''Foster'' (also known as ''Angel in the House'') is a 2011 British

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film written and directed by Jonathan Newman, based on his 2005

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

. Part of it was shot at Legoland Windsor in April 2010. The film stars

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

winner

Toni Collette Toni Collette Galafassi (born Toni Collett; 1 November 1972) is an Australian actress, producer, singer, and songwriter. Known for her work in television and independent films, she has received various accolades throughout her career, inclu ...

Ioan Gruffudd Ioan Gruffudd (; (born 6 October 1973) is a Welsh actor. He first came to public attention as Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in ''Titanic'' (1997), and then for his portrayal of Horatio Hornblower in the ''Hornblower (TV series), Hornblower'' seri ...

Richard E. Grant Richard E. Grant (born Richard Grant Esterhuysen; 5 May 1957) is a Swazi-English actor and presenter. He made his film debut as Withnail in the comedy ''Withnail and I'' (1987). Grant received critical acclaim for his role as Jack Hock in Mar ...

BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...

winner

Hayley Mills Hayley Catherine Rose Vivien Mills (born 18 April 1946) is an English actress. The daughter of Sir John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell, and younger sister of actress Juliet Mills, she began her acting career as a child and was hailed as a promising ...

and Maurice Cole.

Plot

Some years after their son is killed in an accident, a married couple (Collette and Gruffudd) decide to adopt a child. One day a 7-year-old boy, Eli (Cole), unexpectedly arrives on their doorstep claiming to be from the adoption agency. Eli wears a suit every day and is very well-spoken for a child. He helps the adults to process their loss, which had stifled both their marriage and their toy business, and lets them embrace life again.

Cast

as Zooey *

as Alec * Maurice Cole as Eli *

as Mrs. Lange *

as Mr. Potts *

Anne Reid Anne Reid, MBE (born 28 May 1935) is a British stage, film and television actress, known for her roles as Valerie Barlow in the soap opera '' Coronation Street'' (1961–1971); Jean in the sitcom '' dinnerladies'' (1998–2000); and her role ...

as Diane * Daisy Beaumont as Sarah * Bobby Smalldridge as Samuel * Tim Beckman as Jim *

Jo Wyatt Jo Wyatt is an English actress. She is known for her voice as Tweak in '' The Octonauts'', Little Miss Helpful, Little Miss Naughty, Little Miss Scary and Little Miss Sunshine in '' The Mr. Men Show''. She also voiced Daisy Kribotnik in ''Lov ...

as Jane *

Haruka Kuroda is a Japanese actress and presenter. She provided the voice of Noodle from Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett's alternative rock virtual band Gorillaz from 2000 to 2017. She performed on all the Phase One tour dates as Noodle: She performed Nood ...

as Translator

Production

''Foster'', the short film, premiered on HBO and BBC in 2007. It won Best Film, Best Actor (for Preston Nyman), Special Jury Prize and Best Screenplay at the Braga International Film Festival in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

. The film garnered Newman a nomination for

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, cur ...

's New Filmmaker Award. It was also nominated for Best Film at the

Rhode Island Film Festival Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) takes place every year in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island as well as satellite locations throughout the state. History Started in 1997, the Festival is produced by Flickers, th ...

in 2006. After the success of the short,

Peter Farrelly Peter John Farrelly (born December 17, 1956) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and novelist. Along with his brother Bobby, the Farrelly brothers are mostly famous for directing and producing quirky comedy and romantic comedy ...

of the

Farrelly brothers Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly, collectively referred to as the Farrelly brothers, are American screenwriters and directors. They have made eleven films together, including ''Dumb and Dumber'', '' Outside Providence'', and ''There's Something ...

became interested in the development of a feature-length film though the film was ultimately produced by ''Bend it Like Beckham'' producer Deepak Nayar. Shooting subsequently began in the spring of 2010 for six weeks on location in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Release

The film premiered on 18 October 2011 at the

Rome Film Festival International Rome Film Fest is a film festival that takes place in Rome during the month of October. The name in Italian is Festa del Cinema di Roma. Sections The Rome Film Festival official program is divided into several sections: Cinema d'O ...

and was released in 2012.

Critical reception

Rhode Island Film Festival, 2013

Foster won Best Feature Film (Youth Jury Awards) at th
Rhode Island Film Festival, 2013

Rome film festival

The film was met with positive reviews, with

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

film review site ''Persinsala'' calling it a "sweet and very moving comedy with a happy ending" and praising Cole's performance, "caught in the shoes of a child – incredibly mature for his age".

References

External links

BBC ThreeSerendipity FilmsFoster Movie Review
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Foster 2011 films British comedy-drama films Features based on short films 2010s English-language films Films directed by Jonathan Newman 2010s British films