Lisby Larson Movies
A young man wants a second chance at love, though the object of his affection isn't sure there was ever any love in the first place in this independent comedy. Sam (Michael Angarano) is a relentlessly confident would-be author in his mid-twenties who stumbled into a short-term relationship with Zoe (Uma Thurman), a beautiful woman in her late thirties with a bad habit of dating men who aren't right for her. While Zoe is very much over Sam, he's convinced they were truly in love, so he's upset to learn she's engaged to marry Whit Coutell (Lee Pace), a successful but colossally arrogant director of wildlife documentaries. Sam wants another chance with Zoe, so he persuades his best friend, Marshall (Reece Thompson), to join him for a trip to Long Island, where they'll hang out with some of their buddies. What Sam really has in mind, though, is to crash Zoe and Whit's weekend-long wedding festivities and convince her that he's the right man for her. However, Zoe's immediate reaction suggests that persuading her to leave Whit for Sam is going to be a very tough sell. Ceremony was the first feature film from writer and director Max Winkler, son of actor Henry Winkler. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Angarano, Uma Thurman, (more)
Actor David Duchovny made his debut as a director and screenwriter with this coming-of-age drama, in which a grown man looks back at his adolescence. It's 1973, and Tommy (Anton Yelchin) is a 13-year-old boy living in New York's Greenwich Village with his mother (Téa Leoni), who is still coming to terms with the death of her husband. Tommy's best friend is Pappass (Robin Williams), a mentally challenged man who is in his thirties, but is at the same emotional age as Tommy; Pappass delivers meat for a local butcher, and Tommy helps him out. Tommy has discovered women, and has a crush on Melissa (Zelda Williams), a cute girl in his class, but Pappass isn't much interested in the opposite sex, and can offer little advice on the subject. Tommy's lone confidante on this issue is Lady Bernadette (Erykah Badu), a woman locked up in the nearby Women's House of Detention who offers advice shouted from her window. When Pappass begins to realize that Tommy is falling for Melissa, he's convinced he's losing his best friend, and in a moment of anger he steals a bicycle. Tommy tries to protect Pappas by claiming he was the thief, leading to a series of serious repercussions. Years later, Tommy (now played by Duchovny) is a grown man who leaves his home in Paris, France, to pay a visit to the old neighborhood and come to terms with the life he left behind. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anton Yelchin, Téa Leoni, (more)
- 1999
Lindsay Crouse guest stars as Denise Grobman, a civil court judge who is shot in her building's parking garage. The detectives haul in an extremely likely suspect, only to discover that Grobman refuses to prosecute -- nor even to believe that the suspect had anything to do with the attack. Clearly, someone is hiding something, but what and why? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1996
Detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) find themselves traveling in illustrious company when they investigate the mysterious death of a valuable show horse. The animal was killed during an apparently unforeseen delay in Manhattan, leading Briscoe to quip that "New York is really a tough town for tourists." But it is no laughing matter when the ensuing investigation unearths a sting operation, an insurance fraud, and the disappearance of a wealthy horse owner. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
The third pairing of comic actors Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder was much less successful than their previous team-ups, Silver Streak(1976) and Stir Crazy (1980). Wilder plays Dave, the deaf proprietor of a newsstand and employer of blind gambler Wally (Pryor). When Wally's bookie is shot and killed at the stand, Dave and Wally are arrested for the crime. Since the deaf Dave had his back turned and didn't see the crime, while the blind Wally only heard it, the clues they have to offer the police are slim -- Dave's glimpse of a shapely leg and Wally's whiff of a perfume called Shalimar. It turns out the dead man was in possession of a coin that he dropped into Dave's tip box, which Wally is now carrying. The coin contains a valuable microchip sought by crime baron Sutherland (Anthony Zerbe), for whom hired killer Eve (Joan Severance) and her British partner, Kirgo (Kevin Spacey), are working. Posing as lawyers, Eve and Kirgo spring Dave and Wally from jail, leading to a series of misadventures as the coin changes hands and the two sensory-challenged pals attempt to learn who has framed them and why. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Pryor, Gene Wilder, (more)
