''The Caveman's Valentine'' is a 2001 American mystery-

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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Kasi Lemmons Kasi Lemmons (; born Karen Lemmons, February 24, 1959) is an American film director, screenwriter, and actress. She made her directorial debut with ''Eve's Bayou'' (1997), followed by ''The Caveman's Valentine'' (2001), ''Talk to Me (2007 film), ...

and starring Samuel L. Jackson based on George Dawes Green's 1994 novel of the same name. The film was released by Universal Focus, a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...

, which would later become Focus Features.

Plot

A former family man and pianist studying at

Juilliard The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became the Juilliard School, named aft ...

music school, Romulus Ledbetter, now suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and lives in a cave in Inwood Park, New York. He believes that a man named Cornelius Gould Stuyvesant is controlling the world with rays from the top of the

Chrysler Building The Chrysler Building is a , Art Deco skyscraper in the East Midtown neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. Located at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue, it is the tallest brick building in the world wit ...

, and that his mind is inhabited by moth-like

seraph A seraph ( ; pl.: ) is a celestial or heavenly being originating in Ancient Judaism. The term plays a role in subsequent Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Tradition places seraphim in the highest rank in Christian angelology and in the fif ...

s. On

Valentine’s Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a martyr named Valentine, and through later folk traditions it ha ...

, he discovers the frozen body of a young man, Scotty Gates, left in a tree outside his cave. The police, including Romulus's daughter Lulu, dismiss the man's death as an accident. However, a homeless ex-lover of Scotty tells Romulus that he was murdered by the famous photographer David Leppenraub. Determined to discover the truth behind Scotty’s death and prove his worth to his daughter, Romulus manages to get an invitation through a former friend to perform one of his compositions at Leppenraub’s farm. What unfolds thereafter is a twisted tale of mystery, deception, and a man's struggle against his own mind.

Cast

Release

Box office

''The Caveman’s Valentine'' opened in limited release on March 2, 2001, and grossed $112,041 on its opening weekend. After 15 weeks in theaters, the film grossed $687,194.

Critical reception

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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 ...

, the film has an approval rating of 46% based on 85 reviews, with an average score of 5.17/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Caveman's Valentine has an intriguing premise, but the film falls flat under the weight of its ambition." 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 ...

, which uses an average of critics' reviews, the film has 44 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Awards

In 2002, Tamara Tunie was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cavemans Valentine, The 2000s American films 2000s English-language films 2001 films 2001 crime drama films 2001 crime thriller films 2001 independent films American crime drama films American crime thriller films American mystery films Films about homelessness Films about interracial romance Films about music and musicians Films about schizophrenia Films based on American novels Films directed by Kasi Lemmons Films produced by Danny DeVito Films produced by Scott Frank Films produced by Elie Samaha Films scored by Terence Blanchard Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City Films shot in Toronto Franchise Pictures films Focus Features films Valentine's Day in films English-language independent films English-language crime drama films English-language crime thriller films