Dan Fredenburgh Movies

An affluent Jewish man living in the suburbs with his loyal fiancée experiences a life altering crisis of conscience following the death of his father in director Sallie Aprahamian's introspective drama. Jake (Dan Fredenburgh) is a successful property developer engaged to me married to the beautiful Zoe (Olivia Williams). To this point in his life Jake hasn't really questioned the decisions that he's made or the relationships he's maintained, though when his father dies unexpectedly, he is gradually drawn back to the inner-city neighborhood of his youth. As a young boy, Jake's father had owned a tailoring business in the city. Now as Jake goes back to explore his old haunts, he strikes up a casual friendship with local waitress B (Doraly Rosa) that quickly threatens to develop into something much more serious. But B, too, is involved in an outside relationship, hers with ailing ex-boxer Chester (Paul Bettany), who suffered a stroke in a recent fight and now relies on her for care and support. As Jake and B both wrestle with the anxiety and guilt brought upon by their mutual attraction, they are forced to weigh their trepidation over causing pain to their respective significant others against the prospect that their burgeoning relationship may be their only chance for ever finding true happiness. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

All of London is in love -- or longing to be -- in Four Weddings and a Funeral writer Richard Curtis' first directorial effort. Billed as "the ultimate romantic comedy," Love Actually involves more than a dozen main characters, each weaving his or her way into another's heart over the course of one particularly eventful Christmas. The seemingly perfect wedding of Juliet (Keira Knightley) and Peter (Chiwetel Ejiofor) brings many of the principals together, including heartsick best man Mark (Andrew Lincoln), who harbors a very unrequited crush on Juliet. There's also recent widower Daniel (Liam Neeson), trying to help his lonely stepson Sam (Thomas Sangster) express his true feelings to a classmate. Across town, devoted working mother Karen (Emma Thompson) tries to rekindle the passion of her husband, Harry (Alan Rickman), who secretly pines for a young colleague of his. In the same office, the lonely Sarah (Laura Linney) not-so-secretly pines for a man just a few desks away (Rodrigo Santoro), who returns her affections but may not be able to dissuade her neuroses. Providing the unofficial soundtrack for all of the couples is an aging rocker (Bill Nighy) who just wants to cash in and get laid -- but even he might find a meaningful relationship in the most unlikely of places. A working print of Love Actually premiered at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide