Starring in the film are Allison Janney (“Juno,” “The West Wing”), Ciarán Hinds (“There Will Be Blood,” HBO’s “Rome”), Charlotte Rampling (“Swimming Pool,” “The Verdict”), Shirley Henderson (“Topsy-Turvey,” “Bridget Jones’s Diary”), Renée Taylor (“The Producers”), Michael Lerner (“Barton Fink”), Michael Kenneth Williams (HBO’s “The Wire”), Chane’t Johnson, Paul Reubens (“PeeWees Big Adventure”), Eric Wareheim, and Chris Marquette (“The Girl Next Door”).
Werc Werk Works is fully financing and producing the film, for which shooting is now under way in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Friends, family, and lovers struggle to find love, forgiveness, and meaning in a war-torn world riddled with comedy and pathos.
The characters in this part-sequel/part-variation on HAPPINESS struggle to find a place for themselves in an unpredictable and volatile world. The past haunts the present and imperils the future: ghosts circle and loom, trouble and console. The question of forgiveness, and its limits, threads throughout a series of intersecting love stories, offering clarity and, possibly, alternatives to the comforts of forgetting.
There is Joy (SHIRLEY HENDERSON), who discovers her husband Allen (MICHAEL KENNETH WILLIAMS) is not quite cured of his peculiar “affliction” and runs away, seeking solace and guidance from her mother and sisters; her former suitor, Andy (PAUL REUBENS), now deceased, but still never giving up in his effort to win Joy’s heart; her sister Trish (ALLISON JANNEY), who meets Harvey (MICHAEL LERNER), a lonely divorced man on the cusp of retirement, and hopes that a new man in the house will bring stability to her fragile family; her sister Helen (ALLY SHEEDY) who feels victimized by both her family and her Hollywood success; her mother Mona (RENÉE TAYLOR), who can’t let go of her bitterness about men; Harvey’s son Mark (RICH PECCI), who struggles with social isolation and profound pessimism; Bill (CIÁRAN HINDS), Trish’s former husband, just released from prison and on a quest to reconnect with his son Billy (CHRIS MARQUETTE); Jacqueline (CHARLOTTE RAMPLING), the needy woman who forgoes caution in her desperate search for love; and Kristina (CHANE’T JOHNSON), a fugitive from prison who can’t let go of her obsessive—albeit chaste—love for Allen. These and other characters and storylines as well—alternately funny and sad, outrageous and poignant—dovetail, expand, and collide to create a kaleidoscopic and emotionally resonant portrait of prisoners of love and life during wartime.
Producing the film are Christine Kunewa Walker (“American Splendor” “Factotum”), Mike S. Ryan (“Junebug” “Fay Grimm”), and Derrick Tseng (“Palindromes”). Executive Producers are Werc Werks Works CEO Elizabeth Redleaf and Werc Werk Work’s Vice President of Production, Ken Bailey.
About Werc Werk Works:
Werc Werk Works is an independent film production and finance company founded by Elizabeth Redleaf and Independent Spirit Award nominated producer Christine Kunewa Walker (“American Splendor” “Factotum”). Dedicated to the production and financing of high caliber, story-driven films with wide appeal, the company will initially produce three to four films a year.
The company will be a consistent supplier of commercial projects for both the studios and strong independent distributors worldwide. In addition to traditional film production, Werc Werk Works is set up to take advantage of digital convergence in the entertainment arena and become a vertically integrated film production, distribution and financing operation. Accordingly, the company embraces new and emerging technologies and utilizes them to achieve artistic and economic success through the acquisition and development of entertainment brands which can develop a separate presence within the emerging digital platforms and communities.
