American Cousins
American Cousins is a romantic comedy about a Scots-Italian fish and chip shop owner who gives refuge to his Mafia relatives when they go on the run. It was voted one of the top three Scottish films of all time by readers of The List magazine [1].
Plot
Two New Jersey mobsters are almost killed when a deal in Eastern Europe goes wrong. They take refuge with their law-abiding cousin Bobby, who runs a fish and chip shop in Glasgow, Scotland. But when one of the Americans takes a shine to Bobby’s girl and the other clashes with local hoodlums, Bobby realises he has to stand up for himself or risk losing everything he loves.
Production
American Cousins was the debut feature for director Don Coutts, screenwriter Sergio Casci, Director of Photography Jerry Kelly and Editor Lindy Cameron [2]. The team had previously made three shorts: St. Antony's Day Off (1995), Rose (1998) and Dead Sea Reels (1996) which won the Vendome Film Festival award for Best European Short Film.[3]
The film was produced by Margaret Matheson, whose credits include Antonia (1995), winner of the 1996 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.[4]
Cast
Despite a relatively modest budget, American Cousins attracted a substantial US cast including Dan Hedaya (Blood Simple), Danny Nucci (Titanic) and Vincent Pastore (The Sopranos). The UK cast was headed by Shirley Henderson, Gerald Lepkowski and veteran Scottish actor Russell Hunter, in one of his last roles [5].
Awards
- Audience Award BAFTA Scotland
- Best Screenplay BAFTA Scotland (Sergio Casci)
- Best Actress Cherbourg-Octeville Festival (Shirley Henderson)
- Jury Award Newport Beach Film Festival
- Best Film Milan International Film Festival
- Best Director Milan International Film Festival (Don Coutts)[6]
- Audience Award Milan International Film Festival
Screenwriter Sergio Casci was also nominated for the BAFTA Carl Foreman Award.
| American Cousins |
|---|
| Director Don Coutts |
| Screenwriter Sergio Casci |
| Producer Margaret Matheson |
| Cast Danny Nucci Gerald Lepkowski Shirley Henderson Vincent Pastore Dan Hedaya Russell Hunter Olegar Fedoro Stevan Rimkus |
| Music Donald Shaw |
| Cinematography Jerry Kelly |
| Editor Lindy Cameron |
| Release date 28 November 2003 |
| Running time 89 mins |
| Language English |
References
1 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3518815.stm 2 http://www.american-cousins.com 3 http://www.woodstockfilmfestival.com/archives/2003schedule/features_2003.htm 4 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112379 5 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0324992 6 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0324992 7 http://www.miff.it/01festival_storia_edizione4_vincitori.php?lang=2&edition=4 8 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0324992