When Gus Leroy promises that the city of Durham, NC, could become the future site of a larger waste depository that, while enriching the town, would place all of it inhabitants in peril, every citizen of MAIN STREET will have to make this decision: "Do I do what is right, or what is needed?"
MAIN STREET, Horton Foote's final screenplay prior to his death in March 2009, is a legacy to all small towns, focusing on the dreams and aspirations of everyday people and reflecting his upbringing in the small town of Wharton, Texas. It makes its world premiere at 9:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 21 at the Austin (Texas) Film Festival in the Paramount Theatre in downtown Austin.
Filmed entirely in Durham, MAIN STREET follows several Durham residents and newcomers and their intertwining stories, which will intersect in ways none of them could ever imagine at an essential juncture in their lives. Georgiana Carr (Ellen Burstyn), one of the last members of a once-powerful Durham tobacco manufacturing family, is facing the prospect of losing her family's mansion because of the world's fallen economy. In desperation, she agrees to lease her family's empty downtown tobacco warehouse to Gus Leroy (Colin Firth), a Texan representing a waste storage conglomerate.
Prodded by her grown niece Willa (Patricia Clarkson), Georgiana discovers that toxic waste has been placed in her warehouse by Leroy and is guarded by a group of wary Mexican workmen. Alarmed, she calls local police officer Harris Parker (Orlando Bloom) to investigate. Parker, a local boy also studying for his law degree, is distracted by his longing for high school first love Mary Saunders (Amber Tamblyn), a young woman yearning to leave her job in nearby Raleigh for the prospects of living in a larger city (perhaps Atlanta) after a failed affair with a married co-worker, Howard Mercer (Andrew McCarthy).
Once Leroy's canisters of hazardous materials are discovered, their existence becomes a concern not only for Georgiana and Willa, but for the town.
MAIN STREET is typical of Foote's past film work (Tender Mercies, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Trip to Bountiful), exemplifying his love of simple folk and their beloved hometowns that led him to focus on the plight of Durham five years before filming took place. Foote was the inaugural recipient of the Austin Film Festival's Distinguished Screenwriter Award in 1995.
Tony Award-winning director John Doyle (the 2004 revival of Sweeney Todd) makes his feature film debut, with Donald M. McAlpine (Oscar nominee for Moulin Rouge!) serving as director of photography. Other members of the creative team include production designer Christopher Nowak (Before the Devil Knows You're Dead) and costume designer Gary Jones (Spider-Man 2). MAIN STREET is produced by Megan Ellison and Spencer Silna. Douglas Saylor Jr., Ted Schipper, and Adi Shankar are the executive producers.
