Rating: PG13
Genre:
Comedy
Release Date: 07/27/1999
Dubbed: English
Sound: 2
Run Time: 98 Minutes
Flags: Adult Situations, Adult Humor, Sexual Situations
Distributor/Studio: Miramax
This dark comedy is a clever homage to classic generation gap comedies such as
The Graduate (1967),
The Last Picture Show (1971) and
The Big Chill (1983), filtered through an ironic Generation X lens. Tom Thompson (
David Schwimmer) is unemployed and aimless, hovering between childhood and adult responsibilities. A year out of college, Tom can't land a decent job -- he still lives with his mother in Brooklyn. He receives a call from Ruth Abernathy (
Barbara Hershey), who informs Tom that her son Bill, Tom's best friend in high school, has killed himself. She wants Tom to deliver the eulogy and serve as a pallbearer, and flustered, Tom agrees, though he has no recollection of Bill. After delivering a lackluster eulogy, Tom meets the grieving Ruth and begins an impulsive affair with her. He also encounters Julie DeMarco (
Gwyneth Paltrow), a beautiful classmate for whom he's long carried a torch. Although Julie at first mistakes Tom for someone else, they begin dating, while he keeps his relationship with Ruth a secret. First-time writer-director
Matt Reeves work-shopped the script for
The Pallbearer with writing partner
Jason Katims at the Sundance Institute.
Reeves went on to create the TV series
Felicity.
~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
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