Film
Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in Chicago, plus articles, trailers and more
- Home
- Box Office
- Listings
- Trailers
- Features
Bookmark this page- Edition:
Paris Trout (1991)
Director: Stephen Gyllenhaal
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
The eponymous protagonist of Gyllenhaal's rather superb first feature is a repellent, racist loan-shark (played to the tight-lipped hilt by Hopper) who rules the roost in a late '40s Southern community. When a young black (Ware) welshes on the agreement after borrowing money to buy a car, Trout dispenses the only kind of justice he feels comfortable with; then, confronted by his wife (Hershey) about his crime, he starts down a road to total insanity by first humiliating, then subjecting her to horrible sexual abuse. Pete Dexter's script from his own novel is tough, often disturbing stuff, with a whiff of small-town Southern life that takes in everything from a John Lee Hooker TV commercial to William Faulkner and Harper Lee. Sometimes the pace is as slow as watching cotton grow, but at others the rage and bigotry on Hopper's face spills out dreadfully across the screen. Excellent performances from Hopper, Hershey and Ed Harris (as Hershey's lawyer-lover), some languorous photography from Robert Elswit, and a package of big issues inside a small frame, make this a film not to be missed.Author: SGr
Cast & crew
Director: Stephen Gyllenhaal
Producer: Frank Konigsberg, Larry Sanitsky
Cast: Dennis Hopper, Barbara Hershey, Ed Harris, Ray McKinnon, Tina Lifford, Darnita Henry, Eric Ware, RonReaco Lee, Gary Bullock full cast
Duration: 99 mins
Most popular on this site
Features
Gray's anatomy
James Gray wants to push buttons—again.
The next big thing?
Gigantic Releasing tries to rethink indie distribution…without movie theaters.
Red Diva: Lyubov Orlova, First Lady of Soviet Cinema
So you think you can dance, comrade?
Puppet master
Coraline director Henry Selick takes stop-motion animation into 3-D.
Socratic method
Laurent Cantet's approach on the set matches the message of his film.
Wander woman
Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy puts a Bush-era spin on the road movie.
Oscars
Read our interviews with the nominees, our reviews of the nominated films and more.
What do you think?
Post your review now