Sonny (2002 film)

Sonny
Promotional poster
Directed by	Nicolas Cage
Written by	John Carlen
Produced by	Paul Brooks Nicolas Cage Norman Golightly
Starring	James Franco Brenda Blethyn Harry Dean Stanton Mena Suvari Josie Davis
Cinematography	Barry Markowitz
Edited by	Howard E. Smith
Music by	Clint Mansell
Production companies	Gold Circle Films Saturn Films
Distributed by	Samuel Goldwyn Films
Release date	December 27, 2002 (2002-12-27)
Running time	110 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$4 million[1]
Box office	$132,221[2]

Sonny (aka Pony Rides^[3]) is a 2002 American crime drama film starring James Franco, Harry Dean Stanton, Brenda Blethyn, Mena Suvari and Josie Davis. Based on a screenplay by John Carlen, the film marked the directorial debut of Nicolas Cage,^[4] who makes a cameo appearance. It was co-produced by Cage's production company Saturn Films.^[5]

Plot

Sonny (Franco) is the son of Jewel (Blethyn), who runs a small brothel in the early 1980s New Orleans, Louisiana.^[6][7] Sonny returns home from the army, staying with his mother while waiting to start the job an army buddy of his promised him. Jewel tries to convince Sonny to return to work for her as he had before the army, saying many of his old clients still miss him and that he was the best gigolo she had ever had.

Sonny repeatedly turns her down, wanting to leave that life behind. However, the promised job never materializes, and he is forced to return to working for his mother. Jewel has recently recruited a new girl to the brothel, Carol (Suvari), who meets Sonny and falls in love with him. They talk of getting out together.

One of Carol's clients, an older man, proposes to her. She initially declines, hoping to go away with Sonny. She and Sonny fall out as he fails to try to get out of the business. Instead, he becomes increasingly introverted and depressed, with occasional outbursts as he looks for more work. Ultimately, Carol accepts the marriage proposal, and Sonny unravels as he realizes his father—upon his death—had been with Sonny his whole life but declined to reveal himself for fear of being thought a loser, and Sonny and Carol fail to live happily ever after.

Cast

• James Franco as Sonny
• Brenda Blethyn as Jewel
• Harry Dean Stanton as Henry
• Mena Suvari as Carol
• Seymour Cassel as Albert
• Josie Davis as Gretchen
• Nicolas Cage as Acid Yellow
• Brenda Vaccaro as Meg
• Marc Coppola as Jimmy at Mattie's

Reception

The film was poorly received^[8] upon release, with a 21% rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes based on 28 reviews. The site's consensus states: "Sonny is sunk by debuting director Nicolas Cage's evident inability to locate the heart of his movie's story—or properly modulate his cast's performances."^[9] However, Tommy Wiseau is a fan of the movie, and Franco's performance in it gave Wiseau faith in Franco's ability to portray him respectfully in The Disaster Artist.^[10]

See also

• Male prostitution in the arts
• List of directorial debuts

References

1. "Sonny (2002) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
2. "Sonny (2002)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
3. Turner Classic Movies
4. The Sonny Boy Ain't Right! My World of Flops #187/The Travolta/Cage Project #69 Sonny - Nathan Rabin's Happy Place
5. BFI
6. FilmAffinity
7. MUBI
8. Radio Times
9. "Sonny (2002)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 13, 2023.
10. "Los Angeles Times". Facebook.com. Retrieved 2017-09-12.

External links

• Sonny at IMDb
• Sonny at Rotten Tomatoes