''Five Dollars a Day'' (also spelled as ''$5 a Day'') is a 2008 American

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film directed by

Nigel Cole Nigel Cole (born 1959) is an English film director, film and television director. Career Cole began his career in the 1980s, directing current affairs shows and documentaries for Central Independent Television. Into the 1990s, Cole co-wrote the ...

, produced by Capitol Films and starring

Christopher Walken Christopher Walken (born Ronald Walken; March 31, 1943) is an American actor. Christopher Walken on stage and screen, His work on stage and screen has earned him List of awards and nominations received by Christopher Walken, accolades includin ...

, Alessandro Nivola, Amanda Peet, and

Sharon Stone Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress and film producer. Known for primarily playing femmes fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the ...

Plot

Richie Flynn Parker ( Alessandro Nivola) is a seemingly successful man living in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

who has just broken up with his girlfriend Maggie ( Amanda Peet). He has also just been fired from his job as a health inspector when he discovers his father Nat (

), a cheap con-man, has a terminal brain tumor and he wants to see Richie. Richie, believing it's another con, grudgingly goes to

Atlantic City Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of the Atlantic City- Hammonton metropolitan sta ...

to see his father who explains he has been living on five dollars a day, going to extremes to do so, such as constantly calling various radio station contests with different aliases to win things, like concert tickets he can then scalp. Nat shows Ritchie an x-ray of his skull, and asks Ritchie to drive him to

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

to seek a potential cure. The father and son hit the road driving a Sweet'n Low car free of charge provided they get gas at Chevron stations along the way. Richie calls his girlfriend to tell her about his life and the trip, using one of Nat's many free cell-phones with promotional minutes. After their first stop to eat at an IHOP restaurant for free by Nat convincing them it's his birthday using a fake drivers license (which Nat continues to do at other IHOPs along the way), they stop at a vacant house that is for sale to spend the night, and narrowly avoid being found out by a realtor and some people looking at the home the following morning. The next day over a stolen room service meal from a motel, Richie finds out that Nat got him fired by telling his boss of an earlier jail sentence, which is later revealed that Richie took the fall for to keep Nat from going to jail for one of his crimes. This almost makes Richie abandon the trip. They proceed to drive to various cities, once staying at an open house for a retirement village. They then go to

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Potter County, Texas, Potter County, though most of the southern half of the city extends into Randall County, Texas, Randall County ...

, where they meet up with Richie's old babysitter, Dolores (

), who is now a professional model Nat has a thing for. They then head to New Mexico so that Nat can collect a small sum of money from an old rival, Kruger ( Peter Coyote), whom Nat lent money to start a used car dealership many years back, and whom Richie's mother later ran off with when he was young. Kruger, now owner of a hugely successful chain of car dealerships, and a well established member of the community with wife and family, agrees to give Nat a large sum of quiet money so that Nat does not upset Kruger's plans to run for mayor by embarrassing Kruger regarding Ritchie's paternity. Flush with cash, Nat suggests to Richie that the two of them visit

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

to spend some time together, but Richie soon realizes that Nat is not his actual father and Nat convinces him that his story about being sick was a ruse to get him to travel with him to New Mexico. Upset with this news, Richie runs off with the hush money and sneaks into Kruger's campaign kick-off party to confront him. Not satisfied with how Kruger responds, Richie rushes the campaign stage to announce Kruger's paternity and simulates the return of the hush money. After escaping capture by campaign security, Richie returns to the hotel where he meets back up with Nat. After some discussion, Nat collapses and winds up in the hospital, actually very ill. Maggie shows up after Richie calls her to break the news. They sneak Nat out of the hospital, and Nat takes Richie to a beached boat house near the shore of a desert lake, where the two go skinny dipping. Later, Richie and Maggie are shown sitting in a row boat on the lake, scattering Nat's ashes from a makeshift urn consisting of a large

Pepsi Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...

cup that Nat got for free with a five dollar purchase of gas. The boat begins to sink as they laugh at their circumstance.

Cast

as Nat Parker * Alessandro Nivola as Richie Flynn Parker *

as Dolores Jones * Amanda Peet as Maggie * Peter Coyote as Bert Kruger * Dean Cain as Rick Carlson *Mike Miller as Pharmaceutical CEO *Chris Dempsey as Tim Webber *Chris Ranney as Pharmaceutical Rep #2 *Jim Burleson as Orderly

Background

The project dates back to 2003 when Nick Cassavetes had signed on to direct for Fine Line Features, but a year later was replaced by John Curran. Three years later Nigel Cole was sitting in the director's chair. ''Five Dollars a Day'' was shot on

16mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 mm and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, ...

film and premiered at the

2008 Toronto International Film Festival The 2008 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This 33rd annual festival was from September 4 to September 13, 2008. The opening night gala was the World War I romantic epic '' Passchendaele'' from Cana ...

.TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL LINEUP 2008
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References

External links

* * {{Nigel Cole 2008 films 2008 comedy-drama films 2000s American films 2000s English-language films 2000s road comedy-drama films American road comedy-drama films English-language road comedy-drama films Films about squatting Films directed by Nigel Cole Films scored by Alex Wurman Films shot in New Mexico Films shot in Atlantic City, New Jersey Films shot in Pennsylvania