A Little Help

Movie
German title	A Little Help
Original title	A Little Help
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Publishing year	2010
length	109 minutes
Rod
Director	Michael J. Weithorn
script	Michael J. Weithorn
production	Sirad Balducci
music	Austin Wintory
camera	Tom Harting Rachael Levine
cut	Kelley Burney
occupation
Jenna Fischer : Laura Pehlke Chris O'Donnell : Bob Pehlke Kim Coates : Mel Kaminsky Lesley Ann Warren : Joan Dunning Rob Benedict : Paul Helms Lynn Cohen : Mrs. Cosolito Brooke Smith : Kathy Helms Ron Leibman : Warren Dunning Aida Turturro : Nancy Feldman Sam McMurray : Big Bad Dan Nadia Dajani : Angela Behar Arden Myrin : Ms. Lilly Gallagher Daniel Yelsky : Dennis Pehlke Shari Albert : Rhonda Jim Florentine : Brian Markland Joy Suprano : Julie Cantoni Dion DiMucci : as himself

A Little Help by Michael J. Weithorn is an American tragic comedy from 2010. The film is about people who are thrown out of balance by a tragic event and whose life takes a direction that was not on their plan .

action

The dental hygienist Laura Pehlke loses her husband, the real estate agent Bob, completely unprepared. Bob died of a heart condition after withholding important information from his doctor. Although he had frequently neglected his wife and 12-year-old son Dennis, and often pushed ahead with meetings with his young assistant in the evening, this blow hits the family hard. Dennis is sent by his mother to a private school, where he wants to make himself important by telling him that his father was killed while working as a firefighter in the terrorist attacks on September 11th, which shook the world shortly after Bob Pehlke's death.

At the insistence of her family and because financial worries determine her life, also caused by the high school costs for Dennis, Laura files a lawsuit against her husband's doctor, although she knows that the doctor is not to blame. However, nobody is allowed to know.

In addition, Laura's life is made more difficult by her father, a retired sports journalist, as well as her dominant mother and her perpetually angry sister. The only bright spot is her brother-in-law, who fell in love with Laura during their high school years together .

Music in the film

The film is pervaded by numerous pieces of music:

• Girl from Ipanema
• Down In A Hole
• Runaway
• Ray
• You're No Match For What You've Gotten In
• Baby Hold On To Me
• Runaround Sue
• Hot nuts
• Limbo rock
• If you want to rock and roll
• God Bless America
• Hot Humid And Hazy
• I'm lucky
• No Season At All
• Help you

Reviews

"Jenna Fischer shines in this manipulative dramedy set in ennui-ridden suburbia."

"Jenna Fischer shines in this manipulative tragic comedy that is set in a boring suburb."

- The Hollywood Reporter

“It's a movie for everyone whose life has been thrown off-course, out of whack, or simply not turned out the way they planned it. [...] ”

“This is a film for anyone who's been thrown off course, out of whack, or whose life just didn't turn out the way it was planned. [...] "

- Rotten Tomatoes

Initial release

The film was first screened on May 21, 2010 at the Seattle International Film Festival .

Web links

• A Little Help in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• The film's website at alittlehelpthemovie.com
• A Little Help. on filmstarts.de
• Review by Roger Ebert (July 27, 2011): A Little Help. on rogerebert.suntimes.com
• Trailer for the film on kino-zeit.de

Individual evidence

1. ^ A Little Help: Film Review. on hollywoodreporter.com, accessed March 4, 2013.
2. ^ A Little Help (2010). from rottentomatoes.com, accessed March 4, 2013.
3. ↑ May 20 - June 17 - A Little Help. ( Memento of September 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) on siff.net, accessed on March 4, 2013.