Tagline: Sometimes you have to lose your way to find your family.
Georgia Rule movie storyline. For the past 30 years, director Garry Marshal has mastered the genre of comedy/drama. He has drawn in audiences with his subtle humor and moving scenes, working with A-list talent who say that the filmmaker doesn’t direct his movies, he hosts them.
From’80s hits including Overboard and Beaches; his ’90s box-office smashes Pretty Woman and Runaway Bride; and this decade’s high-grossing The Princess Diaries and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, Marshall has brought to life characters for audiences to embrace. In turn, he has made household names out of such unforgettable women as Vivian Ward and Mia Thermopolis, also known as Julia Roberts and Anne Hathaway. And now there’s Rachel Wilcox.
Three generations of top actresses unite in a film about the power of redemption, freedom in forgiveness and the unbreakable bonds of motherhood—Georgia Rule. And in this family, attitude doesn’t skip a generation. Rebellious teenager Rachel (Lindsay Lohan, Mean Girls, A Prairie Home Companion) screams, swears, drinks, says whatever is on her mind and is just generally uncontrollable. With her latest car crash, Rachel has broken the final rule in mom Lilly’s (Golden Globe winner Felicity Huffman, Transamerica, television’s Desperate Housewives) San Francisco home. With nowhere else to take the impulsive and rambunctious girl, Lilly hauls her daughter to the one place she swore she’d never return… her own mother’s Idaho home.
Matriarch Georgia (two-time Oscar winner Jane Fonda, Monster-in-Law, 9 to 5) is not your typical sweet and doting grandmother. She lives her life by a number of unbreakable rules, demanding that anyone she invites into her home do the same—God comes first and hard work a very close second. Now saddled with raising the young woman, it will require each patient breath she takes to understand the reasons behind Rachel’s fury.
But as Rachel succumbs to her summer of misery and starts to shake up the tiny town, Georgia notices something is changing within her granddaughter. Given structure and responsibilities, she is letting her guard down and learning compassion…especially for her own mother. Her journey will lead all three women to revelations of buried secrets and an understanding that, no matter what happens, the family ties that bind them will never be broken.
Joining the accomplished actresses on the screen include Dermot Mulroney (The Family Stone, The Wedding Date) as Lilly’s old flame, Simon; Cary Elwes (Saw, The Princess Bride) as Lilly’s husband and Rachel’s stepfather, Arnold; and Garett Hedlund (Four Brothers, Friday Night Lights) as the simple country boy who catches Rachel’s eye, Harlan.
Creating the Rules: Georgia is Born
“Everyone’s savable. That’s the rule.” — Georgia
Screenwriter Mark Andrus wanted to craft a script that told the tale of a place and a people he knew intimately: rural Idaho. The co-writer of James Brooks’ As Good as It Gets, Andrus grew up in a Mormon family, and he hoped to realistically portray that world of deep spiritual devotion, hard work and close family…and the humor that comes from the interplay. Georgia Rule was that story.
Morgan Creek CEO and one of the film’s producers, James G. Robinson, was interested in developing a project that wasn’t cookie cutter in its approach; he responded to the dynamics among the strong personalities of Andrus’ screenplay. “Anyone who’s been married or raised daughters understands what goes on between these women, particularly if the girl is a teenager. I thought it would be a lot of fun to produce this, and everything fell into place. Mark wrote a great script. We had Jane Fonda, Felicity Huffman and Lindsay Lohan to star, and Garry Marshall to direct. All three bases were covered: good story, good director, good cast.
Garry Marshall recalls that he was curious to work on a movie that explored forgiveness and “trusting what your child says.” Marshall says, “Usually, I do comedy/drama. Georgia Rule is drama/comedy, so it was a new switch for me.” His interest in the material was not selfless, however. As he admits, “It’s nice to work with beautiful women who can act and have talent.”
Marshall says that he has always felt a knack at eliciting solid performances from actors of a younger generation, and he felt this project would be no exception. “From Julia who was 22 in Pretty Woman to Anne who was 18 in Princess Diaries—and here’s Lindsay, 20, right in the middle of my picture—I seem to understand them.”
The story arc of the main protagonist, Rachel Wilcox, intrigued the director. Andrus had written a hot-headed wild child who was out of control in her San Francisco home. Her disruptions had finally led her mother to drag her kicking and screaming to a tiny, boring town in Idaho for some much needed grandmotherly discipline. Marshall liked the fact that this 18-year-old granddaughter would test everyone.
“Rachel goes to this small town in Idaho called Hull,” the director notes. “I made up the town name, because Hull rhymes with dull, and that’s what she’s looking forward to in this place.”
Fictional town, shooting script and financing in place, it was time to cast three women who could give performances that would draw laughs and tears from the audience. Enter Jane Fonda, Lindsay Lohan and Felicity Huffman.
Continue Reading and View the Theatrical Trailer
Georgia Rule (2007)
Directed by: Garry Marshall
Starring: Jane Fonda, Lindsay Lohan, Felicity Huffman, Dermot Mulroney, Cary Elwes, Garrett Hedlund, Hector Elizondo, Cynthia Ferrer, Tereza Stanislav, Destiney Sue Walker, Jennifer De Minco
Screenplay by: Mark Andrus
Production Design by: Albert Brenner
Cinematography by: Karl Walter Lindenlaub
Film Editing by: Bruce Green, Tara Timpone
Costume Design by: Gary Jones
Set Decoration by: Garrett Lewis
Art Direction by: Norman Newberry
Music by: John Debney
MPAA Rating: R for sexual content and some language.
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Release Date: May 11, 2007
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