I Love You to Death
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| I Love You to Death | |
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 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Lawrence Kasdan |
| Produced by | Jeffrey Lurie |
| Written by | John Kostmayer |
| Starring | Kevin Kline Tracey Ullman Joan Plowright River Phoenix William Hurt Keanu Reeves |
| Music by | James Horner |
| Cinematography | Owen Roizman |
| Editing by | Anne V. Coates |
| Distributed by | TriStar Pictures |
| Release date(s) |
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| Running time | 96 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $16,186,793 |
I Love You to Death is a 1990 American dark comedy film directed by Lawrence Kasdan. It is loosely based on an attempted murder that happened in 1984, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where Frances Toto repeatedly tried to kill her husband, Anthony.[1] She spent four years in prison for attempted murder.
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Plot[edit]
Joey Boca (Kevin Kline) is the owner of a pizza parlor located in Tacoma, Washington, and has been married to Rosalie (Tracey Ullman) for years. Rosalie is horrified to discover that Joey is a womanizer and has been cheating on her for a long time.
Rosalie does not want to allow Joey the pleasure of having every woman he wants, so she refuses divorce. Taking extreme measures, she enlists the help of her mother (Joan Plowright), and her young co-worker Devo, who's secretly in love with her, (River Phoenix) to kill Joey in order to put an end to his infidelity. They also hire two incompetent, perpetually stoned hit-men (William Hurt and Keanu Reeves).
However, Joey proves impossible to kill. Despite multiple attempts to poison, shoot, and bludgeon Joey to death, he remains blissfully unaware that he is being targeted.
Cast[edit]
- Kevin Kline as Joey Boca
- Tracey Ullman as Rosalie Boca
- Joan Plowright as Nadja
- River Phoenix as Devo Nod
- William Hurt as Harlan James
- Keanu Reeves as Marlon James
- James Gammon as Lieutenant Larry Schooner
- Jack Kehler as Sergeant Carlos Wiley
- Victoria Jackson as Lacey
- Miriam Margolyes as Joey's mother
- Alisan Porter as Carla Boca
- Jon Kasdan as Dominic Boca
- Heather Graham as Bridget
- Phoebe Cates as (uncredited) Joey's disco girl
Kline had requested that his wife, Phoebe Cates, take a small role in the film. She appeared in the bar/disco scene as the girl Joey picks up at the bar. She did this as an uncredited appearance and as a favor to her husband. She was also filming Drop Dead Fred at the time of her cameo in I Love You to Death which is why her hair looks exactly the same in both films.
Reception[edit]
Critical response[edit]
Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 56% based on reviews from 18 critics.[2]
Roger Ebert describes the film as "an actor's dream" but isn't quite so sure it is a dream film for an audience. He praises Ullman for her performance, noting it is all the more effective against the overtly comic performance of Kline. Ebert suggests Kasdan was attracted the script because it seems almost impossible to direct, and although he is not sure it succeeds, it is certainly not boring.[3]
Box office[edit]
It grossed $4 million on its opening weekend. It went on to make $16 million in North America.[4]
References[edit]
- ^ "Allentown Journal; True Love, True Life, And Truly Bizarre - New York Times". Nytimes.com. 1990-04-25. Retrieved 2011-10-14.
- ^ https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_love_you_to_death/
- ^ http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19900406/REVIEWS/4060302/1023
- ^ "'Turtles' Take: $50.9 Million in Two Weeks : Box office: The kids movie featuring the wise-cracking quartet of terrapins is close to setting a record for an independent film.". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
External links[edit]
- I Love You to Death at the Internet Movie Database
- I Love You to Death at AllRovi
- I Love You to Death at Box Office Mojo
- I Love You to Death at Rotten Tomatoes
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