''Molly'' is a 1999 romantic comedy-drama film about a 28-year-old woman with autism who comes into the custody of her neurotic executive brother. The film was directed by

John Duigan John Duigan (born 19 June 1949) is an Australian film director and screenwriter. He is mostly known for his two autobiographical films '' The Year My Voice Broke'' and '' Flirting'', and the 1994 film '' Sirens'', which stars Hugh Grant. Bi ...

and written by Dick Christie of ''

Small Wonder Small Wonder or variants may refer to: Film, television and theatre * ''Small Wonder'' (TV series), a 1985–1989 American sitcom * '' A Small Wonder'', a 1966 Australian television film * '' Small Wonders'', a 1995 documentary film * ''Small Wond ...

''-fame, and stars

Elisabeth Shue Elisabeth Judson Shue (born October 6, 1963) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in the films ''The Karate Kid'' (1984), '' Adventures in Babysitting'' (1987), ''Cocktail'' (1988), '' Back to the Future Part II'' (1989), ''B ...

as the

title character The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piece. The title of ...

Aaron Eckhart Aaron Edward Eckhart (born March 12, 1968) is an American actor. Born in Cupertino, California, Eckhart moved to the United Kingdom at an early age. He began his acting career by performing in school plays, before moving to Australia for his h ...

as her older brother, and

Jill Hennessy Jillian Noel Hennessy (born November 25, 1968) is a Canadian actress and singer. She is most known for her roles on the American television series '' Law & Order'', on which she played prosecutor Claire Kincaid for three seasons, and ''Crossin ...

Plot

A 28-year-old

autistic The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

woman named Molly McKay has lived in a mental institution from a young age following her parents' deaths in an automobile accident. When the institution must close on account of budget cuts, Molly is left in the care of her non-autistic older brother, Buck McKay, an advertising executive and perennial bachelor. Molly, who verbalizes very little and is obsessed with lining up her shoes in neat rows, throws Buck's life into a tailspin as she runs off her nurses and barges into a meeting at Buck's agency naked. Molly's neurologist, Susan Brookes, suggests an experimental surgery in which genetically modified brain cells are implanted into Molly's brain. While Buck initially balks at the suggestion, he finally consents to the surgery and Molly makes a gradual but miraculous recovery, speaking fluidly and interacting with others in a normal way. Buck begins taking Molly to social events, like a production of '' Romeo and Juliet'', a baseball game, and expensive dinners. However, after a few months, Molly's brain begins to reject the transplanted cells and she begins to regress into her previous state. Both Molly and Buck must accept the eventual loss of Molly's cure and her regression into her previous state. In the final scene of the film, Buck accepts Molly's autism and vows to remain in Molly's life by creating a room for her at his home that looks just like the room she had at the institution.

Cast

as Molly McKay ** Lauren Richter as 7-year-old Molly McKay *

as Buck McKay ** Tanner Lee Prairie as 8-year-old Buck McKay *

as Susan Brookes *

Thomas Jane Thomas Jane (born Thomas Elliott III; February 22, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for appearing in the films Padamati Sandhya Ragam (1987), ''Boogie Nights'' (1997), '' Deep Blue Sea'' (1999), '' The Punisher'' (2004), '' The Mist'' ( ...

as Sam * D. W. Moffett as Mark Cottrell *

Elizabeth Mitchell Elizabeth Mitchell (born Elizabeth Joanna Robertson) is an American actress known for her lead role as Juliet Burke on the ABC drama mystery series ''Lost'' (2006–2010). Mitchell also had lead roles on the television series '' V'' (2009–2 ...

as Beverly Trehare *

Robert Harper Robert or Bob Harper may refer to: * Robert Almer Harper (1862–1946), American botanist * Robert Goodloe Harper (1765–1825), US senator from Maryland * Robert Harper (fl. 1734–1761), founder of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia * Robert Harper (a ...

as Dr. Simmons *

Elaine Hendrix Katherine Elaine Hendrix (born December 28, 1970) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in ''Superstar'', ''Romy and Michele's High School Reunion'', the 1995 ''Get Smart'' series, the 1998 remake of '' The Parent Trap'', ''Dynasty' ...

as Jennifer Thomas *

Michael Paul Chan Michael Paul Chan (born June 26, 1950) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Lieutenant Michael Tao on the TNT series ''The Closer'' and '' Major Crimes''. He also acted in '' U.S. Marshals'', playing an assassin. Biography Ch ...

as Domingo *

Lucy Liu Lucy Alexis Liu is an American actress. Her accolades include winning a Critics' Choice Television Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Seoul International Drama Award, in addition to nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award. Liu has sta ...

as Brenda * Jon Pennell as Gary McKay *

Sarah Wynter Sarah Wynter (born 15 February 1973)
movies2.nytimes.com; accessed 13 January 2016. is an Australian actr ...

as Julie McKay *

Jay Acovone Jay Acovone (born August 20, 1955) is an American actor. Among his most famous roles is Charles Kawalsky in the TV series Stargate SG-1. Personal life Acovone was born in New York City. His family later moved to Mahopac, New York where his par ...

as Jack, The Bartender

Release

The film earned

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

17,650 during its theatrical run, on a budget of $21 million, making it a

box office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

. Believing the film was unlikely to be a success, the distributors

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...

chose to cut their losses and eliminate the film's marketing budget. It was only released on a single weekend in twelve cinemas, in order to meet legal obligations.

Critical reception

''Molly'' received mostly mixed to negative reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds a 14% "Rotten" approval from film critics, with a rating average of 3.4 out of 10. The consensus says, "''Molly'' never really elevates above uninspired, cliche-ridden moments." At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, ''Molly'' received a

weighted mean The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

rating of 21 out of 100 from film critics, consistently indicating "generally unfavorable reviews", classified as a generally unfavorably reviewed film.

References

External links