Green Card

Plot

A man wanting to stay in the US enters into a marriage of convenience, but it turns into more than that.

Release Year: 1990

Rating: 6.1/10 (12,341 voted)

Critic's Score: 58/100

Director:
Peter Weir

Stars: Gérard Depardieu, Andie MacDowell, Bebe Neuwirth

Storyline
George Faure is a Frenchman who has been offered a job in the U.S. But in order to get the job he must obtain a work permit – green card, and the easiest way is to marry an American. Bronte Parrish is a New Yorker who is a keen horticulturist and just found the perfect flat with its own greenhouse. Unfortunately the flat is for married couples only. A marriage of convenience seems the ideal solution to both problems. To convince the immigration officers they are married for love, they must move in with each other. As the mismatched couple attempt to cope with life together, they start to fall in love.

Cast:

Gérard Depardieu
–

Georges

Andie MacDowell
–

Brontë

Bebe Neuwirth
–

Lauren

Gregg Edelman
–

Phil

Robert Prosky
–

Brontë's Lawyer

Jessie Keosian
–

Mrs. Bird

Ethan Phillips
–

Gorsky

Mary Louise Wilson
–

Mrs. Sheehan

Lois Smith
–

Brontë's Parent (Mother)

Conrad McLaren
–

Brontë's Parent (Father)

Ronald Guttman
–

Anton

Danny Dennis
–

Oscar

Stephen Pearlman
–

Mr. Adler

Victoria Boothby
–

Mrs. Adler

Ann Wedgeworth
–

Party Guest

Taglines:
An irresistibly charming comedy!

Release Date: 11 January 1991

Filming Locations: American Irish Historical Society, 991 Fifth Avenue, New York City, New York, USA

Gross: $29,888,235
(USA)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min
 |
UK: 107 min
 |
USA: 107 min
(TCM print) (dvd release)

Did You Know?

Trivia:

First in US film for Gérard Depardieu.

Goofs:

Continuity:
Bronte's arm on Georges' arm when they talk for the first time to the government agents.

Quotes:

[trying to shift all the blame for their bogus marriage onto Georges]

Brontë Mitchell Faure:
You stroll around my apartment, touching my things. Do you know what trouble you've gotten me into? Do you?

User Review

Green Light for Viewing (DVD)

Rating: 10/10


A movie isn't never as much great as it can speak personally. This
movie does it for me and I'm lucky. This review is thus very subjective
but it comes from the heart….

First, it is a rare movie in which I feel my favorite town, New York as
my neighborhood. The town really appears as an endless collection of
big cubic buildings, but under the soft menace of the green invasion
(trees, garden,…). All the roof scenes are memorable…

Then, McDowell plays an almost introvert woman in contrast to the
French extraversion of Depardieu. Sure, being French, I support our
national icon, who is particularly in his turf here, but I was more
over captivated by the development of the Bronte character and her
feelings. From her initial motivation, then indifference to
exasperation and finally complicity & deep devotion, it was a
remarkable evolution to behold and understand.

Finally, there's also a lot of subtext & subtlety here and it's great
for the brain: I mean some things talks to our unconscious and the
connection isn't immediate. For example, think how Africa is the main
background: the emigration subject, the Afrika bar, the drums, the
safari life … There's also the sweet translation from Green Card to
Green House, and the role of ecology… Like I already said, the green
tries to grow in every free space left from the rock buildings, which
is a poetic metaphor for the emigration…

So, a great romantic story in a wonderful setting & which leaves many
doors to open…