Speechless (1994 film)

For the 2012 film, see Speechless (2012 film).

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1994 film

Speechless

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Ron Underwood
Written by| Robert King
Produced by| Geena Davis
Renny Harlin
Starring|

* Michael Keaton
* Geena Davis
* Bonnie Bedelia
* Ernie Hudson
* Charles Martin Smith
* Gailard Sartain
* Christopher Reeve

Cinematography| Donald Peterman
Edited by| Richard Francis-Bruce
Music by| Marc Shaiman
Distributed by|

* Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (United States)
* United International Pictures (International)

Release date

* December 16, 1994 (1994-12-16)

Running time

| 99 minutes
Language| English
Budget| $38 million[1]
Box office| $25.1 million[1]

Speechless is a 1994 American romantic comedy film directed by Ron Underwood. It stars Michael Keaton, Geena Davis (who also co-produced with her then-husband, director Renny Harlin), Bonnie Bedelia, Ernie Hudson, and Christopher Reeve.

## Plot

[edit]

After meeting each other for the first time in the gift shop of the Las Cruces, New Mexico hotel where they are both staying, insomniac writers Julia Mann and Kevin Vallick fight over the last box of sleep medicine.

Initially, they do not realize both are speechwriters for rival candidates in a New Mexico Senate election, so they both fall in love. Julia works for Democratic candidate Lloyd Wannamaker and Kevin for Republican candidate Ray Garvin. Inadvertently influencing each other's work, they discover each other's jobs when they are both invited to speak at a school. Both shocked, they end up attacking each other verbally on stage. Later, in their campaign speeches, they continue to argue, unbeknownst to everyone else. Their romance causes great confusion, as they have to decide if love and politics can mix.

Also complicating matters are, amongst other things, Kevin's cutthroat ex-wife Annette, who got Kevin the job on the Republican's campaign. Julia's estranged fiancé, television war correspondent Robert "Baghdad Bob" Freed (also known as "Mr. Flak Jacket") turns up and wants her back. She had broken off the engagement, as she believed he wanted a cheering section more than he wanted a wife.

Julia's organizer accidentally falls into Kevin's hands, and he hacks into her candidate's speech, making Wannamaker sound foolish. Then, Julia's team meets with Kevin's in his offices. He doesn't attend, but meets with Julia that night; she tells him she's engaged again and he warns her she's getting fired. She takes advice from him to make her candidate more loved by the people by having him help rescue a missing bear cub that has been dominating the news. This gives Julia a promotion to press secretary.

At a televised debate, Julia breaks off the engagement, and immediately after Kevin tells her he's crazy for her. They sneak off, spending the night together. The next morning at dawn, Annette shows up, tasking Kevin to write a campaign ad. Not able to wake him, Julia writes a sitcom-style ad.

The next morning, Kevin chews out Julia because he thinks she leaked financial info to the press, not thanking her for the successful ad. Later on, one of Julia's staff tells Kevin that both of their candidates took bribes. A man named Proctor is responsible for both bribes, but has chosen Wannamaker. Julia is told by the campaign manager, as they approach the stage in victory.

Kevin arrives, interrupting Wannamaker's victory speech, to declare his love, swooping down into Julia's arms. The film closes with a news report given by Bob of Julia's late entry into a senatorial race, with Kevin as campaign manager.

## Context

[edit]

The film was widely interpreted as an imitation of the contemporaneous, real-life romance of rival political consultants James Carville (key advisor to the first presidential campaign of Bill Clinton), and Mary Matalin (speechwriter for President George H. W. Bush).[2][3][4]

However, co-lead actor Michael Keaton reported that the script had been developed before Carville and Matalin had ever met—though Keaton did admit to viewing The War Room, a documentary about Carville's work, to prepare himself for the film.[3] Keaton came on board after dropping out of Batman Forever.

## Cast

[edit]

* Michael Keaton as Kevin Vallick
* Geena Davis as Julia Mann
* Bonnie Bedelia as Annette
* Ernie Hudson as Dan Ventura
* Christopher Reeve as Bob Freed
* Charles Martin Smith as Mike Kratz
* Gailard Sartain as Lee Cutler
* Ray Baker as Ray Garvin
* Mitchell Ryan as Lloyd Wannamaker
* Willie Garson as Dick
* Paul Lazar as Harry
* Richard Poe as Tom
* Harry Shearer as Chuck
* Steven Wright as Eddie
* Jodi Carlisle as Doris Wind
* Robin Pearson Rose as Teacher
* Peter Mackenzie as Andy
* Mickey Cottrell as Debate Moderator
* Richard McGonagle as Dignitary
* Tony Genaro as Truck Driver
* Mary Pat Gleason as Desk Clerk
* Jon Favreau as Debate Control Room Operator (uncredited)

## Reception

[edit]

The film received mostly negative reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 13% of 30 critics' reviews are positive.[5] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B on scale of A to F.[6]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it 2 out of 4, and wrote: "The level of humor is dialed safely down to the Sitcom setting, which limits what can happen, and how much we can care about it."[7] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 1 out of 4 and was critical of the lack of chemistry between the leads and the script, writing: "This script needed to be completely overhauled before filming began."[4]

Brian Lowry of Variety wrote: "Never achieves the madcap hilarity of the '40s romantic comedies it seeks to emulate, and some of the dramatic moments feel a bit forced."[8]

Marjorie Baumgarten of the Austin Chronicle gave a positive review and wrote: "It comes down to the charms of Keaton and Davis in the end. You like these characters and root for them to score."[9]

Geena Davis was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for her performance.[citation needed]

### Box office

[edit]

The film debuted at No. 5 in the United States and went on to gross $20.6 million.[10][11] It grossed $25.1 million worldwide.[1] In Latin America, several countries released the film with the title "No se tú", taking advantage of the 1992 hit by Mexican singer Luis Miguel, included in the soundtrack of the film.

### Year-end lists

[edit]

* Honorable mention – Michael MacCambridge, Austin American-Statesman[12]
* 8th worst – Desson Howe, The Washington Post[13]

## Soundtrack

[edit]

The soundtrack included "House of Love" by Amy Grant and Vince Gill, "Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwolf, "Big Girls Don't Cry" by The Four Seasons, "Count Your Blessings" by Jack Sheldon, "Hit the Road Jack" by Ray Charles, "To Be Alone with You" by Bob Dylan, "Anything You Can Do" by Betty Hutton and Howard Keel, "Just in Time" by Tony Bennett, "Mi Tierra" by Gloria Estefan, "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" by Elton John, "No Sé Tú" by Luis Miguel, "All Shook Up" by Elvis Presley and "2 Sides", a track also present on James Armstrong's 2000 album, Got It Goin' On.[14]

Marc Shaiman composed the score for the film and arranged "Count Your Blessings".

## Further reading

[edit]

* Kauffmann, Stanley (January 23, 1995). "Speechless.(movie reviews)". The New Republic.
* Stolee, James (August 28, 1995). "Sleepless or speechless, this is only so-so comedy". Alberta Report / Western Report. United Western Communications Ltd.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Klady, Leonard (January 22, 1996). "Big clicks from little flicks". Variety. p. 1.
2. ^ LeMieux, Melissa: "Woman Running Against Her Partner In Election Says It's 'Like I'm In a Badly Written Rom-Com'," January 28, 2020, Newsweek, retrieved August 20, 2022
3. ^ a b Ebert, Roger: "'Speechless' Star Addresses the Issues," December 11, 1994 RogerEbert.com, retrieved August 20, 2022
4. ^ a b Siskel, Gene. "CARREY'S 'DUMB AND DUMBER' IS SMART ENOUGH TO WORK". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 2015-10-22.
5. ^ "Speechless". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
6. ^ "SPEECHLESS (1994) B". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on 2018-12-20.
7. ^ Ebert, Roger (December 16, 1994). "Speechless Movie Review & Film Summary (1994)". Chicago Sun-Times.
8. ^ Lowry, Brian (12 December 1994). "Speechless". Variety.
9. ^ "Movie Review: Speechless". Austin Chronicle.
10. ^ "Weekend Box Office : Jim Carrey's Not-So-'Dumb' Fee". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-06-13.
11. ^ "Speechless (1994)". The Numbers. Retrieved 2019-08-30.
12. ^ MacCambridge, Michael (December 22, 1994). "it's a LOVE-HATE thing". Austin American-Statesman (Final ed.). p. 38.
13. ^ Howe, Desson (December 30, 1994), "The Envelope Please: Reel Winners and Losers of 1994", The Washington Post, retrieved July 19, 2020
14. ^ Skelly, Richard. "James Armstrong". Allmusic. Retrieved October 28, 2010.

## External links

[edit]

* Speechless at IMDb
* Speechless at the TCM Movie Database
* Speechless at Box Office Mojo
* Speechless at Rotten Tomatoes
* Speechless at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Ron Underwood

* Tremors (1990)
* City Slickers (1991)
* Heart and Souls (1993)
* Speechless (1994)
* Mighty Joe Young (1998)
* The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002)
* Stealing Sinatra (2003)
* Back When We Were Grownups (2004)
* In the Mix (2005)
* Santa Baby (2006)
* The Year Without a Santa Claus (2006)
* Holiday in Handcuffs (2007)
* Santa Baby 2: Christmas Maybe (2009)

* v
* t
* e

Works by Robert King

TV series created (all with Michelle King)|

* In Justice (2006)
* The Good Wife (2009–2016)
* BrainDead (2016)
* The Good Fight (2017–2022)
* Evil (2019–2024)
* The Bite (2021)
* Elsbeth (2024–present)

Films written|

* The Nest (1988)
* Under the Boardwalk (1989)
* Bloodfist (1989)
* Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge (1989)
* Dragon Fire (1993)
* Clean Slate (1994)
* Speechless (1994)
* Cutthroat Island (1995)
* Red Corner (1997)
* Vertical Limit (2000)

Films directed|

* Principal Takes a Holiday (1998)
* Angels in the Infield (2000)

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