The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet

The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet is a 2013 Franco-Canadian[3] adventure-drama film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and co-written with Guillaume Laurant, an adaptation of the 2010 book The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet written by Reif Larsen.[4] The film stars Helena Bonham Carter, Judy Davis, Callum Keith Rennie, and Kyle Catlett.[5]

The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJean-Pierre Jeunet
Produced by
  • Frédéric Brillion
  • Gilles Legrand
Screenplay by
  • Jean-Pierre Jeunet
  • Guillaume Laurant
Based onThe Selected Works of T.S. Spivet
by Reif Larsen
Starring
Music byDenis Sanacore
CinematographyThomas Hardmeier
Edited byHervé Schneid
Production
companies
Distributed byGaumont
Release date
  • 28 September 2013 (2013-09-28) (DSSIFF)
  • 16 October 2013 (2013-10-16) (France)
  • 31 July 2015 (2015-07-31) (US)
Running time
105 minutes[1]
Country
  • France
  • Canada
LanguageEnglish
Box office$9.5 million[2]

Plot

T.S. Spivet (Kyle Catlett) is a 10-year-old prodigy with a passion for cartography and scientific inventions. He lives on a ranch in Montana with his mother (Helena Bonham Carter) who is obsessed with the morphology of beetles; his father (Callum Keith Rennie), a cowboy born a hundred years too late; and his 14-year-old sister (Niamh Wilson) who dreams of becoming Miss America. His twin brother Layton (Jakob Davies) died in an accident involving a firearm in the family's barn, which no one ever speaks of. T.S. was with him, measuring the scale of the gunshots for an experiment, and he doesn't understand what happened. One day, T.S. receives an unexpected call from the Smithsonian Institution, telling him that he is the winner of the very prestigious Baird prize for his invention of a perpetual motion machine and that he is invited to a reception in his honor where he is expected to give a speech. Without telling anyone, he sets out on a freight train across the United States to reach Washington, D.C.

During his journey, he meets a hobo in the trainyards of the midwest, outruns or outwits a number of railroad security guards, and then is picked up hitchhiking by an 18-wheeler trucker who lets him off at the Smithsonian in Washington, where he meets G.H. Jibsen (Judy Davis), who takes charge of him. He ultimately gives his speech for the Baird prize to a room full of well-dressed guests, and discusses the death of his brother. After the speech is over, T.S's mother and father arrive down in D.C and interrupt him while he is on a talk show. His mother tells T.S it wasn't his fault, to which the TV interviewer Roy (Rick Mercer) pesters them with questions. As the whole family is about to leave, Mrs. Jibsen, who realized T.S. lied to her (he told her he was an orphan), goes drunk and insults him. Then T.S's mother punches her, T.S's father punches Roy and they all leave.

Cast

Production

After writing and directing Micmacs, Jeunet preferred his next film to be based on an existing story. Before Larsen's book was published, he had shortlisted several of his favourite directors to make a film based on the book, and was contacted by Jeunet.[6][7] Filming was done from June to October 2012, mainly in Quebec and Alberta, Canada, with some scenes in Washington, D.C. and Chicago. It was director Jean-Pierre Jeunet's first 3D film.[7]

Release

Rights for the 2015 U.S. release were sold to Harvey Weinstein. Weinstein had requested cuts to the film which the director refused to make. Jeunet claims that the release was hobbled by Weinstein, and as a result, the film did not do as well as it should have.[8]

Reception

The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet received generally positive reviews from critics. As of June 2020, the film holds a 76% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 51 reviews with an average rating of 6.02/10. The site's critical consensus reads "The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet brings its bestselling source material beautifully to life, offering a blend of visual thrills and poignant pathos that help tie the film together despite an occasional surfeit of quirk."[9] On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 53 out of 100, based on 11 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[10]

Awards

At the 39th César Awards, the film won the award for Best Cinematography.[11]

Home media

The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 4 June 2014 in France,[12] and on 3 November 2015 in the United States.

References
  1. "The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. 30 May 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  2. "The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet". Box Office Mojo.
  3. "The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet (2013)". en.unifrance.org. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  4. Lyttelton, Oliver. "Helena Bonham-Carter And Kathy Bates Sign On To Jean-Pierre Jeunet's 'The Young And Prodigious Spivet'". Indiewire. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  5. "Casting: Helena Bonham Carter and Judy Davis Star in The Young and Prodigious Spivet". Collider. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  6. "Making of du film L'Extravagant voyage du jeune et prodigieux T.S. Spivet" (in French). AlloCiné. 2 October 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  7. Gaumont Film Company (September 2013). "The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet" (PDF) (Press release). Unifrance.
  8. Aguilar, Carlos (6 May 2019). "Jean-Pierre Jeunet Is Making an 'Amelie' Mockumentary and a Sci-Fi Animated Feature — Exclusive". IndieWire. Penske Business Media, LLC. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  9. "The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  10. "The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet". Metacritic. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  11. "France's Cesar Awards: 'Me, Myself and Mum' Wins Best Film". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  12. "L'Extravagant voyage du jeune et prodigieux T.S. Spivet en DVD Blu Ray" (in French). AlloCiné. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
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