Main Street (2010 film)

Main Street is a 2010 American drama film about several residents of Durham, North Carolina, a city in the Southern U.S., whose lives are changed by the arrival of a stranger with a controversial plan to save their decaying hometown.

Main Street
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	John Doyle
Written by	Horton Foote[1]
Produced by	Adi Shankar Megan Ellison Jonah Hirsch Spencer Silna
Starring	Orlando Bloom Colin Firth Andrew McCarthy Ellen Burstyn Amber Tamblyn Patricia Clarkson
Cinematography	Donald McAlpine
Edited by	Richard Francis-Bruce
Music by	Patrick Doyle
Production company	1984 Films
Distributed by	Magnolia Pictures Myriad Pictures (International)[2]
Release dates	October 21, 2010 (2010-10-21) (Austin Film Festival) September 9, 2011 (2011-09-09) (United States)
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$2,560[3]

Plot

Each of the colorful citizens of a close-knit North Carolina community—from a once-wealthy tobacco heiress to the city's mayor to a local police officer—will search for ways to reinvent themselves, their relationships and the very heart of their neighborhood.^[1][4]

Cast

• Colin Firth as Gus Leroy
• Ellen Burstyn as Georgiana Carr
• Patricia Clarkson as Willa Jenkins
• Orlando Bloom as Harris Parker
• Amber Tamblyn as Mary Saunders
• Margo Martindale as Myrtle Parker
• Andrew McCarthy as Howard Mercer
• Victoria Clark as Miriam
• Isiah Whitlock Jr. as Mayor
• Tom Wopat as Frank
• Viktor Hernandez as Estaquio
• Juan Piedrahita as Jose (as Juan Carlos Piedrahita)
• Thomas Upchurch as Trooper Williams
• Dennis Regling as Robert Dunning
• Reid Dalton as Crosby Gage
• Amy da Luz as Rita

Production

Filming an action sequence on NC-540 near Durham, NC

The film was shot nearly entirely in Durham, North Carolina in April and May 2009.^[5] The screenplay was written by Pulitzer Prize–winning writer Horton Foote after he found downtown Durham empty on a weekend visit several years earlier.^[6]

Myriad Pictures bought the international distribution rights in May 2009. The film was promoted at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival by its producers and stars.^[7][8]

Reception

Reception for the film has been generally negative. On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 14% approval rating based on reviews from seven critics, with an average score of 4.7/10.^[9]

Blog Critics reviewed the film, saying, "Everything that occurs in the film feels shallow somehow, and it’s a shame because Main Street had all of the basic elements that would have made it truly, a great film."^[10]