Miguel Arteta Movies
A Latino filmmaker with a gift for portraying off-kilter behavior in all shapes and ethnicities, Miguel Arteta emerged as one of the Sundance Film Festival's success stories in the late '90s.Born in Puerto Rico to a Peruvian father and Spanish mother, Arteta grew up all over Latin America due to his father's itinerant existence as a Chrysler auto parts salesman. After he was kicked out of school in Costa Rica, Arteta was taken in by his sister in Boston, where he discovered filmmaking at a local high school for the arts. His aesthetic tastes out of step with their cinema verité ethos, Arteta left Harvard University's documentary program to study film at Wesleyan, where he met future collaborators Matthew Greenfield and Mike White. After he graduated in 1989, Arteta's musical short Every Day Is a Beautiful Day was nominated for a Student Academy Award in 1990. After it was shown to Jonathan Demme, Demme hired Arteta to work on his documentary Cousin Bobby (1991) and recommended Arteta for admission to AFI's graduate film program. He earned his M.F.A. in 1993.
Angered by his experience at AFI and the treatment of minorities by Hollywood in general, Arteta spent the next several years struggling to make his first feature, Star Maps (1997). Aiming to make a Latino film that was neither a stereotypical gang story nor an uplifting exercise in positive images, Arteta instead took aim at the family and the Hollywood system in a story about a Mexican teen with dreams of movie stardom who is pimped by his father in Los Angeles. Impoverished by the filmmaking process, Arteta became one of Sundance's Cinderella stories after Star Maps was bought for 2.5 million dollars and earned positive reviews for its tricky mix of comedy, drama, and magical realism.
Honing his skills between movies, Arteta turned to directing TV with episodes of Homicide: Life on the Streets, Snoops, and the acclaimed teen series Freaks and Geeks; his deft touch with bizarre family dynamics proved an ideal match for segments of HBO's award-winning drama Six Feet Under. With his TV work earning his living, Arteta remained resolutely independent in his movies. Scripted by and starring White, Arteta's second feature, Chuck & Buck (2000), became another Sundance success even as it divided critics. Shot on digital video for greater intimacy, Chuck & Buck's story of a man-child's obsession with his former childhood friend-turned-uptight executive (Chris Weitz) unnerved some viewers even as it garnered accolades for its eccentric take on male friendship. Continuing their dark yet comically engaging interrogations of adult expectations, Arteta and White scored yet another Sundance hit with The Good Girl (2002), starring a superbly frumpy Jennifer Aniston as a cashier who dramatically reassesses her life. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi
A childlike insurance salesman discovers his inner grown-up in this comedy from director Miguel Arteta and producer Alexander Payne. Tim Lippe (Ed Helms) sells insurance for a living. He's passionate about his career, so when the top salesman at the company dies on the eve of a big industry convention in Cedar Rapids, IA, his boss, Bill (Stephen Root), decides that Tim should take the trip to represent their company, and possibly accept a major award. Trouble is, not only has Tim never been on an airplane before, but he's in such a state of arrested development that he's even started sleeping with his former elementary school teacher Mrs. Vanderhei (Sigourney Weaver). Arriving at the convention ready to put his best foot forward, Tim hits it off with his hotel roommate Ron (Isiah Whitlock Jr.), but is soon thrust out of his comfort zone when he learns they will be sharing a room with their amoral, hard-partying colleague Dean (John C. Reilly), whom Tim has been instructed to avoid at all costs. Later, when the three unlikely roommates meet up with fellow insurance slinger Joan (Anne Heche), the chemistry just clicks. However, when the ultra-conservative president of the entire organization (Kurtwood Smith) catches Tim in a compromising position, it all starts to fall apart. Now, if Tim can just shed his illusions and finally see the truth about the people he always looked up to, perhaps he can find the courage to recapture his integrity, and return home and face the future with a newfound sense of self-assurance. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ed Helms, John C. Reilly, (more)
Superbad's Michael Cera discovers a vacation romance in Youth in Revolt, a teen comedy from Charlie Bartlett's screenwriter, Gustin Nash, and director Miguel Arteta (Chuck & Buck). The film is an adaptation of C.D. Payne's first book in a series of best-selling satirical novels starring Nick Twisp, a sexually charged 14-year-old whose intelligence and hormones get him into all sorts of adventures. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Cera, Portia Doubleday, (more)
Writer-director Michael Kang makes his feature debut with the coming-of-age comedy, The Motel. Newcomer Jeffrey Chyau stars as Ernest Chin, a chubby 13 year-old Chinese-American boy whose mother (Jade Wu) runs a sleazy motel in upstate New York. The clientele of The Motel are predominantly prostitutes and their johns, which spurs Ernest's budding sexual curiosity. When he's not cleaning rooms, eavesdropping on guests, avoiding the local bully, or tormenting his little sister Katie (Alexis Chin), Ernest harbors a crush on Christine (Samantha Futerman), who works at a nearby Chinese restaurant. Ernest has entered a writing contest at school with a story about his unhappy life at The Motel, and won an honorable mention. His scornful mother thinks his writing is a waste of time, and Ernest doesn't want her to see the story for fear that it will anger her. He's a social misfit, so he's intrigued when Sam Kim (Sung Kang of Better Luck Tomorrow), a Korean-American guest who frequently brings home prostitutes, befriends him. Sam takes Ernest under his wing, teaching him to drive and offering him his wisdom regarding women. Of course, Sam turns out to have his own serious issues with the opposite sex, and his advice to Ernest about Christine may not be exactly what the boy needs. Kang won the Asian American International Film Festival screenwriting competition with his script for The Motel in 2001, and the completed film was shown at the festival in 2005. The script was workshopped at the Sundance labs, where filmmaker Miguel Arteta (The Good Girl) signed on as a producer. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jeffrey Chyau, Kang Sung, (more)
A middle-aged man finds a callow twentysomething usurping his professional life and worming his way into his family in this alternately funny and poignant comedy drama. Dan Foreman (Dennis Quaid) is a middle-aged man who has spent 20 years as the head of advertising sales for "Sports America," a leading athletics magazine. Dan is happily married to Ann (Marg Helgenberger) and has a college-age daughter, Alex (Scarlett Johansson), whom he dotes on, but Dan's comfortable life is given a major shake-up when a large multimedia firm buys the magazine. Seen as a bit long in the tooth to be truly competitive, Dan is demoted to second in command of advertising, and his position is handed over to Carter Duryea (Topher Grace), a 26-year-old who talks a good game about sales but has no practical experience in the field. Dan's wounded ego makes working with the arrogant Carter an uphill battle, but when he learns that Ann is expecting another baby, Dan is in no position to quit. Before long, Dan becomes aware of Carter's intense insecurities about his new job as the younger man reaches out to him for guidance, but this doesn't make Dan any less angry when Carter begins a romance with Alex after his marriage to Kimberly (Selma Blair) crashes and burns. In Good Company marked the solo directorial debut of Paul Weitz; he previously worked in collaboration with his brother Chris Weitz, who serves as producer on this film. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dennis Quaid, Topher Grace, (more)
Director Miguel Arteta and writer Mike White, who had previously collaborated on Chuck and Buck, turn an eye toward suburban boredom with the quirky comedy The Good Girl. Jennifer Aniston stars as Justine, a woman who is feeling constrained by her life. Her husband, Phil (John C. Reilly), is a house painter who spends the majority of his time smoking marijuana with his friend Bubba (Tim Blake Nelson). Longing for something more in her life, Justine becomes involved with a younger co-worker named Tom (Jake Gyllenhall), but because of his fascination with The Catcher in the Rye, he likes to be called Holden. Her new sense of freedom and release are threatened when a co-worker dies, and when Bubba learns of her infidelity. This film was screened at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jennifer Aniston, Jake Gyllenhaal, (more)
- 2001
The death of an inventor forms the backdrop for this episode, which sees Nathaniel's will being parceled out to his surviving family members. Ruth (Frances Conroy) finds herself reaping the benefits of her late husband's insurance policy, stocks, and money; Nate (Peter Krause) and David (Michael Hall) split the family business (to David's great horror); and Claire (Lauren Ambrose) gets money for college, which she considers trading for hard cash. In the aftermath of the will's reading, Ruth breaks up with Hiram (Ed Begley Jr.), Claire sucks her boyfriend's toes in the back of a hearse, and David gets a surprise -- and not entirely welcome -- visit from his ex-fiancée. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi
Following his critically acclaimed Star Maps, Miguel Arteta directs this perverse Odd Couple-esque comedy drama. Childhood best buddies Chuck and Buck are reunited after 18 years during the funeral of the latter's mother. Chuck (Chris Weitz who also produced American Pie (1999)) is a button-down movie executive with a gorgeous blond fiancée, Carlyn (Beth Colt). By contrast, the intervening years do not seem to have matured Buck (Mike White) in the slightest -- he still plays with children's toys, throws bawling temper tantrums, and seems to be utterly at a loss at what to do after his mother's death. During the funeral, Buck greets his old friend with an oblivious joy that is hardly appropriate to the setting. Clearly expecting that the friendship will continue where it left off back during the Carter administration, Buck seems confused and sullen in the presence of Carlyn, a yucky girl. This jealousy turns more unnerving when, in midst of a brotherly hug, Buck makes a clumsy grope for Chuck's manhood. Disturbed and embarrassed, Chuck quickly leaves, but not before Carlyn politely suggests that Buck "visit us in L.A. sometime." Buck leaps at the chance and soon is packing up for California. He quickly degenerates from a silly, though pathetic annoyance to a lollipop-sucking stalker. Buck's bizarre attempts to renew his bond with Chuck and to consummate their relationship puts Chuck increasingly on edge and confronts the affluent yuppie with a past he'd just as soon forget. Chuck & Buck was one of the most talked about films at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mike White, Chris Weitz, (more)
- 1999
While investigating the beating death of a Buddhist monk, Lewis (Clark Johnson) worries that his born-again-Buddhist partner, Bayliss (Kyle Secor), will not be able to remain objective -- thus Lewis teams with the prickly Munch (Richard Belzer). In another case, a street shooting investigated by Gharty (Peter Gerety) and Ballard (Callie Throne) is complicated by three wildly contradictory "eyewitness" recollections. And on a personal note, Ballard comes to a crossroads in her relationship with Falsone (Jon Seda). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Belzer, Giancarlo Esposito, (more)
- 1997
- R
This comedy-drama concerns a most unusual family of emigres, even by Hollywood standards. Douglas Spain stars as Carlos, a Mexican teenager who has just returned home to L.A. after starring in several low-budget films south of the border. His father, Pepe (Efrain Figueroa), is a Fagin-like pimp who manages a group of boy prostitutes who pose as sellers of maps to the stars' homes on Hollywood street corners. Pepe immediately sets his son to work doing the same, but Carlos has dreams of being a movie star. His goal takes a step closer to reality after he sleeps with Jennifer (Kandeyce Jensen), a soap opera actress who becomes enchanted with Carlos and orders her show's producers (one of whom is her husband) to write a part for the boy on the series. Once he's on his way to becoming a star, Carlos discovers that success has a price tag. Star Maps was the feature debut of writer-director Miguel Arteta, who went on to helm the short-lived series Freaks and Geeks (1999-2000) and his acclaimed second film, Chuck and Buck (2000), an audience favorite and Grand Jury Prize nominee at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Douglas Spain, Efrain Figueroa, (more)
