Frankie & Alice
| Frankie & Alice | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Geoffrey Sax |
| Screenplay by | Cheryl Edwards Marko King Mary King Jonathan Watters Joe Shrapnel Anna Waterhouse |
| Story by | Oscar Janiger Philip Goldberg Cheryl Edwards |
| Produced by | Halle Berry Vince Cirrincione Simon DeKaric Hassain Zaidi |
| Starring | Halle Berry Stellan Skarsgård |
| Cinematography | Newton Thomas Sigel |
| Edited by | David M. Richardson |
| Music by | Andrew Lockington |
Production company | Access Motion Pictures |
| Distributed by | CodeBlack Films Lions Gate Entertainment (US 2014) |
Release dates |
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| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $706,546[1][2](Lifetime Gross) |
Frankie & Alice is a 2010 Canadian drama film directed by Geoffrey Sax starring Halle Berry. Filming began in Vancouver, British Columbia, in November 2008 and ended in January 2009. To qualify for awards season, the film opened in a limited release on December 10, 2010. It is based on a true story about a popular go-go dancer/stripper in the 1970s who suffers from dissociative identity disorder.
Plot
 | This article needs an improved plot summary. (October 2015) |
The film primarily takes place in Los Angeles in 1973. Frankie, a black female gogo dancer, unknowingly suffers from dissociative identity disorder, caused by a traumatic incident from her childhood (the death of a white man she was in love with, and her mother murdering her newborn when she realized the child's father was her white lover), which she has repressed. The film begins with Frankie performing at a local strip club. She is one of the best strippers at the club, and often demands the attention of wealthy Wall Street businessmen. One night the club's female employees go out for a "Girls Night". As the girls observe all the men at the bar, Frankie gets the attention of a well-known bartender. She agrees to go to his home for casual sex. Before the two can engage in any sexual activity, Frankie switches to an alter ego and cracks the man's head open with a picture frame. Word of Frankie's violent activity spreads to the strip club quickly, and Frankie is fired from the needed job. The same manic episodes occur while Frankie is at the laundromat and a wedding. During a session with the psychiatrist Frankie learns that she has two alters: Genius, a seven-year-old child; and Alice, a Southern white racist woman, whom Frankie struggles to overcome. Through regular psychiatric sessions with her doctor, she begins to recall the traumatic events that led to her split personality. She realizes that a white man with whom she was in love died in a car accident while they were on the road. In the same session, she also uncovers the memory of the birth of her child. Moments after the birth, her mother realizes that the child is half-white and takes it away to kill it, thus triggering her personality to split.
After she watches the taped sessions and puts everything together, she begins the healing process, taking control of her life and semi-integrating the personalities that Dr. Oz assures her will always be present.
Cast
- Halle Berry as Frankie/Genius/Alice
- Vanessa Morgan as 16-year-old Frankie
- Michayla McKenzie as 8-year-old Frankie
- Stellan Skarsgård as Dr. Oz
- Matt Frewer as Dr. Strassfield
- Phylicia Rashad as Edna Murdoch
- Chandra Wilson as Maxine Murdoch
- Katharine Isabelle as Paige Prescott
- Emily Tennant as 16-year-old Paige
- Megan Charpentier as 8-year-old Paige
- Kira Clavell as Wanda
- Andrew Francis as Cop
- Joanne Baron as Nurse Susan Shaw
- Scott Lyster as Pete Prescott
- Brian Markinson as Dr. Backman
Release
It had a limited release in the United States on December 10, 2010 to qualify for awards. The film had a wide theatrical release on April 4, 2014.
Reception
Frankie and Alice received negative reviews from critics. It currently holds a 21% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with the consensus: "Halle Berry gives it her all (and then some), but Frankie & Alice is ultimately too narratively strained and clumsily assembled to do her performance justice."
There were positive responses. Following a screening at the Cannes Film Festival, The Hollywood Reporter described the film as "a well-wrought psychological drama that delves into the dark side of one woman's psyche". The review also said Halle Berry was "spellbinding" as Frankie, with "rock-solid" supporting performances.[3]
Awards and nominations
- African-American Film Critics Association
- Nominee, Best Picture
- Winner, Best Actress: Halle Berry
- Golden Globes
- Nominee, Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama: Halle Berry
- NAACP Image Awards
- Winner, Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture: Halle Berry
- Winner, Outstanding Independent Motion Picture: Frankie and Alice