  king of the hill is steven soderbergh's third feature film, released in 1993, and the second he directed from his own screenplay following his 1989 palme d'or-winning film sex, lies, and videotape. it too was nominated for the palme d'or, at the 1993 cannes film festival. ==plot summary== based on the depression-era bildungsroman memoir of writer a. e. hotchner, the film follows the story of a boy struggling to survive on his own in a hotel in st. louis after his mother is committed to a sanatorium with tuberculosis. his father, a german immigrant and traveling salesman working for the hamilton watch company, is off on long trips from which the boy cannot be certain he will return. ==production== jesse bradford, who was 14 at the film's release, plays the protagonist. the supporting cast includes jeroen krabbÃ©, karen allen, spalding gray, elizabeth mcgovern, katherine heigl, and adrien brody. lauryn hill also appears in a small part as an elevator operator, her first screen role. the music was composed by cliff martinez, and includes piano work and cues from classical composer michael glenn williams. martinez's score is restrained and understated, well suited to the nature of the film. williams' cue for the graduation scene for solo piano, was notable in that it was the basis for his tone poem for henry cowell. ==critical response== in her review in the new york times, janet maslin says, "the film does a lovely job of juxtaposing the sharp contrasts in aaron's life, and in marveling at the fact that he survives as buoyantly as he does."
1990s_drama_films 1993_films American_coming-of-age_films American_drama_films English-language_films Films_directed_by_Steven_Soderbergh Films_set_in_St._Louis,_Missouri Films_set_in_the_1930s Great_Depression_films