The Good Son (film)

Infobox Film
name = The Good Son


caption = Theatrical release poster
director = Joseph Ruben
producer = Joseph Ruben
Mary Ann Page
writer = Ian McEwan
starring = Macaulay Culkin
Elijah Wood
Wendy Crewson
David Morse
Daniel Hugh Kelly
music = Elmer Bernstein
cinematography = John Lindley
editing = George Bowers
distributor = 20th Century Fox
released = September 24, 1993
runtime = 87 min.
country = flagicon|USA
language = English
gross = $44,594,000
amg_id = 1:119005
imdb_id = 0107034

"The Good Son" is a 1993 drama-thriller film directed by Joseph Ruben and written by Ian McEwan.

Plot

While 12-year-old Mark Evans (Elijah Wood) is at his mother's side as she's dying of cancer at a hospital in Arizona, he makes her a promise that he won't let her die. When she does die, Mark is consumed with grief and guilt. Shortly after, Mark's father Jack (David Morse) is assigned to take a two week business trip to Tokyo, Japan. Thinking that the blustery Maine environment and the company of relatives will do Mark some good, Jack leaves Mark with his brother Wallace Evans (Daniel Hugh Kelly). Wallace and his wife Susan (Wendy Crewson) have a son Mark's age named Henry (Macaulay Culkin) and an eight-year-old daughter named Connie (Quinn Culkin, Macaulay's real-life sister). Their three-year-old son Richard (seen only in a photo of Rory Culkin, Macaulay's brother) died by drowning in the bathtub a few months prior.

Mark and Henry get along at first, but Mark gradually realizes that his cousin is a sociopath whose ideas of "fun" include violence and cruelty. Henry threatens to topple Mark from a tree house, and Henry uses his homemade crossbow to kill the neighbor's dog. Later, Henry shows Mark his dummy, "Mr. Highway", which Henry drops from an overpass onto a highway, causing a 10-car pileup. Henry also insinuates that Richard's drowning was not an accident. Henry's innocent facade is so convincing that no one believes Mark; everyone assumes that he is just acting out due to the trauma of his mother's death. Mark knows that Henry drowned Richard in a fit of jealousy, and is convinced Connie is the next target. Also, Mark believes that his mother has been reincarnated in Susan, and he tells Henry about it. Henry's reign of terror escalates, and he hints to Mark that he plans to kill Connie. Even after Connie survives a suspicious ice skating accident, Mark's fears are still dismissed. Mark catches Henry in the kitchen late one night, and is convinced that he is trying to kill his whole family by putting poison in the food. He tries to dispose of all the food in the house, but Susan and Wallace stop him. They send Mark to a psychologist, believing him to be delusional.

Mark tries to warn Susan about Henry but Susan, still distraught over the loss of one child and the near-death of another, refuses to believe him. Then, however, Susan discovers Henry's secret playhouse, and she finds the rubber duckie that was missing from Richard's bath on the day of the drowning. She asks Henry about it but Henry lunges at her, grabs the rubber duckie and throws it down a well in the middle of a cemetery. At home, Mark catches Henry in front of the mirror willing fake tears into his eyes. Henry hints to Mark that he is going to kill Susan. In a fit of anger and fear, Mark lunges at Henry with a pair of scissors pressed against his throat. Wallace catches them, quickly grabs Mark and locks him up in the study while waiting for Mark's psychologist to come over. Mark screams, cries, and tries to get out. When he sees Henry leading Susan away from the house, Mark breaks a window with a chair in an attempt to escape. Wallace tries to stop him but Mark breaks free and runs after Henry and Susan.

While they are taking a walk, Susan confronts Henry for the truth about what happened to Richard. Henry indirectly reveals that he drowned Richard and tells Susan that he'd rather die than be locked up. He makes a run for the cliffs and Susan runs after him. She stops at the edge of the cliff, thinking Henry might have jumped. Henry then rushes out behind the bushes and pushes her over. While she hangs on for her life, Henry prepares to drop a huge rock on her. Just then, Mark tackles him to the ground. While they wrestle dangerously near the edge of the cliff, Susan quickly climbs up to solid ground. As she reaches the top, the boys wrestle and roll over the edge. She quickly grabs them each with one arm and tries to pull them up, but can't. As both of them are slipping, she has to make a choice to save only one or the other. Both boys plead for help, with Henry telling his mother desperately that he loves her. Susan forces herself to let go of Henry to save Mark, who is truly about to lose his grip. She pulls Mark up and both of them sob in each other's arms. At the end, Mark wonders to himself if Susan would still choose to save him or her son Henry.

Cast

*Macaulay Culkin as Henry Evans
*Elijah Wood as Mark Evans
*Wendy Crewson as Susan Evans
*David Morse as Jack Evans
*Daniel Hugh Kelly as Wallace Evans
*Jacqueline Brookes as Alice Davenport
*Quinn Culkin as Connie Evans

Reaction

The film was unfavorably reviewed by most critics, with Roger Ebert giving it half a star. On "Siskel & Ebert", the film received two thumbs down. [ [http://bventertainment.go.com/tv/buenavista/ebertandroeper/index2.html?sec=1&subsec=970 Siskel and Ebert] ]

However, it received $44,789,789 in domestic box office revenues, and another $15,823,219 worldwide, for a total box office take of $60,613,008. [ [http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=goodson.htm The Good Son (1993) ] ]

Behind the scenes

*Michael Klesic was originally cast in the role of Henry Evans in 1988. The film was soon put on hold due to lack of funding. A couple years later Jesse Bradford was cast as Henry Evans because the original child actors had grown too old for their parts. The project was once again put on hold and the same problem happened. In 1993, the movie was re-cast yet again and finally shot and released.
*The original director, Michael Lehmann, believed that Culkin was wrong for the part of Henry. He eventually left the project, which was put off to let Culkin finish "Home Alone 2".
*Screenwriter Ian McEwan was unhappy with the studio's treatement of his work, re-shaping the whole story to tailor the big name of Macaulay Culkin. Believing this ruined the film by being a star-vehicle for a child star first-and-foremost.
*Fox executives insisted that the studio wanted Culkin for the film all along. According to head of production Roger Birnbaum, Kit Culkin saw the script but did not respond for a number of months. Then, as the movie was nearing production with another actor in mind for the role, Culkin announced he wanted the part. The role was then rewritten. Source: Newsweek, December 9, 1991.
*The cliff scenes were filmed in Minnesota at Split Rock Lighthouse between Two Harbors and Silver Bay, Minnesota, and at Palisade Head near the latter town, both of which have steep cliffs overlooking Lake Superior. The fight on the cliff between Macaulay Culkin and Elijah Wood at the end of the film was filmed on the cliff at Split Rock. [ [http://events.mnhs.org/media/Kits/Sites/srl/FunFacts.htm Split Rock Lighthouse - Fun Facts - MHS Media Room ] ] The story was set on the Atlantic Ocean but a suitable rock face could not be found, and after a search for a suitable location all over the country, the Minnesota locations were chosen. For the shots looking down at the water, power boats were used to churn up the water to simulate ocean waves before cameras were rolled. The cliff was 180 feet above water, but the top ten feet of the cliff was manufactured. It was created on top of the actual cliff out of wood and plaster and coated with a rubber material so that the actors could roll around on it and fight as needed. The stunt riggers were hidden inside the fake cliff, controlling safety cables connected to the actors when they were hanging off the side of the cliff and then Macaulay's character was dropped.
*The Super NES video game version of the movie was planned to be released later that same year, but was cancelled because it featured excessive violence and swearing.

External links

*
* Roger Ebert's [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19930924/REVIEWS/309240303/1023 review]

Footnotes