Ramsey Faragallah Movies

A powerful behind-the-scenes man in politics and show business finds himself skidding into a very public scandal in this taut drama. Eli Wurman (Al Pacino) was raised in the deep South, attended Harvard Law School, and has devoted his spare time to progressive political causes since working alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s. However, Wurman now makes his living as a press agent and PR man, and while he's near the top of his profession, years of overwork, constant smoking and drinking, and ceaseless tension are taking their toll, leaving him on the verge of collapse, with only the prescriptions of his friend Dr. Napier (Robert Klein) keeping him on his feet. One of Wurman's biggest clients is Cary Launer (Ryan O'Neal), a fading film star with political aspirations who, after attending a disastrous Broadway opening, asks Wurman to do him a big favor -- bail Launer's girlfriend, Jilli (Téa Leoni), out of jail and keep an eye on her. Wurman manages to get Jilli out of the stir, but she insists upon being escorted to an exclusive sex and opium den for a night of heavy drinking and drugging, and then reveals to Wurman that she owns a device which she's used to record footage of the most public figures who attend the club, including Elliott Sharansky, a billionaire Jewish civic leader (Richard Schiff). That night, a half out-of-it Eli accompanies Jilli back to her hotel room when an intruder barges in and forces an overdose on her, killing her instantly. The next morning, Wurman has only fuzzy memories of what transpired. He decides to focus on his attempts to set up a political fundraiser, but has a hard time getting the right A-list celebs to appear, just as many of New York's power brokers aren't especially interesting in working with Wurman or Launer. In the midst of this chaos, Victoria (Kim Basinger), who was married to Wurman's late brother, arrives in New York and urges him to leave the city and his career behind while he still can. People I Know was screened in competition at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Writer and director Woody Allen returns to the Manhattan of the past with this romantic comedy set in 1940, the era of fedora hats and gumshoe detectives. Allen stars as C.W. Briggs, an insurance investigator whose razor-sharp instincts have just led to the successful conclusion of another case, the recovery of a stolen Picasso. While he's a valued employee, Briggs is under fire from efficiency expert Betty Ann Fitzgerald (Helen Hunt) for his antiquated attitudes and refusal to accept modern crime-solving techniques such as fingerprinting. C.W. claims he puts himself directly into the criminal mind, a skill that will do him no good when he and Betty Ann are hypnotized at a Rainbow Room gathering one night by the magician Volton (David Ogden Stiers). As a parlor trick to entertain their co-workers, Volton makes C.W. and Betty Ann believe they're a couple that's deeply in love. But the performer secretly keeps up the ruse after the party's over, calling C.W. to whisper a magic code word and ordering the detective to rob wealthy homes with security systems that C.W. himself has designed. With no memory of his thieving activities, a frustrated C.W. can't solve the high-profile jewel burglaries, while he and Betty Ann struggle with their odd new attraction for each other, made more complicated by the fact that Betty Ann is romantically involved with their boss (Dan Aykroyd). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

The victim of a probable mugging dies, whereupon the detectives launch a homicide investigation. The trail of clues leads to the planned circumcision of Alison Martin (Emmy Rossun), the daughter of an American father (Cotter Smith) and an Egyptian mother (Ava Haddad). The outcome of the story is triggered by the ethnic and religious schism between Alison's parents. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Can a nerdy and hopelessly Midwestern man find happiness with a cynical bohemian gal in New York City? Eddie Brodsky (Matthew Ross) is a genetic scientist living in Wisconsin who is crossbreeding new strains of rice; he's the sort of person who is so rigidly ordered that he's already picked out and paid for his cemetery plot -- and he's not even 30 years old yet. After his girlfriend gives him his walking papers, Eddie decides he needs to change his life and takes a job in New York City, where his new roommate Ray (Kevin Caroll) encourages him to loosen up a bit and gives him advice on charming the ladies. After a few disastrous dates, Eddie meets Lee (Callie Thorn), short for Natalie, who plays violin in a post-modern folk-rock ensemble. While Eddie and Lee have almost nothing in common on the surface, he finds her lovely and charming, and by hook or by crook he's determined to make things work with her. Ed's Next Move was the debut feature from writer/director John Walsh; it was primarily financed with credit cards and made possible in part by the availability of a stash of leftover film stock from Wayne Wang's film Smoke. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide