The Big White
Short description
Paul Barnell runs a failing travel agency in a small Alaskan town, and his money troubles are mounting. His wife, Margaret, is living with a degenerative illness, and he hopes to take her somewhere warmer. The one way out he can see is the life insurance policy belonging to his brother Raymond, who disappeared years ago. Without a body, the insurer will not pay, so when Paul happens upon a frozen corpse, he sees a chance to pass it off as his missing brother. The scheme quickly draws unwanted attention: two hired killers want the body back, and an insurance investigator is asking questions.
The film is a comedy crime drama directed by Mark Mylod, his second feature after Ali G Indahouse and the second of four films he has directed, followed later by What's Your Number? and The Menu. Collin Friesen wrote the screenplay, and Christopher Roberts, Christopher Eberts and David Faigenblum produced. Robin Williams plays Paul, with Holly Hunter as Margaret, Giovanni Ribisi as the insurance man Ted, Tim Blake Nelson and W. Earl Brown as the pair of criminals, and Woody Harrelson as Raymond. The production, a German, British, Canadian, New Zealand and American co-production, had a budget of about 14 million dollars.
On IMDb the film holds a critics' rating of 4 out of 10 from 10 reviews, while on TMDB it averages 6.2 out of 10 from 335 votes. The audience score sits well above the critics' score, suggesting viewers responded more warmly to the film's mix of farce and small-town desperation than reviewers did.
What's left behind the scenes
- According to Robin Williams, how cold and lonely he felt on the set amidst the Alaskan scenery partially explains his breakdown and return to drinking after 20 years of sobriety.
- One of the roles in the film was offered to James Woods, but he declined the offer when it became clear that during filming in Alaska (where some scenes were shot), they could not guarantee a proper level of medical care. The actor had heart problems and was worried that if something were to happen to him, there would be nowhere to receive medical assistance. The role went to Woody Harrelson.
- Preparing to play a woman with Tourette syndrome (a genetically determined disorder of the central nervous system) on screen, Holly Hunter traveled to the Canadian province of Nova Scotia for a two-day seminar led by a renowned psychologist who suffers from the condition. Those listening to the psychologist's presentation had no idea that an Oscar-winning actress was among them.
- Once, during filming in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the technical crew spent an entire day covering the surroundings with fake snow for a particular scene; then, due to a strange whim of nature, a snowstorm suddenly hit in May, burying the ground under thirty centimeters of real snow.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
