Spitfire Grill

UPC: 053939251722

Studio: Warner Home Video

MPAA Rating: PG13   Contains:[Adult Situations, Questionable for Children]

Summary: This debut drama from writer-director Lee David Zlotoff (creator of the TV series MacGyver) won the audience award at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival. Alison Elliott stars as Percy Talbott, an ex-convict who's come to the small Maine town of Gilead in the hope of finding work and a place to start her life over again. With the help of the local sheriff, she lands a waitress job at the Spitfire Grill, eventually winning over the crusty owner Hannah (Ellen Burstyn) and simple-minded fellow waitress Shelby (Marcia Gay Harden) with her hard work and trustworthiness. Percy even finds a new love with a woodsman, Joe (Kieran Mulroney) and befriends a hermit (John M. Jackson) who lives in the nearby woods and is regularly fed by Hannah. When Hannah falls ill, Percy devises a scheme to help her sell the caf? in a national contest, but Shelby's husband Nahum (Will Patton) doesn't trust Percy's motives -- and his suspicion leads to tragedy. The Spitfire Grill, which played as a cross between To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), got initial financing from an organization of Roman Catholic priests and sold at Sundance for a then-record $10 million. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Category: Drama

Awards: Audience Award – Sundance Film Festival

Features: Interactive menus
Theatrical trailer
Scene access
Languages & subtitles: English, Fran?ais

Spitfire Grill

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 12/14/1999

Audio: 5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1

Runtime: 116 Minutes

Sides: 2

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French

Subtitles: English,French

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 -- Widescreen
0. Scene Selections
1. The Colors Of Paradise (Credits) [4:27]
2. Newcomer In Gilead [2:24]
3. Hannah's Favor [2:20]
4. Percy's Announcement [3:37]
5. Nahum's Concern [3:05]
6. Curious Joe [4:23]
7. Hannah Slips Up [3:26]
8. The Substitute [5:59]
9. One-Way Chat [3:51]
10. No Buyer For The Spitfire [2:59]
11. An Idea Takes Root [11:29]
12. Good News, Bad News [2:13]
13. A Walk In The Woods [2:33]
14. Drowning On Her Mind [2:53]
15. New Name: Johnny B. [2:29]
16. Picture This [1:33]
17. Wounds That Run Deep [3:06]
18. Mail Call [5:17]
19. Not Smart Enough [1:41]
20. Community Involvement [2:05]
21. Taking Things Seriously [2:16]
22. Just Not Me [3:38]
23. Out In The Open [5:46]
24. Shelby Speaks Up [1:48]
25. Nahum's After-Hours Visit [5:23]
26. Percy's Past [4:11]
27. The Search For Percy's Confederate [4:23]
28. Swept Away [1:58]
29. Sad Reunion [1:02]
30. "I Never Saw Percy Talbott" [3:02]
31. Letting Go Of The Grill, Not Gilead [1:55]
32. Mother And Son [2:12]
33. Newcomer In Gilead [2:32]
34. End Credits [4:25]
Side #2 -- Standard
0. Scene Selections
1. The Colors Of Paradise (Credits) [4:27]
2. Newcomer In Gilead [2:24]
3. Hannah's Favor [2:20]
4. Percy's Announcement [3:37]
5. Nahum's Concern [3:05]
6. Curious Joe [4:23]
7. Hannah Slips Up [3:26]
8. The Substitute [5:59]
9. One-Way Chat [3:51]
10. No Buyer For The Spitfire [2:59]
11. An Idea Takes Root [11:29]
12. Good News, Bad News [2:13]
13. A Walk In The Woods [2:33]
14. Drowning On Her Mind [2:53]
15. New Name: Johnny B. [2:29]
16. Picture This [1:33]
17. Wounds That Run Deep [3:06]
18. Mail Call [5:17]
19. Not Smart Enough [1:41]
20. Community Involvement [2:05]
21. Taking Things Seriously [2:16]
22. Just Not Me [3:38]
23. Out In The Open [5:46]
24. Shelby Speaks Up [1:48]
25. Nahum's After-Hours Visit [5:23]
26. Percy's Past [4:11]
27. The Search For Percy's Confederate [4:23]
28. Swept Away [1:58]
29. Sad Reunion [1:02]
30. "I Never Saw Percy Talbott" [3:02]
31. Letting Go Of The Grill, Not Gilead [1:55]
32. Mother And Son [2:12]
33. Newcomer In Gilead [2:32]
34. End Credits [4:25]

Michael Costello

Lee David Zlotoff's sentimental tale about a troubled young woman who stirs up the residents of a small town in northern Maine is excessively earnest and melodramatically overplotted but leavened with fine acting by its principals. Alison Elliot stars as the new waitress at the Spitfire Grill, where she confuses the suspicious townspeople of Gilead by returning their gossip and animosity with kindness and goodwill. Zlotoff, who seems to have intended the film as a Capra-esque fable of human goodness, leaves the relationship of the apparently schizoid townfolk and this woman in a hopeless muddle. It's also rife with subplots involving everything from the woman's mysterious past to a contest to choose the new owner of the caf?, but none of them could matter less. However, the plot thread of the woman's bonding with restaurant owner Ellen Burstyn and withdrawn housewife Marcia Gay Harden, a scenario reminiscent of the superior Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), is the film's strongest element, mostly thanks to the superb acting of these three. It seems impossible to believe that protestors could have been disturbed by the film's nimbus of mild spirituality. ~ Michael Costello, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Louise De Cormier  Actor 
John M. Jackson  Actor 
James Horner  Composer (Music Score) 
Forrest Murray  Producer 
Lee David Zlotoff  Director 
Lee David Zlotoff  Screenwriter 
Warren Stitt  Producer 
Alison Elliott  Actor 
Ellen Burstyn  Actor 
Marcia Gay Harden  Actor 
Will Patton  Actor 
Kieran Mulroney  Actor 
Gailard Sartain  Actor 

Country: USA