Taglines: Ask yourself if you’re really happy.
A physics professor approaching middle age decides to change his life with unexpected results. A rising young prosecuting attorney’s plans are thrown into disarray as the result of a single careless act while distracted. A woman reluctantly faces her husband’s infidelity. An envious insurance claims manager with family problems seeks revenge on a cheerful coworker, but has second thoughts. And an optimistic young cleaning woman awaits a miracle, only to have her faith shaken by a traumatic event. These ordinary people all find themselves asking the fundamental question philosophers have pondered throughout history: What is happiness, and how does one achieve it?
Thirteen Conversations About One Thing is a 2001 American drama film directed by Jill Sprecher. The screenplay by Sprecher and her sister Karen focuses on five seemingly disparate individuals in search of happiness whose paths intersect in ways that unexpectedly impact their lives. Starring are Alan Arkin, John Turturro, Matthew McConaughey, David Connolly, Joseph Siravo, James Yaegashi, Amy Irving, Barbara Sukowa and Rob McElhenney.
The Sprecher sisters scripted Thirteen Conversations About One Thing over the course of eight weeks. The script was completed before Jill’s directorial debut Clockwatchers was released in 1997, but due to a lack of funding the film took over three years to make. The plot was inspired in part by events in Jill Sprecher’s life, including two muggings and a subway assault. The character of Beatrice is based on Sprecher’s experiences when she moved to Manhattan following college graduation: “Clea Duvall’s character is very autobiographical … I was that person who only saw good things around me and then, of course, after getting mugged, I sort of changed my opinion of human beings.”
The film premiered at the 2001 Venice Film Festival and was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival, the MIFED Film Market in Italy, the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, the Hong Kong International Film Festival, the San Francisco International Film Festival and the Wisconsin Film Festival before going into limited release in the US. It opened on nine screens, earning $89,499 and ranking #34 on its opening weekend. It eventually grossed $3,288,164 in the US and $418,488 in foreign markets for a total worldwide box office of $3,706,652.
Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2001)
Directed by: Jill Sprecher
Starring: Alan Arkin, John Turturro, Matthew McConaughey, David Connolly, Joseph Siravo, James Yaegashi, Amy Irving, Barbara Sukowa, Rob McElhenney
Screenplay by: Karen Sprecher, Jill Sprecher
Production Design by: Mark Ricker
Cinematography by: Dick Pope
Film Editing by: Stephen Mirrione
Costume Design by: Kasia Walicka-Maimone
Set Decoration by: Carol Silverman
Music by: Alex Wurman
MPAA Rating: R for language and brief drug use.
Distributed by: Sony Pictures Classics
Release Date: May 24, 2002
Visits: 78
