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The Romantic (film)

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Director
  
Michael Heneghan

Writer
  
Michael Heneghan

Language
  
English

5.6/10
IMDb

Genre
  
Animation, Action, Adventure

Duration
  

Country
  
USA

The Romantic (film) movie poster

Release date
  
2009

Genres
  
Romance Film, Animation, Action Film, Horror, Fantasy, Adventure Film

Similar movies
  
Romance (2013), Adulthood (2008), The Big One (1997), Five (2003)

Tagline
  
A mythological horror about monsters & magic.

The Romantic is an animated 2009 American film directed by Michael P. Heneghan.

Contents

Plot summary

Set in a world of autumn landscapes, a young man, the Romantic, falls out of love with his girlfriend. He visits the goddess Love, asking her to restore his feelings. She warns him this is not a good idea, but when he persists she reluctantly agrees. When he returns to his girlfriend he finds her with another man. Feeling betrayed by the gods Love, Hate and Time, he sets out with his companion, Patience, seeking revenge.

The story of the Romantic is interwoven with the back story of the gods and a story about the corrupt Fat Daddy.

Cast

  • Jason Salerno as Romance
  • Christopher Magee as Patience
  • Peter Stambler as Fat Daddy
  • Alee Spadoni as Po
  • Ron Blasdell as Pjorrc / The Apple Man
  • Jacqueline Heneghan as The Vent Monger / Old Love
  • Tom Hogan as King Crookie / Mr. Gord / The Butcher
  • Nathan Terry as Ludwig / The Baker / The Candlestick Maker
  • Roger Taylor as Rumpelstiltskin
  • Sarah Vaghari as Young Love
  • Alex Albrecht as The Spank
  • Amber Reeves as Aveta
  • Jeff Cannata, Conor Gelches and Nathan Terry provided additional Voices.

    Production

    Director Michael P. Heneghan documented the production process on his blog The Pumpkin Moon.

    The film was released under a Creative Commons by-nc-sa 3.0 license.

    Reception

    Mike Everleth of the Underground Film Journal (then Bad Lit) called the film "a fairy tale for adults, in every sense [with] some blue language", but also commended the visual style as "beautifully unique" and the story as a "[masterfully rich woven] tapestry for a far-out fable". He wrote that "The Romantic is a very rich and complex fairy tale and, like all good fairy tales, has deep moral metaphors buried within its story." Everleth especially lauded the characterization, both visually and in their objectives, writing they are "unable to escape their fates, in the way that many of us can feel pushed and pulled around by our own emotions."

    Mark Bell of Film Threat gave the film four out of five stars, writing that "the story is a little bit all over the place" and that "allegories about religion and philosophy play out simultaneously." Visually he called it "a style all its own, and it is all-out crazy", and compared it to Yellow Submarine ("though not as psychedelic") and Picasso ("though not as abstract").

    Matt Cantor of Philadelphia City Paper called the film "an eerie, haunting film that's part myth, part fairy tale, and part fable." He wrote that the plot was "more episodic" than a traditional Hollywood story arc and "at times difficult to follow", but called the Tim Burton-echoing animation ultra-smooth, gorgeous and original. He also commended Jason Salerno's performance as Romance "passionate and convincing" and Nathan Terry's original film score "sweet and atmospheric".

    Director Michael P. Heneghan said that "Submitting to film festivals was far, far more expensive than making the film", but "Surprisingly, a pop-fantasy animated feature film festooned with cartoon ding-dongs and nudey parts featuring a cast of difficult-to-love monsters working out their baggage over the course of a million subversive plot points didn’t really strike a chord with most film festival curators. Our first rejection letter came from a festival that I really wanted to be a part of and thus we started our film festival application process with a small chip on the shoulder and a little bit of a wounded heart. So it goes."

    References

    The Romantic (film) Wikipedia
    The Romantic (film) IMDb The Romantic (film) themoviedb.org


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