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Highball (film)

Highball
Film poster
Directed byNoah Baumbach
Written by
Produced byJoel Castleberg
Starring
CinematographySteven Bernstein
Edited byJ. Kathleen Gibson
Production
companies
Release date
  • April 2002 (2002-04)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Highball is a 2002 American comedy film[2] directed by Noah Baumbach, and written by Baumbach, Carlos Jacott, and Christopher Reed. Highball was never completed to Baumbach's satisfaction and he ultimately abandoned it.[3] In April 2002,[4] a version of the film assembled by the producers was released on DVD[5] against Baumbach's wishes.[6] Upon release, the film was credited as having been directed by "Ernie Fusco" and written by "Jesse Carter" after being disowned by Baumbach and his co-writers.[7][8][9]

Plot

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The film is structured as a sequence of three parties in a Brooklyn apartment.[10] Friends' relationships (Justine Bateman, Peter Bogdanovich, Dean Cameron) are tested during a birthday party, a Halloween party and a New Year's Eve party.

Diane, part of a newly married couple, Travis and Diane, decides to improve her social life by throwing three great parties and inviting people to their Brooklyn apartment. The film follows this pursuit over the course of a year.

Cast

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Production

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The film was shot over six days in 1997, with the short ends, financed with money added to Baumbach's previous film Mr. Jealousy, as additional content, filmed in six days, after completion of Mr. Jealousy.

"Much like Paul Auster and Wayne Wang's Blue in the Face, which was a largely improvised lark that drafted off the production momentum of the much more polished film Smoke, Highball was shot in a week shortly after the production of Baumbach's Mr. Jealousy. Most of the cast is carried over, although the recognizable actors take a backseat to Baumbach's friends who filled the periphery of the (relatively) bigger film."[10]

Removal of credit

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Baumbach has removed his credit for the film, explaining in an interview with The A.V. Club:

And it was a funny script. But it was just too ambitious. We didn't have enough time, we didn't finish it, it didn't look good, it was just a whole ... mess. [Laughs.] We couldn't get it done, and I had a falling out with the producer. He abandoned it, and I had no money to finish it, to go back and maybe get two more days or something. Then later, it was put out on DVD without my approval.[8]

New York Magazine later noted:

"The film centers on a series of parties thrown by miserable Brooklynites Diane (Lauren Katz) and Travis (Christopher Reed), one of the most mismatched couples in Baumbach’s repertoire who, despite being the film’s protagonists, do not even appear on its VHS cover."[11]

Documentary

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MVD Visual restored Highball from its original film elements,[12] and created The Making Of Highball, a 75-minute feature-length documentary featurette ("A collection of Zoom interviews with a bunch of the actors, the producer, and the co-writer."[10]) which includes interviews with Joel Kastelberg, Christopher Reed, Lauren Katz, John Lehr, Rae Dawn Chong, Peter Bogdanovich, and Dean Cameron,[13] available on On Blu-ray and YouTube.

Streaming

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Highball streamed on Netflix,[10] Plex, Hoopla, YouTube, Amazon, Google Play, and Vudu.[14]

References

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  1. ^
  2. ^ "Highball". Furious Cinema. 13 July 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  3. ^ Wilson, Matt (2016-10-04). "10 Directors Who Used Pseudonyms To Disown Their Films". Taste of Cinema - Movie Reviews and Classic Movie Lists. Retrieved 2024-06-28.
  4. ^ "Highball VHS". amazon.com. Lions Gate. 2 April 2002. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  5. ^ "Noah Baumbach's difficult second act". The Dissolve. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  6. ^ Parker, Ian (22 April 2013). "Happiness". The New Yorker. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  7. ^ Hassenger, Jesse (April 8, 2014). "Noah Baumbach has basically disowned one of his funniest films". The A.V. Club. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  8. ^ a b Murray, Noel (November 9, 2005). "Noah Baumbach". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  9. ^ Murray, Noel (9 November 2005). "Noah Baumbach". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  10. ^ a b c d Remer, Justin (August 15, 2022). "Highball - MVD Entertainment Group // R // June 7, 2022 // Region 0". www.dvdtalk.com - DVD Talk. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  11. ^ Handler, Rachel (10 December 2019). "Every Noah Baumbach Couple, Ranked by Sheer Misery". Vulture.com. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  12. ^ McKelvey, John W. (August 6, 2022). "Alright MVD, You're Crazy For This One! Highball". DVD Exotica. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  13. ^ Gonzales, Dillon (12 August 2022). "'Highball' (MVD Entertainment) Blu-ray Review - Mistreated Noah Baumbach Dramedy Is More Than Just An Oddity". Geek Vibes Nation.
  14. ^ "Highball (2002) Stream and Watch Online". Moviefone. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
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