Film News: Movies Sell ‘Like Crazy’ at Sundance 2011

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CHICAGO – An overarching feeling of optimism seemed to permeate throughout the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Studios purchased the distribution rights to roughly 30 movies, nearly double the number of films that sold last year. Several of the festival’s most buzzed-about discoveries could easily find a sizable audience outside of the festival circuit, either in theaters or on VOD.

Paramount and Indian Paintbrush certainly appeared confident in their purchase of “Like Crazy,” the latest film from “Douchebag” director Drake Doremus, which flew under nearly everyone’s radar before claiming the festival’s top prize. It follows a young couple, played by Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones, as they attempt to maintain a long distance relationship between America and Britain. The largely improvised film has already been compared to bittersweet romances such as “Before Sunrise” and “Blue Valentine.” Jones is quickly emerging as an actress to watch, a fact solidified by the special jury prize she won for her performance.

Felicity Jones won a special jury prize for her performance in Drake Doremus’ Like Crazy.
Photo credit: Paramount

Peter D. Richardson claimed the festival’s other grand jury prize for his HBO documentary about physician-assisted suicide titled “How to Die in Oregon.” Another nonfiction film sure to ride a tidal wave of critical acclaim is “Project Nim,” director James Marsh’s follow-up to his Oscar-winning “Man on Wire,” which snagged the World Cinema Directing Award for documentary, and will be distributed by Roadside Attractions. This year’s planned resurrection of the Muppets got off to a smashing start when Constance Marks’ “Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey,” a profile of veteran Muppeteer Kevin Clash, won the special jury prize for documentary.

Though “Crazy” star Jones was hailed as a major discovery at the festival, she wasn’t the only actress garnering attention. Elizabeth Olsen, the younger sister of Mary Kate and Ashley, earned early Oscar buzz for her performance in Sean Durkin’s “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” a disturbing thriller about cults that won the U.S. dramatic directing award. Fox Searchlight picked up the film, along with Mike Cahill’s tear-jerking drama, “Another Earth,” which was the subject of much media attention mainly focusing on its co-writer/producer/lead actress Brit Marling (“Boxers and Ballerinas”). “Earth” became the recipient of both a special jury prize and the Alfred P. Sloan prize.

One of Searchlight’s most potentially lucrative finds may be Philip Cox’s “The Bengali Detective,” an alternately comedic and dramatic look at the life of Indian detective Rajesh Ji. The Weinstein Company spared no expenses in acquiring the dark comedy, “My Idiot Brother,” featuring a bearded Paul Rudd, and the even darker comedy, “The Details,” starring Tobey Maguire as perhaps the least lucky protagonist since Larry Gopnik in “A Serious Man.” Sony Pictures Classics snapped up the rights to Jeff Nichols’ “Take Shelter,” starring Michael Shannon as a family man with visions of impending doom. Though the film garnered considerable critical acclaim and was selected as the festival’s best narrative feature in an indieWIRE poll, it failed to snag any prizes.

Michael Shannon stars in Jeff Nichols’ overlooked Sundance entry Take Shelter.
Photo credit: Sony Pictures Classics

Other films that gained major buzz but no accolades included Jim Kohlberg’s “The Music Never Stopped,” a family drama starring Julia Ormond, J.K. Simmons and Lou Taylor Pucci that screened at the Music Box Theatre Jan. 27. Tom McCarthy’s “Win Win” was also overlooked, despite its attention-grabbing lead performance by Paul Giamatti as a scheming high school wrestling coach. Controversy swirled around Lucky McKee’s uncompromising shocker, “The Woman,” which inspired walk outs and angry vocal reactions at its late night screening, though the director was also met with supportive applause when he appeared for the post-film Q&A. Another hotly debated title was Evan Glodell’s “Bellflower,” an action-packed drama about friends hoping for an impending apocalypse that will enable them to live out their “Mad Max”-inspired fantasies. The NYC-based film distribution company Oscilloscope Laboratories nabbed the rights to Glodell’s film, which already has multiple detractors and impassioned fans.

Oddly enough, one of the most unpopular people at Sundance 2011 was festival veteran Kevin Smith, whose fundamentalist horror film “Red State” premiered to resoundingly negative reviews. Members of Fred Phelps’ notorious Westboro Baptist Church picketed screenings of the film, not realizing they were doing the film a favor by adding to its publicity. Smith pulled a further stunt by claiming that he would auction off the rights to “Red State” before revealing his plans to self-distribute the picture. “In Indie Film 2.0, we don’t let them sell our movie, we sell our movie ourselves,” Smith told a half-cheering, half-perplexed crowd. Smith fans and curious moviegoers in Chicago will be able to view the picture long before its Oct. 19 release when the “Clerks” director hosts a roadshow screening of the film March 8 at the Harris Theater.

By MATT FAGERHOLM Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com