''Wayward Son'' is a 1999 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 ...

directed by Randall Harris and starring

Harry Connick, Jr. Joseph Harry Fowler Connick Jr. (born September 11, 1967) is an American singer, pianist, composer, actor, and television host. He has sold over 28million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top60 best-selling male artists in the Uni ...

and

Pete Postlethwaite Peter William Postlethwaite, (7 February 1946 – 2 January 2011) was an English character actor. After minor television appearances, including in '' The Professionals'', his first major success arose through the British autobiographical film ...

. The screenplay concerns justice and redemption in rural

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

during

the Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

Plot

A southern man, Jesse Banks Rhodes (

), is released from a prison work camp in

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, 1936, after being wrongly imprisoned for eleven years. He heads back to Georgia, only to find that most people are keen to keep him down. He begins working for a plantation owner (

Walton Goggins Walton Sanders Goggins Jr. (born November 10, 1971) is an American actor. He has starred in a number of television series, including ''The Shield'' (2002–2008), '' Justified'' (2010–2015), ''Vice Principals'' (2016–2017), ''The Righteous ...

) and rents a shed from a farmer (

) with two daughters (

Patricia Clarkson Patricia Davies Clarkson (born December 29, 1959) is an American actress. She has starred in numerous leading and supporting roles in a variety of films ranging from independent film features to major film studio productions. Her accolades incl ...

and

Vinessa Shaw Vinessa Elizabeth Shaw (born July 19, 1976) is an American film actress and model. She began her career as a child actor, and had her breakout role in Disney's 1993 Halloween comedy-fantasy film '' Hocus Pocus''. Shaw also appeared in ''Ladybu ...

). After witnessing the murder of a black worker at the hands of a drunken white racist boss, Jesse is forced to prove his innocence, so injustice will not happen again.

Cast

as Jesse Banks Rhodes *

as Ben Alexander *

as Wesley *

as Cordelia *

Afemo Omilami Afemo Omilami (born December 13, 1950) is an American actor. Early life Omilami was born in Petersburg, Virginia on December 13, 1950. Afemo has not made any public reference to his paternal background, however his name has ties to the Yoruba co ...

as Horace *David Pickens as Warden *John Bennes as Lawyer *Stacie Richards Dail as young crying woman *David de Vries *

Michael Gaston Michael Gaston is an American film and television actor. He played agent Quinn on the show ''Prison Break'', Gray Anderson on the CBS drama series ''Jericho'', and appeared in the first episode of ''The Sopranos'' as Alex Mahaffey, a compulsive g ...

as Edgar *Rodney L. James as George *Laura Sametz asMrs. Blessing *Ron Clinton Smith as Vernon *Haviland Stillwell as Lila *Judson Vaughn as station manager *Tim Ware asforeman

Settings

Production of the film began Oct. 26, 1998 in Nashville. The movie was filmed at various locations in

including

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area (followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield). It gained the Royal Charter of a market tow ...

and the Southeastern Railway

Museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

Trivia

*''Wayward Son'' has in October, 2006, a number of screenings at the

Heartland Film Festival The Heartland International Film Festival is a film festival held each October in Indianapolis, Indiana. The festival was first held in 1992, its goal is to "inspire filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion pictu ...

. *As research for his role as Jesse Banks Rhodes, Connick spent two days in

solitary Solitary is the state of being alone or in solitude. The term may refer to: * shortened form of solitary confinement * Solitary animal, an animal that does not live with others in its species * Solitary but social, a type of social organization in ...

at the

Louisiana State Penitentiary The Louisiana State Penitentiary (known as Angola, and nicknamed the "Alcatraz of the South", "The Angola Plantation" and "The Farm"Sutton, Keith "Catfish".Out There: Angola angling. ''ESPN Outdoors''. May 31, 2006. Retrieved on August 25, 2010. ...

Angola, even wearing

leg irons Legcuffs are physical restraints used on the ankles of a person to allow walking only with a restricted stride and to prevent running and effective physical resistance. Frequently used alternative terms are leg cuffs, (leg/ankle) shackles, foot ...

and

handcuffs Handcuffs are Physical restraint, restraint devices designed to secure an individual's wrists in proximity to each other. They comprise two parts, linked together by a Link chain, chain, a hinge, or rigid bar. Each cuff has a rotating arm whi ...

during his stay. *''Wayward Son'' was first called ''Letters From a Wayward Son''. *Patricia Clarkson and Vinessa Shaw's roles as Wesley and Cordelia, had reportedly been designated for

Embeth Davidtz Embeth Jean Davidtz (born August 11, 1965) is an American-South African actress. Her screen roles include movies such as ''Army of Darkness'', ''Schindler's List, '' ''Matilda'', ''Mansfield Park'', ''Bicentennial Man'', ''Fallen,'' '' Junebug,' ...

and

Tara Reid Tara Donna Reid (born November 8, 1975) is an American actress. She played Vicky in the films '' American Pie'' (1999), ''American Pie 2'' (2001), and ''American Reunion'' (2012), and Bunny Lebowski in ''The Big Lebowski'' (1998). In 2013, she ...

. *Screened at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

in September 1999. *Produced by: Cary Brokaw/Avenue Pictures Productions, Maccabee Productions, Steve Tisch Company *International rights will be licensed by Arthur Kananack & Associates (AKA Movies). *This

movie A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

was delisted at $0 on April 29, 2002 since the stock was wrapped, but had no distribution. *''Letters From A Wayward Son'', Wayward Son Productions 1998: Budget $4.5 million. *An interview where the director Randall Harris discusses the film with Harry Connick Jr., including a few clips from the movie are featured at the ''Film-Fest: Issue 3 - Toronto''

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 kin ...

. *Animal Actors supplied talent on horseback, horses, mules, rattlesnakes, bloodhounds, and German shepherds.

Awards and nominations

*Crystal Heart Award 1999, to producer Cary Brokaw. At the

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0170157, title=Wayward Son
''Wayward Son'' interview with Harry Connick Jr, 1998''Wayward Son'' premiere, photos
1999 films 1999 drama films 1990s English-language films Films scored by James Newton Howard Films scored by Steve Porcaro American drama films 1990s American films