Fierce People Information

Fierce People is a 2005 independent drama thriller film adapted by Dirk Wittenborn from his 2002 novel of the same name. Directed by Griffin Dunne, it starred Anton Yelchin, Diane Lane, Kristen Stewart, Chris Evans, and Donald Sutherland.

Plot

Trapped in his drug-dependent mother, Liz's (Diane Lane), Lower East Side apartment, 16-year-old Finn Earl (Anton Yelchin) wants nothing more than to escape New York. He wants to spend the summer in South America studying the Ishkanani Indians (known as the "Fierce People") with his anthropologist father whom he's never met. Earl's plan has to change after he is arrested in an effort to help Liz, who works as a massage therapist. Determined to get their lives back on track, Liz moves the two of them into a guesthouse for the summer on the country estate of her ex-client, the aging billionaire, Ogden C. Osbourne (Donald Sutherland).

In Osbourne's world of privilege and power, Finn and Liz encounter the super rich, a tribe portrayed as fiercer and more mysterious than anything the youth might find in the South American jungle. (Dirk Wittenborn, the author of the novel on which the film is based, grew up in a modest household and felt like an outsider among the super rich in an upper-crust New Jersey enclave.)

While Liz battles her substance abuse and struggles to win back her son's love and trust, Finn falls in love with Osbourne's granddaughter, Maya (Kristen Stewart). He befriends her older brother, Bryce (Chris Evans); and wins the favor of Osbourne. When violence ends Finn's acceptance within the Osbourne clan, the promises of this world quickly sour. Both Finn and Liz, caught in a harrowing struggle for their dignity, discover that membership in a group comes at a steep price.

Cast

• Diane Lane as Liz Earl
• Anton Yelchin as Finn Earl
• Donald Sutherland as Ogden C. Osbourne
• Chris Evans as Bryce Langley
• Kristen Stewart as Maya Langley
• Paz de la Huerta as Jilly
• Blu Mankuma as Detective Gates
• Elizabeth Perkins as Mrs. Langley
• Christopher Shyer as Dr. Richard "Dick" Leffler
• Garry Chalk as McCallum
• Ryan McDonald as Ian
• Dexter Bell as Marcus Gates
• Kaleigh Day as Paige
• Aaron Brooks as Giacomo
• Teach Grant as Dwayne
• Dirk Wittenborn as Fox Blanchard
• Will Lyman as Voice of documentary narrator

Production

Portions of the film were shot on location in British Columbia, Canada at Hatley Castle.

Release

Critical reception

Fierce People earned negative reviews.

The film currently holds a 24% 'Rotten' rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus, "Fierce Peoples premise of a teenager studying rich people like animals is grating and self-satisfied, and Anton Yelchin's smug performance makes the film even harder to agree with."

Box office

The film received a limited release and grossed $85,410 at the box office in the US.