TIL There is a movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Toby McGuire that cannot be released in the U.S. or Canada.
Don's Plum may have been attempting to be the next "Clerks" or "Kids"... but I'll never know.
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During 1995 and 1996, R.D. Plum (who played Schwartz in 1983's "A Christmas Story") directed his one an only movie titled "Don's Plum." Not only did DiCaprio and Mcguire play significant roles in the film, it also included several other young actors who went on to successful acting careers. Some of the other notables include: Kevin Connolly (E from Entourage), Jenny Lewis (now a singer in Rilo Kiley), Jeremy Sisto (Six Feet Under), Meadow Sisto (Captain Ron), Amber Benson (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), and Heather McComb (Party of Five). The movie was a dialogue heavy independent film shot entirely in black and white. Most of the dialogue was improvised and apparently consisted of a significant amount of raunchy and sexist conversation.
It seems that DiCaprio and McGuire thought the movie would make them look bad so they fought to keep it out of U.S. and Canadian theaters. McGuire has been quoted as saying that the lines he improvised “revealed personal experiences or tendencies”. In 1998, one of the producers, David Stuntman, filed a lawsuit against the two actors alleging the two had illegally tried to block the film's release. The parties reached a settlement in which the producers agreed to never release the movie in the U.S. or Canada.
Check this out for more information and an actual review of the film.
http://uproxx.com/filmdrunk/dons-plum-review/
It looks like it would have flopped anyway:)
Yeah it sounded absolutely terrible. I would have expected better from Schwartz from Christmas Story... actually nope. This is about right.
Well it was the 90s. There seemed to be a lot movies in that kind of style.
I enjoyed several of them. The restaurant scene in Reservoir Dogs is by far one of my favorite scenes in any movie... and nothing happens. It was just awesome!
I love Reservoir Dogs - it's a fantastic movie. I haven't seen this particular movie but I imagine if it was of the same quality I would have heard of it before now:)
I would bet my life it's nowhere near the quality... I think they were trying to cash in on the cool dialogue driven stuff. Seems like the was a horribly failed attempt. Although... now I kind of want to see it just to see how bad it could be.
Don't forget other cult classics like Clerks too.
Yes it could be so bad that it is actually good like an Ed Wood movie!
I love Leo! :)
Doesn't change my opinion of them! I know I wouldn't want things I said in the past blasted all over the headlines now...
He has made some really good movies. I think "Catch me if you Can" is really underrated.
Superstardom can be a fragile thing. One day you are riding high and the next day it's the pits. Examples are Arthur Godfrey who's career died when he fired Julius La Rosa on the air, Kevin Costner who fell from the heights after making Water World and Halle Berry's career suffered greatly after Catwoman. The list goes on and on.
I don't fault DiCaprio and McGuire for blocking Don's Plum because they have a a lot at stake, millions of dollars in earning potential and personal reputation which may not have monetary value but is nonetheless very important.
You are right. Sometimes all it takes is one heinous movie to knock a career off track. This was just when he was getting popular so it could have been devastating. I hope the producers got some cash at least.
I have not seen this movie but now I want to! First of all, they agreed to be filmed and there must have been some kind of consensus about the improvisation. Part of GOOD acting is delving deep so that we, as an audience, can connect. If what you say is correct, I believe it is sad that they blocked the film's release. WHY just the US and Canada? Was it released overseas? Why would that be okay? Meh.
My understanding is that they agreed to do a "short" not a full length movie and it was never intended for wide release in Canada our America. Some articles said that the director and producers edited to make it full length after the two actors started to get popular. All of it seems really odd.
They must have done a great job, because I have never even heard of it, and this would have been right up my old alley with the groups I ran with.
NOW I KNOW!