Themes: Members of the Press, Opposites Attract, Ladder to the Top
Main Cast: Angelina Jolie, Edward Burns, Tony Shalhoub, Christian Kane, Stockard Channing, Melissa Errico
Release Year: 2002
Country: US
Run Time: 103 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
An egotistical TV reporter learns to appreciate the good things in life thanks to an eccentric, homeless clairvoyant in this old-fashioned romantic comedy from director Stephen Herek (Mr. Holland's Opus). Seattle native Lanie Kerrigan (Angelina Jolie) has spent most of her adult existence trying to live down her gawky, geeky adolescence: She toils for hours at the gym to keep cellulite at bay; she's managed to snag an engagement to a star baseball player (Christian Kane); and through her chipper puff pieces on the nightly news, she's cultivated a loyal following of couch potatoes who pester her for autographs. She's ready to take the next step to national news when her boss suggests she further hone her skills with ace cameraman Pete Scanlon (Edward Burns), who also happens to be an old flame of Lanie's. Her comfortable but shallow existence begins to change the moment she and Pete do a story on Prophet Jack (Tony Shaloub), a sage soothsayer who spouts unusually accurate predictions to passers-by in exchange for spare change. Jack offers up the theory that Lanie will not get her cushy promotion; in fact, he says she'll die within a week. When Jack's other prophecies start coming true, Lanie starts living each day as if it were her last -- much to the dismay of her co-workers and her fiancé. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
James Gammon - Lanie's Father; Lisa Thornhill - Gwen; Gregory Itzin - Dennis; Max Baker - Vin; Brent Mendenhall - George Bush
Credit
Helen Veronica Jarvis - Art Director, Gary Myers - Art Director, Sharon Bialy - Casting, Aggie Guerard Rodgers - Costume Designer, Jeffrey Wetzel - First Assistant Director, Stephen Herek - Director, Trudy Ship - Editor, Ric Kidney - Executive Producer, Ken Atchity - Executive Producer, Teddy Zee - Executive Producer, David Newman - Composer (Music Score), Bill Groom - Production Designer, Stephen H. Burum - Cinematographer, John Davis - Producer, Arnon Milchan - Producer, Toby Jaffe - Producer, Chi-li Wong - Producer, Lesley Beale - Set Designer, Allan Galajda - Set Designer, Donna Williams - Set Designer, Rob Young - Sound/Sound Designer, Richard Lightstone - Sound/Sound Designer, William Sarokin - Sound/Sound Designer, Tim Chau - Sound/Sound Designer, John Scott Shepherd - Screen Story, Dana Stevens - Screenwriter, John Scott Shepherd - Screenwriter, Karl Herrmann - Additional Cinematography, Nils C. Jensen - Supervising Sound Editor, Carmen Baker - Supervising Sound Editor, George De Titta, Jr. - Set Decorator
Lanie Kerrigan (Angelina Jolie), a reporter for a Seattle television station interviews a self-proclaimed prophet, Jack (Tony Shalhoub), to find out if he really can predict football scores. Instead, Prophet Jack not only predicts the football score, and that it would hail the next day, but also that she would die in seven days. When his first two prophecies turn out to be correct, Kerrigan panics and is forced to reevaluate her life.
The remainder of the storyline, which runs for the week of the prophecy, revolves around her attempts at introspection. She seeks consolation in her boyfriend, and in her family, but finds little there. Her lifelong ambition, that of appearing on network television begins to look like a distant dream. In her desperation, she commits professional blunders, but ends up finding support in an unlikely source, her archenemy, the cameraman Pete Scanlon (Edward Burns), who introduces her to a new approach to life.
KOMO-TV
The majority of the movie was shot on location in Seattle, Washington although portions were filmed in downtown Vancouver. The TV station in the movie, KQMO, was actually real-life Seattle TV station KOMO-TV (the KOMO logo was altered on the set of KOMO 4 News and on several of KOMO's news vehicles, in addition to a few mic flags).
Several KOMO personalities make cameo appearances; among them are longtime anchors Dan Lewis and Margo Myers (the latter moved to KIRO-TV in January 2005), weather anchor and Front Runners host Steve Pool, and weekend weather anchor Theron Zahn. Other KOMO personalities who made brief cameo appearances include People Helper John Sharify, and reporter Michelle Esteban.
Additionally, Vancouver news anchors Pamela Martin and Jill Krop, at the time both employed with BCTV, appeared briefly in scenes shot in the BCTV studios.
