Juliet, Naked (film)

Juliet, Naked
File:Juliet, Naked.png Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jesse Peretz
Produced by	Judd Apatow Barry Mendel Albert Berger Ron Yerxa Jeffrey Soros
Screenplay by	Tamara Jenkins Jim Taylor Evgenia Peretz
Based on	Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby
Starring	Rose Byrne Ethan Hawke Chris O'Dowd
Music by	Nathan Larson
Cinematography	Remi Adefarasin
Edited by	Sabine Hoffman Robert Nassau
Production companies	Rocket Science Apatow Productions Bona Fide Productions Los Angeles Media Fund
Distributed by	Lionsgate & Roadside Attractions (US) Universal Pictures & Focus Features (UK)
Release dates	January 19, 2018 (2018-01-19) (Sundance Film Festival) August 17, 2018 (2018-08-17) (United States)
Running time	105 minutes
Country	United States United Kingdom
Language	English
Box office	$4,508,260

Juliet, Naked is a 2018 romantic comedy film directed by Jesse Peretz based on Nick Hornby's novel of the same name. It centers on the story of Annie (Rose Byrne), and her unlikely romance with singer-songwriter Tucker Crowe (Ethan Hawke), who is also the subject of her boyfriend's (Chris O'Dowd) long-time music obsession. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2018.

Plot

Annie, a curator in a local community museum, is in an unhappy relationship with Duncan, a college teacher who is obsessed with Tucker Crowe, an obscure musician whose last work was released 25 years ago. Duncan operates a fan site dedicated to Crowe. One day, a package arrives in the mail containing an album, titled 'Juliet, Naked', of acoustic demos of the songs on Crowe’s hit album 'Juliet'. Annie and Duncan listen to it separately, and have an argument over its quality. Annie writes a negative review of it on Duncan's fan site.

Crowe comes upon the review and writes to Annie by email, thanking her for her honesty. The two quickly form a rapport. Crowe writes to Annie of his regrets as being a poor father to five children with four different mothers. Likewise, Annie discloses her disappointment with not having had any children. Crowe lives on the property of his ex, Cat, to be near Jackson, his youngest son, in America. Crowe is visited by a pregnant Lizzie, a daughter he has never met, and it's awkward. Before she leaves, Lizzie offers Crowe the phone number of Grace, another one of his children, the only one he has purposely had absolutely no contact with.

Meanwhile, Duncan meets Gina, a new teacher at his college. Gina, who is obviously interested in Duncan, tells him she looked up Tucker Crowe and is curious about his music. Duncan invites Gina over to hear Crowe's album, and they sleep together. Duncan immediately confesses this to Annie, who breaks up with him. She then asks him to move out.

Crowe soon journeys to London with Jackson for the birth of Lizzie's baby, his first grandchild. He asks if Annie would like to meet up with him in person while he is relatively near her, and she agrees. However, Crowe suffers a heart attack as he enters the hospital where Lizzie is and Annie thinks he's stood her up. He calls her to tell her what happened, and Annie ends up visiting him in the hospital. There, Annie meets Jackson, Lizzie and most of Crowe’s exes and other children, who have flown to his bedside when they heard he'd had a heart attack. Later, after Crowe has recovered and everyone else, besides Jackson, has left, Crowe invites himself to see Annie's hometown, and she accepts. While at Annie's home, Crowe discovers Duncan's shrine to him. Annie tries to call Duncan to tell him about Crowe but he doesn't answer. Later Duncan and Gina run into Annie on the beach, and when she introduces Crowe to Duncan, he doesn't believe it's his hero in the flesh. Later Annie discovers Duncan lurking outside her home and invites him in, and Duncan forces Crowe to prove he's real. Crowe, who's being a good sport, shows Duncan his passport.

Duncan stays for dinner, and expresses his love of Crowe’s work (in annoying detail) much to Crowe’s inherent displeasure and disregard.

Later, Crowe tells Annie the reason why he suddenly stopped playing music. His first love, Julie, the person he wrote his hit album for, visited him at one of his concerts, with their child, Grace. She gave her to him to hold and walked away. Crowe reveals that he panicked, thinking Julie wasn't going to come back, so he left the baby in the men’s restroom. This was Crowe’s last concert, as he could not bring himself to go in front of a crowd and sing songs that he wrote about Julie anymore. That evening, Crowe calls Grace to try to make amends, but she makes it clear that she already has a father and wants nothing to do with him.

Crowe accompanies Annie to the exhibition she organized. Annie bluntly confesses her romantic interest in him, which he reciprocates. Annie’s boss, upon being introduced to Crowe, decides to have him sing for the exhibition. Despite his discomfort, Crowe agrees to sing, playing Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks. That night, Annie and Crowe attempt to have sex, but are interrupted by Jackson, who's thrown up. Afterward, Jackson inquires as to when he will be going home to his mother. Crowe asks Annie to come with them, but Annie says that she cannot. She adds that Crowe cannot leave his child for her either, because this is his last chance to do right by his kids. Dropping Crowe and Jackson off at Lizzie’s home in London, Annie says farewell.

Back home, Annie is at a bar when Duncan arrives to plead for her forgiveness and ask for a fresh start. Annie declines.

Flash forward to a year later. Annie has moved to London and works at a gallery. She emails Crowe, apologizing for the delay in replying to him, and telling him she's moved to London and has decided to have a child on her own, something Crowe had suggested to her in the past. When she finds out he will be in England to visit Lizzie, Annie invites Crowe to meet up with her for coffee, and he agrees.

During the credits a video of Duncan from his site is shown, revealing that Crowe has released a new album inspired by Annie, which Duncan gives a bad review.

Cast

• Rose Byrne as Annie Platt
• Ethan Hawke as Tucker Crowe
• Chris O'Dowd as Duncan Thomson
• Azhy Robertson as Jackson, Tucker’s son
• Lily Brazier as Ros Platt, Annie’s sister
• Ayoola Smart as Lizzie, Tucker’s daughter
• Denise Gough as Gina
• Eleanor Matsuura as Cat, Tucker’s ex
• Megan Dodds as Carrie, Tucker’s ex

Production

Harbour Street in Broadstairs was the exterior for Annie Platt's house in Sandcliff. Broadstairs' streets and beach also featured as Sandcliff, including Morelli's Ice Cream Parlour. Further filming took place at Ramsgate Maritime Museum, which features as Sandcliff Museum interior where Annie Platt works, as well as the Royal Harbour in Ramsgate, which can also be seen in various scenes. Production also filmed at Home Farm in the Borough of Swale which features as Tucker Crowe's 'mancave' and his ex-wife's house in the US.

Release

Lionsgate and sister company Roadside Attractions acquired US rights to distribute the film, and planned to release the film on August 17, 2018 at select theaters, with a nationwide release set to occur on August 31, 2018.

Reception

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 83% based on 153 reviews, and an average rating of 6.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Juliet, Naked's somewhat familiar narrative arc is elevated by standout work from a charming cast led by a well-matched Rose Byrne and Ethan Hawke." Metacritic gives the film a weighted average rating of 67 out of 100, based on 33 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

External links

• Juliet, Naked at IMDb
• Juliet, Naked at Rotten Tomatoes