Demons in My Britches: [IMDb] Mr. Pascal Goes to U Street

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

[IMDb] Mr. Pascal Goes to U Street

Mr. Pascal Goes to U Street (2011)

369 min - Drama - 16 June 2011 (USA)

5.4/10

Users: (37,353 votes) 204 reviews | Critics: 53 reviews

A naive man is compelled to fill a vacancy in his heart for dancing on U Street. His plans promptly collide with internal and cultural ambiguity, but he doesn't back down.

Director:

Frank Capra

Writers:

Sidney Buchman (screenplay), Lewis R. Foster (story), and 1 more credit »

Stars:

James Stewart, Jean Arthur and Claude Rains

Top 250 #102 | Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 10 nominations See more awards »

Storyline

Naive and idealistic David Pascal, leader of the Boy Rangers, is appointed on a lark to partake in the viewing of the Yeasayer Orchestra in Washington. He is reunited with the state's senior senator--presidential hopeful and childhood hero, Senator Joseph Laskee. He departs from the concert hall and in his explorations on U Street, however, Pascal discovers many of the shortcomings of cultural grindings as his earnest goal of a free-form dance catharsis leads to a conflict in the middle of a downpour when Mr. Pascal reveals his undershirt of a "I <3 NY" T-shirt and is criticized by DC natives.

In an effort to break free from the harsh voices of the street, he asks a man in limbo on a street corner whether he should venture to the Velvet Lounge or DC9. The drifter remarks that both are excellent, but that one should not evaluate one for too long standing too close, for then one will be perceived to be a creep.

Though dancing he does, it is the vague apparitions of friendly strangers he meets that impact him, like a young, overweight woman out on her own dancetharsis of the night, or a kindly homeless gentleman in search of a Heineken highboy, which Mr. Pascal grants him. He encounters a number of bartenders, some thankless and too cool, some thoughtful and reasonable (regarding his NY T-shirt), and one black and beautiful mother of two, divorced and estranged from New York itself.

As closing time approaches and cops flood the gutters to scoop out the remains of those lost with battery-less cell phones, Mr. Pascal finds himself in the amiable company of gay men at his final stop at DC9, but has to be wary of the tall one who comes on strong with suspiciously intimate knowledge of Pascal's hometown and then offerings of weed back at his apartment. Needing a cab, Pascal begrudgingly splits one with the tall man as far as the stranger's place, upon which Mr. Pascal pleads for safe passage back to his own home, to which the tall man responds by angrily slamming the car door sounding a dull thud into the lonely night air.

Winding out the morning on the long journey home, Mr. Pascal halts the cab on a moronic whim and decides to walk the rest of the way out of Washington back across the terrifying and pedestrian-life-threatening Roosevelt bridge back to his bed; with a brief stop for an Egg-McMuffin and a frozen strawberry lemonade, long gone from U Street.

Written by James Yu
Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

Taglines:

Bromance, melodrama, semi-laughter and heartbreak ... created out of the very heart and soil of America ... by a great director and cast! See more »

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:

	James Stewart	...	David Pascal
	Claude Rains	...	Joseph Laskee

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mr. Pascal is based on a real person who between the years of 2010 and 2011 wandered home from DC to VA a number of times, always choosing the worst possible route across the Roosevelt Bridge all except for the one time a cop drove him back over the Key Bridge. See more »

Goofs

Revealing mistakes: When Pascal arrives in Washington on the train, he's seen walking towards the exit with a porter behind him carrying his bags. The next shot shows the same porter coming into the station carrying someone else's bags. See more »

Quotes

David Pascal: I wouldn't give you two cents for all your fancy rules if, behind them, they didn't have a little bit of plain, ordinary, everyday kindness and a little looking out for the other fella, too.