Boulder Theater hosts screening of the new film “Catch and Release”
Ever thought you would see The Sink on the big screen? Well, now you can in new film “Catch and Release.”
The setting of this drama/romantic comedy is none other than Boulder. Although the entire movie was not filmed in Boulder, the cast and crew did take over town for five days in the summer of 2005. To wrap up the entire project, the Boulder International Film Festival held a pre-release party and screening at the Boulder Theater Thursday night. The film opens in theaters nationwide Friday.
It seemed, even if only for a few hours, that Boulder was the new Hollywood. Guests attending the pre-release party were dressed in their very finest and nibbled on appetizers provided by Boulder Chophouse and Tavern. A guitarist played mellow tunes on the stage while the Boulderites mingled with familiar faces, all reminiscing about those hot summer days in 2005.
Devira Chartrand, a schoolteacher and resident of Boulder, said she came to see the pre-release screening because it was filmed here.
“It was filmed in my backyard,” Chartrand said.
Susannah Grant, the writer and director, sat in the audience, which included the mayor, city officials and many of the extras hired for the film.
Although the extras did not know if they would make the final cut, Boulder resident Will Barrett, 13, can now tell his friends and family that he was in a movie. He can be spotted strolling among the many people on Pearl Street in a scene with the star of the film, Jennifer Garner.
“You felt like a movie star,” Barrett said when asked how being an extra felt. “It was a really fun experience. I am proud to live in Boulder.”
Throughout the screening of the film, the excited, sold-out crowd cheered and screamed whenever a familiar location popped up. Besides The Sink and the Pearl Street Mall, the Boulder Creek path, Half-Fast Subs, Celestial Seasonings, Silver Saddle Motel and even a Boulder Police car appeared.
The story of “Catch and Release” follows Gray (Garner) as she mourns the death of her fiance. A resident of Boulder and a journalist, she stays with some of her fiance’s closest friends after his death. During this time, she finds out more than she ever knew about her lost love and begins to find herself.
In between the mourning moments, Sam (Kevin Smith) offers comedic relief with his constant quoting of Celestial Seasonings herbal tea boxes and his affinity for the company with his signature tie-dyed T-shirts.
Grant answered questions about the film after the screening. The filmmaker has writing credits for the films “Pocahontas,” “In Her Shoes” and “Charlotte’s Web” among others, and was nominated for a best original screenplay Oscar for “Erin Brockovich.” Grant was awarded an Award of Excellence by the Colorado Film Society.
Grant chose Boulder because she was looking for a college town that had a “sense of arrested development.”
“I wanted (the characters) to realize they had outgrown their lives. You get that in a college town,” Grant said.
Jamie Harper, a junior theater major, came out to see the film because she was in Boulder when it was being filmed, and she wanted to see the finished product. Most of the places that were shown in the film are part of her everyday life.
“It was very sweet,” Harper said of the movie.
While the cast and crew were filming in Boulder, the city brought in $100,000 a day for five days. The economic impact of increased tourism and business for those restaurants and shops shown in the movie has yet to be seen.
So does Boulder have what it takes to become the next Hollywood? Colorado will just have to wait and see.
