Samantha

I caught this movie on TV and was surprised by its seinfeld like comedy. Watch it if you get a chance, but don't go out of the way to rent it.

Martha Plimpton has done some prestigious movies, working with River Phoenix and Harrison Ford, but she was never able to expand her limited, tomboyish appeal into the same class as, say, Molly Ringwald. This film, which was barely released, is just an extension of her late '80s/early '90s attempts to find a screen-persona which was identifiable to moviegoers, and it represents another failure. Plimpton plays a troubled young woman who finds out on her 21st birthday that she was adopted and--more than that--was actually abandoned as an infant on her parents' doorstep! She sets out to find her biological mother and father, but we are given no clue as to why she'd want to (would simple curiosity give her this much determination?). Unattractive material given sitcom handling; it starts off on the wrong foot and never recovers. Plimpton gives a sour, surly performance, but Hector Elizondo and Mary Kay Place are fine as her adoptive parents. *1/2 from ****

Samantha (Martha Plimpton) has a charmed life, mostly. She has two loving parents, a zest for life, and a great talent for playing the violin. On her 21st birthday, however, her parents drop a bomb when they tell her she is adopted. Innovative to a T, Samantha first plans her own suicide but ends up only blowing smoke. Next, she moves out of her parents' home and in with her old friend and fellow music student, Henry (Dermot Mulroney). Although their relationship is platonic, Henry is the proverbial boy next door who has stood by Sam through her adventurous childhood. This includes the time she almost drowned while re-creating a Houdini trick. Still reeling with discontent, Sam announces she can not even play the violin in Henry's quartet. Their college recital is weeks away. Henry replaces Sam's violin role with gorgeous Elaine and Elaine goes after Henry's heart. Can Samantha wake up and realize the reality of her parents' love and perhaps Henry's as well? This is little gem of a film with a quirkiness that is strongly appealing. Samantha is truly one who walks to a different drum beat and Plimpton does a fine job relating her antics. This is Mulroney's moment to shine as well, as his Henry is charming and touching and he does all of his own cello work. The rest of the cast is nice, the costumes eye-catching and the musical score is absolutely wonderful. If you like films that are something out of the ordinary, you will like Samantha. It has romance, beautiful music, and laughs, yes, but breaks the bounds of traditional comedy in a big way.

Samantha is a film about an exceptionally talented violinist (Martha Plimpton) who, on her 21st birthday, discovers that her parents did not give birth to her but rather found her on their doorsteps. Feeling that she has lost her true identity because she has been living a lie she goes in search of her birth parents driving everyone crazy including her best friend Henry (Dermot Mulroney) who she is not so secretly in love with and alienating her violin instructor not to mention the parents she has known her whole life. I thought this was a fun movie even though Samantha was a maniac. I'm still in awe that Dermot Mulroney plays the cello in real life!

I caught this little gem on HBO once, and being an instrumentalist, was impressed with how well Dermot Mulroney seemed to handle the cello. Often, actors handle an instrument as if they've never touched one before (see Richard Dreyfuss in "The Competition". . .he played the piano as if it was going to BITE him.)

I assumed that Mulroney actually DID play, and I was right. In Melissa Etheridge's new book, there is a photo of Dermot at the cello. . .he played on a cut from one of her albums.

Do you know of other stars that play instruments? Here are some that I know of. . .

Phyllis Diller (Piano) Dudley Moore (Piano and Organ) Kaye Ballard (Flute) Lori Singer (Cello) Peter Weller (Flugelhorn) Warren Beatty (Piano) Clint Eastwood (Piano)

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