Mouthpiece (film)
Mouthpiece | |
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Directed by | Patricia Rozema |
Written by | Patricia Rozema Amy Nostbakken Norah Sadava |
Produced by | Christina Piovesan Jennifer Shin |
Starring | Amy Nostbakken Norah Sadava |
Cinematography | Catherine Lutes |
Edited by | Lara Johnston |
Music by | Amy Nostbakken |
Production company | First Generation Films |
Release date |
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Running time | 91 minutes[1] |
Country | Canada |
Language | English |
Mouthpiece is a 2018 Canadian drama film directed by Patricia Rozema, from a screenplay by Rozema, Amy Nostbakken and Norah Sadava,[2] and based on the theatrical play by Nostbakken and Sadava.[3] The film centres on Cassandra, a woman who is making arrangements for her mother's funeral. Cassandra is played by both Nostbakken and Sadava, as a dramatization of her inner conflict.[2]
It premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival.[4]
Plot
[edit]![]() | This section needs an improved plot summary. (August 2024) |
A young writer, Cassandra, struggles to write a eulogy for her late mother, Elaine, who gave up her career to raise her children.
Cast
[edit]- Amy Nostbakken as Cassandra
- Norah Sadava as Cassandra
- Maev Beaty as Elaine[5]
- Jess Salgueiro as Roxanne
- Jake Epstein as Danny
- Ari Cohen as Dad
- Bruce Hunter as Uncle Jake
- Sharon Lewis as Barbara
- Jennifer Podemski as Mrs. Cappo
- Ishan Davé as Ex-Boyfriend
Reception
[edit]On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 91% based on 32 reviews, and an average rating of 7.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Mouthpiece interrogates gender norms with wit and ingenuity, portraying its main character's inner conflict through a pair of separate performances."[6]
Glenn Sumi of Now gave the film a 4/5 rating, writing, "[Patricia] Rozema's version of Amy Nostbakken and Norah Sadava's award-winning stage play does more than just open the work up; it fills in key bits of information, shows us Cassandra out and about in Toronto and gives everything an affecting emotional resonance."[7] Scott Tobias of Variety called it "a thoughtful interrogation of modern womanhood, leavened by gallows humor."[8] Pamela Hutchinson of Sight & Sound wrote: "While the script's cleverness and wordplay betray its stage origins, it's bracingly sharp, and explicitly a feminist text."[9]
In December 2018, the Toronto International Film Festival named the film to its annual year-end Canada's Top Ten list.[10]
References
[edit]- ^ Sumi, Glenn (August 29, 2018). "TIFF preview: giving women's stories a Mouthpiece". Now. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
- ^ a b "Patricia Rozema goes back to producing roots with Mouthpiece". Playback, February 5, 2018.
- ^ "Jodie Foster Liked This Canadian Play So Much She Brought It to L.A.". LA Weekly, June 9, 2017.
- ^ "Lady Gaga, Julia Roberts, and Hugh Jackman lead TIFF’s 2018 lineup". The Globe and Mail, July 24, 2018.
- ^ Houpt, Simon (September 6, 2018). "TIFF 2018: Patricia Rozema's Mouthpiece is her most directly political film yet". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
- ^ "Mouthpiece (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
- ^ Sumi, Glenn (September 6, 2018). "TIFF review: Mouthpiece". Now. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
- ^ Tobias, Scott (September 6, 2018). "Toronto Film Review: 'Mouthpiece'". Variety. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
- ^ Hutchinson, Pamela (September 11, 2018). "Toronto first look: Mouthpiece puzzles the pieces of a mother's legacy". Sight & Sound. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
- ^ "TIFF's Canada's Top Ten list skews a lot younger this year". Now, December 5, 2018.
External links
[edit]- Mouthpiece at IMDb