Willie & Phil is a 1980 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Mazursky and starring Michael Ontkean, Margot Kidder, and Ray Sharkey. It is an American homage to Francois Truffaut's Jules et Jim (1962).
| Willie & Phil | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Paul Mazursky |
| Written by | Paul Mazursky |
| Produced by | Paul Mazursky |
| Starring | Michael Ontkean Margot Kidder Ray Sharkey |
| Cinematography | Sven Nykvist |
| Edited by | Donn Cambern |
| Music by | Claude Bolling Georges Delerue |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
|
Running time | 115 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $5,500,000[1] |
| Box office | $4,400,000[2] |
Plot
editThe film is set in late 1970s New York City, amidst the counterculture chic of that era. Willie, a high school English teacher who plays jazz piano, and Phil, a fashion photographer, meet as they exit the Bleecker Street Cinema, where Jules et Jim has just been shown, and become friends. They both fall in love with Jeannette, a girl from Kentucky. The plot then follows the love triangle from Jules et Jim.
Cast
edit- Michael Ontkean – Willie Kaufman
- Margot Kidder – Jeannette Sutherland
- Ray Sharkey – Phil D'Amico
- Jan Miner – Maria Kaufman
- Tom Brennan – Sal Kaufman
- Julie Bovasso – Mrs. D'Amico
- Louis Guss – Mr. D'Amico
- Kathleen Maguire – Mrs. Sutherland
- Kaki Hunter – Patti Sutherland
- Kristine DeBell – Rena
- Jerry Hall – Karen
- Laurence Fishburne – Wilson
Critical responses
editThe film was reviewed by Pauline Kael in The New Yorker. "This movie is a little monument to screwed-up notions of what women are", she noted.[3]
Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars. "In a subtle, understated sort of way, Mazursky is giving us a movie that hovers between a satirical revue and a series of lifestyle vignettes. The characters in his movie are almost exhausted by the end of the decade (weren't we all?)" he commented.[4]
Home media and rights
editFox Video released the film on LaserDisc in the United States on March 12, 1993.[5] On March 20, 2019, Rupert Murdoch sold most of 21st Century Fox's film and television assets to Disney,[6] and Willie & Phil was one of the films included in the deal.[7]
References
edit- ↑ Aubrey Solomon, Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History, Scarecrow Press, 1989 p259
- ↑ "Willie & Phil (1980) – Box Office Mojo". boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
- ↑ Pauline Kael Taking It All In ISBN 0-7145-2841-2
- ↑ Ebert, Roger. "Willie and Phil movie review & film summary (1980) | Roger Ebert". rogerebert.com. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
- ↑ "LaserDisc Database - Willie & Phil [1132-80] on LD LaserDisc".
- ↑ Stelter, Brian (March 12, 2019). "Disney says its Fox takeover will take effect on March 20 | CNN Business". CNN.
- ↑ Copyright notice in the credits for Willie & Phil, 1980.