Say It Isn't So (film)
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''Say It Isn't So'' is a 2001 American
black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...
film directed by J. B. Rogers, written by Peter Gaulke and Gerry Swallow, and starring
Heather Graham Heather Joan Graham (born January 29, 1970) is an American actress. The accolades she has received include nominations for two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and an Independent Spirit Award. After appearing in tel ...
and Chris Klein as two young lovers who come to believe that they are actually siblings. The film was both a critical and
commercial failure Failure is the social concept of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and is usually viewed as the opposite of success. The criteria for failure depends on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. One ...
, grossing $12.3 million on a $25 million budget. This was
Suzanne Somers Suzanne Marie Somers (; October 16, 1946 – October 15, 2023) was an American actress, author, and businesswoman. She played the television roles of Chrissy Snow on ''Three's Company'' (1977–1981) and Carol Foster Lambert on '' Step by Step' ...
' final film before her death in October 2023.


Plot

Gilly Noble takes a stray cat named " Ringo" to the animal shelter where he works in
Shelbyville, Indiana Shelbyville is a city in Addison Township, Shelby County, in the U.S. state of Indiana and is the county seat. The population was 20,067 as of the 2020 census. History In 1818, the land that would become Shelbyville was ceded to the Un ...
. Gilly gets his hair cut by a beautiful young aspiring hairdresser named Jo Wingfield. As Jo cuts Gilly's hair, she mentions that she recently lost a tail-less cat named Ringo, leading Gilly to tell her that Ringo is at the pound. The excitement causes Jo to accidentally cut off a part of Gilly's ear, and he is rushed to the hospital where the ear is reattached. To make up for the incident, Jo invites Gilly to her house for lunch the next day, where Gilly meets Jo's greedy, self-centered mother, Valdine, and invalid father, Walter. Gilly and Jo date for six months before getting engaged, but suddenly a private detective, Vic Vetter, contacts Gilly to tell him that he's Valdine and Walter's son. After Gilly and Jo end their incestuous relationship, Gilly moves in with his new family, and Jo moves to Beaver, Oregon to start a new life. After being branded a "sister-fucker", Gilly loses his job at the animal shelter and is forced to take a job removing roadkill for the highway department. Sixteen months later, a surprise comes to the Wingfield doorstep in the form of a young man named Leon Pitofsky, who claims to be Valdine and Walter's son and presents his birth certificate as proof. Valdine and Walter feel better for a few moments before angrily lashing out at Gilly and forcing him to leave. Valdine notifies the Beaver police that Gilly is a sex offender. Gilly runs for his life and decides to go to Oregon to inform Jo. On the way to Oregon, he befriends a pilot with two prosthetic legs named Dig. Meanwhile, Jo becomes engaged to her ex-boyfriend Jack Mitchelson, a rich and powerful young man who secretly deals in
marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...
, controls over half the town by paying off numerous politicians, and cheats on Jo with his ex-girlfriend, a local cop named Gina. Valdine keeps pushing Jo to marry Jack in order to become involved with Jack's wealth, although Jo still loves Gilly. Valdine keeps Leon secluded and tells Jo that Leon is a figment of Gilly's imagination. Gilly tries to hide from the authorities, and Dig frequently aids him in his escape from Jack's henchmen. Ultimately, Gilly is not able to stop Jo from marrying Jack, who still believes that Gilly is her brother. Police arrive at the marriage scene to inform the family that Gilly died in a car accident, which was actually an act of sabotage by Leon who has been arrested. Jo learns the truth and ends her marriage which causes Valdine to attack Leon and have a stroke. It's also revealed that Jack was behind Valdine and Walter being misidentified as Gilly's parents. But unknown to everyone, Gilly was not driving the car at the time of the accident when it was actually one of Jack's henchmen Streak. Gilly, who has just returned to working at the animal shelter, sees Jo and mistakenly believes that she wants to commit suicide. They are finally reunited on the roof of the same animal shelter that was a catalyst for their coming together. A few months later, Gilly and Jo are married, and Walter, Valdine, Leon, Dig, and many other people attend, with Walter on his feet and Valdine in a wheelchair after her stroke. Also, as a surprise wedding present, Vetter arrives and tells him that he has truly found his mother, who turns out to be
Suzanne Somers Suzanne Marie Somers (; October 16, 1946 – October 15, 2023) was an American actress, author, and businesswoman. She played the television roles of Chrissy Snow on ''Three's Company'' (1977–1981) and Carol Foster Lambert on '' Step by Step' ...
, ironically Gilly's childhood crush.


Cast

*
Heather Graham Heather Joan Graham (born January 29, 1970) is an American actress. The accolades she has received include nominations for two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and an Independent Spirit Award. After appearing in tel ...
as Josephine "Jo" Wingfield * Chris Klein as Gilbert "Gilly" Noble *
Orlando Jones Orlando Jones (born April 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is known for being one of the original cast members of the sketch comedy series ''MADtv'', for his role as the 7 Up spokesman from 1999 to 2002, and for his role ...
as Dig McCaffrey *
Sally Field Sally Margaret Field (born November 6, 1946) is an American actress. She has performed in movies, Broadway theater, television, and made records of popular music. Known for her extensive work on screen and stage, she has received many accola ...
as Valdine Wingfield *
Richard Jenkins Richard Dale Jenkins (born May 4, 1947) is an American actor. He is well known for his portrayal of deceased patriarch Nathaniel Fisher on the HBO funeral drama series ''Six Feet Under (TV series), Six Feet Under'' (2001–2005). He began his c ...
as Walter Wingfield *
John Rothman John Mahr Rothman (born June 3, 1949) is an American film, television, and stage actor. Life and career Rothman was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Elizabeth D. (née Davidson) and Donald N. Rothman, a lawyer. He is the brother of film ...
as Larry Falwell *
Jack Plotnick Jack Plotnick is an American film and television actor, writer, and producer. Career Plotnick is possibly best known for his role as Edmund Kay in the 1998 period drama '' Gods and Monsters'', which won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Scr ...
as Leon Pitofsky *
Eddie Cibrian Edward Carl Cibrian ( ; born June 16, 1973) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Cole Deschanel on the television series ''Sunset Beach (TV series), Sunset Beach'' and List of Third Watch characters#James 'Jimmy' Doherty, Jimmy ...
as Jack Mitchelson *
Mark Pellegrino Mark Ross Pellegrino (born April 9, 1965) is an American actor of film and television. He is best known for his work as Lucifer in ''Supernatural'', Paul Bennett in '' Dexter'', Jacob in '' Lost'', James Bishop in '' Being Human'', Clayton H ...
as Jimmy Mitchelson *
Henry Cho Henry Cho (born December 30, 1962) is an American stand-up comedian. His work can be heard nationwide several times weekly on SiriusXM Radio's Channel 98, Laugh USA, Sirius Radio's Jeff and Larry's Comedy Roundup Channel 97, and Pandora Radio's ...
as Freddy * Brent Hinkley as Streak *
Richard Riehle Richard Riehle (born May 12, 1948) is an American character actor. A prolific performer, he has appeared in over four hundred films, television shows and other projects, making him one of the most-credited live action performers. Life and career ...
as Sheriff Merle Hobbs *
Brent Briscoe Brent Briscoe (May 21, 1961 – October 18, 2017) was an American character actor and screenwriter. He was best known for his role as JJ on '' Parks and Recreation'' (2011–2015). Early life Briscoe was born in Moberly, Missouri. After comple ...
as Detective Vic Vetter *
Ezra Buzzington Ezra Buzzington is an American character actor in film and television. A figure in underground cinema, Buzzington is also the founder of the Seattle Fringe Festival and co-founder of the New York International Fringe Festival. Career With ov ...
as Stewart *
Julie White Julie K. White (born June 4, 1961) is an American actress. She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance in '' The Little Dog Laughed'' in 2007. She has also received three other Tony Award nominations for her performan ...
as Ruthie Falwell *
Courtney Peldon Courtney Peldon is an American television and film actress. Early life and education Peldon was born in New York City, New York. Her younger sister Ashley is also an actress. Both she and Ashley became involved in the entertainment industry as ...
as Cher Falwell * Matthew Peters as Buddy Falwell *
Lin Shaye Lin Shaye (born October 12, 1943) is an American actress. In a career spanning over fifty years, Shaye has appeared in more than a hundred feature films. She is regarded as a scream queen due to her roles in various horror productions, which inc ...
as Nurse Bautista *
C. Ernst Harth Cary Ernst Harth (born February 2, 1970) is a Canadian character actor. Life and career Harth was born in Galt, Ontario, Canada. He got his first role of acting as a kindergartner when the drama club cast the school's largest child to play Sant ...
as Mr. Campisi *
Sarah Silverman Sarah Kate Silverman (born December 1, 1970) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and writer. She first rose to prominence for her brief stint as a writer and cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' during its ...
as Officer Gina *
Suzanne Somers Suzanne Marie Somers (; October 16, 1946 – October 15, 2023) was an American actress, author, and businesswoman. She played the television roles of Chrissy Snow on ''Three's Company'' (1977–1981) and Carol Foster Lambert on '' Step by Step' ...
(''uncredited'') as Suzanne


Release

''Say It Isn't So'' opened in the United States on March 23, 2001 in 1,974 venues. It ranked number 10 at the North American box office, earning $2,861,903 in its opening weekend. At the end of its run, the film grossed $5,520,393 in the United States and $6,800,000 overseas for a worldwide total of $12,320,393.


Reception

The film received overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics. On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...
, it has a 8% approval rating based on 106 reviews, with an average score of . The website's consensus states: "Those that haven't tired of Farrelly brothers' brand of comedy may still find some laughs here. Otherwise, the slow pacing and unimaginative shock gags will start to wear on the viewer." On
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, the film has a 21 out of 100 rating based on reviews from 29 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". In his review for the ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
'',
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
gave the film one out of four stars and stated: "A comedy character can't be successfully embarrassed for more than a few seconds at a time. Even then, it's best if they don't know what they've done wrong--if the joke's on them, and they don't get it. .."Say It Isn't So," on the other hand, keeps a character embarrassed in scene after scene, until he becomes an...embarrassment. The movie doesn't understand that embarrassment comes in a sudden painful flush of realization; drag it out, and it's not embarrassment anymore, but public humiliation, which is a different condition, and not funny." Writing for ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'',
Desson Howe Desson Patrick Thomson is a speechwriter, journalist and film critic. He was a speechwriter for the Obama administration and film critic for ''The Washington Post''. He was known as Desson Howe until 2003 when he changed his name after reunitin ...
noted that "When the Farrelly Brothers made "''
Dumb and Dumber ''Dumb and Dumber'' is a 1994 American buddy comedy film directed by Peter Farrelly, who cowrote the screenplay with Bobby Farrelly and Bennett Yellin. It is the first installment in the ''Dumb and Dumber'' franchise. Starring Jim Carrey and ...
''," "''
There's Something About Mary ''There's Something About Mary'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by the Farrelly brothers, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ed Decter and John J. Strauss. The film features Cameron Diaz as the title character, while Ben S ...
''" and "''
Me, Myself & Irene ''Me, Myself & Irene'' is a 2000 American slapstick black comedy film directed by the Farrelly brothers, and starring Jim Carrey and Renée Zellweger. Chris Cooper, Robert Forster, Richard Jenkins, Daniel Greene, Anthony Anderson, Jerod Mixo ...
''," the message was: Comedy doesn't get lower than this. They were wrong. ..This time, the jokes about dead animals, gunk in the hair, incest and all other taboos are flatter than the road kill Gilly finds himself picking up for a living." Marc Savlov of ''
The Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogra ...
'' gave the movie one out of five stars, criticizing Rogers for using the "skeletal framework" of a Farrelly Brothers film that's bereft of their "good-natured" moments and humor that didn't "go not far enough and, ironically, way too far", concluding that: "In the end it's a dull, unremarkable comedy of errata; it makes you realize just how smart the creators of ''Dumb & Dumber'' actually are." ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
''s
Peter Travers Peter Joseph Travers (born June 27, 1943) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film i ...
felt the script was "minus a shred of Farrelly wit." ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
''s
Owen Gleiberman Owen Gleiberman (born February 24, 1959) is an American film critic who has been chief film critic for '' Variety'' magazine since May 2016, a title he shares with . Previously, Gleiberman wrote for ''Entertainment Weekly'' from 1990 until 2014. ...
gave the film an overall "F" grade. He called it "a black comedy in the form of vicarious serial punishment", criticizing the use of "synthetic mock cruelties" that lack pacing and creativity when delivered as jokes, highlighting the main incest gag as failing to register due to the two main leads' performances.


Home media

''Say It Isn't So'' was released on
VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...
and
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 ki ...
on August 21, 2001. The DVD features an
audio commentary An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...
by director Rogers and star Klein, and six deleted and extended scenes including an extended ending.


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Say It Isn't So 2001 films 2001 black comedy films 2001 directorial debut films 2001 romantic comedy films 2000s American films 2000s coming-of-age comedy films 2000s English-language films 20th Century Fox films American black comedy films American coming-of-age comedy films American romantic comedy films English-language black comedy films English-language romantic comedy films Films about incest Films directed by J. B. Rogers Films scored by Mason Daring Films set in Indiana Films set in Oregon Films shot in California Films shot in Los Angeles Films shot in Utah Films shot in Vancouver