 film ''Captain Ron''. Sisto is the daughter of Dick Sisto, a jazz vibist and Reedy Gibbs, an actress. Her you ...

as Juliet *

Marissa Ribisi Santina Marissa Ribisi (born December 17, 1974) is an American actress who performed in the films '' Dazed and Confused, True Crime, The Brady Bunch Movie, Pleasantville'', and ''Don's Plum'' and television shows such as '' Felicity'', ''Friend ...

as Tracy *

Nikki Cox Nicole Avery Cox (born June 2, 1978) is an American actress known mostly for her roles on the television series ''Unhappily Ever After'', ''Las Vegas'', ''The Norm Show'', and ''Nikki''. Career Cox began her career at the age of four, when s ...

as Karen *

Jeremy Sisto Jeremy Merton Sisto (born October 6, 1974) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Billy Chenowith in HBO's '' Six Feet Under'', NYPD Detective Cyrus Lupo in NBC's '' Law & Order'', George Altman in the ABC sitcom ''Suburgatory'', fo ...

as Bernard *

Ethan Suplee Ethan Suplee (; born May 25, 1976) is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles in the films ''American History X'', ''Remember the Titans'', ''John Q'', '' The Wolf of Wall Street'', ''Without a Paddle'', and several ...

as Big Bum

Production

Much of the film is improvised. DiCaprio and Maguire were paid $575 per day to appear in the film.

Release issues

DiCaprio and Maguire were opposed to having the film released. According to them, the film was pitched to them as a short film but was later re-edited into a feature-length film. Producer David Stutman alleges that Maguire opposed the film's release due to his improvised performance revealing too much about him. Stutman filed a lawsuit in 1998 against DiCaprio and Maguire. They settled on allowing the film to be released outside the U.S. and Canada, and had some scenes removed.

Free streaming

In 2014, Dale Wheatley published an open letter to DiCaprio on the website ''freedonsplum.com'', giving his take on the history of the film and the ensuing legal issues. Wheatley also uploaded the film to the website so that it could be streamed for free. It was removed in January 2016 after a third-party notification by DiCaprio and Maguire claiming infringement. Wheatley made the following statement to Fox News: "It saddens me deeply that in 2016 we witness the senseless oppression of film and art by one of America's most beloved actors". "While the world celebrates — and certainly Americans celebrate — his great achievements in cinema, he chooses to use an iron fist to suppress the work of many other artists including him in a film made 20 years ago."

Reception

It premiered on February 10, 2001, in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. ''

Time Out New York ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...

'' writer Mike D'Angelo called it "the best film sawin Berlin". ''

Variety Magazine ''Variety'' is an American media company owned by Penske Media Corporation. The company was founded by Sime Silverman in New York City in 1905 as a weekly newspaper reporting on theater and vaudeville. In 1933 it added ''Daily Variety'', based ...

'' called it an "unpleasant and tedious ensemble."

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0119004
archive.org
2001 films 2001 drama films 2001 independent films American black-and-white films American drama films Danish black-and-white films Danish drama films Swedish black-and-white films Swedish drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films 2000s Swedish films