''Love from Ground Zero'' is a 1998 American dramatic road movie directed, written and produced by Stephen Grynberg. It stars Simon Baker, Jacqueline McKenzie, and Pruitt Taylor Vince as it follows three strangers across the back roads of America with the ashes of a mutual friend. Using a series of old postcards as a map, the threesome drive from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

retracing their friend’s journey “out west” years before. As they try to make sense of the untimely death, they are forced to face the realities in their own lives that have brought them down this unpredictable road.

Synopsis

Three strangers drive from

with the ashes of their mutual friend, Henry. Using old postcards as their road map, Henry's old college buddy ( Simon Baker), his southern girlfriend ( Jacqueline McKenzie) and his childhood best friend ( Pruitt Taylor Vince) venture out west across the timeless back roads of America in search of his final resting place. What they find along the way are pieces of themselves that lay hidden in the mysterious landscape between life and loss.

Production

Stephen Grynberg is a writer and independent filmmaker based in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to i ...

(

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

). ''Love from Ground Zero'' marked his debut as a feature film director in 1998. Since then, Grynberg has created a number of narrative and documentary films, among them the award-winning documentary ''A Life Ascending'' and, as part of large scale art project ''Envisioning the Future'' by Judy Chicago, the documentary film and video installation ''Past Forward'' (2005). Before his career in filmmaking took off, Grynberg graduated from the Columbia University Business School with an MBA and from Northwestern University with a BS in Chemical Engineering. He then went on to receive a degree in film directing from the American Film Institute. ''Love from Ground Zero'' was written, directed and produced by Grynberg, the latter in cooperation with Aaron Cohen. Patricia Kruijer and Chris Beckman were also Co-Producers, Neal Allen acted as Line Producer/Unit Production Manager. The film was shot in 35mm color by DP

Mauro Fiore Mauro Fiore (born November 15, 1964) is an Italian-American cinematographer. He was born in Marzi, Calabria and moved to the US with his family in 1971. He attended Palatine High School in Palatine, Illinois, and graduated in 1982. He started o ...

. Sandra Grass was hired as production designer for this project, Emily Schweber did the casting. Additional Editing is by Dave Baron. Michael Torres and Tiffaney Rotert did hair and make-up, Katie Vollmer was wardrobe assistant. The film was shot on the move across the Midwestern states of

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large po ...

, and

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

. Rob Christoffersen, Tammy R. Richards (Colorado) and Dave Peck (Chico, second unit) accounted for the location management. The original acoustic score was written by

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

winner John McEuen (

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American country rock band formed in 1966. The group has existed in various forms since its founding in Long Beach, California. Between 1976 and 1981, the band performed and recorded as the Dirt Band. Constan ...

), production sound was mixed by Jeff Heintzleman. Still photographies were provided by Steve Claasen and Bill Walter. Dialogue coach James Devney and choreographer Stuart Mart were present on the set as well. The music was edited by Steven A. Saltzman, while Dominic Camardella engineered and mixed the score. Musicians were composer John McEuen, Randy Tico, Jonathan McEuen, Phil Salazar, Jesse Siebenberg and Chris Caswell. Additional Music is by Raney Schockne. Along with McEuen's original score, the following songs were used in the film: The film was dedicated to the memory of Gordon DeLima Hamilton.

Film Festivals

The Film was part of the official selection at the following international film festivals in 1998 and 1999: *

Hamptons International Film Festival The Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) is an international film festival founded in 1992, by Joyce Robinson. The festival has since taken place every year in East Hampton, New York. It is usually an annual five-day event in mid-October ...

* Montreal World Film Festival * Palm Springs International Film Festival * Las Vegas International Film Festival * New Filmmakers Series (New York) * Deep Ellum Film Festival (Dallas)

Cast

* Simon Baker Denny as Eric, Henry's college buddy * Jacqueline McKenzie as Samantha, Henry's girlfriend * Pruitt Taylor Vince as Walter, Henry's childhood best friend *

Kathryn Erbe Kathryn Elsbeth Erbe is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Alexandra Eames on '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent'', a spin-off of ''Law & Order'', and Shirley Bellinger in the HBO series '' Oz''. Early life Erbe was born in ...

as Alexandra (″Alex″) *

James Gammon James Richard Gammon (April 20, 1940 – July 16, 2010) was an American actor, known for playing grizzled "good ol' boy" types in numerous films and television series. Gammon portrayed Lou Brown, the manager in the movies '' Major League'' and ' ...

as ″Hat″ *

Sam Robards Samuel Prideaux Robards (born December 16, 1961) is an American actor, best known for his role as Henry Swinton in the film ''A.I. Artificial Intelligence''. Early life and education Robards was born in New York City, the son of actor Jason Roba ...

as Voice of Henry * Anne Erin Dake as Apollo Receptionist * Holis McCarthy as Waitress At Bar * Tim Driscoll as Male Gas Attendant * Tara Varney as Female Gas Attendant * Emma and Samuel Sheridan as Emmanuel * Margaret Beth Friesen as Sally Norlen * William Nettleman as Bill Norlen * Gabriel Macht as New York Pedestrian * Paul Vecchio as Sedan Driver * David Dahl as Gas Station Owner * Paul Emerson as Gen X Boy 2 (deleted scene)

External links

* * {{IMDb title, id=0151396, title=Love from Ground Zero 1998 drama films 1998 films 1990s English-language films American drama films 1990s American films