Coupe de Ville (film)

Coupe de Ville is a 1990 American comedy-drama film directed by Joe Roth. It stars Daniel Stern, Arye Gross, and Patrick Dempsey as three very different brothers asked by their father to drive a 1954 Cadillac Series 62 convertible from Detroit to Miami.

Coupe de Ville
Film poster
Directed byJoe Roth
Produced byJames G. Robinson
Mike Binder
Written byMike Binder
Starring
Music byJames Newton Howard
CinematographyReynaldo Villalobos
Edited byPaul Hirsch
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • March 9, 1990 (1990-03-09)
Running time
99 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$715,983[1]

Plot

Meet the Libner brothers: Marvin (Daniel Stern), the oldest, is a sergeant in the U.S. Air Force. Buddy (Arye Gross), the middle child, is a timid dreamer. Bobby (Patrick Dempsey), the youngest, is a handsome rebel in reform school. As kids, they fought a lot and as adults, they barely speak to each other. In the summer of 1963, their tough and eccentric father, Fred (Alan Arkin), gives them a task: to bring a 1954 Cadillac, bought for their mother, Betty (Rita Taggart), from Detroit to Miami. As the trip goes on, the three brothers fight and begin to reconnect with each other while trying to keep the Caddy in mint condition.

Cast

Production

Despite of the film's title, the Cadillac in the movie is not a Coupe De Ville. Cadillac used the Coupe De Ville model name for a two-door hardtop from 1949 to 1993, not a convertible. The Cadillac in the film was actually a Series 62 Convertible.

A portion of the film was shot in Cape Coral, FL. When set director Richard Villalobos needed props for the Florida segments, he connected with the CEO of Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida to acquire props for the film, purchasing $4,000 worth of gently-used items from the local Goodwill store.[2]

Arye Gross, who plays middle brother Buddy, narrated the pilot episode of The Wonder Years, but was replaced by Daniel Stern, who plays oldest brother Marvin, for the remainder of the series and in all subsequent rebroadcasts of the pilot.[3]

Reception

Box office

The film was a box office failure; in its opening weekend (March 9–11, 1990), it didn't even make the charts, only grossing $66,871. In the end, Coupe de Ville only opened in 170 theaters and made $715,983 in the US. [1]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 0% based on reviews from 6 critics.[4]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it 1.5 out of 4 and wrote: "There is something deadening about the kind of formula picture where you know with absolute certainty what is going to happen, and how, and why."[5] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave it grade C-.[6]

References
  1. "Coupe de Ville". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2020-10-01.
  2. Goodwill Goodies (March 1989). Newsletter for the employees of Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida, Inc.
  3. The Wonder Years (1988) – Trivia
  4. "Coupe de Ville (1990)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2020-10-01.
  5. Ebert, Roger (March 23, 1990). "Coupe De Ville movie review & film summary (1990)". Chicago Sun-Times.
  6. Owen Gleiberman (1990). "Coupe de Ville". Entertainment Weekly.
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