Sweet November (2001 film)
| Sweet November | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Pat O'Connor |
| Written by | Paul Yurick Kurt Voelker |
| Produced by | Elliott Kastner Steven Reuther Deborah Aal Erwin Stoff |
| Starring | Keanu Reeves Charlize Theron Jason Isaacs Greg Germann Liam Aiken Lauren Graham Michael Rosenbaum |
| Cinematography | Edward Lachman |
| Edited by | Anne V. Coates |
| Music by | Christopher Young |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release dates | February 16, 2001 |
Running time | 115 minutes |
| Country | Template:FilmUS |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $40 million |
| Box office | $65,754,228 (worldwide) |
Sweet November is a 2001 American romantic drama film starring Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron. The film is based on an earlier version made in 1968 and written by Herman Raucher. Due to the poor response the film received from critics it was nominated for Worst Remake or Sequel and both Reeves and Theron nominated for Worst Actor and Worst Actress at the 2001 Golden Raspberry Awards.
Plot
Nelson Moss (Keanu Reeves) works in advertising and devotes his life to his career. He unexpectedly meets Sara Deever (Charlize Theron), a woman very different from anyone else he has ever met. His arrogance and ignorance leads to her failing her DMV test and she decides to track him down to make him pay for what he did. She subsequently beguiles him and continually asks him to spend a month with her, to be her "November", on the promise that she will change his life for the better. That night she sleeps with him and the next day Chaz, (a close friend of Sara's) arrives in the apartment and is able to identify Nelson as Sara's "November". Nelson believes, quite rightly, that something strange is going on and leaves. Sara then runs after Nelson and finally convinces him to stay with her for a month.
Throughout the course of November the two experience very happy times together and fall in love. Sara also has two dogs and gives them up (to a new family) within the month that Nelson stays with her. Apparently this is what she does to help the dogs. At this point the viewer becomes aware of Sara's commitment to doing as much good as she can to a variety of subjects, be they human in Nelson's case or canine in the dog's case, but only for a limited period of time. During the month Nelson examines his life and his past in great detail. During their adventures Nelson befriends a fatherless child called Abner (Liam Aiken). Eventually Nelson realizes that he is deeply in love with Sara and asks her to marry him. This sets in motion a sudden chain of events that reveal Sara's terminal cancer (Hodgkins Lymphoma). Because Sara cannot bear to have Nelson experience her decline and death, she asks him to leave. Sara tells Chaz that Nelson proposed to her. Chaz says that it was not the first time that a man had proposed. This implies Sara has had numerous "months". Sara confirms this but claims that it was the first time she had wanted to say yes. But she decides she will not continue the relationship to protect Nelson from getting hurt. For a time Nelson complies, but then stages a surprise return during Thanksgiving giving her gifts that remind her of their happy times.
They stay together for one more day; he posts November calendars all over her apartment walls and is saying he does not want to leave her and it can always be November for them. They make love. The next morning, Nelson finds Sara is dressed and asks him once again to leave, with all his calendars taken down, he becomes confused and heartbroken. Sara starts to run away and Nelson runs after her. Eventually he catches up to Sara and in the tearful scene that follows Sara once again asking Nelson to leave and let her go so that he will always have happy and strong memories of her. Sara explains that this is how she needs to be remembered, she tells Nelson that she will return home to her family (who she had been avoiding) and will face her last days. Ostensibly, there will be no further "months". The movie ends with Sara blindfolding Nelson (a revisitation of an activity they had done earlier in the month), giving him one last kiss and then walking away. Nelson then takes off the blindfold in tears, and is later shown at a park they attended on one of their dates.
Cast
- Keanu Reeves as Nelson Moss
- Charlize Theron as Sara Deever
- Jason Isaacs as Chaz
- Greg Germann as Vince
- Lauren Graham as Angelica
- Liam Aiken as Abner
- Frank Langella as Edgar Price
- Ray Baker as Buddy Leach
- Michael Rosenbaum as Brandon/Brandy
- Sherif El Shahawee as Cyrus Black
- Mustafa Haikal as Audy
This is the second time that Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron have starred together after the 1997 film The Devil's Advocate.
Songs
| Song Title | Written by | Performed by |
|---|---|---|
| "Shame" | Brian Transeau (BT) | BT |
| "Rock DJ" (Nevin's Future Ass Remix) | Robbie Williams, Guy Chambers, Kelvin Andrews, Nelson Pigford, Ekundayo Paris | Robbie Williams |
| "Heart Door" | Paula Cole | Paula Cole with Dolly Parton |
| "Calafia" | Dave Ralicke | Jump With Joey |
| "Off the Hook" | Steven Page, Ed Robertson | Barenaked Ladies |
| "Consequences of Falling" | Billy Steinberg, Rick Nowels, Marie-Claire D'Ubaldo | k.d. lang |
| "My Number" | Tegan Rain Quin, Sara Keirsten Quin | Tegan and Sara |
| "The Other Half of Me" | S. Freeman, J. Lawrence | Bobby Darin |
| "Baby Work Out" | Jackie Wilson, Alonzo Tucker | Jackie Wilson |
| "Middle of the Night" | Paul Brown, Roberto Vally, Rick Braun | Rick Braun |
| "Only Time" | Enya, Roma Ryan | Enya |
| "You Deserve To Be Loved" | Dillon O'Brian | Tracy Dawn |
| "Touched by an Angel" | Stevie Nicks | Stevie Nicks |
| "Time After Time" | Jules Styne, Sammy Cahn | Keanu Reeves |
| "Wherever You Are" | Larry Klein, Tonio K | Celeste Prince |
| "Cellophane" | Amanda Ghost, Sacha Skarbek, Ian Dench, Lucas Burton | Amanda Ghost |
Box office
The film opened at #4 at the North American Box office making $11,015,226 USD in its opening weekend, behind Recess: School's Out, Down To Earth and Hannibal. It would ultimately gross only $25.2 million domestically with an additional $40.4 million overseas to a total of $65.7 million worldwide.