''Ithaca'' is a 2015 American
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...
directed by
Meg Ryan and written by
Erik Jendresen. It is based on the 1943 novel ''
The Human Comedy'' by
William Saroyan
William Saroyan (; August 31, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an Armenian-American novelist, playwright, and short story writer. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940, and in 1943 won the Academy Award for Best Story for the film ''The ...
. The film stars
Alex Neustaedter,
Jack Quaid
Jack Henry Quaid (born April 24, 1992) is an American actor. The son of actors Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid, he made his acting debut with a minor role in the dystopian film ''The Hunger Games (film), The Hunger Games'' (2012). Quaid was part of th ...
, Meg Ryan,
Sam Shepard
Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American playwright, actor, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned half a century. He wrote 58 plays as well as several books of short stories, essays, ...
,
Hamish Linklater and
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...
. The film was released on September 9, 2016, by
Momentum Pictures
Momentum Pictures was a film distributor owned by Entertainment One, a subsidiary of Lionsgate Studios. Prior to 2013, it was a brand of Canadian distributor Alliance Films used for its releases in the United Kingdom, and was one of the leading ...
.
Plot
In 1942, Homer Macauley is a determined 14-year-old who seeks work delivering telegrams to take care of his widowed mother Katie, his older sister Bess and his 4-year-old brother Ulysses. He aims to be the best and fastest bicycle telegraph messenger of the small fictional town of Ithaca, CA.
The very first telegram Homer delivers is to a Hispanic woman who is illiterate in English. She asks him to read it out loud. It's from the Secretary of Defense, informing her of her son's death in the war.
Homer's older brother Marcus, along with most of the young men of the town, has gone to serve in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, leaving the families worried. Their father has died recently in the war.
Marcus writes regularly, telling them about his life in the war. He reminds Homer that he's the man of the house in his absence.
At Homer's job he has to make sure the telegrapher Willie Grogan stays alert. He wakes him with cold water and strong coffee. Homer loses his boyish innocence as he delivers telegrams bringing messages of love, wishes, pain, and death, hoping that one of them announces the return of his brother.
Homer is envious of Ulysses as he seems fearless and oblivious to the war. Restless, he goes in to the telegraph office in case he's needed.
Katie regularly 'sees' her husband, Matthew. When Homer wakes to a nightmare and the next day when he tells her his envy of Ulysses' fearlessness, she sees him. Later that day, even the little boy gets spooked by a half man, half machine window display. That night, Homer reads a letter from Marcus out loud to Mr. Grogan, saying he'll shut out the world if his brother dies in the war.
The next afternoon, Homer checks in on Mr. Grogan, only to find him dead after typing out one last telegraph message. It is the one he's been dreading since his brother left. Toby, Marcus' fellow soldier, and Homer arrive at the Macauleys' to deliver the news of Marcus' demise.
Cast
Production
On January 29, 2014, it was announced
Meg Ryan would direct ''Ithaca'', a film based on the 1943 novel ''
The Human Comedy'' by
William Saroyan
William Saroyan (; August 31, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an Armenian-American novelist, playwright, and short story writer. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940, and in 1943 won the Academy Award for Best Story for the film ''The ...
, with Ryan,
Sam Shepard
Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American playwright, actor, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned half a century. He wrote 58 plays as well as several books of short stories, essays, ...
,
Hamish Linklater, and Ryan's son
Jack Quaid
Jack Henry Quaid (born April 24, 1992) is an American actor. The son of actors Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid, he made his acting debut with a minor role in the dystopian film ''The Hunger Games (film), The Hunger Games'' (2012). Quaid was part of th ...
starring in the film.
On June 25, 2014,
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...
joined the cast.
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...
began on July 21, 2014, and ended on August 22, 2014. It was filmed in
Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 33,458 with a majority bla ...
, and also some opening scenes of the film were shot on the
Western Maryland Scenic Railroad.
Release
The film premiered on October 23, 2015, at the
Middleburg Film Festival. The film was released on September 9, 2016, by
Momentum Pictures
Momentum Pictures was a film distributor owned by Entertainment One, a subsidiary of Lionsgate Studios. Prior to 2013, it was a brand of Canadian distributor Alliance Films used for its releases in the United Kingdom, and was one of the leading ...
.
Music
John Mellencamp
John J. Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrumentation ...
, Ryan's boyfriend, wrote the entire score for the movie. "Not one note
n ''Ithaca''is anything other than Mellencamp. He did everything," Ryan said.
In a May 6, 2016 Q&A after a screening of the movie at
Geena Davis
Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis (born January 21, 1956) is an American actor. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.
Davis made her acting debut in the satirical romantic comedy ''Toots ...
' Bentonville Film Festival, Ryan said: "The music is so beautiful. John Mellencamp wrote every note – everything – the tiny little needle drops you hear in the back. He wrote about half of it after I read him the script, and then the next half after he saw the movie. He's just incredible."
In addition to the score, Mellencamp wrote two original songs for ''Ithaca'': "Sugar Hill Mountain" (sung by
Carlene Carter
Carlene Carter (born Rebecca Carlene Smith; September 26, 1955) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is the daughter of June Carter Cash and her first husband, Carl Smith (country musician), Carl Smith.
Since 1978, Carter has ...
) and "Seeing You Around" (sung by
Leon Redbone). "Sugar Hill Mountain" is a fiddle-driven folk song that describes an idyllic location where there's "bubble gum and cigarette trees," no clocks, every day is spring, and anything you need is "gratis." Meanwhile, the piano-heavy "Seeing You Around" has the sound of a 1940s standard (the time period the movie takes place in) and is made all the more authentically '40s-sounding by Redbone's gruff, baritone vocals. Mellencamp's band provided the backing on both tracks and performed all the music that is in the movie.
Said Carter in 2015: "The way John Mellencamp and I met was he invited me to come and sing this song he had written for the movie that Meg Ryan has coming out called ''Ithaca''. That was when we became friends, when I went to Indiana and recorded with him and the guys this really cool song called 'Sugar Hill Mountain' that's in the movie. And the movie is wonderful. We got to see a rough cut of it and I was very impressed."
The track "Sugar Hill Mountain" (sung by
Carlene Carter
Carlene Carter (born Rebecca Carlene Smith; September 26, 1955) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is the daughter of June Carter Cash and her first husband, Carl Smith (country musician), Carl Smith.
Since 1978, Carter has ...
) was later included in John Mellencamp's album
Sad Clowns & Hillbillies released in 2017 and which features 6 tracks with Carlene Carter: this one, one she wrote, one she co-wrote with Mellencamp, one that is a reworking of a track from the 2013 John Mellencamp & Stephen King project
Ghost Brothers of Darkland County (which had featured Carter's stepsister
Rosanne Cash
Rosanne Cash (born May 24, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of country musician Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian Cash.
Although Cash is often classified as a country artist, her music draws f ...
), one that is a Mellencamp version of a Woody Guthrie lyric, and one where she does backing vocals on a song which was originally for his 1996 album
Mr. Happy Go Lucky.
Critical reception
References
External links
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{{Meg Ryan
2015 films
American drama films
Playtone films
Films based on American novels
Films set in 1942
Films set on the United States home front during World War II
Films shot in Maryland
Films shot in Virginia
Films with screenplays by Erik Jendresen
2015 directorial debut films
2015 drama films
2010s English-language films
2010s American films
Momentum Pictures films
English-language drama films