''Mentor'' is a 2006

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-gen ...

directed by David Langlitz and written by William Whitehurst, exploring the relationship between a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had ma ...

–winning author and his protégée. The film stars

Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. Hauer's career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television series ' ...

Matthew Davis Matthew Davis, also professionally known as Matt Davis, is an American actor. He is mostly known for his roles as Warner Huntington III in ''Legally Blonde'', Adam Hillman on the ABC comedy-drama '' What About Brian'' from 2006 to 2007 and Ala ...

, Dagmara Dominczyk, and

Susan Misner Susan Misner (; born February 8, 1971) is an American actress and dancer. She has appeared in a number of TV series as a guest star, as well as several recurring roles. Career Misner portrayed Grace Davidson on the ABC soap opera ''One Life t ...

Plot

stars as Carter, introduced as a thirtysomething professor at a mediocre college. Through flashbacks, we learn about Carter's time as a promising writer enrolled in an exclusive grad school class taught by Sanford Pollard (

), a hard-drinking, hard-driving, brilliant but abrasive writer whose career has stalled since winning a Pulitzer Prize decades ago. Julia ( Dagmara Dominczyk) is Sanford's graduate assistant as well as his lover. Sanford and Julia "adopt" the young, eager Carter and expose him to the world of wealth, television, and drugs. Carter travels with them to Sanford's beach house, where he and Julia eventually become lovers. In the present, Carter has become a shadow of his former promise, a lethargic teacher, an

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomin ...

, excessive smoker, lacking the ability to sustain relationships. Like Sanford, he has worked his way through a series of graduate assistant girlfriends, and we watch as he apparently allows his relationship with Susan (

Lynn Chen Lynn Chen () is a Taiwanese-American actress and singer. She is best known for playing Vivian Shing in the film '' Saving Face'', a role for which she won the "Outstanding Newcomer Award" at the 2006 Asian Excellence Awards. She writes the popul ...

) to wither away. Carter is on a reckless path until he receives notice that Sanford has died of cancer. The film jumps back and forth from the present to ten years earlier, as Carter wrestles with the unresolved emotions he felt with Sanford and Julia. After attending Sanford's funeral, Carter returns to the beach house, where Sanford's will is being read. There he again meets Julia, older but still appealing, and they discover that Sanford has left the two of them his entire estate. The film ends ambiguously, with Carter and Julia driving off into the night in the Porsche that had been Sanford's, but which is now theirs in "joint custody".

Cast

as Sanford Pollard *

as Carter * Dagmara Dominczyk as Julia *

as Marilyn Conner *

Matt Servitto Matthew Joseph Servitto (born April 7, 1965) is an American actor known for his role as Special Agent Dwight Harris on ''The Sopranos'' and Trask Bodine on ''All My Children'' (1989-1990), Deputy Brock Lotus on the Cinemax series ''Banshee'' and ...

as Howard *

Peter Scolari Peter Thomas Scolari (September 12, 1955 – October 22, 2021) was an American actor. He was best known for his roles as Michael Harris on ''Newhart'' (1984–1990), Henry Desmond on '' Bosom Buddies'' (1980–1982) and Wayne Szalinski on '' Ho ...

as Jonathan Parks *

as Terry Valentine *

Isabel Glasser Isabel Glasser (born May 1, 1958) is an American actress who appeared in the movies '' Forever Young'' (1992), '' Pure Country'' (1992), ''Mother'' (1996), '' Second Chances (film), Second Chances'' (1998) and ''Mentor Mentorship is the inf ...

as Margaret Burger *

Lawrence Pressman Lawrence Pressman (born David M. Pressman; July 10, 1939) is an American actor, probably best known for roles on '' Doogie Howser, M.D.'', '' Ladies' Man'', a recurring role on '' Profiler'', the title character on '' Mulligan's Stew'' and as ...

as Kendal *

Ronald Guttman Ronald Guttman (born 12 August 1952) is a Belgian actor, theatrical producer and film producer. Career Guttman was born in Uccle. He started appearing in French language productions in Europe in 1975, appearing in his first English-language film ...

as Interviewer * Carrie Yaeger as Nurse

Film notes

''Mentor'' was first presented at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

in the spring of 2006. It also was accepted at the

Maryland Film Festival The Maryland Film Festival is an annual five-day international film festival taking place each May in Baltimore, Maryland. The festival was launched in 1999, and presents international film and video work of all lengths and genres. The festival ...

on May 13, 2006.Maryland Film Festival
Entry synopsis. As of January 2007, the film has not been generally released.

Editing techniques

The movie makes liberal use of flashback techniques, introducing the characters in 1997 at the end of their friendship, moving to the present day, then alternating between to sequential timelines, one in 1997 the other a decade later.

Filming locations

The film was shot entirely in Maryland.

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consiste ...

doubled for both colleges, St. Michaels, Maryland was the location for all of the vacation scenes, and various locations in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

served as the background to the story.

Footnotes

External links

* * * {{Amg movie, 348209, Mentor 2006 drama films 2006 films Films shot in Baltimore 2000s English-language films American drama films 2000s American films