| Cast (in alphabetical order) | Jon Bon Jovi
William Forsythe Bai Ling |
| Casting | Sheila Jaffe
Georgianne Walken |
| Costume Design by | Kristen Couchot |
| Makeup Department | Nicki Ledermann |
| Language | English |
The motion
picture ROW YOUR BOAT (starring JON BON JOVI and BAI LING)
has been
selected as the Opening Night Feature Film at the 1999 STONY
BROOK
FILM FESTIVAL.
The festival
will present the New York Premiere of ROW YOUR BOAT on
WEDNESDAY,
JULY 21, 1999 AT 8:30 PM. The film festival takes place at
The Staller
Center for the Arts on the campus of Stony Brook
University
in Stony Brook, Long Island (NY).
This is
a non-profit festival: a $25.00 pass gives you entrance to all
50 movie
screenings.
Film passes
go on sale beginning MAY 30. For more information call
(516)
632-ARTS or visit their website: www.stallercenter.com
The website
will post the full schedule of films in early June.
Directions
to the University are also available here.
Sollace Mitchell (writer of Sundance Film Festival's 1992
Grand Jury Prize Winner, "In The
Soup")brings us a rich story of redemption and unrequited
love. JAMEY MEADOWS (Jon Bon
Jovi) is freshly released from Rikers Island prison after
taking the fall for his burglar brother, GIL
(William Forsythe). Back in Manhattan, Jamey is determined
to lead a new, crime-free life and to
become a productive citizen.
Jamey loses his first job when he stands up to his racist
boss. Broke and homeless, Jamey is
forced to clean windshields on Houston Street for money.
He encounters Gil and his girlfriend,
PATTI, driving in their luxury car. Gil, a church-going
burglar who prides himself on being
non-violent, feels a fatherly responsibility to Jamey.
Burglary is the only way he knows to get
Jamey off the streets. Although Jamey desperately needs
money, he rejects Gil's pleas to help him
rob stores again - but Jamey's weakening.
Jamey lands a job as a New York City census taker and
slowly saves money to get out of his
homeless shelter. He meets and falls in love with CHUN
HUA (Bai Ling), a beautiful, young
Chinese woman. To spend time with her, Jamey pretends
that he's a successful writer and
becomes her English teacher. He discovers that to support
her baby, Chun Hua has married LIU
WEI-YAN, a cruel, elderly Chinese businessman who treats
her only as a showpiece. Chun Hua
longs to return to her baby's father, an improverished
graduate student in China.
Meanwhile, Gil is trying to save his wife from TONY LO
FAT, a Chinese ganster to whom GIl
owes $50,000. Gil goes after Jamey to steal Chun Hua's
keys and rob her rich husband's
townhouse for the money. Jamey refuses and stalls Gil
with a fake housekey. Nonetheless, Gil
breaks in and kidnaps Chun Hua's baby as ransom for the
money he owes to Tony Lo Fat.
In the film's thrilling climax, Jamey steals the baby
back from Gil, but not without terrible
consequences. While escaping with the baby in a dinghy
on the Hudson River, Jamey loses his
own life. Just before he dies, Jamey hides an airline
ticket to Beijing, purchased with his savings
money, underneath the baby's clothes. He has given Chun
Hua and her baby a way back to
China. The film closes poignantly with Chun Hua teaching
Jamey's favorite childhood song, "Row
Your Boat," to her baby as they board the airplane.