Plot
A young Chicago advertising executive believes a woman he sees in a café is his long-lost love. His conviction leads to obsession, as he puts his life on hold to trail her.

Release Year: 2004

Rating: 6.9/10 (25,821 voted)

Critic's Score: 40/100

Director: Paul McGuigan

Stars: Josh Hartnett, Diane Kruger, Matthew Lillard

Storyline
Matthew, a young advertising executive in Chicago, puts his life and a business trip to China on hold when he thinks he sees Lisa, the love of his life who walked out on him without a word two years earlier, walking out of a restaurant one day. With a little help from his friend Luke, Matthew obsessively and relentlessly tracks Lisa down and while doing so, runs into another young woman calling herself Lisa whom, unknown to Matthew, is an actress named Alex and may hold the key to Lisa's disappearance, and discovery.

Writers: Gilles Mimouni, Brandon Boyce

Cast:
Josh Hartnett - Matthew
Rose Byrne - Alex
Matthew Lillard - Luke
Diane Kruger - Lisa
Christopher Cousins - Daniel
Jessica Paré - Rebecca
Vlasta Vrana - Jeweller
Amy Sobol - Ellie
Ted Whittall - Walter
Isabel Dos Santos - Chamber Maid
Joanna Noyes - Mary
Kerrilyn Keith - Female Customer
Mark Camacho - Bartender
Marcel Jeannin - Theater Director
Stéfanie Buxton - Ticket Agent

Taglines: Passion never dies.

Official Website: Filmax [Spain] | MGM [United States] |

Release Date: 3 September 2004

Filming Locations: Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office Details

Budget: $30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: $6,819,393 (USA) (5 September 2004) (2598 Screens)

Gross: $12,831,121 (USA) (26 September 2004)

Runtime: 114 min

Trivia:
Freddie Prinze Jr. was also considered for the role of Matt.

Goofs:
Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Luke says to Alex, "Are we still going out tomorrow?" it is dubbed from, "Are we still going out tonight?" as his lips are mouthing the latter.

Quotes:
[first lines]
Jeweller: [holding a diamond ring] Magnificent, aren't they? "God's tears".
Matthew: Yeah. It's beautiful. So are the others, I... I guess I just have to make the right decision.
Jeweller: In the end it's not your eye that must decide.

A glimpse of stalking

Rating:

I've just come back from seeing what I think is one of the best movies of 2004. I found the story fascinating, the look stylish, and the music haunting.

"Wicker Park" is a tale of obsession on many levels. It is told partly in flashback, so that you have to piece the events together and figure out how far back the action of the film began -- what is now and what was then. The director uses split-screen techniques that enhance the look and feel of the film, lifting it from the realm of the ordinary to the plane of art. A haunting theme weaves its way through this labyrinth of lies, leading to a satisfying (because inevitable) conclusion.

I saw the film with two friends who were of a very different opinion. They found the film "convoluted" and "clichéd". I disagree. It was easy to tell what was flashback and what was here-and-now. But the story is complicated (not convoluted) and does require some sorting out. As for being cliched, I found the film quite the opposite. It could have gone in some trite, hackneyed directions but didn't. And while some people might think the ending is the cliché of all clichés, I thought that, emotionally, it was absolutely right and the only possible way to end the film.

I loved "Wicker Park" so much that I would willingly see it again, to get a better sense of how the story is put together, and just for the sheer pleasure of its look and sound. You might say I too am obsessed.

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