''The New Age'' is a 1994

comedy-drama film 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 ...

written and directed by Michael Tolkin, and starring

Peter Weller Peter Weller (born June 24, 1947) is an American film and stage actor, television director, and art historian. He has appeared in more than 70 films and television series, including '' RoboCop'' (1987) and its sequel '' RoboCop 2'' (1990), in wh ...

and

Judy Davis Judith Davis (born 23 April 1955) is an Australian actress in film, television, and on stage. With a career spanning over 40 years, she has been commended for her versatility and regarded as one of the finest actresses of her generation. Frequen ...

Plot

Peter and Katherine Witner are Southern California super-yuppies with great jobs but no center to their lives. When they both lose their jobs and begin marital infidelities, their solution is to start their own business together. In order to find meaning to their empty lives, they follow various

New Age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consi ...

gurus and other such groups. Eventually, they hit rock bottom and have to make some hard decisions.

Cast

as Peter Witner *

as Katherine Witner * Patrick Bauchau as Jean Levy *

Rachel Rosenthal Rachel Rosenthal (November 9, 1926 – May 10, 2015) was a French-born interdisciplinary and performance artist, teacher, actress, and animal rights activist based in Los Angeles. She was best known for her full-length performance art pieces whi ...

as Sarah Friedberg * Adam West as Jeff Witner * Paula Marshall as Alison Gale *

Bruce Ramsay Bruce Ramsay (born December 31, 1966) is a Canadian film, television and stage actor. Career Ramsay's screen debut was opposite fellow Montrealer Elias Koteas in the film '' Malarek'' (1988). Ramsay and Koteas went on to appear in two other fi ...

as Misha * Tanya Pohlkotte as Bettina *

Susan Traylor Susan Traylor is an American actress. She was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her performance in '' Valerie Flake'' (1999). Traylor's starring role in ''Valerie Flake'' also won the inaugural best feature a ...

as Ellen Saltonstall *

Patricia Heaton Patricia Helen Heaton (born March 4, 1958) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for her work on sitcoms, having played Debra Barone on ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' (1996–2005) as well as Frances "Frankie" Heck on '' The Middl ...

as Anna *

John Diehl John Henry Diehl (born May 1, 1950) is an American character actor. Noted for his work in avant-garde theater, Diehl has performed in more than 140 films and television shows, including ''Land of Plenty'', '' Stripes'', ''City Limits'', ''Nixon ...

as Lyle * Maureen Mueller as Laura * Sandra Seacat as Mary Netter * Samuel L. Jackson as Dale Deveaux *

Audra Lindley Audra Marie Lindley (September 24, 1918 – October 16, 1997) was an American actress, most famous for her role as landlady Helen Roper on the sitcom ''Three's Company'' and its spin-off ''The Ropers''. Life and career Audra Lindley was born ...

as Sandi Rego *

Corbin Bernsen Corbin Dean Bernsen (born September 7, 1954) is an American actor and film director. He appeared as divorce attorney Arnold Becker on the NBC drama series '' L.A. Law'',

as Kevin Bulasky * Jonathan Hadary as Paul Hartmann * Lily Mariye as Sue *

Kimberley Kates Kimberley Kates (born August 15, 1969) is an American actress and film producer. Kates is best known for her role as Princess Elizabeth in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. She founded and is currently the CEO of Big Screen Entertainment Group, a ...

as Other Catherine * Maria Ellingsen as Hilly * Kelly Miracco as Carol (as Kelly Miller) * Dana Hollowell as Emily * Rebecca Staab as Woman Customer * Mary Kane as Tina Bulasky * Patrick Dollaghan as Chet * Jeff Celentano as Tab (as Jeff Weston) * Victoria Baker as Victoria * Bob Flanagan as Himself * Nicole Nagel as Rich German * Dana Kaminski as Andrea

Release

''The New Age'' opened on September 16, 1994 on 3 screens in New York (

Village East Cinema Village East by Angelika (originally the Louis N. Jaffe Art Theatre, also Village East, and formerly known by several other names) is a movie theater at 189 Second Avenue, on the corner with 12th Street, in the East Village of Manhattan in N ...

and Sony Tower East) and Los Angeles and grossed $35,797 for the weekend. It expanded to 12 screens and grossed a total of $245,217.

Reception

''The New Age'' holds a rating of 64% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

based on 14 reviews.

Year-end lists

* 5th – Peter Rainer, ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' *9th -

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

, ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the '' Chicago ...

'' * Honorable mention – Jeff Simon, ''

The Buffalo News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It recently sold its headquarters to Uniland Development Corp. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by ...

References

External links

* * * * 1994 comedy-drama films 1994 films Films scored by Mark Mothersbaugh Films directed by Michael Tolkin Films with screenplays by Michael Tolkin Warner Bros. films Regency Enterprises films 1990s English-language films New Age in popular culture {{1990s-comedy-drama-film-stub