King of the Hill is a 1993 American drama film written and directed by Steven Soderbergh. It is the second he directed from his own screenplay following his 1989 Palme d'Or-winning film Sex, Lies, and Videotape. It too was nominated for the Palme d'Or, at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival.[1]
| King of the Hill | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Steven Soderbergh |
| Screenplay by | Steven Soderbergh |
| Based on | King of the Hill by A.E. Hotchner |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Elliot Davis |
| Edited by | Steven Soderbergh |
| Music by | Cliff Martinez |
Production companies |
|
| Distributed by | Gramercy Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 103 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $8 million |
| Box office | $1.2 million |
Plot
editBased on the Depression-era bildungsroman memoir of writer A. E. Hotchner, the film follows the story of a boy struggling to survive on his own in a hotel in St. Louis after his mother enters a sanatorium with tuberculosis and his younger brother is sent to live with an uncle. His father, a German immigrant and traveling salesman working for the Hamilton Watch Company, is off on long trips from which the boy cannot be certain he will return.
Cast
edit- Jesse Bradford as Aaron
- Jeroen Krabbé as Mr. Kurlander
- Lisa Eichhorn as Mrs. Kurlander
- Karen Allen as Miss Mathey
- Spalding Gray as Mr. Mungo
- Elizabeth McGovern as Lydia
- Cameron Boyd as Sullivan
- Adrien Brody as Lester
- Joe Chrest as Ben
- John McConnell as Patrolman Burns
- Amber Benson as Ella McShane
- Kristin Griffith as Mrs. McShane
- Katherine Heigl as Christina Sebastian
- Lauryn Hill as Elevator Operator
Reception
editCritical response
editOn the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 91% of 33 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "A subtle, affecting, character-driven coming-of-age story, King of the Hill is one of Steven Soderbergh's best and most criminally overlooked films."[2] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 86 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[3]
In her review in The New York Times, Janet Maslin says, "The film does a lovely job of juxtaposing the sharp contrasts in Aaron's life, and in marveling at the fact that he survives as buoyantly as he does."[4]
Box office
editKing of the Hill grossed $1.2 million domestically (United States and Canada),[5] against a production budget of $8 million.[citation needed]
References
edit- ^ "Festival de Cannes: King of the Hill". Festival-Cannes.com. Retrieved August 18, 2009.
- ^ "King of the Hill". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved November 28, 2024.
- ^ "King of the Hill". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
- ^ Maslin, Janet (August 20, 1993). "King of the Hill; A Boy of the 30s With Grit and Wit". Movies. The New York Times. p. C1. Archived from the original on April 22, 2024. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
- ^ "King of the Hill". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
External links
edit- King of the Hill at IMDb
- King of the Hill: Alone Again an essay by Peter Tonguette at the Criterion Collection