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King of the Hill (1993 film)

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King of the Hill
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySteven Soderbergh
Screenplay bySteven Soderbergh
Based onKing of the Hill
by A.E. Hotchner
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyElliot Davis
Edited bySteven Soderbergh
Music byCliff Martinez
Production
companies
  • Wildwood Enterprises
  • Bona Fide Productions
Distributed byGramercy Pictures
Release date
  • August 20, 1993 (1993-08-20)
Running time
103 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$8 million
Box office$1.2 million[1]

King of the Hill is a 1993 American drama film written and directed by Steven Soderbergh. It is the second he directed from his own screenplay following his 1989 Palme d'Or-winning film Sex, Lies, and Videotape. It too was nominated for the Palme d'Or, at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival.[2]

Plot

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Based on the Depression-era bildungsroman memoir of writer A. E. Hotchner, the film follows the story of a boy struggling to survive on his own in a hotel in St. Louis after his mother enters a sanatorium with tuberculosis and his younger brother is sent to live with an uncle. His father, a German immigrant and traveling salesman working for the Hamilton Watch Company, is off on long trips from which the boy cannot be certain he will return.

Cast

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Reception

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In her review in The New York Times, Janet Maslin says, "The film does a lovely job of juxtaposing the sharp contrasts in Aaron's life, and in marveling at the fact that he survives as buoyantly as he does."[3]

The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 91% rating, based on reviews from 33 critics with an average score of 7.8/10, the site's critical consensus reads: " A subtle, affecting, character-driven coming-of-age story, King of the Hill is one of Steven Soderbergh's best and most criminally overlooked films."[4]

References

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  1. ^ "King of the Hill (1993)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  2. ^ "Festival de Cannes: King of the Hill". Festival-Cannes.com. Retrieved August 18, 2009.
  3. ^ Maslin, Janet (August 20, 1993), "King of the Hill; A Boy of the 30s With Grit and Wit", The New York Times
  4. ^ "King Of The Hill". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
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