Seize the Day

Director: Fielder Cook
Screenwriters: Saul Bellow, Ronald Ribman

Institute History

  • 1987 Sundance Film Festival

Description

Powerfully evoked, with an unforgettable dramatic performance by Robin Williams, perhaps the best of his career, Seize the Day follows the efforts of 40-year-old Tommy Wilhelm as he struggles to find some evidence of humanity in a seemingly uncaring and materialistic world, filled with duplicity.

After quitting his job as a traveling salesman, he is forced to go to New York to find work. With a marriage in turmoil, a sweetie on the side, and ice-cold father withholding his ability to help, and an inner sense of futility, Tommy descends deeper in the abyss of despair. Until he meets Tamkin (Jerry Stiller), a self-styled doctor who temporarily provides the warmth and empathy lacking in his life. Based on Nobel prize-winning novelist Saul Bellow’s book (amazingly, the first adaptation of his work for film), this is a relentless, uncompromising and powerful work.

— Lawrence Smith

Screening Details

Credits

As you use our Online Archives, please understand that the information presented from Festivals, Labs, and other activities is taken directly from official publications from each year. While this information is limited and doesn't necessarily represent the full list of participants (e.g. actors and crew), it is the list given to us by the main film/play/project contact at the time, based on the space restrictions of our publications. Each entry in the Online Archives is meant as a historical record of a particular film, play, or project at the time of its involvement with Sundance Institute. For this reason, we can only amend an entry if a name is misspelled, or if the entry does not correctly reflect the original publication. If you have questions or comments, please email [email protected]