The Fantasticks (2000) on Netflix
Amos Babcock Bellamy and Ben Hucklebee fake a feud to push their children Luisa and Matt together. When the two fall in love, the fathers turn to El Gallo, a carnival proprietor.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb5.7/101,307 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes48%
Trailer
Plot summary
Amos Babcock Bellamy and Ben Hucklebee are widowed neighbors, each with one child. The fathers want Luisa Bellamy and Matt Hucklebee to fall in love. Knowing the young people will resist their interference, the two men fabricate a feud. They build a wall between their houses and forbid their children to speak to each other. The plan works. To end the supposed disagreement without revealing their deception, the fathers enlist El Gallo, who runs a traveling carnival.
Cast
- Victoria Stevensas Jo Jo, The Chicken Lady
- Trayne Thomasas Tattooed Man
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Fantasticks (2000)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Completed in 1995 and slated for a Thanksgiving release, the film was shelved by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer after preview audiences responded indifferently. To satisfy a contractual obligation to Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, MGM board member Francis Ford Coppola cut it from 109 minutes to 86; the abridged version reached four theaters in September 2000.
- Unlike the usual practice for a film musical, the songs were performed live by the actors rather than dubbed afterwards. The stage show's bare-stage, two-piece accompaniment became a full orchestra and a 1920s American West setting.
- The screenplay by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones adapts their own record-breaking stage musical The Fantasticks, which ran for 17,162 performances and was later revived Off-Broadway.
