Violet and Daisy

Violet & Daisy is a 2011 American comedy crime drama film written, produced, and directed by Geoffrey S. Fletcher in his directorial debut after winning an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for the film Precious. The film stars Saoirse Ronan, Alexis Bledel, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Danny Trejo, and James Gandolfini in one of his last acting roles before his death on June 19, 2013. Supporting roles are performed by John Ventimiglia, Danny Hoch, and Tatiana Maslany. Violet & Daisy follows two teenage assassins named Violet and Daisy who accept what they think will be a quick-and-easy job, until an unexpected target throws them off their plan.

Violet & Daisy was released on September 15, 2011, at the Toronto International Films Festival and was not given a theatrical release until June 7, 2013, when it had a limited theatrical run. Geoffrey S. Fletcher credits Pulp Fiction, Superbad, and Thelma & Louise as inspiration for this film.

Plot

Violet (Alexis Bledel) and Daisy (Saoirse Ronan) are a pair of gum-chewing young assassins who casually snuff out crime figures in New York City, distracted only by the fact that a concert by their favorite pop idol Barbie Sunday has suddenly been canceled.

Determined to raise cash to buy a pair of the newest Barbie Sunday dress, the duo takes on a new hit job offered to them by their handler Russ (Danny Trejo). The target is a mysterious unnamed loner (James Gandolfini) who stole from rival boss, Donnie. A sudden and unexpected empathy after finding out about their quite unusual mark's pancreatic cancer and the estrangement from his daughter leads the two girls into an unexpected journey of self-examination, catapulting the junior enforcers into a world beyond their deadly routine, all while encountering dangerous foes such as rival boss Donnie's crew of hitmen and rapists or the legendary assassin simply known as Number 1 (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), who's said to have once killed three ninjas with a fingernail file.

Casting

Bruce Willis was considered for the role of The Guy before James Gandolfini was cast. Carey Mulligan was originally cast in the role of Violet but opted to do Drive instead and so she dropped out. She was replaced by Alexis Bledel.

Filming

Principal photography and filming mainly took place in New York City, New York.

Funding

According to a bankruptcy trustee overseeing the unwinding of Geoffrey's brother Alphonse Fletcher Jr.'s Fletcher Asset Management hedge fund, $8 million from the fund was used to fund the Violet & Daisy movie project.

Release

The film first premiered at the Toronto International Films Festival in September 15, 2011 and received its first limited theatrical release on June 7, 2013 with its widest release being 17 theaters.

Home media

Violet & Daisy was released for home distribution on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on November 19, 2013 with the only special features being a theatrical trailer and a poster slideshow.

Box office

In its opening weekend Violet & Daisy grossed $9,982. The film ended its theatrical run with a total domestic gross of $17,186.

Critical reception

Violet & Daisy received generally negative reviews with many critics complaining that it was yet another Quentin Tarantino knock-off. The film garnered a 22% percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 49 reviews. Violet & Daisy received a 43 out of 100 on the website Metacritic. Matt Zoller Seitz from Roger Ebert.com gave the film 2 out of 4 stars stating "Gandolfini's quietly magnificent performance is the only reason to see "Violet & Daisy," a thriller that might as well have been released in 1996, when everybody and their brother and their sister and their cousin twice-removed was trying to be Quentin Tarantino, writing screenplays about loquacious hit men and gangsters and molls delivering cutesy monologues in wacky, not-quite-real universes". A. O. Scott of The New York Times reviewed the film stating "We don't feel the weight and menace of death, nor the volatile emotions of youth, and have nothing to respond to beyond the spectacle of girls with guns". Christopher Campbell of Film School Rejects gave the movie a B- stating "Hardly a follow-up that will have [Fletcher] garnering more awards. Not because it's bad; it's just really cartoony, as in artificial, two-dimensional and rather childish". Cammila Collar of TV Guide gave the film 3 out of 4 stars stating "Violet & Daisy is a cool movie. It's strange and ambitious and affecting and extremely well-acted throughout a thoroughly esoteric script". Jeffrey M. Anderson of Common Sense Media gave the film 3 out of 5 stars stating "Though it can't keep up that kind of energy throughout, especially as it's set mostly in one room, it's charming enough -- and short enough -- that there are no hard feelings". Stephanie Merry of The Washington Post gave the film 2 out of 4 stars stating "The film's subtle visual allure is all but stamped out by the impression that the director tries too hard to be an idiosyncratic auteur in the vein of Quentin Tarantino".

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