Juliet, Naked (film)

2018 American romantic comedy film

Juliet, Naked

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Jesse Peretz
Screenplay by|

* Tamara Jenkins
* Jim Taylor
* Evgenia Peretz

Based on| Juliet, Naked
by Nick Hornby
Produced by|

* Judd Apatow
* Barry Mendel
* Albert Berger
* Ron Yerxa
* Jeffrey Soros

Starring|

* Rose Byrne
* Ethan Hawke
* Chris O'Dowd
* Denise Gough
* Phil Davis

Cinematography| Remi Adefarasin
Edited by| Sabine Hoffman
Robert Nassau
Music by| Nathan Larson

Production
companies

Rocket Science
Apatow Productions
Bona Fide Productions
Los Angeles Media Fund

Distributed by|

* Lionsgate
* Roadside Attractions (United States)
* Universal Pictures
* Focus Features (United Kingdom)

Release dates

* January 19, 2018 (2018-01-19) (Sundance Film Festival)
* August 17, 2018 (2018-08-17) (United States)

Running time

| 105 minutes
Countries| United States
United Kingdom
Language| English
Box office| $4.5 million[1]

Juliet, Naked is a 2018 romantic comedy film directed by Jesse Peretz based on Nick Hornby's 2009 novel of the same name. It centers on the story of Annie (Rose Byrne) and her unlikely romance with singer-songwriter Tucker Crowe (Ethan Hawke), who is also the subject of her boyfriend Duncan's (Chris O'Dowd) long-time music obsession.[2] The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2018.[3]

## Plot

[edit]

Annie Platt contemplates escaping her hometown of Sandcliff, England, her job as a curator in a local museum, and her unhappy relationship with Duncan, a college teacher obsessed with Tucker Crowe, an American musician last heard from in 1993. An album titled Juliet, Naked arrives in the mail, containing acoustic demos from Crowe's breakthrough album Juliet. Annie and Duncan argue over its quality, and Annie writes a negative review on Duncan's fan site dedicated to Crowe.

Crowe himself emails Annie, thanking her for her honesty, and they strike up a correspondence. Crowe shares his regrets at being a poor father to four children from three different mothers (later revealed to be five children with four different mothers), and Annie discloses her disappointment at not having children.

Crowe lives on his ex's property to be near his youngest son Jackson in America. Lizzie, his pregnant daughter from another relationship, visits from London; it is revealed Crowe also has twin sons from yet another relationship. Before leaving, Lizzie offers him the phone number of his other daughter Grace, whom he has never met.

Duncan invites Gina, a new teacher at his college, over to hear the album, and they sleep together. Confessing this to Annie, she breaks up with him and asks him to move out.

When Lizzie has her baby prematurely, Crowe takes Jackson with him to London to check on her. He and Annie agree to meet, but he has a heart attack. She visits him in the hospital, where she meets Jackson, Lizzie, and most of Crowe's exes and other children who have flown to his bedside. Crowe asks to see Sandcliff, and he and Jackson come to stay with Annie.

Duncan runs into Annie and Crowe, who introduces himself, but Duncan does not believe him. Annie finds Duncan lurking outside her home, and Crowe proves his identity with his passport. He stays for dinner, but his obsession with Crowe's work annoys Crowe, who declares that he thinks 'Juliet' is worthless. Duncan leaves, asserting that art may mean more to the audience than the artist, and how important the album has been to him.

Crowe tells Annie why he left music 25 years ago: Julie, his ex whose breakup inspired Juliet, visited him at his gig with their child, Grace. Left holding the baby, Crowe panicked, leaving her in the restroom and walking away from the gig and music entirely. Crowe calls Grace, but she wants nothing to do with him.

At Annie's museum exhibition, she confesses her romantic interest in Crowe, who reciprocates. The town's mayor has him sing for the exhibition, and he reluctantly performs “Waterloo Sunset” by The Kinks. That night, Annie and Crowe try to have sex, but an ill Jackson interrupts, wanting to go home.

Annie drives Crowe and Jackson to the home of Lizzie, who has been abandoned by her son's musician father, and Annie says farewell. Back home, she is at a bar when Duncan pleads for a fresh start together, but she declines.

A year later, Annie emails Crowe, explaining that she has moved to London and decided to have a child on her own; they agree to meet.

During the credits, a video of Duncan from his site reveals that Crowe has released a new album So Where Was I?, inspired by Annie. The album's song titles, and Duncan's scathing critique, suggests that Crowe and Annie are living happily together, much to Duncan's chagrin.

## Cast

[edit]

* Rose Byrne as Annie Platt
* Ethan Hawke as Tucker Crowe
* Chris O'Dowd as Duncan Thomson
* Azhy Robertson as Jackson, Tucker's son
* Lily Brazier as Ros Platt, Annie's sister
* Ayoola Smart as Lizzie, Tucker's daughter
* Lily Newmark as Carly
* Denise Gough as Gina
* Eleanor Matsuura as Cat, Tucker's ex
* Megan Dodds as Carrie, Tucker's ex
* Emma Paetz as Grace
* Jimmy O. Yang as Elliott
* Phil Davis as Mayor Terry Barton

## Production

[edit]

Harbour Street in Broadstairs was the exterior for Annie Platt's house in Sandcliff. Broadstairs' streets and beach also featured as Sandcliff, including Morelli's Ice Cream Parlour. Further filming took place at Ramsgate Maritime Museum, which features as Sandcliff Museum interior where Annie Platt works, as well as the Royal Harbour in Ramsgate, which can also be seen in various scenes. Production also filmed at Home Farm in the Borough of Swale which features as Tucker Crowe's 'mancave' and his ex-wife's house in the US.[4]

The movie includes new songs written by Ryan Adams, Robyn Hitchcock, Conor Oberst and M. Ward, as well as the film's composer, Nathan Larson.[5]

## Release

[edit]

Lionsgate and sister company Roadside Attractions acquired US rights to distribute the film, and planned to release the film on August 17, 2018, at select theaters, while a nationwide release occurred on August 31, 2018.[6][7]

## Reception

[edit]

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 83% based on 167 reviews, and an average rating of 6.9/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Juliet, Naked's somewhat familiar narrative arc is elevated by standout work from a charming cast led by a well-matched Rose Byrne and Ethan Hawke."[8] Metacritic gives the film a weighted average rating of 67 out of 100, based on 33 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[9]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Juliet, Naked (2018)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
2. ^ Parfitt, Orlando (July 17, 2017). "Nick Hornby adaptation 'Juliet, Naked' adds new cast". Screen Daily. Screen International. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
3. ^ "Juliet, Naked". Sundance Film Festival. The Sundance Institute. Archived from the original on January 28, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
4. ^ Kent Film Office (November 2018). "Kent Film Office Juliet, Naked Article".
5. ^ Olsen, Mark (August 17, 2018). "How the 'Juliet, Naked' team created a lost great album with help from Ryan Adams, Robyn Hitchcock and more". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
6. ^ McNary, Dave (February 2, 2018). "Rose Byrne-Ethan Hawke Comedy 'Juliet, Naked' Sells to Lionsgate, Roadside". Variety. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
7. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (March 13, 2018). "'Juliet, Naked' Set For Late Summer Release By Roadside Attractions & Lionsgate". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
8. ^ "Juliet, Naked (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
9. ^ "Juliet, Naked Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved August 21, 2018.

## External links

[edit]

* Juliet, Naked at IMDb
* Juliet, Naked at Rotten Tomatoes

* v
* t
* e

Works by Nick Hornby

Novels|

* High Fidelity
* About a Boy
* How to Be Good
* A Long Way Down
* Slam
* Juliet, Naked
* Funny Girl

Non-fiction books|

* Fever Pitch
* Songbook
* The Polysyllabic Spree
* Housekeeping vs. The Dirt
* Shakespeare Wrote for Money
* More Baths Less Talking

Screenplays|

* Fever Pitch (1997)
* An Education (2009)
* Wild (2014)
* Brooklyn (2015)
* Love, Nina (2016)
* State of the Union (2019)

Adaptations|

* Fever Pitch (1997)
* High Fidelity (2000)
* About a Boy (2002)
* Fever Pitch (2005)
* About a Boy (2014–2015)
* A Long Way Down (2014)
* Slam (2016)
* Juliet, Naked (2018)
* High Fidelity (2020)
* Funny Woman (2023)

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Jesse Peretz

* First Love, Last Rites (1997)
* The Château (2001)
* The Ex (2006)
* Our Idiot Brother (2011)
* Juliet, Naked (2018)

* v
* t
* e

Films by Tamara Jenkins

Written and directed|

* Slums of Beverly Hills (1998)
* The Savages (2007)
* Private Life (2018)

Written only|

* Juliet, Naked (2018)

* v
* t
* e

Judd Apatow

Films directed|

| Feature films|

* The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)
* Knocked Up (2007)
* Funny People (2009)
* This Is 40 (2012)
* Trainwreck (2015)
* The King of Staten Island (2020)
* The Bubble (2022)

|

Documentaries|

* 30 for 30: Doc & Darryl (2016)
* The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling (2018)
* George Carlin's American Dream (2022)

Films written|

* Heavyweights (1995)
* Celtic Pride (1996)
* Fun with Dick and Jane (2005)
* Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007)
* You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008)

Films produced|

* The Cable Guy (1996)
* Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
* Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
* Superbad (2007)
* Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)
* Step Brothers (2008)
* Pineapple Express (2008)
* Get Him to the Greek (2010)
* Bridesmaids (2011)
* Begin Again (2013)
* Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013)
* Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2017)
* The Big Sick (2017)
* Juliet, Naked (2018)
* Bros (2022)
* Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain (2023)

TV series created|

* The Ben Stiller Show (1992–1993)
* Undeclared (2001–2002)
* Love (2016–2018)

Related|

* Apatow Productions
* 40 Odd Years
* Leslie Mann
* Maude Apatow

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