Charlize Theron in Waking Up in Reno (2002)
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Waking Up in Reno is a Miramax film which has pretty close to an A-list cast (Billy Bob Thornton, Charlize Theron, Natasha Richardson, Patrick Swayze, Penelope Cruz), all of whom are wasted in an unambitious dramedy about a redneck road trip. How did they get these particular people to agree to do this script? Some of them don't even seem to belong, but the British actress, Natasha Richardson, actually did a very good job with the Arkansas accent, and Penelope Cruz couldn't really mess up because she only had about four lines, playing a Puerto Rican hooker in the casino lounge.
I can understand how the first four mentioned above might have gotten involved in this project, because they got major roles in the film. They probably earned respectable paychecks, and Miramax's checks never bounce. Cruz, on the other hand, must have been desperate for work, because this miniscule part would normally have gone to a scale actress, and would have been filmed in an hour or two. Her lines consisted entirely of stock Hispanic character fluff, like "I don' thin' ju can ah-ford me" and "Matches? I don' need no stinkin' matches." I imagined the second phrase, but she really said the first one.
Thornton and Richardson play a couple having marital problems. Theron and Swayze are their kind hearted but none-too-bright best friends. They all take a trip to Reno together, for some trailer livin' thrills, like the world's most important monster truck rally. Theron's character is so compassionate that she ends up giving Billy Bob some mercy humpin' in a burst of emotion, thus setting in motion a chain of events that will lead to the magic moment that happens in all such films:
Theron has been trying for months to get pregnant. She finally does, announcing it to the other couple at breakfast proudly and joyfully just as her husband is on the phone in the adjoining bedroom - getting bad news from his fertility clinic. He tells everyone. Glances are exchanged. Everybody figures everything out. You know the drill.
The film starts out as a not-too-funny redneck farce comedy, but eventually makes a major tone shift and becomes a not-even-tryin'-to-be-funny soap opera, then takes another left turn into a Hollywood romantic comedy with a sappy-happy ending.
Dabbling in everything, it doesn't really stay with anything long enough to establish cred. This is a C- movie with a B+ cast.
Nudity Report: There isn't any nudity, but Theron, Cruz, and Richardson had sexy moments. There is a pretty good look at Theron's buns in the deleted scenes.
Critics Vote: Ebert 1.5/4, filmcritic.com 1/5. The very BEST review, according to Metacritic, was a 60/100 from Rolling Stone.
IMDb Summary: IMDb voters score it 5.9/10.
Box Office: Total gross was $260,000. The opening weekend was dampened by Miramax's decision to limit it to 197 screens. Their pessimism proved justified. It grossed only $108,000 -- about fifty dollars per showing. On the other hand, the production company must have gotten some serious promotional funds from the makers of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, which seems to be shown or mentioned in every scene. Or maybe the beer company just donated unlimited quantities of free beer to the cast and crew, which would explain a lot of things about the movie.
DVD Info: Widescreen anamorphic 1.85:1; Deleted scenes; Full-length commentary; Brief "making of" featurette.
Written by: Scoopy …courtesy of Scoopy.net