Themes: Fathers and Daughters, Starting Over, Death of a Partner
Main Cast: Peter Gallagher, Claire Danes, Kathy Baker, Wendy Crewson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Bruce Altman, Laurie Fortier
Release Year: 1996
Country: US
Run Time: 92 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
In this story of obsessive and enduring love, David Lewis (Peter Gallagher) spends most of his time swimming, dancing, and frolicking on the beach with the spirit of his dead wife Gillian (Michelle Pfeiffer). After Gillian's drowning death, David made their summer cottage on Nantucket Island into a permanent home. He lives there with his teenage daughter Rachel (Claire Danes), who is being neglected because her father spends so much time with her dead mother's ghost. On the second anniversary of Gillian's death, over Labor Day weekend, he invites Gillian's sister Esther Wheeler (Kathy Baker) and Esther's husband Paul (Bruce Altman) for the weekend. David's in-laws bring with them a beautiful woman named Kevin Danford (Wendy Crewson), hoping that David's attentions will turn to her. But David ignores her and proceeds with his ritualistic celebration of Gillian's birthday, including a formal dinner, karaoke, and building sand castles. After Paul makes a pass at Rachel's young girlfriend, Esther and Paul re-examine their bickering marriage and find it paltry compared to David's overwhelming eternal passion. Nothing can interfere with David's love for Gillian, but he comes to realize that he must be more attentive to his daughter as well. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
Michael Atwell - Art Director, Lynn Stalmaster - Casting, Deborah L. Scott - Costume Designer, Christine Larson - First Assistant Director, Michael Pressman - Director, William Scharf - Editor, James Horner - Composer (Music Score), Pilar McCurry - Musical Direction/Supervision, Happy Walters - Musical Direction/Supervision, James Horner - Songwriter, Linda Pearl - Production Designer, Tim Suhrstedt - Cinematographer, David E. Kelley - Producer, Marykay Powell - Producer, Timothy J. Eckel - Set Designer, Linda Pearl - Set Designer, Andrew Menzies - Set Designer, David Kirschner - Sound/Sound Designer, David E. Kelley - Screenwriter
James Horner (Conductor), James Horner (Producer), James Horner (Orchestration), Dave Marquette (Score), Shawn Murphy (Engineer), Shawn Murphy (Mixing), Andy Bass (Score), Patricia Sullivan (Mastering), Tracy Veal (Design), Bob Bornstein (Music Preparation), Jim Henrikson (Editing), Marc Gebauer (Score), Pilar McCurry (Executive Producer), Jay Selvester (Score), Happy Walters (Executive Producer), Mimi Haddon (Design), Kristen Smith (Score)
David Lewis spends most of his time swimming, dancing, and frolicking on the beach with the spirit of his dead wife Gillian. After Gillian's death due to falling from the mast pole of their boat, David made their summer cottage on Nantucket Island into a permanent home. He lives there with his teenage daughter Rachel, who is being neglected because her father spends so much time with her dead mother's ghost. On the second anniversary of Gillian's death, over Labor Day weekend, he invites Gillian's sister Esther Wheeler and Esther's husband, Paul, for the weekend.
David's in-laws bring with them a beautiful woman named Kevin Dollof, hoping that David's attentions will turn to her. But David ignores her and proceeds with his ritualistic celebration of Gillian's birthday, including a formal dinner, karaoke and building sand castles. After Paul makes passes at Rachel's young, sexy girlfriend (who encourages it), Esther and Paul re-examine their bickering marriage and find their relationship paltry compared to David's overwhelming passion for Gillian. Nothing can interfere with David's love for Gillian, but he comes to realize that he must be more attentive to his daughter as well. As he and Gillian's first rule was always "Rachel comes first."
