The Angriest Man in Brooklyn is a 2014 American comedy-drama film directed by Phil Alden Robinson. It stars Robin Williams, Mila Kunis, Peter Dinklage and Melissa Leo. The film follows a physician who accidentally tells her obnoxious patient that he has a brain aneurysm and has only 90 minutes to live. As the patient races around the city, trying to right his wrongs, the doctor attempts to find him as he tries to find what he must do in the final moments of his life.
It is a remake of the 1997 Israeli film The 92 Minutes of Mr. Baum, written and directed by Assi Dayan. The film had a limited theatrical and VOD release on May 23, 2014.
Plot
Henry Altmann (Robin Williams) is stuck in Brooklyn traffic while on his way to a doctor's appointment. His car is suddenly struck by a taxi, which propels him into a rage which he unleashes upon the taxi driver. Henry goes to the Brooklyn hospital where Doctor Sharon Gill (Mila Kunis) is covering for Henry's usual doctor. After examining scans of his brain, Sharon informs Henry that he has a brain aneurysm and his outlook is not good â€" he is a ticking time bomb, and any rise in his blood pressure could make it worse. Henry erupts, throwing insults at Sharon and demanding that she tell him how long he has to live. She tries to dodge the question, but Henry is persistent. Sharon begins to panic glances over at a magazine that has the words ninety minutes on the title cover and abruptly shouts that. Sharon talks with another doctor and realizes the consequences of her actions; the way she treated Henry will surely get her fired and have her license revoked. Sharon resolves to find Henry and put him into immediate care. Henry arrives at Altmann, Altmann & Altmann, the family law firm and storms into a meeting his brother Aaron (Peter Dinklage) is conducting with several older clients. He tells the room that he has a client with only ninety minutes to live, and asks them what they would do with such little time to live. After receiving advice from one that they would go home, make love to their wife and die in her loving arms Henry decides to run home to see his estranged wife, Bette (Melissa Leo). Meanwhile, Sharon learns Henry’s case is serious enough that he could potentially drop dead at any minute.
Sharon arrives at Henry’s office where she tells Aaron of his brother’s diagnosis and they leave to search for Henry. Henry arrives home with a bouquet of flowers for his wife, but they end up getting in a heated argument with Henry storming out. Meanwhile, Henry makes more stops on his quest for redemption, including attempting to contact his son, Tommy. Henry disapproved of his son's choice to become a professional dancer, which has damaged their relationship. Sharon is still wandering the streets looking for Henry. She finally receives information that Henry is headed towards the Brooklyn Bridge. Sharon races to the location and discovers Henry getting ready to walk a suspender cable with the intent on jumping into the East River. Sharon apologizes for her earlier behavior and admits she has no idea when he might die, that ninety minutes was just an arbitrary number that popped into her head. Henry is angry but Sharon explains that her career and by extent her life will be over if he jumps but nonetheless Henry still leaps off the bridge. Sharon sprints down to the river under the bridge, and sees Henry in the water. She leaps into the icy water after him and drags him to shore. Henry is no longer as angry and is just exhausted. He focuses on the fact that he still has time to set things right with his loved ones. Checking Sharon’s watch, he sees he has only nineteen minutes until his supposed time of death. Sharon is determined to help him find his son within this time, and helps him up. Sharon hails a cab, unbeknownst to her, this is the same cab that hit Henry that morning. The taxi driver and Henry begin to argue and fight, but Sharon comes between the two men with a bottle of pepper spray, momentarily blinding the driver so that the pair can take off in his cab.
They drive frantically through the crowded streets of Brooklyn to the Brooklyn Dancing Academy looking for his son. Henry arrives at the Academy and finds his son sitting alone in one of the dance studios. The two speak quietly and begin to dance for just a moment, just like when Tommy was a little boy. After sharing this moment with his son, Henry informs Sharon that he does not want to know when he will die; he only wants to know that he will try and lead a better life and that they both find happiness in life. He leans in closer to Sharon and collapses on her shoulder, exhausted from the day's events, as they share a moment. It is then revealed that Henry was able to go to the hospital and live for another eight days, giving him time to share special moments with all of his loved ones. One year later, Bette, Tommy, Aaron and Sharon are together on a cruise ship, where they celebrate Henry's life and spread his ashes across the east river. The captain of the cruise ship tells them that spreading ashes on the East River is illegal, but they argue with the cruise ship captain, referencing Henry's combative personality.
Cast
- Robin Williams as Henry Altmann
- Mila Kunis as Sharon Gill
- Melissa Leo as Bette Altmann
- Peter Dinklage as Aaron Altmann
- James Earl Jones as Ruben
- Hamish Linklater as Tommy Altmann
- Sutton Foster as Adela
- Richard Kind as Bix Field
- Daniel Raymont as Ulugbek
- Chris Gethard as Dr. Jordan Reed
- Jerry Adler as Cooper
- Bob Dishy as Frank
- Isiah Whitlock, Jr. as Yates
- Da'Vine Joy Randolph as Nurse Rowan
- Jeremie Harris as Leon
- Lee Garlington as Gummy
- Roy Milton Davis as Buster
- Olga Merediz as Jane
- Hank Chen as Damien
- Rock Kohli as Gurjot
- Kirk Taylor as Cop
Reception
The Angriest Man in Brooklyn has received negative reviews from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 10% based on reviews from 30 critics, with an average rating of 3.5/10. Another review aggregation website, Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a score of 21 out of 100 based on 13 reviews, which indicates generally unfavorable reviews.
Home media
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on July 22, 2014.
References
External links
- The Angriest Man in Brooklyn at the Internet Movie Database