Frem Here To Awesome Festival
Advertisement

The Spitfire Grill
  • 0
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Rate this movie.

Buy it now on DVD
Starting at $6.21
trailerWatch trailer

Rent it, watch it, find it

Advertisement

Synopsis
This debut drama from writer-director Lee David Zlotoff (creator of the TV series MacGyver) won the audience award at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival. Alison Elliott stars as Percy Talbott, an ex-convict who's come to the small Maine town of Gilead in the hope of finding work and a place to start her life over again. With the help of the local sheriff, she lands a waitress job at the Spitfire Grill, eventually winning over the crusty owner Hannah (Ellen Burstyn) and simple-minded fellow waitress Shelby (Marcia Gay Harden) with her hard work and trustworthiness. Percy even finds a new love with a woodsman, Joe (Kieran Mulroney) and befriends a hermit (John M. Jackson) who lives in the nearby woods and is regularly fed by Hannah. When Hannah falls ill, Percy devises a scheme to help her sell the café in a national contest, but Shelby's husband Nahum (Will Patton) doesn't trust Percy's motives -- and his suspicion leads to tragedy. The Spitfire Grill, which played as a cross between To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), got initial financing from an organization of Roman Catholic priests and sold at Sundance for a then-record $10 million. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Cast

Ellen Burstyn Hannah Ferguson
Alison Elliott Perry Talbott
Marcia Gay Harden Shelby Goddard
Kieran Mulroney Joe Sperling
Will Patton Nahum Goddard
Gailard Sartain Sheriff Gary Walsh

Production Crew

Peter Borck Art Director
Marci Liroff Casting
Robert Draper Cinematographer
Edward E. Vaughan Co-producer
Marci Liroff Co-producer
James Horner Composer (Music Score)
Louise Mingenbach Costume Designer
Lee David Zlotoff Director
Margie Goodspeed Editor
Cas Donovan First Assistant Director
Forrest Murray Producer
Warren Stitt Producer
Howard Cummings Production Designer
Lee David Zlotoff Screenwriter
Stewart Pearce Sound/Sound Designer
Year: 1996
Runtime: 116
Country: USA
MPAA Rating: PG13
for thematic elements
Category: Feature

Genre
Drama

Produced by
Castle Rock Entertainment

Awards
1996 - Audience Award: Dramatic - Sundance Film Festival
1996 - Audience Award - Dramatic - Sundance Film Festival