The Cider House Rules (1999) on Netflix
Homer Wells grows up in a Maine orphanage, trained by Dr. Wilbur Larch in obstetrics though he refuses to perform abortions. He yearns for a life outside St. Cloud's.
- Netflix3.8/5
- IMDb7.4/10110,244 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes72%
Trailer
Plot summary
Homer Wells is the oldest child at St. Cloud's, a Maine orphanage run by Dr. Wilbur Larch, who trains him in obstetrics. Foster families returned him twice, so he stays on as Larch's apprentice. Larch also performs illegal abortions, which Homer refuses to do. Larch hopes Homer will take over the orphanage, but Homer wants to see the world beyond it. Candy Kendall arrives with Wally Worthington, an Air Force pilot on leave, for an abortion. Homer leaves with them for the Worthington apple orchard, joining Arthur Rose's migrant crew in the cider house bunkhouse. Wally goes back to the war. Rules posted inside the cider house are of no use to a crew that cannot read them, so Homer reads the list aloud.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Cider House Rules (1999)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- In the United States the film was given a PG-13 and in the United Kingdom a 12, but in Ireland it got the strictest possible rating, 18; Ireland's film censor Sheamus Smith said this was because of its themes of abortion, incest and drugs, at a time when the country had a constitutional ban on abortion.
- Since 2011 a portion of the movie's instrumental theme, composed by Rachel Portman, has accompanied the Pure Michigan logo in commercials for Michigan's tourism industry and at the end of many movies and national TV series filmed in that state.
- An adaptation was first announced in May 1991, to be directed by Phillip Borsos and star Matthew Broderick; by February 1997 it was moving forward at Miramax with director Michael Winterbottom and Ethan Hawke in talks to star, and later that month Billy Crudup was in talks.
- The film won two Academy Awards, Irving for Best Adapted Screenplay and Michael Caine his second, for Best Supporting Actor; Irving later documented his involvement in bringing the novel to the screen in his book My Movie Business.
