Parting Shots
| Parting Shots | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Michael Winner |
| Produced by | Michael Winner John Blezard (assistant producer) Timothy Pitt Miller (assistant producer) Ron Purdie (associate producer) |
| Written by | Michael Winner (story, screenplay) Nick Mead (screenplay) |
| Starring |
Chris Rea Felicity Kendal John Cleese Bob Hoskins Diana Rigg Ben Kingsley Joanna Lumley Oliver Reed Gareth Hunt Nicholas Gecks Patrick Ryecart |
| Music by |
Les Reed Chris Rea |
| Cinematography | Ousama Rawi |
| Edited by | Michael Winner |
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Production
company |
Scimitar Films
Michael Winner Ltd. United Artists |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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99 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Parting Shots is a 1999 film starring Chris Rea, Felicity Kendal, Oliver Reed, Bob Hoskins, Diana Rigg, Ben Kingsley, John Cleese and Joanna Lumley. It was the last film directed by Michael Winner.
Upon release in the UK, the film gained controversy over its plot, and was widely criticised in the national press. It has since been evaluated as one of the worst films ever made.
Writer and director Michael Winner came up with the basic storyline after a relationship of his had ended. Speaking to BBC's Tim Sebastian in June 1999, Winner revealed: "We all have people we'd like to kill. Sometimes we want to kill them for a long time and sometimes it just lasts the few seconds that they're cutting you up, or being a nuisance. A girlfriend parted very nastily, and I thought 'I really wouldn't mind killing you' and five or six years later I thought, 'I still wouldn't mind.'"
The majority of the cast was chosen personally by Winner, and included friends, those he had worked with professionally before, or other actors/actresses he wished to work with. Early discussions for the lead role suggested Neil Morrissey or Martin Clunes, however when Winner met Chris Rea on a beach at Sandy Lane, Barbados, he was chosen instead.
After filming had come to an end, Winner had told his personal assistant, Dinah May, that Parting Shots was likely to be his last film. Regardless, he had said working with Rea was "a real pleasure" and that he had enjoyed making the film more than any of his past ones.
According to Peter Davison, John Alderton was offered to play Harry's friend John. Alderton turned it for being violent. The part went to Davison instead.
The film concerns Harry Sterndale (Rea), a wedding photographer, who is told by his doctor that he has six weeks to live, and sets out to kill people who have wronged him in his life. He has also paid an assassin named Jamie (Reed) to kill him instead. After setting out on his mission to kill Harry and his new girlfriend Jill (Kendal), Jamie is arrested for assassinating the dictator of a fictional country, and takes the blame for all of the murders that occurred during the film. It ends with Harry, who has been misdiagnosed and isn't terminally ill, and Jill visiting Jamie in prison as newlyweds.
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Wikipedia