Jed Rees Movies

A guy trying to do the right thing ends up taking part in one of the most morally dubious con games in history in this comedy. Steve Barker (Johnny Knoxville) is an office drone who wants to move up the corporate ladder, but when he asks his boss for a promotion, it comes with a condition -- Steve has to fire Stavi (Luis Avalos), who has been the firm's janitor for years. Steve decides to soften the blow by hiring Stavi to do his lawn and garden work. However, an accident robs Stavi of several of his fingers, and since he doesn't have medical insurance, Steve needs to find a way to pay for his surgery. Steve's uncle Gary (Brian Cox), a sleazy type who will bet on anything, also needs some fast cash, and comes up with a get-rich-quick scheme -- Steve was a track star in high school, and with the Special Olympics Championships coming up, all Steve has to do is pretend to be mentally challenged, enter the competition, and win the running events against six-time medalist Jimmy (Leonard Flowers). Gary will bet big on Steve, and the odds will allow them to clean up. Steve is appalled by the idea, but he needs the money badly enough to go along. However, Steve discovers that Jimmy is fast enough that he has little chance of beating him. However, Jimmy's colossal ego has made him many enemies among his fellow Special Olympians, and they're eager enough to see him taken down a peg that they help Steve train for the big event. Matters become all the more complicated when Steve becomes infatuated with Lynn (Katherine Heigl), a beautiful woman who has volunteered to help the challenged athletes, and would doubtless be furious if she found out what Steve was really doing. Produced by Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly, The Ringer was the first fiction directorial credit for Barry W. Blaustein; the story also parallels a 2004 episode of the animated television series South Park, "Up the Down Steroid." ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Paul Gross acts as writer, director, and star for this sports comedy about a Canadian curling team. When Chris Cutter (Gross) left his hometown of Long Bay, Ontario, he threw his team's curling stones into the lake and left his bride, Julie (Michelle Nolden), standing at the altar. Ten years later, the curling club's leader, Coach Foley, decides to start up the team again. However, he has a heart attack and dies while trying to retrieve the curling stones from the lake. Returning for the coach's funeral, Cutter fondly remembers his old curling days and decides to follow the terms of the coach's will: to win the prestigious Golden Broom championship. In order to fulfill this goal, Cutter brings the original members of Long Bay Curling Club back together, including mortician Neil (James Allodi), troublemaker James (Peter Outerbridge), and would-be father Eddie (Jed Rees). Chris also reunites with his own estranged father, Gordon (Leslie Nielsen), and gets involved with Julie's recovering alcoholic sister, Amy (Molly Parker). Features original music and special appearances by Canadian rockers the Tragically Hip. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

A team of intrepid adventurers travels through the outer reaches of the galaxy, each week finding excitement and adventure on Galaxy Quest! Or at least that's the way it was in the mid-1970s, when brave if reckless Captain Peter Quincy Taggart, lovely Lieutenant Tawny Madison, and inscrutable alien Dr. Lazarus were the leaders of an interstellar law enforcement team on the TV series of that name. Twenty years later, the show is still in reruns, and Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen), Gwen DeMarco (Sigourney Weaver), and Alexander Dane (Alan Rickman) prop up their sagging careers by making appearances at sci-fi conventions, where they grudgingly shake hands and give autographs for the show's socially inept following. However, it turns out that nerdy sci-fi fans aren't the only ones watching: somewhere in another solar system, a group of alien rebels living under a regime of violence and repression have picked up broadcasts of Galaxy Quest, and they aren't aware that it's fiction. They travel to Earth and encounter the Galaxy Quest cast, who figure that they're just another bunch of guys who like to dress funny. However, they soon realize that they're being hired not for another autograph-signing session but for a real-life outer space rescue mission. Galaxy Quest was directed by Dean Parisot, who had a background in TV directing before his theatrical debut with the dark comedy Home Fries. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Ryan Bonder directs this drama about a loser who runs from responsibility and opportunity alike. The film's protagonist is a hard-drinking, chain-smoking photographer who one day is inspired to go on a road-trip of self-discovery. DayDrift was screened at the 1999 Vancouver Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide