Veronika Decides to Die (2009)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Emily Young

Writers:

Paulo Coelho (book)
Larry Gross (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

2010 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

It wasn't until she decided to die, that Veronika found a reason to live

Plot:

The story centers on Veronika, a woman in her mid twenties who appears to have everything: good looks...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel | Character Name In Title

Cast

Sarah Michelle Gellar	...	Veronika
David Thewlis	...	Dr. Blake
Erika Christensen	...	Claire
Jonathan Tucker	...	Edward
Melissa Leo	...	Mari
Waleed Zuaiter	...	Lecturer
Erica Gimpel	...	Nurse White
Florencia Lozano	...	Dr. Thompson
Rena Owen	...	Nurse Josephine
Adrian Martinez	...	Nurse #1
Matthew Cowles	...	Old Fred
Barbara Sukowa	...	Mom
Holter Graham	...	Eric Grafton
Victor Slezak	...	Gabriel Durant
Stuart Rudin	...	Deluded Man Patient
John Farrer	...	Old Fisherman
Meg Gibson	...	Pro-Pundit
Ward Horton	...	Guy
Gregory Marcel	...	Coffee Boy
Lisette Bross	...	Work Colleague #3
Rafael Sardina	...	Nurse #2
Jill Marie Lawrence	...	Female Nurse #1
Victor Steinbach	...	Dad
Nicolette Hart	...	Reporter
Jeff Applegate	...	Anti-Pundit
Tatiana Maher	...	Veronika as 6 yr old
Tania Santiago	...	Work Colleague #1
Jessica Kaye	...	Bartender
David Skeist	...	Work Colleague #2
Al Roffe	...	Superintendent
Amanda LaPergola	...	Shouting Patient
Michael Harkins	...	Parent #1 (uncredited)
Christy Bella Joiner	...	Nurse (uncredited)

Directed by
Emily Young

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Paulo Coelho		book
Larry Gross		writer
Roberta Hanley		screenplay

Produced by
Robert Ogden Barnum	....	executive producer
Jonathan Bross	....	producer
Sriram Das	....	producer
Ravi Dattatreya	....	executive producer
Terry Dougas	....	executive producer
Kevin Scott Frakes	....	executive producer
Mitchell Goldman	....	co-producer
Chris Hanley	....	producer
Simon Horsman	....	executive producer
Shara Kay	....	associate producer
Charlotte Koh	....	associate producer
Paris Kasidokostas Latsis	....	executive producer
Ricky Margolis	....	associate producer
Stephen Margolis	....	executive producer
Corinne Nordmann	....	executive producer
Stephan Paternot	....	executive producer
Steve Shapiro	....	line producer

Original Music by
Murray Gold

Cinematography by
Seamus Tierney

Film Editing by
Úna Ní Dhonghaíle

Casting by
Sig De Miguel
Stephen Vincent

Production Design by
John Nyomarkay

Costume Design by
Frank L. Fleming

Makeup Department
Cyndie Boehm	....	key makeup artist
Caryn Brostoff	....	star request makeup artist
Colleen Wheeler	....	key hair stylist

Production Management
Danielle Blumstein	....	production manager
Samara Levenstein	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Nicholas R. Bell	....	second assistant director
Sheri Davani	....	first assistant director
Luke Tomalin Sherman	....	second second assistant director

Art Department
Anja Fenzlein	....	art intern
Anja Fenzlein	....	art production assistant
Greg Izzo	....	set dresser
Abbey Katz	....	graphic artist
Tory Noll	....	art assistant
Jeffrey Rollins	....	property master
Jennifer Santucci	....	props
Sarah Shriber	....	art department intern
Nicole Teeny	....	researcher: set decoration

Sound Department
Antonio L. Arroyo	....	production sound mixer
Chad Birmingham	....	foley editor
Brian Bowles	....	supervising sound editor
Jason Gaya	....	adr mixer
Matthew Haasch	....	sound effects editor
Andrew Kris	....	sound re-recording mixer

Visual Effects by
Chris Gelles	....	visual effects executive producer: & Company
David Isyomin	....	visual effects supervisor: & Company

Stunts
Chris Barnes	....	marine coordinator
Manny Siverio	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Luis Colon	....	dolly grip
Dylan Crawshay-Williams	....	key rigging grip
Jon Delgado	....	camera operator: "b" camera
William Evans	....	first assistant camera
Michael Grantland	....	second assistant camera
Rob Harlow	....	key grip
Wesley Hodges	....	first assistant camera: underwater scenes
David Isern	....	Steadicam operator
David Isern	....	camera operator
Christian May	....	electrician
Lance Mayer	....	underwater camera operator
Lisa Origlieri	....	second assistant camera
Justin Panzanaro	....	best boy grip
Michele SchianodiCola	....	electrician
Sarah Shatz	....	still photographer
Brooke Stanford	....	gaffer
Jonathan Stern	....	best boy electric
JoJo Whilden	....	still photographer

Casting Department
Lori Eastside	....	casting associate
Lori Eastside	....	extras casting
Danielle Pretsfelder	....	casting associate

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Aneikit Bonnel	....	set costumer
Lisa R. Frucht	....	assistant costume designer
Chrissy Kuhn	....	wardrobe supervisor
Ewa Noskowicz	....	costume assistant
Malik Summers	....	wardrobe production assistant

Editorial Department
Jason Barnes	....	first assistant editor
Mitchell Ferm	....	digital intermediate producer
Robert L. Goodman	....	additional editor
John Potter	....	video mastering

Music Department
Guilherme Campellon	....	music consultant
John Carbonara	....	music editor
Tony Finno	....	orchestra librarian
Ben Foster	....	orchestrator
Richard King	....	music scoring engineer
Jessica Sobhraj	....	music consultant
Michael Whalen	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Jason Block	....	post-production accountant
William M. Bradley	....	additional p.a.
Charlie Dibe	....	assistant production coordinator
Christian Edsall	....	location assistant
Lindsay Feldman	....	production coordinator
Scott Friedman	....	production assistant
Duck Grossberg	....	data manager
Lauren Heath	....	assistant production office coordinator
Omar Hernandez	....	production assistant
Liz Huizinga	....	assistant accountant
William Jackson	....	production assistant
Phyllis Johnson	....	adr loop group
Amanda Kindel	....	assistant: producer
Sara Lane	....	production accountant
Rafael Lima	....	location manager
Colin Louro	....	production office intern
Kim Ludlow	....	script supervisor
Kristyn Macready	....	assistant: ms gellar
Jenelle Malbrough	....	set production assistant
Keith Marlin	....	key set production assistant
Sean Oliver	....	adr loop group
J.D. Pasternak	....	production office assistant
Marc H. Simon	....	legal counsel: Dreier LLP
Erin Sullivan	....	assistant to director
J.P. Varady	....	office runner
Noreen Ward	....	payroll accountant
Jeffrey M. Weber	....	set production assistant
Amy L. Weishaar	....	production assistant: background
Matthew H. Wiesner	....	location assistant
Melinda Ziyadat	....	paperwork production assistant
Bill Timoney	....	adr voice group (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Das Films
• Future Films (USA office)
• Muse Productions
• PalmStar Entertainment
• Velvet Steamroller Entertainment

Distributors

• Atlantic Film (2009) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2009) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Wide Pictures (2009) (Spain) (theatrical)
• David Distribucion (2009) (Mexico) (all media)
• Falcom Media (2009) (Austria) (all media)
• Falcom Media (2009) (Germany) (all media)
• Falcom Media (2009) (Switzerland) (all media)
• Imagem Filmes (2009) (Brazil) (all media)
• Zon Lusomundo Audiovisuais (2009) (Portugal) (all media)

Special Effects

• & Company

Other Companies

• David Haddad  transportation equipment
• Haddad's  transportation equipment
• Postworks New York  dailies
• Rockbottom Rentals  junxion box rentals
• Smooth Moving Productions  Steadicam equipment provided by
• Sonic Magic  adr recording

MPAA:

Rated R for some sexual content.

Runtime:

Brazil:103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Brazil:16 | USA:R (certificate #44972) | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:15

Filming Locations:

Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Das Films

Trivia:

Gillian Anderson and Katherine Fugate tried to produce a version of this movie in 2003/2004 but lost out on the bid to produce it.

Quotes:

Veronika: I wasn't myself last night... or maybe I really was.

Movie Connections:

Version of Veronika (2009)

Disappointing

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I read the book and saw the movie in Seoul, and I must say, it was quite disappointing. So many things were left out (and yes, I know this often happens in movies), but I feel the viewer won't get even half of the effect of the book by watching the movie.

Sarah Michelle Gellar, I think, wasn't the best person for the role of Veronika. Her performance was rather bland and we don't really feel sorry for her character, but part of this is because of the bad script and numerous omissions from the book.

To the movie's credit, the scenes with her and Edward are pretty good and it gets moving toward the end. Yet I think the movie could've been done so much better.

The movie is worth watching but left me wanting.