Maladies

DIRECTOR: Carter

Starring James Franco Catherine Keener David Strathairn Alan Cumming Fallon Goodson

2013

Image

Once the star of television's most popular daytime soap, James (played by James Franco), has retreated to a quiet coastal town to nurse the slow unraveling of his mind. With him is his sister, Patricia (played by Fallon Goodson), whose own mental illness has left her a shadow of her former self, and Catherine (played by Catherine Keener), James' dearest friend, artistic collaborator and now cross-dressing caretaker. Maladies is a wise-cracking drama about three characters on the fringe of society pushing and pulling at the bonds that bind them. Drawn together by their creative connection but repelled by their individual idiosyncrasies, James, Catherine and Patricia struggle to reach an elusive equilibrium in their domestic life. As James' grasp on reality begins to loosen, however, he becomes preoccupied by the fear that when he goes he'll leave his life's work-- a sweeping memoir-- behind him. To soothe his growing unease, he talks Catherine into a pact: if one person dies, the other will finish his/her work. But simple promises are never as simple as they seem. Starring James Franco, Catherine Keener and Fallon Goodson, Maladies explores the age-old question, how far will we go for our friends?

Status: Completed

Genre: Gay & Lesbian LGBTQ,Drama