Being Erica (Series 1) - 4-DVD Set ( Being Erica - Series One )

Being Erica (Series 1) - 4-DVD Set (DVD) (*)

$20.99

Alternate Title: Being Erica - Series One
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
Dutch ( Subtitles )
English ( Dolby Digital 5.1 )

Product Origin/Format:
Netherlands ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
585 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.78:1)

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Multi-DVD Set
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 2008 and produced in:
Canada ( USA, Canada )

Directed By:
Holly Dale

Written By:
Jana Sinyor

Actors:
Erin Karpluk ..... Erica Strange
Mark Hildreth ..... Mr. Leeds
Vinessa Antoine ..... Judith Winter
Paula Brancati ..... Jenny Zalen
John Boylan ..... Gary Strange
Kathleen Laskey ..... Barb Strange
Joanna Douglas ..... Samantha Strange
Adam MacDonald ..... Josh MacIntosh
Devon Bostick ..... Leo Strange
Sarah Gadon ..... Katie Atkins
Michael Riley ..... Dr. Tom
Chris Gallinger ..... Noah LaFleur
Jayme Krane ..... Young Samantha
John McGill ..... Young Josh
Janelle Hutchison ..... Aunt Roberta
Philip Williams ..... Uncle Joe
James A. Woods ..... Trevor Markowitz
Martin Doyle ..... Boss Albert
Anna Kostan ..... Dr. Tom's Receptionist
Andrew Prashad ..... Barista
Ellora Patnaik ..... Nurse
Roz Bell ..... Street Musician
Craig Strickland ..... Make Out Boy #1 (as Craig Stickland)
Jordan Gatto ..... Make Out Boy #2
Daniel Victor ..... Band Singer

Synopsis:

Therapist Dr. Tom - who is constantly spouting famous and not so famous historical quotes - is Erica Strange's savior and worst enemy. Erica, a young adult woman, is having a bad life because of the bad decisions she's made. Erica provides Dr. Tom with a long list of those pivotal moments in her life that she feels have led to the bad state she is in today. Erica is initially unaware of what Dr. Tom is intending on doing with this list. What he does do is transport her back in time to each of those moments so that she, with all the knowledge of her present day life, can make better decisions to fix her life. Regardless of these new decisions, Dr. Tom hopes that Erica will come to the realization that although the opinions of others about her life do matter, it's what she thinks of her decisions and her life that are more important.

Season 1
Being Erica: Season 1: Episode 1 -- Down and out, Erica Strange is desperate to change.
Season 1, Episode 1: Dr. Tom
Original Air Date-5 January 2009
Thirty-two year old Erica Strange is bright, educated and pretty, but she's had a bad life, self admittedly due to the many bad decisions she's made over her adult life. On the day that she meets self-proclaimed therapist Dr. Tom in the hospital, Erica has had the latest in a string of bad days: she gets fired from her dead end customer service job at an insurance agency for being too bright; she gets dumped by her latest boyfriend who she met over the Internet; and she gets hospitalized for drinking a specialty coffee containing nuts, she being deathly allergic to nuts. Feeling overwhelmed by the pity showed by her family, Erica decides on a whim to enlist the help of Dr. Tom, who guarantees he can fix all her problems if she commits to his service. Unbeknownst to Erica, Dr. Tom is not quite who he appears. Erica provides Dr. Tom with a long list of those bad decisions which she most regrets, those she terms as keeping her awake at night. From the list, Dr. Tom chooses Erica's eleventh grade formal, where she got drunk and danced crazily on the dance floor, which in turn resulted in getting a 'reputation' and being dumped by her then boyfriend, Noah. Without telling her beforehand, Dr. Tom magically transports Erica back to that time. Although Erica has the opportunity to right the wrong decisions she's made in the eleventh grade, she, with full knowledge of who she is as a thirty-two year old, now has a warped view of teen-aged life and makes her new eleventh grade decisions based on that. She also feels like she's in limbo as Dr. Tom gives her no indication if she's transported back in time forever or when, if ever, she will return to the present day.

Being Erica: Season 1: Episode 2 -- Erica settles for a dead-end job that can pay the bills.
Season 1, Episode 2: What I Am Is What I Am
Original Air Date-12 January 2009
Erica goes back to 1995, her second year of university, where she is invited to join a secret society.

Being Erica: Season 1: Episode 3 -- Erica brings Ethan to pose as her boyfriend at her high school reunion.
Season 1, Episode 3: Plenty of Fish
Original Air Date-19 January 2009
Erica, feeling like a failure since high school, decides to ask Ethan, who is going through a divorce and recently moved back to Toronto, to escort her as her make believe boyfriend to her high school reunion. There are two people who Erica is not looking forward to seeing at the reunion. One is Katie, who has always gotten under Erica's skin. But the more important one is Zach Creed, the popular kid to whom she lost her virginity. Beyond the fact that the sex with Zach was bad, he humiliated her after the fact. Erica feels that experience with Zach has negatively tainted the way she now views potential boyfriends. Dr. Tom gives her the opportunity to redo that experience with Zach. But based on what she sees at the reunion, the one person that Erica may instead want to lose her virginity to the second time around is Alex Berlin, who was then the quiet class geek. Her time with Alex both then and now makes her realize who is really important in her life.

Being Erica: Season 1: Episode 4 -- Erica is sent back to her first semester of University.
Season 1, Episode 4: The Secret of Now
Original Air Date-26 January 2009
Erica starts her job at River Rock Publishing, and travels back to April 1995 to confront her creative-writing professor.

Being Erica: Season 1: Episode 5 -- Erica confronts the source of her reputation by returning to her Bat Mizvah
Season 1, Episode 5: Adultescence
Original Air Date-2 February 2009
Erica and Judith have a falling out over a misunderstanding regarding who Judith has chosen as her baby's godmother. Erica not being chosen reinforces her own negative perceptions of not feeling grown up. Dr. Tom sends Erica back to her Bat Mitzvah, appropriate not only because it was supposed to be her official transition into adulthood, but also that she walked out on that party just like she did with the baby shower she just hosted for Judith. Erica's Bat Mitzvah, on a theme of the movie Dirty Dancing (1987), never lived up to hype and excitement she felt before the party. But Erica's adult sensibilities can now relive the party for what it was. She can also learn that an official event like a Bat Mitzvah does not nor need not have to mean she should feel like an adult.

Season 1, Episode 6: Til Death
Original Air Date-11 February 2009
In the lead up to Sam and Josh's wedding, Erica and Ryan, Josh's best man, have been dating, publicly announcing the fact, making Erica uncomfortable. The fact that Ethan and Claire may have reconciled isn't helping either. But topping Erica's uncomfortable list in the relationship department is Sam and Josh themselves, their relationship which she just does not understand. She can't help but feel that they are making a big mistake in getting married. She feels even worse when Sam herself expresses the same doubts just before the ceremony. With Dr. Tom, Erica dictates to him where she wants to go: August 13, 2003, the day that Sam and Josh broke up for the one and only time during their relationship. Then, Erica convinced Josh to reconcile. This time, she will do no such thing. Dr. Tom obliges Erica's wish. Back at that break up, Erica directly learns from Josh not only the nature of Sam and Josh's relationship, but what is truly in his heart and why he has always acted with animosity toward her. Erica has to decide what to do with this information. If she doesn't tell Sam, Sam could be making the biggest mistake in her life marrying Josh. If she does tell Sam, it could ruin her relationship with her sister.

Being Erica: Season 1: Episode 7 -- Dr. Tom decides to give Erica a break and sends her back to a perfect day.
Season 1, Episode 7: Such a Perfect Day
Original Air Date-18 February 2009
Erica is facing a lot of stress in her life. Sam is no longer talking to her and never wants to see her again. Marcus Stahl wants to renege on the book deal of writing his memoirs since he can't visit that dark place in his past. Because she feels her sessions with Dr. Tom have so far made her life worse than better, she wants to quit. However, Dr. Tom offers her a gift because of her stress: he will send her back to any day she wants where she was the cause of the day being perfect. She chooses a time as a teenager, taking a day trip to Toronto Island with Leo and Sam, to get away from their arguing parents who looked to be on the verge of divorce. One importance of this day is that, as Erica states, it is the last big 'hurrah' between the three of them before Leo died. She vows not to change a thing about that day. However, her thirty-two year old sensibilities may factor into what she now decides to do. And any small change to the day may alter how perfect it was in her memory.

Being Erica: Season 1: Episode 8 -- Erica's relationship with her mother reaches a boiling point.
Season 1, Episode 8: This Be the Verse
Original Air Date-25 February 2009
It's Yom Kippur, and there is much pressure within the Strange family for everyone to reconcile, especially Erica and Sam, but also Gary and Barb, the latter who has has always resented her husband's decision to be a rabbi, and Erica and Barb. Dr. Tom sends Erica back to Yom Kippur 1997 - the year following Leo's death - when Gary and Barb were having a fight over his spending so much time at the synagogue, with Erica siding with her father. In addition to Barb wanting a divorce following that incident, Erica and Barb's relationship has since been an antagonistic one. Erica vows this time to stay neutral in her parent's argument. Although she starts off being neutral, Erica learns more behind her parent's marital woes, which may change her attitude toward both. Dr. Tom tries to provide further insight by sending Erica even further back to 1974, to a hippie commune retreat that Gary and Barb went to shortly after they got married.

Being Erica: Season 1: Episode 9 -- Erica explores her feelings for Ryan.
Season 1, Episode 9: Everything She Wants
Original Air Date-4 March 2009
Erica travels back to December 1999, when her best friend was a lesbian.

Being Erica: Season 1: Episode 10 -- Erica's friendship with Katie reaches a new low.
Season 1, Episode 10: Mi Casa, Su Casa Loma
Original Air Date-11 March 2009
In an attempt to mend her friendship with Katie, Erica travels back to Halloween 1993.

Being Erica: Season 1: Episode 11 -- During the launch of Katie's book, Erica turns into a control-freak.
Season 1, Episode 11: She's Lost Control
Original Air Date-18 March 2009
Attempting to alleviate the awkwardness in her friendship with Ethan, Erica travels back five months to the night of her high school reunion.

Being Erica: Season 1: Episode 12 -- Unnerved in her new position, Erica must learn to step outside her shell.
Season 1, Episode 12: Erica the Vampire Slayer
Original Air Date-25 March 2009
Erica's promotion to junior editor may be in jeopardy; she travels back to 2001 and participates in a vampire live action role-playing game.

Being Erica: Season 1: Episode 13 -- Erica returns to her greatest regret, her brother Leo's death.
Season 1, Episode 13: Leo
Original Air Date-1 April 2009
Erica's life is finally going great, both personally and professionally. But the fact that December 13th is approaching is weighing heavily on her mind, that date being the anniversary of Leo's death, which is still her biggest regret in life. Leo died at the age of 21 in a barn fire at her grandmother's farm, the fire that appears to be an accident of Leo's own doing. The farm is now the unofficial grave site where the family visits only once a year to mourn. Erica wants things to change, to make Leo's memory more of a happy thought than a somber one. Her idea is to rebuild the barn as both a cathartic exercise and a standing memorial to Leo. This task ends up being difficult for Barb, who cannot let go of how she grieves for her son. Before sending Erica back to that time to allow her to say goodbye to her brother, Dr. Tom stresses to her that her therapy does not allow her to play God to bring back the dead, and that there are dire consequences if she tries to do so. Once back, Erica finds that knowing her brother is going to die and not doing anything about it is more difficult than she could have ever imagined. Erica learns the hard way that there are extreme consequences in every aspect of her life to her decision to try and save Leo.

Back in high school, Erica thought she'd grow up, meet 'the' guy, get 'the' career, have a couple of beautiful, talented children and ride off into the sunset. But somehow it never happened.Now she has the chance of a lifetime. After a series of mishaps, she finds herself in hospital where she meets the mysterious Dr Tom, a therapist who seems to know a lot about her.

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