Sonny (2002 film)

Sonny
Promotional poster
Directed by	Nicolas Cage
Written by	John Carlen
Produced by	Paul Brooks Nicolas Cage Norman Golightly
Starring	James Franco Brenda Blethyn Harry Dean Stanton Mena Suvari Josie Davis
Cinematography	Barry Markowitz
Edited by	Howard E. Smith
Music by	Clint Mansell
Production companies	Gold Circle Films Saturn Films
Distributed by	Samuel Goldwyn Films
Release dates	September 2, 2002 (2002-09-02)
Running time	110 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$30,005

Sonny is a 2002 American crime-drama film starring James Franco, Harry Dean Stanton, Brenda Blethyn, Mena Suvari and Josie Davis. Based on a screenplay by John Carlen, the film marked the directorial debut of Nicolas Cage, who makes his cameo appearance. It was co-produced by Cage's production company Saturn Films.

Plot

Sonny (Franco) is the son of Jewel (Blethyn) who runs a small brothel in New Orleans, Louisiana. Sonny returns home from the army, staying with his mother while waiting to start the job an army buddy of his promised him. Jewel tries to convince Sonny to come back to working for her as he had before the army, saying many of his old clients still miss him and he was the best gigolo she had ever had.

Sonny repeatedly turns her down, wanting to leave that life behind. However, the job he was promised never materializes and he is forced to return to working for his mother. Jewel had recently recruited a new girl to the brothel, Carol (Suvari), who meets Sonny and falls in love with him. They talk of getting out together.

One of Carol's clients, an older man, proposes to her. She initially declines, hoping to go away with Sonny. She and Sonny fall out as he fails to make an effort to get out of the business, instead becoming increasingly introverted and depressed, with occasional outbursts as he looks for more work. Ultimately, Carol accepts the marriage proposal.

Cast

• James Franco as Sonny
• Brenda Blethyn as Jewel
• Harry Dean Stanton as Henry
• Mena Suvari as Carol
• Seymour Cassel as Albert
• Josie Davis as Gretchen
• Nicolas Cage as Acid Yellow
• Brenda Vaccaro as Meg
• Marc Coppola as Jimmy at Mattie's

Reception

The film was not well received upon release, with a 23% rating on review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes.

See also

• Male prostitution in the arts
• List of directorial debuts

External links

• Sonny at IMDb
• Sonny at Rotten Tomatoes
• Sonny at AllMovie