Search - Waking Up in Reno on DVD

Waking Up in Reno

Actor(s): Billy Bob Thornton, Charlize Theron, Patrick Swayze, Natasha Richardson, Holmes Osborne
Director(s): Jordan Brady, Jonathan Brady
14

Movie Details

MPAA Rating: R
Content Advisory: Profanity, Sexual Situations
Movie Release: 2001
DVD Release: 04/08/2003
Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned
Edition: Dual Layered
Audio Tracks: English, French
Subtitles: English
SwapaDVD Credits: 1
Number of Discs: 1
Run Time: 1 hrs 31 mins
Studio: Miramax
Members Wishing: 1
Genres: Comedy, Road Movie, Comedy of Manners

DVD Synopsis

Country singer Dwight Yoakam is a co-producer of this Miramax comedy about marital infidelity among the Southern redneck set. Auto dealer Lonnie Earl (Billy Bob Thornton) and his wife, Darlene (Natasha Richardson), are best friends with good-natured Roy (Patrick Swayze) and his spitfire wife, Candy (Charlize Theron), who's ovulating and trying to become pregnant. When the quartet of Arkansas natives decides to take an SUV cross-country to a monster truck show in Reno, NV, an alarming secret is revealed: Lonnie Earl and Candy have been having an affair. The revelation comes as a shock to the guileless Roy and much put-upon Darlene, who absconds with her husband's credit cards for a spending spree that includes designer boutiques and a Tony Orlando concert. Meanwhile, Candy's quest to have a baby takes on a new dimension in light of her extracurricular activities with Lonnie Earl. Waking Up in Reno (2002) is based on a script by longtime screenwriting partners/actors Brent Briscoe and Mark Fauser, who also play supporting roles in the film. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Actors

Billy Bob Thornton - Lonnie Earl Dodd
Charlize Theron - Candy
Patrick Swayze - Roy
Natasha Richardson - Darlene
Holmes Osborne - Doc Tuley

Editorial Review of DVD

Dubbed by its writers "a redneck Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice," Waking Up in Reno is a modest little film that resists the easy Southerner jokes that lesser comedies might embrace. The film collected dust on the Miramax shelves through several release dates, but its stellar foursome of actors delivers a pleasant surprise that's mild on slapstick and hick stereotypes. The DVD commentary by director Jordan Brady and writers Brent Briscoe and Mark Fauser underscores just how sharp that acting is, reminding the viewer that Natasha Richardson is a native Brit doing a flawless Southern twang and that Patrick Swayze is capable of impressive nuance and self-deprecation. The creative team's jovial rapport also includes entertaining anecdotes -- of varying relevance -- and a drinking game revolving around the movie, complete with pauses in the commentary to use the toilet. Perhaps that's where the redneck part comes in. Among the DVD extras are a handful of deleted scenes that would have front-loaded the character development and lengthened the film's opening in Arkansas. Clearly, Brady, et al. chose a quicker and better pace by getting them on the road to Reno, where the characters could blossom in less overtly expository ways. The DVD also includes a short making-of feature that adds next to no value. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide

Member Movie Reviews

S A A. (Learned2Heal) wrote on 11/17/2008...

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Strange as it may seem, I have often found that movies that get a low rating by TV Guide are either very bad or very good. As it turns out, this one-star movie is really a lot of fun.

Strange characters developed here for Patrick Swayze and Charlize Theron. Quite unexpected really. Both are very funny with great comedic timing. Billy Bob Thornton is hilarious too, but that's no surprise and his character isn't either, frankly.

Amazingly, Natasha Richardson puts on a real, down-home, Southern drawl! Not to mention the mannerisms... Perfect to a tee! Unbelievable that she is, in fact, British!!! Quite a shocker when she gets interviewed in the Special Features and replaces the drawl with her natural accent.

Penelope Cruz too is excellent as the gorgeous, smart-mouth hooker.

The movie is chock-full of trite one-line Americanisms that would bore you stiff if one or more members of your immediate family were prone to using them but, somehow, here they work.

Although this movie is well acted, well-directed and well written, with great character development, it is just a bit too simple and predictable to be a contender for any awards. But it's still 90 minutes of plain good ol' fun just the same.