Jawbreaker
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Short description
Jawbreaker follows three popular students at Reagan High School whose plan to prank their friend on her birthday ends in her death. Courtney, Julie and Marcie try to cover up what happened, but a classmate who saw too much becomes a problem they decide to handle by bringing her into the group rather than silencing her. The film mixes comedy with crime and thriller elements, sending up the conventions of American high school life and the teen horror films built around it.
Darren Stein wrote and directed the film, his second feature after Sparkler in 1997 and one he would not follow with another until G.B.F. in 2014. Rose McGowan plays Courtney Shayne, with Rebecca Gayheart as Julie Freeman, Julie Benz as Marcie Fox and Judy Greer as Fern Mayo. Pam Grier appears as Detective Vera Cruz and Carol Kane as Ms. Sherwood. Lisa Tornell and Stacy Kramer produced for TriStar Pictures, and the film runs 87 minutes.
Made for about 3 million dollars, the film took in roughly the same amount worldwide during its theatrical run, so it did not become a major commercial success. On IMDb it holds 5.7 out of 10 from more than 28,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.4 from a much smaller base of around 600. A critics' score of 3.6 from 64 reviews places it well below the audience figures on both sites.
What's left behind the scenes
- Rose McGowan based her character's image on Ellen Berent, played by Gene Tierney in the film noir 'Leave Her to Heaven' (1945).
- According to Judy Greer, when she was dressed as Fern, no one on set paid her any attention. As soon as she transformed into Violet, everything changed as if by magic; however, while in character as Violet, men were much more timid when interacting with her.
- The shot of Violet on the hood of a red sports car is an imitation of the famous billboards featuring Angeline (singer, actress, model, and media personality) that were put up in and around Los Angeles in the 1980s and 1990s.
- Pam Grier's contract (she played Detective Vera Cruz) stated that she would handle her own hairstyling during filming. In this movie, she wore a wig.
- When Liz's corpse (played by Charlotte Ayanna) is carried upstairs and Julie Benz's character lowers the body onto the bed, you can notice the 'corpse' blinking twice.
- Courtney's threat to Fern (played by Rose McGowan and Judy Greer, respectively)—"I made you, and I'll destroy you"—is a reference to Jim Sharman's comedy musical "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (1975), where these same words are spoken in a conversation between characters played by Tim Curry and Peter Hinwood.
- The photographs of the protagonists that alternate during the opening credits were taken on the very first day of filming. Julie Benz went to grab a bite to eat with Rose McGowan (who played Marcy and Courtney, respectively), and McGowan decided not to order anything, explaining that she didn't want paparazzi filming her while she ate. At that moment, Benz thought that this was very much in the spirit of Courtney, McGowan's character.
- Courtney's tattoo is actually a real tattoo belonging to the actress who played the role, Rose McGowan. At first, they tried to cover it with makeup, but it still showed through. Removing the tattoo from the frames using digital technology would have been too expensive, so it was simply left in the movie.
- Initially, director and screenwriter Darren Stein intended to write a horror movie script about the kind of girls he remembered from his own school years, who, in his opinion, were entirely capable of committing a kidnapping right in the middle of someone's birthday party. Over time, he realized that he was writing a black comedy rather than a horror film.
- In one of the scenes, Rose McGowan's character slams the character played by Violette Fahgerholm's head against a mirror. McGowan was unaware that director and screenwriter Darren Stein had instructed Judy Greer (who played both Violette and Fern) to blow the smoke from McGowan's puff back into her face. The script did not include the scene where she takes the cigarette from Violette Fahgerholm and throws it on the floor.
- In the interrogation scene, Pam Grier's character is shown with long fake nails in one shot, and without them in another.
- In the scene where the characters carry Liz's body (played by Charlotte Aiyanna) up the stairs and accidentally drop her, Aiyanna was actually dropped. It happened by accident, and Aiyanna took the incident philosophically.
- For the prom, Rose McGowan's character arrives with her head wrapped in metallic ribbons. This is because shortly before filming began, the actress playing Courtney saw Rebecca Gayheart (who played Julie) exit the makeup trailer with flowers in her hair. McGowan's competitive spirit was sparked, and she demanded a "more interesting" hairstyle.
- Missi Pyle auditioned for the role of Courtney. Director and screenwriter Darren Stein liked her, but he ultimately gave the role to Rose McGowan.
- Rose McGowan always felt that her character's line, "Life is a bitch, and then you die," was a complete cliché and didn't even want to say it, but director and screenwriter Darren Stein insisted on its inclusion in the film. Consequently, McGowan deliberately delivered the line in a flat, expressionless tone in the hope that it would be cut during editing. However, the scene was shot in a single take, and the line was kept. Viewers decided that the flat delivery was intentional, and the phrase became a meme among fans of the film.
- Violet, Fern's stylish alter ego, was based on Violet Fagherholm, a friend of director and screenwriter Darren Stein, who played a cameo role in the film.
- Initially, Heidi Barris was cast as Fern and Violet, but she left the project shortly before filming began. Director and screenwriter Darren Stein was very worried until Judy Greer came in for a screen test, whom he found to be "even better than Barris" for the role.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
