Deep In The Heart
February 22, 2012 in iCareNOW, News & Views
TWENTY8 Entertainment presents….
The Inspirational true story of Richard Wallrath
that proves…
FAITH BRINGS SECOND CHANCES
Starring- Jon Gries, Elaine Hendrix, DB Sweeney & Val Kilmer
OPENS IN THEATERS, TEXAS-WIDE, FEBRUARY 17, 2012
Running Time: 113 min.
Rated: PG-13 – for some thematic elements which may be too intense for children under 13-yrs. of age. (Note: There is no sexual content or swearing).
MEDIA/MARKETING contacts: Laura Craddick, lauracraddick [at] yahoo [dot] com
www.deepintheheartmovie.com
SYNOPSIS
DEEP IN THE HEART is the true Texas story about Richard Wallrath, whose personal demons caused him to hit rock bottom.
Deep In The Heart stars Jon Gries (Napolean Dynamite, Taken), Elaine Hendrix (The Parent Trap, Inspector Gadget 2), DB Sweeney (The Cutting Edge, Fire In The Sky) and Val Kilmer (Top Gun, Tombstone) star in this touching true story from writers, Brian A. Hoffman (corked!) & Josh Fasulo and director Christopher Cain (Young Guns, Pure Country 1 & 2).
After losing everything – job, family, hope – Dick found the strength through faith that made him realize a strong family and the love of his children were the measure of a man’s success.
With his sons, he went on to build a successful business and used his success to become the highest all-time individual donor to Texas 4-H and FFA providing educational scholarships.
This is a story of finding lost faith, love of family, and ultimately redemption.
Faith brings second chances along with the opportunity to do great things. Wallrath had his second chance and made the most of it.
Wallrath’s story proves hope is found DEEP IN THE HEART.
Deep In The Heart is produced by Brian A. Hoffman (corked!) and Scott Duthie (Rivers End, Pure Country 2) and is executive produced by Jay Hoffman (September Dawn, Pure Country 2). Director of photography is Ian Ellis (TV’s Friday Night Lights). Editor is Cary Gries (Humble Pie). Production designer is Rodney Becker (A Scanner Darkly). Costume designer is LeeAnn Radeka (The Hitcher).
Dick’s story
The story of Richard “Dick” Wallrath’s life is one of inspirational proportions. Despite the depths of severe alcoholism, lost family, and the tragic death of his youngest child to cancer, Dick Wallrath found the strength to overcome because of his faith.
Dick Wallrath has had, in many ways, a very American life. He overcame extreme circumstances, largely of his own making, to be a great American success story. He has dedicated his life of sobriety (44 years and counting…) to helping others by way of providing hundreds of scholarships to Texas 4H and FFA high school students to attend college. He has spent everyday of sobriety trying to mend his broken family and overcome years of separation in order to reunite with his children and grandchildren.
His life can truly happen “only in America” and his patriotism, love of country, faith in God, and undying Texas spirit is at the core of his comeback from a knock down drunk who lost everything to a very successful Texas businessman who prides himself on treating everyone with fairness and respect in which he demands in return.
Deep In The Heart is the story of his journey, “whisky bumps” and all.
About the Cast
Jon Gries (Dick) – A native of Glendale, CA, veteran actor Jon Gries has appeared in a number of feature films including Real Genius, Running Scared, Get Shorty, Jackpot, and The Astronaut Farmer. Gries is perhaps most recently best known for his role of Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite, in which he was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. In television, he played Broots in NBC’s The Pretender for four seasons. He recurred on ABC’s Lost, playing Roger Linus. He also recently directed the independent feature Pickin’ & Grinnin’.
Elaine Hendrix (Patsy) – Born in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Elaine Hendrix spent her early years in nearby Knoxville and Morristown. At 15 she moved with her divorced mother to Atlanta, Georgia, where she attended the Northside School of Performing Arts. She started her professional career as a dancer and model but gave up dance after she was hit by a car while bicycling. She officially moved to Los Angeles in 1992 and had an agent within a month. She worked her way from commercials to TV guest shots to a starring role on the 1995 Fox revival of “Get Smart” (1995) to features. A member of Women in Film, , Women in Theatre and Women of Los Angeles.
Val Kilmer (The Bearded Man)- Born in Los Angeles, California. Studied at Hollywood’s Professional’s School and, in his teens, entered Juilliard’s drama program. His professional acting career began on stage, and he still participates in theater; he played Hamlet at the 1988 Colorado Shakespeare Festival. His film debut was in the 1984 spoof Top Secret! (1984), wherein he starred as blond rock idol Nick Rivers. He was in a number of films throughout the 1980s, including the 1986 smash Top Gun (1986). Despite his obvious talent and range, it wasn’t until his astonishingly believable performance as Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone‘s The Doors (1991) that the world sat up and took notice. Kilmer again put his good baritone to use in the movie, performing all of the concert pieces. Since then, he has played two more American legends, Elvis Presley in True Romance (1993) and Doc Holliday in Tombstone.
DB Sweeney (Michael) – DB Sweeney was born November 14, 1961, in Shoreham, New York. Before he thought about acting he wanted to be a professional baseball player, but a motorcycle accident ended that dream. He graduated from Tulane University. He has made four theater appearances on both Broadway and in L.A. productions. He first started out with small roles, gradually increasing the size of his parts as he began appearing in mini-series and TV shows. He has been a voice for two Disney children movies. His love of baseball did land him two roles, playing Shoeless Joe Jackson in Eight Men Out) and a baseball coach in Hard Ball. He has appeared in science-fiction movies including Fire in the Sky (1993) and he appealed to female fans in the romantic The Cutting Edge (1992), in which he played an ex-hockey player turned figure skater. That role led to his playing hockey in celebrity games. Recently he has moved from actor to writer/director with his film Dirt Nap, which has been a big hit at film festivals. He is married and has two children.
James Haven (Gary) – James Haven is the son of Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand, and his sister is Angelina Jolie. He studied filmmaking at USC School of Cinema-Television. While attending USC, he won a George Lucas award for directing a student film, which included his sister Angelina Jolie.
Rheagan Wallace (Deede)- Rheagan Wallace was born in Dallas, Texas and had a brief recurring role as Georgia Huffington on the television series 7th Heaven. Her other television credits include CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, ER, That’s So Raven, Malcolm in the Middle, NYPD Blue, Judging Amy , and Walker, Texas Ranger, among other series.
About the Filmmakers
Christopher Cain (Director): Known for directing such films as Young Guns, The Stone Boy, Pure Country 1&2, and September Dawn, Christopher Cain has had an illustrious career. He is married to Sharon Thomas they have two sons, Roger and Dean Cain and one daughter, Krisinda Cain Schafer.
Brian A. Hoffman (Writer/Producer), produced and co-wrote the critically acclaimed wine-country comedy, corked!, in 2008. A favorite with critics and on the festival circuit, corked! garnered audience awards at film festivals in France and California. Brian has a Bachelors Degree in Film Production from Brooks in Montecito, California and has worked for 20th Century Fox and on many films including Taken, Sideways, and Ray.
Jay Hoffman (Executive Producer): In 1986, Mr. Hoffman established a political strategy and foreign policy issues consulting firm where he represented clients from Taiwan, Japan, Russia, Philippines, South Africa, Bangladesh, and the Middle East. He produced several television documentaries that provided a balanced analysis of the most controversial foreign policy matters facing the American public at the time. Mr. Hoffman also has produced several full-length feature films including the documentary “Lt. Dan Band: For The Common Good,” (featuring Gary Sinise). Producing credits include, Pure Country 2 (George Strait), Mother of Normandy, September Dawn (Jon Voight, Dean Cain), and corked! (with Brian A. Hoffman).
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