''Spring Forward'' is a 1999 film and the directorial debut of
Tom Gilroy
Tom Gilroy is an American director, writer, actor, producer, playwright, poet, musician, and teacher. Gilroy has written, directed and produced five films, including the award-winning short ''Touch Base'' and the critically acclaimed feature ''Spri ...
, starring
Ned Beatty
Ned Thomas Beatty (July 6, 1937 – June 13, 2021) was an American actor and comedian. In a career that spanned five decades, he appeared in more than 160 films. Throughout his career, Beatty gained a reputation for being "the busiest actor in ...
,
Liev Schreiber
Isaac Liev Schreiber (; born October 4, 1967) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and narrator. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s after appearing in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywoo ...
and
Campbell Scott. Shot in sequence over the course of one year, it was the first film released by
IFC Films, the
Independent Film Channel
IFC (formerly known as the Independent Film Channel) is an American basic cable channel owned by AMC Networks, originally launching in 1994 as a TV channel devoted to independent films. The Independent Film Channel originally operated as a co ...
's film production and distribution company.
Plot
''Spring Forward'' is the story of the burgeoning friendship between two very different men, Murphy and Paul, who work for the parks department in a quaint New England town. Paul is a short-tempered ex-convict recently released from prison for armed robbery, who is exploring his spiritual side hoping for atonement and a second chance. On his first day working in parks maintenance he is partnered with Murphy, a veteran groundskeeper, facing his advancing age and impending retirement. The day gets off to a rough start when Paul clashes with a condescending local business heir over a materials donation, loses his cool, announces he is quitting, and stalks off into the woods berating himself for always ruining everything. Murphy follows him, defuses Paul's outburst and convinces him to stay.
Against the backdrop of the changing seasons the relationship between the men strengthens and develops more as father and son, poignant in contrast to Murphy's relationship with his dying homosexual son, whose impending death causes Murphy to doubt his past as a father and a man. Working together through mundane days and personal crisis they share their lives, hopes, ambitions and regrets, as Paul learns to find stability and calm in his life and Murphy achieves acceptance and forgiveness for his mistakes.
The film ends with Paul presenting Murphy with a
hamsa as a retirement gift and to signify the "helping hand" that Murphy has provided him through the past year.
Cast
*
Ned Beatty
Ned Thomas Beatty (July 6, 1937 – June 13, 2021) was an American actor and comedian. In a career that spanned five decades, he appeared in more than 160 films. Throughout his career, Beatty gained a reputation for being "the busiest actor in ...
as Murph
*
Liev Schreiber
Isaac Liev Schreiber (; born October 4, 1967) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and narrator. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s after appearing in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywoo ...
as Paul
*
Campbell Scott as Fredrickson
*
Ian Hart
Ian Davies (born 8 October 1964), better known by his stage name Ian Hart, is an English actor. His most notable roles are Rabbit in the Channel Four drama miniseries '' One Summer'' (1983), Joe O'Reilly in the biopic '' Michael Collins'' (199 ...
as Fran
*
Peri Gilpin as Georgia
*
Bill Raymond
William Joseph Raymond (born September 9, 1938) is an American actor who has appeared in film, television, theater and radio drama since the 1960s.
Career
He is featured in the second and fifth seasons of the HBO drama ''The Wire'' as "The Gre ...
as Don Regan
*
Catherine Kellner
Catherine Kellner (born October 2, 1970) is an American character actress, perhaps best known for appearing in Daft Punk's music-video for their song Da Funk.
Early life and education
Kellner was born in Manhattan, New York. Her mother was a ...
as Dawn
*
Hallee Hirsh as Hope
Reception
The reviews for ''Spring Forward'' were mainly favorable, and it has achieved a rating of 86% on
rottentomatoes.com. It won third place mention for the Discovery Award honoring Best First Film at the 1999 Toronto film festival, won the Gold award for Independent Theatrical Feature Films (Drama) at the 2000 WorldFest in Houston and the Producer's Award at the 2001 Independent Spirit Awards.
[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0156096/awards ]
References
External links
*
* {{Amg movie, 198533, Spring Forward
1999 films
1990s English-language films