Themes: Fish Out of Water, Crime Gone Awry, Death of a Partner
Main Cast: Patricia Arquette, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Tate Donovan, John Schuck
Release Year: 1994
Country: US
Run Time: 93 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
As if losing both her husband and her money isn't enough, a woman in her mid-20s also finds herself married to a 12-year-old boy (who doesn't even like her) in the comedy Holy Matrimony. Havana (Patricia Arquette) is an aspiring showgirl who is working at a sleazy carnival while she dreams of her big break. Short on cash, Havana's boyfriend Peter (Tate Donovan) comes up with a plan; while Havana flirts with her boss, Peter will swipe his keys and lift the day's take from the carnival's safe. After grabbing the cash, Havana and Peter hightail it to Canada, where Peter figures that they can hole up with his family. However, Peter didn't always lead a life of crime; he was raised in a Hutterite community, and while Peter's Uncle Wilhelm (Armin Mueller-Stahl) and younger brother Ezechiel (Joseph Gordon Levitt) are glad to see him, they don't think much of Havana, whose brassy personality convinces them that she was the one who led Peter down the wrong path. To make peace with his family, Peter marries Havana, but not long after, he dies in a car wreck. Hutterite custom demands that when a man dies, his widow is to marry his brother; the catch in this case is that Ezechiel is only 12 years old and understandably not interested in matrimony. However, Havana agrees to the marriage, largely because Ezechiel knows where Peter stashed the earnings from the robbery and Havana does not. Havana's ignorance of Hutterite traditions and lack of enthusiasm for their austere lifestyle is a matter of no small annoyance to her, but Ezechiel shrewdly uses his knowledge about Peter's hidden bankroll to persuade Havana to lead a more righteous life. Holy Matrimony was directed by Leonard Nimoy in one of his periodic breaks from acting. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Owens Hill - Casting, Rachel Abroms - Casting, Diana Phillips - Co-producer, Deena Appel - Costume Designer, Benjamin Rosenberg - First Assistant Director, H.H. Cooper - First Assistant Director, Leonard Nimoy - Director, Peter E. Berger - Editor, Peter C. Frank - Editor, Wendy Finerman - Executive Producer, Bruce Broughton - Composer (Music Score), Edward Pisoni - Production Designer, David Crank - Production Designer, Bobby Bukowski - Cinematographer, Robert W. Cort - Producer, Ted Field - Producer, David Madden - Producer, Diane Nabatoff - Producer, William Stuart - Producer, Douglas S. Cook - Producer, Ann Carli - Producer, Daniel Jason Heffner - Producer, Lane Janger - Producer, Marty Bolger - Sound/Sound Designer, Douglas S. Cook - Screenwriter, David Weisberg - Screenwriter
Holy Matrimony is a 1994comedy film directed by Leonard Nimoy and starring Patricia Arquette. The film tells the story of a beautiful thief, hiding in a small, isolated religious community, who marries a young boy in order to retrieve a hidden fortune.
A young couple, Havana & Peter (Patricia Arquette & Tate Donovan), rob a county fair of its daily receipts and escape to Canada to hide out in the Hutterite community where Peter was raised. While there, they get married to satisfy the conservative elders in the community. Peter hides their loot in a secret hiding place, but then is killed in a car wreck. His much younger brother Zeke (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is called upon to replace his brother and marry Havana. Zeke already hates Havana because he believes that she influences his elder brother's behavior. She begins looking through everything that was Peter's, and Zeke rightly deduces that Peter hid something from her. He finds the money, along with a newspaper article that mentions Peter as the prime suspect in the robbery. Zeke initially uses the cash to trick his bride into doing housework. Later he shows it to the elders, who deem that it should be returned to its rightful owners. Zeke and Havana (who claims innocence of the source of the money) are sent on a quest back to the US to return the money. During this quest, the two eventually forget their initial animosity and grow protective of each other. When Havana kisses him goodbye, Zeke promises to return and give her a real kiss when he is older.
