''Samantha'' is a 1991 American film starring actress

Martha Plimpton Martha Plimpton (born November 16, 1970) is an American actress. Her feature-film debut was in '' Rollover'' (1981); she subsequently rose to prominence in the Richard Donner film ''The Goonies'' (1985). She has also appeared in '' The Mosquito ...

. Though at the time Plimpton was already a film actress for nearly ten years, this was the first vehicle in which she was the star. The film co-starred Dermot Mulroney,

Hector Elizondo In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

Mary Kay Place Mary Kay Place (born September 23, 1947) is an American actress, singer, director, and screenwriter. She is known for portraying Loretta Haggers on the television series '' Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'', a role that won her the 1977 Primetime Emm ...

and Ione Skye. It was a commercial failure, with mixed critical reviews. The film was released in the fall and promoted as a romance blockbuster. A soundtrack/score album was released in anticipation of success that never came. The film featured cameo appearances by

Robert Picardo Robert Alphonse Picardo (born October 27, 1953) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the Cowboy in '' Innerspace'', Coach Cutlip on '' The Wonder Years'', Captain Dick Richard on the ABC series ''China Beach'', the Doctor on '' S ...

(who would later find fame as The Doctor on '' Star Trek: Voyager'') and Maryedith Burnell. Burnell had previously played the character of Helen Buckman, mother to Julie Buckman in the television version of the film '' Parenthood''; in the film version, Julie was played by Martha Plimpton.

Plot

Samantha is a hugely talented violinist who discovers on her 21st birthday that she was left on the steps of her parents, Marilyn and Walter's home and subsequently adopted. She goes into a panic, asserting that everything she has believed herself to be is a lie. She abandons music just before her senior university recital. She moves in with childhood friend Henry. As she searches for her true identity she becomes oblivious to the inconvenience and suffering her search is causing the people she loves. Ultimately she locates her birth parents, Neil and Charlotte Otto, who are emotionally cold towards her but, who are professional concert musicians, a

harpist The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual string (music), strings running at an angle to its sound board (music), soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various way ...

and a

flautist The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

. She realizes that her gift of music came from within, but that despite no blood-connection, her family is truly her own.

Cast

as Samantha *

as Marilyn *

as Walter * Dermot Mulroney as Henry *

Maryedith Burrell Maryedith Ann Burrell (née Smith; born May 20, 1952) is an American actress, comedian, film and television producer, writer and documentarian best known for starring roles on the television series '' Fridays'', ''Throb'', Ron Howard's '' Parenth ...

as Charlotte Otto *

as Neil Otto * Ione Skye as Elaine

Reception

External links

* * 1991 films 1991 comedy films Films about adoption American comedy films American independent films Films shot in California Films scored by Joel McNeely 1990s English-language films 1990s American films {{1990s-comedy-film-stub