Wayward Son

Infobox_Film
name = Wayward Son


caption = Promotional poster
director = Randall Harris
producer = Cary Brokaw
writer = Randall Harris
starring = Harry Connick, Jr.,
Pete Postlethwaite
distributor = Avenue Pictures
No US distributor
released =
runtime = 96 min
language = English
imdb_id = 0170157
music = James Newton Howard,
Steve Porcaro
awards =
budget = $7.7 million [http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117481541.html?categoryid=13&cs=1]
tagline = Some Men Are Never Broken

"Wayward Son" (1999) is an American film drama about justice and redemption in rural Georgia during the Great Depression, starring Harry Connick, Jr. and Pete Postlethwaite.

Plot

The movie tells the story of a southern man, Jesse Banks Rhodes (Harry Connick, Jr.), who is released from a prison work camp in Louisiana, 1936, after being wrongly imprisoned for eleven years. He heads back to Georgia, only to find that most people are keen to keep him down. He begins working for a plantation owner (Walton Goggins) and rents a shed from a farmer (Pete Postlethwaite) with two daughters (Patricia Clarkson and Vinessa Shaw). After witnessing the murder of a black worker at the hands of a drunken white racist boss, Jesse is forced to prove his innocence, so injustice won't happen again.

ettings

Production of the film began Oct. 26, 1998 in Nashville. [http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117481541.html?categoryid=13&cs=1] The movie is filmed at various locations in Georgia including Mansfield and the Southeastern Railway Museum.

Cast

*Harry Connick, Jr. - Jesse Banks Rhodes
*Pete Postlethwaite - Ben Alexander
*Patricia Clarkson - Wesley
*Vinessa Shaw - Cordelia
*Walton Goggins
*Afemo Omilami - Horace
*David Pickens - Warden
*John Bennes - Lawyer
*Stacie Richards Dail - young crying woman
*David de Vries
*Michael Gaston - Edgar
*Rodney L. James - George
*Laura Sametz - Mrs. Blessing
*Ron Clinton Smith - Vernon
*Haviland Stillwell - Lila
*Judson Vaughn - station manager
*Tim Ware - foreman

Various information

*"Wayward Son" has in October, 2006, a number of screenings at the Heartland Film Festival. [http://www.heartlandfilmfestival.org/2006/movie_view.aspx?id=278]

*As research for his role as Jesse Banks Rhodes, Connick spent two days in solitary at the Louisiana State Penitentiary Angola, even wearing leg irons and handcuffs during his stay. [http://www.prisonactivist.org/pipermail/prisonact-list/2000-September/003126.html]

*"Wayward Son" was first called "Letters From a Wayward Son".

*Patricia Clarkson and Vinessa Shaw's roles as Wesley and Cordelia, had reportedly been designated for Embeth Davidtz and Tara Reid.

*Screened at the Toronto Film Festival in September 1999.
*Produced by: Cary Brokaw/Avenue Pictures Productions [http://www.avepix.com/pr11.html] , Maccabee Productions, Steve Tisch Company
*International rights will be licensed by Arthur Kananack & Associates (AKA Movies) [http://akamoviesinckananack.visualnet.com/]
*This movie was delisted at $0 on April 29th, 2002 since the stock was wrapped, but had no distribution.
*"Letters From A Wayward Son", Wayward Son Productions [http://www.waywardson.net/] 1998: Budget $4.5 million [http://www.ozonline.tv/Georgia/Oz/Oz7-5/featuresidebar.shtml]

*An interview where the director Randall Harris discusses the film with Harry Connick Jr., including a few clips from the movie are featured at the "Film-Fest: Issue 3 - Toronto" DVD. [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0500201/]
*Animal Actors [http://www.animal-actors.com/pressrelease.htm] supplied talent on horseback, horses, mules, rattlesnakes, bloodhounds, and German shepherds.

Awards & nominations

*Crystal Heart Award 1999, to producer Cary Brokaw. At the Heartland Film Festival.

External links

*imdb title|id=0170157|title=Wayward Son
* [http://cgi.canoe.ca/FilmFestToronto99/sep17_harry.html "Wayward Son" interview with Harry Connick Jr, 1998]
* [http://www.digitalhit.com/galleries/5/52 "Wayward Son" premiere, photos]
* [http://www.srmduluth.org/News/1998-12-09.htm Filming at the Southeastern Railway Museum, photos]