| Going All the Way | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Mark Pellington |
| Screenplay by | Dan Wakefield |
| Based on | Going All the Way by Dan Wakefield |
| Produced by | Tom Gorai Sigurjón Sighvatsson Tom Rosenberg |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Bobby Bukowski |
| Edited by | Leo Trombetta |
| Music by | tomandandy |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | PolyGram Filmed Entertainment |
Release date |
|
Running time | 103 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $113,069 |
Going All the Way is a 1997 Americancomedy-drama film directed byMark Pellington, in hisfeature film directorial debut. The film was written byDan Wakefield, based on his 1970 novel and starsJeremy Davies,Ben Affleck,Amy Locane,Rachel Weisz andRose McGowan.
Two young men, Sonny Burns and Gunner Casselman, return home toIndianapolis after serving time in theUS Army's7th Infantry Division during theKorean War – the quiet Sonny as a private from aPublic Information posting in Kansas City, the confident Gunner as a highly decorated[a] corporal from the Korea combat zone. Back in civilian life, they search for love and fulfillment in middle America during the conservative1950s.
In addition,Dan Wakefield, the film's screenwriter (adapting his semi-autobiographical novel), has a brief cameo as an unnamed farmer at a church service.[b]
The film was shot on location in Indianapolis, Indiana, the setting ofDan Wakefield's semi-autobiographical novel of the same name.
This marked the film debut ofNick Offerman.
The film premiered at the 1997Sundance Film Festival; Rose McGowan, who attended to promote the film, has alleged thatHarvey Weinstein raped her while at the festival that year.[1]
The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released on Verve Records in September 1997 (Verve 314 537 908-2) including the song "Tangled and Tempted", co-written for the film by Indianapolis singer/songwriter/producer Tim Brickley.[citation needed]
The film – which received alimited theatrical release, peaking with 17 theatres – grossed $113,069 at the domestic box office.[2]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 65% of 23 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "Its themes may feel overly familiar, butGoing All the Way is set apart from other period coming-of-age films by the strength of its performances."[3]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 57 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[4]
Stephen Holden ofThe New York Times did not care for the film, especiallyPellington's direction:"When afilmmaker feels compelled to pump up a story throughcaricature and expressionistic visual tricks, it's usually a sign of distrust in the inherent drama of the material. InGoing All the Way, a flashy movie adaptation ofDan Wakefield's popular 1970 novel about growing up in the heartland in the repressed 1950s,Mark Pellington, a director from the world ofmusic video, has inflated a realistic memoir into a garish, hyperkinetic social satire."[5]Roger Ebert ofThe Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, and called it "a deeper, cleverer film than it first seems. Much of its strength depends on the imploding performance ofJeremy Davies."[6]
Going All the Way was nominated for two awards at the 1997Sundance Film Festival, winning a "Special Recognition" forproduction designer Thérèse DePrez.[7]
A re-edit of the film was released in 2022, calledGoing All the Way: The Director's Edit. According to the announcement, "the new cut of the 1997 film was rescanned for 4K and features 50 additional minutes of never-before-seen footage. A new title sequence was also created by Sergio Pinheiro, along with 50 minutes of music from composer Pete Adams." Pellington says "this definitive edition of the film feels like a completely different, more character-driven and psychologically complex vision. It is a darker movie, but also far more sensitive and, ultimately, uplifting."[8]
