# The Bronze (film)
**The Bronze** is a 2016 American dark comedy directed by Bryan Buckley, written by [Melissa Rauch](https://www.edgepedia.org/melissa-rauch) and her husband Winston Rauch, and starring Melissa Rauch as Hope Ann Greggory, a bitter former Olympic gymnastics bronze medalist living off her faded celebrity in Amherst, Ohio.[1](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thebronze) The film premiered as the opening night feature of the 2015 [Sundance Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/sundance-film-festival), sold to [Relativity Media](https://www.edgepedia.org/relativity-media) for $3 million, and reached theaters on March 18, 2016, distributed by Sony Pictures Classics after Relativity's bankruptcy.[2](https://www.thewrap.com/sundance-relativity-in-final-negotiations-to-acquire-breakout-hit-the-bronze/) • [3](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/melissa-rauch-created-opportunities-8340/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writers | Bryan Buckley (his feature directorial debut); screenplay by Melissa Rauch and Winston Rauch[2](https://www.thewrap.com/sundance-relativity-in-final-negotiations-to-acquire-breakout-hit-the-bronze/) |
| Lead cast | Melissa Rauch (Hope Ann Greggory), Gary Cole (Stan), Haley Lu Richardson (Maggie), Sebastian Stan (Lance), Thomas Middleditch (Ben), Cecily Strong (Janice)[1](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thebronze) |
| Festival premiere | Opening night film, Sundance Film Festival, January 22, 2015[2](https://www.thewrap.com/sundance-relativity-in-final-negotiations-to-acquire-breakout-hit-the-bronze/) |
| Sale and release | Relativity Media bought U.S. rights for $3 million; Sony Pictures Classics released it March 18, 2016[3](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/melissa-rauch-created-opportunities-8340/) |
| Budget and box office | $3.5 million production budget; $615,816 worldwide gross[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Bronze-The) |
| Reception | Metascore 44 (31 critics); Rotten Tomatoes 38% from 98 reviews; IMDb 6.1/10[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-bronze/) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_bronze?search=the+bronze) |
| Rating and runtime | Rated R for strong sexual content, graphic nudity, language throughout and some drug use; 100 minutes in the release version[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Bronze-The) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
A decade before the story begins, Hope Ann Greggory won an unlikely bronze medal for the U.S. team with a performance on a ruptured Achilles at "the world's most prestigious gymnastics tournament," bringing glory to her hometown of Amherst, Ohio.[1](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thebronze) Since that third-place victory she has accomplished little: she still lives in her father Stan's ([Gary Cole](https://www.edgepedia.org/gary-cole)) basement, wears her old Team USA gym suit, and spends her days at the mall trading on minor celebrity for free food and favors.[1](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thebronze)
Her routine is upended when she learns she must coach Amherst's newest gymnastics prodigy, Maggie ([Haley Lu Richardson](https://www.edgepedia.org/haley-lu-richardson)), in order to receive a sizeable financial inheritance.[1](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thebronze) The hard-edged but insecure Hope faces a dilemma: train Maggie devotedly to achieve the dreams she never could, jeopardizing her own "hometown hero" status, or sabotage the impressionable young athlete so she remains the only star in Amherst.[1](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thebronze) The cast also includes [Sebastian Stan](https://www.edgepedia.org/sebastian-stan) as Lance Tucker, a fellow ex-gymnast and Hope's gold-medalist ex, [Thomas Middleditch](https://www.edgepedia.org/thomas-middleditch) as Ben, and Cecily Strong as Janice.[1](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thebronze)
## Origin and production
**A role written for its star.** Melissa Rauch, then known for her television ensemble work, said she and her husband Winston "were selfishly trying to write something for me," with Winston noting her height made a gymnast role plausible.[7](https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=2092134&itype=CMSID) She described the bronze medal as "kind of this international symbol for mediocrity," a prize the whole world forgets except the small town the winner lives in.[7](https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=2092134&itype=CMSID) The Rauches financed the independent production partly on their own credit cards until funding came through.[3](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/melissa-rauch-created-opportunities-8340/)
The film was produced by Stephanie Langhoff with [Duplass Brothers Productions](https://www.edgepedia.org/duplass-brothers-productions) and Stage 6 Films, and executive produced by Jay and [Mark Duplass](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-duplass) alongside the Rauches and Buckley.[8](https://www.sonyclassics.com/thebronze/thebronze_presskit.pdf) The Sundance Institute named Langhoff its recipient of the Sundance Institute | Red Crown Producer's Award during the 2015 festival.[9](https://www.screendaily.com/sundance-news/relativity-stage-6-films-see-gold-in-the-bronze/5082178.article)
## Distribution troubles
The film's path from festival to theaters was unusually rocky. At Sundance, several bidders competed, and Netflix made the highest offer by far, but the filmmakers wanted a proper theatrical release; Relativity Media closed a deal of more than $3 million for U.S. rights.[2](https://www.thewrap.com/sundance-relativity-in-final-negotiations-to-acquire-breakout-hit-the-bronze/) • [9](https://www.screendaily.com/sundance-news/relativity-stage-6-films-see-gold-in-the-bronze/5082178.article) Relativity then declared bankruptcy later that year, and [Sony Pictures Classics](https://www.edgepedia.org/sony-pictures-classics) picked up distribution in September, delivering a leaner cut that runs 15 minutes shorter than the Sundance version.[3](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/melissa-rauch-created-opportunities-8340/)
## Release and box office
Sony Pictures Classics opened the film wide on March 18, 2016, in 1,167 theaters.[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Bronze-The) The opening weekend grossed $368,328, about 60 percent of its entire domestic run, and weekly grosses fell more than 90 percent in the second week.[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Bronze-The) Total worldwide box office was $615,816 against a $3.5 million production budget, roughly 0.2 times the budget.[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Bronze-The) Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released it on video on June 2, 2016.[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Bronze-The)
## Reception
Critical response was mixed to negative. Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 44, "Mixed or Average," based on 31 critic reviews, of which 8 were positive, 14 mixed, and 9 negative; its user score was 6.3 from 45 ratings.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-bronze/) Rotten Tomatoes recorded a 38% Tomatometer from 98 reviews, with a critics consensus calling the film "enthusiastically unpleasant and mostly unfunny," while its audience Popcornmeter stood at 45%.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_bronze?search=the+bronze) IMDb users rated it 6.1 out of 10.[10](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3859304/)
Reviewers were divided over the film's abrasive central character. [Entertainment Weekly](https://www.edgepedia.org/entertainment-weekly) gave 75 and described "a loony Napoleon Dynamite–meets–Talladega Nights-on-the-balance-beam charm" in which "Hope may be a giant jackass, but she's America's jackass."[11](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-bronze/critic-reviews/) [The Globe and Mail](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-globe-and-mail), also at 75, found the film "surprisingly amusing" despite feeling like an extended skit, praising how "refreshingly unladylike" Hope is.[11](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-bronze/critic-reviews/) The Seattle Times at 63 admired the film's "stalwart refusal to soften Hope" and Rauch's "carefully detailed performance," while cautioning that it is "a comedy wrapped in barbed wire."[11](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-bronze/critic-reviews/) Negative reviews included The Guardian's 20, which argued the first act's "surrealist shock humour" came at the expense of accepting the character's world as real.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-bronze/) [Richard Roeper](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-roeper) of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote that the film "could have been a brilliant short film" but "wears out its welcome as a feature-length film."[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-bronze/)
## Notable details
The film's most talked-about element at Sundance was an acrobatic hotel-room sex scene between Hope and Lance, much of it performed by naked stunt doubles; Rauch joked at the premiere Q&A, "When you're 4-10-and-a-half and 6-1, you have to get creative."[7](https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=2092134&itype=CMSID) According to IMDb trivia, the word "Olympics" and the Olympic symbol do not actually appear in the film due to strict control by the Olympic Committee.[10](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3859304/) The film includes cameo appearances by real Olympic gymnasts [Dominique Dawes](https://www.edgepedia.org/dominique-dawes), Olga Korbut, and [Dominique Moceanu](https://www.edgepedia.org/dominique-moceanu).[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-bronze/) Its tagline was "There's no place like third."[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-bronze/)
## References
1. [THE BRONZE, Sony Pictures Entertainment](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thebronze)
2. [Sundance: Relativity Acquires Breakout Comedy 'The Bronze' Starring Melissa Rauch, TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/sundance-relativity-in-final-negotiations-to-acquire-breakout-hit-the-bronze/)
3. [How Melissa Rauch Created Her Own Opportunities, Backstage](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/melissa-rauch-created-opportunities-8340/)
4. [The Bronze (2016) – Box Office and Financial Information, The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Bronze-The)
5. [The Bronze Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-bronze/)
6. [The Bronze, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_bronze?search=the+bronze)
7. [Sundance '15 Q&A: The long and the short of 'The Bronze', The Salt Lake Tribune](https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=2092134&itype=CMSID)
8. [THE BRONZE press kit, Sony Pictures Classics](https://www.sonyclassics.com/thebronze/thebronze_presskit.pdf)
9. [Relativity, Stage 6 Films see gold in The Bronze, Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/sundance-news/relativity-stage-6-films-see-gold-in-the-bronze/5082178.article)
10. [The Bronze (2015), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3859304/)
11. [The Bronze critic reviews - Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-bronze/critic-reviews/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2015 to 2016 › Titles symbols to J*
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