The City of Your Final Destination

The City of Your Final Destination is a 2009 American drama film directed by James Ivory and starring, Anthony Hopkins, Laura Linney, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Omar Metwally and Norma Aleandro. It was written by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and based on the eponymous novel by Peter Cameron.

The City of Your Final Destination
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJames Ivory
Produced by
  • Paul Bradley
  • Pierre Proner
Written byRuth Prawer Jhabvala
Based onThe City of Your Final Destination
by Peter Cameron
Starring
Music byJorge Drexler
CinematographyJavier Aguirresarobe
Edited byJohn David Allen
Production
companies
Distributed byScreen Media Films
Release date
  • March 21, 2009 (2009-03-21) (Golden State Film Festival)
  • April 16, 2010 (2010-04-16) (United States)
Running time
118 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$8.3 million
Box office$1.4 million[1]

The film is the first Merchant Ivory film without producer Ismail Merchant and composer Richard Robbins.

Synopsis

The film follows a graduate student, Omar Razaghi (Omar Metwally), who wishes to write a biography on an obscure writer, Jules Gund, who died years before. Omar must travel to Uruguay to persuade the Gund family to authorize the biography.

Setting

Most of the story in the novel takes place in a small town in Uruguay. The novel's beginning chapter takes place in Lawrence, Kansas, where the protagonist is a graduate student at the University of Kansas. The story ends at New York City Opera Hall.

Cast

(in order of appearance)

  • Nicholas Blandullo as Young Adam
  • Sofia Viruboff as Adam's Mother
  • James Martin as Postman
  • Omar Metwally as Omar Razaghi
  • Alexandra Maria Lara as Deirdre Rothemund (Deirdre MacArthur in the novel)
  • Susana Salerno, César Bordón, Diego Velázquez, Rossana Gabbiano as Helpful People at the Bus Depot
  • Julieta Vallina as Schoolbus Lady
  • Ambar Mallman as Portia Gund
  • Charlotte Gainsbourg as Arden Langdon
  • Laura Linney as Caroline Gund
  • Norma Argentina as Alma
  • Hector Fonseca as Old Gaucho
  • Anthony Hopkins as Adam Gund
  • Hiroyuki Sanada as Pete
  • Oscar Rolleri as Young Gaucho
  • Norma Aleandro as Mrs. Van Euwen
  • Arturo Goetz, Marcos Montes, Sophie Tirouflet as Mrs. Van Euwen's Guests
  • Luciano Suardi as Doctor Pereira
  • Carlos Torres as Barber
  • Pietro Gian as Taxi Driver
  • Julia Perez as Nurse
  • Yuri Vergeichikov as Luis, the Driver
  • Agustín Pereyra Lucena as Guitarist
  • Pablo Druker as Conductor
  • Eliot Mathews as Deirdre's Escort
  • Andrew Sanders as Caroline's Escort
  • Jonatan Nahuel Ingla as Gaucho

The cast had the participation of local actors and citizens who officiated as extras.

Production

Locations

Most of the filming took place in two ranches located in the coastal area of the Punta Indio district, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Some scenes were filmed in the district's head city, Veronica.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack contains the following music:

Release

It had an early preview in New York City on November 27, 2007 (at the ceremony of the Trophée des Arts for James Ivory from the French Institute New York). In October 2009, James Ivory brought the film to Rome, where it received its official world premiere at the International Rome Film Festival, out of competition, then showing at Tokyo International Film Festival for Hiroyuki Sanada's special screening. Screen Media distributed it in the United States on April 16, 2010.

Reception

Critical reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 39% based on 56 reviews, and an average rating of 5.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A stellar cast can't elevate this leaden adaptation that, while just as beautiful as anything director James Ivory's made before, comes off as dusty and dry."[2] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 52 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[3]

Controversy

In early 2007, Anthony Hopkins claimed he had yet to be paid for his work on the film, and that Merchant Ivory had short-changed the cast and crew.[4] Merchant Ivory counter-argued that Hopkins' payment terms had, in fact, recently been renegotiated higher. Later in the year, the actor filed court papers to take the company to an arbitrator. In October 2007, Hopkins filed a lawsuit against Merchant Ivory for payment of his salary of $750,000.[5]

In 2008, actress and singer Susan (Suzy) Malick[6] also filed suit against Merchant Ivory and James Ivory for producer credit and half a million dollars in an unpaid loan, used when the film was threatened to be shut down due to lack of funding.[7][8] In 2012 Malick moved for trial by jury and the suit was finally settled out of court.

References
  1. "The City of Your Final Destination (2010)". Box Office Mojo. August 15, 2010. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  2. "The City of Your Final Destination (2010)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  3. "The City of Your Final Destination Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  4. "Merchant Ivory Denies Hopkins Non-Payment Claims". PR Inside. April 5, 2007.
  5. "People: Ellen DeGeneres, Anthony Hopkins, Meryl Streep" – Associated Press – (c/o International Herald Tribune) – October 18, 2007
  6. es:Sussie 4
  7. "Give Me Credit, Says Actress". Page Six. April 21, 2008. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  8. Barnes, Brooks. "Movies - The New York Times". Nytimes.com. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
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