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Actors: Tobey Maguire, Michael Caine, Charlize Thereon, Paul Rudd, Kieran Culkin, Kathy Baker
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about The Cider House Rules |
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Homer Wells lives happily in the orphanage of his home in New England. There, he is trained to be a doctor by his father figure, Dr. Wilbur Larch. Like all the other orphans there, though, he wants a family to live with. He soon gets his chance, when a beautiful girl named Candy arrives at the orphanage. He decides to go with them, and lands a job picking apples in an apple orchard. Throughout his year there, he gets to see a film other then King Kong, and makes love for the first time. Meanwhile, Dr. Larch tries many ways to go back to being a doctor. This film is amazingly written, and has a wonderful ensemble cast lead by Tobey Maguire, and Michael Caine. Overall, this is a heart-warming pic for everyone.
--Estefan Ellison, Resident Scholar
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Homer Wells (Maguire) is an orphan who remains in the orphanage in St. Cloud, Maine, where illegal abortions are also performed in the 1930s and 1940s. The doctor at the orphanage, Wilbur Larch (Caine), takes Homer under his wing and teaches him to be a skilled, though unlicensed physician. One day, pregnant Candy (Theron) and her boyfriend, Lt. Wally Worthington (Rudd) come by to get her "problem" taken care of. Homer, not so sure he wants to live out his life at the orphanage or be a doctor, leaves with them and goes to work on Wally's family apple farm, where he meets very different people. When Wally goes off to fight the Japanese in World War II, Homer is left with Candy and the two are drawn together. What will he do, and where will he end up? Swedish director Lasse Hallstrom released this solid drama in 1999 (between "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?" and "Chocolat"), with a script by John Irving based on his bestselling novel. Both the screenplay and Caine took home Oscars.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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A young man's struggle to find out where he belongs...Tobey Maguire brings young Homer Wells to life with vulnerability. Charlize Theron is perfectly cast as the woman who helps Homer learn to love, and Michael Caine is superb as the doctor/father figure in Homer's life.
--Amy Thornton, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of The Cider House Rules |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 1900-1920's
Kids growing up/acting up?
Yes
Kids:
- general coming of age story
Family, loving
Yes
Special relationship with
- son
Parent(s) gone?
- Orphan story
Age group
- trouble in grade school
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- student
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) average
Unclothed?
- Chest
Events of movie makes character more...
- sensitive
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
Hair style
- (man) short/standard curly
Body type
- (man) average build
How much in movie?
- 60%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- farmer
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 60%
Hair color
- brunette (Black)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard curly
Body type
- (man) muscular
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Black
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
Farm/Ranch?
Yes
Farm/Ranch:
- farm
- lot of descript of crop raising
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- kissing
- actual description of sex
- seeing breasts
- seeing nude female butt
Any profanity?
- Occasional swearing
Is this movie based on a
- book
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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