''New Port South'' is a 2001 American

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-g ...

. It was released on September 7, 2001. The film is set in the fictional town of New Port, near

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. It stars

Will Estes William Estes (; born October 21, 1978) is an American actor known for his role on CBS police drama '' Blue Bloods'' as Jameson "Jamie" Reagan, a New York City Police Department officer and the youngest son of the police commissioner, played by ...

Todd Field William Todd Field (born February 24, 1964) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for directing three feature films: ''In the Bedroom'' (2001), '' Little Children'' (2006), and ''Tár'' (2022). He has received three Academy Award nomi ...

, and Blake Shields, was written by James Hughes and directed by

Kyle Cooper Kyle Cooper is an American designer known for his main title sequence work. He has produced and directed over 350 visual effects and title sequences for motion pictures and broadcast. Early life Childhood Cooper was born on a Friday the ...

. The soundtrack is by

Telefon Tel Aviv Telefon Tel Aviv is a New Orleans–derived, Chicago-based American electronic music act, formerly comprising Charles Cooper and Joshua Eustis. Since Cooper's accidental death in 2009, Telefon Tel Aviv has continued with Eustis as the sole official ...

. James Hughes is the son of John Hughes, who produced the movie (one of only two in John Hughes' career that he produced without writing himself—the other was ''

Only the Lonely "Only the Lonely (Know the Way I Feel)" is a 1960 song written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson. Orbison's recording of the song, produced by Fred Foster for Monument Records, was the first major hit for the singer. It was described by ''The Ne ...

''). It was also the last movie where John Hughes served as producer before his death.

Plot

Will Maddox ( Blake Shields) has a theory about students not liking the idea of school and authority and thinking that it is a prison. He tests this theory and examines the boundaries of authority and his friendships. A few years before, a student, John Stanton (

Michael Shannon Michael Corbett Shannon (born August 7, 1974) is an American actor, producer, musician, and theater director. He is an off beat actor known for his on-screen versatility, performing in both comedies and dramas. He became known for his frequent ...

) was committed to an insane asylum, for reasons unknown to most everybody except the principal. One day he escapes, releasing everyone else from the asylums around. Maddox sees this defiance which is the start of his anarchy. Maddox wants to "help him" and understand him more so they start a correspondence and Stanton tells him what to do and how to do it. This is includes the erasing of student grades, posting posters/fliers, and locking part of the student body in a room, among other things. Maddox gets his friends involved and challenges authority and gets most of the school behind him, including an administrator for a while. He is so consumed with creating chaos and disorder that his friends start to see the destruction, but they have to save themselves, and him before he can take complete control over the school.New Port South - The New York Times
Accessed April 5, 2012.

Cast

as Mr. Walsh *

as Chris * Blake Shields as Will Maddox * Kevin Christy as Clip *

Melissa George Melissa George (born 6 August 1976) is an Australian actress and entrepreneur. A former national artistic rollerskating champion and model, George began her acting career playing Angel Parrish in the Australian soap opera Home and Away (1993– ...

as Amanda *

Raymond J. Barry Raymond John Barry (born March 14, 1939) is an American film, television, and stage actor. He was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his performance in the film ''Steel City (film), Steel City''. Personal life ...

as Edwards *

Gabriel Mann Gabriel Mann (born Gabriel Mick; May 14, 1972) is an American actor and model, known for his role as Nolan Ross on the ABC drama series '' Revenge''. He has co-starred in several films, including '' The Life of David Gale'', '' The Bourne Iden ...

as Mike Wilson * Brad Eric Johnson as Knox * Lamar Benson as Football Player * Nick Sandow as Armstrong *

as John Stanton

Filming locations

Libertyville High School Libertyville High School, or LHS, is a public four-year high school located in Libertyville, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. Located at the intersection of Park Avenue (IL Rte 176) and Dawes Street, on the ...

, Libertyville,

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 ...

(and the city of Libertyville itself). *

Lake Bluff Lake Bluff is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 5,616. History The first settler family to claim land within the area now part of Lake Bluff arrived in 1836. They claimed 100 acres of ...

Home media

A region 1 DVD of the film was released on March 12, 2002.

References

External links

* * * {{John Hughes 2001 films 2001 directorial debut films 2001 drama films American drama films Touchstone Pictures films Films produced by John Hughes (filmmaker) 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language drama films