Michael Kelly Movies

Inspired by actual events that occurred in 1920s-era Los Angeles, Clint Eastwood's The Changeling tells the story of a woman driven to confront a corrupted LAPD after her abducted son is retrieved and she begins to suspect that the boy returned to her is not the same boy she gave birth to. The year was 1928, and the setting a working-class suburb of Los Angeles. As Christine (Angelina Jolie) said goodbye to her son, Walter, and departed for work, she never anticipated that this was the day her life would be forever changed. Upon returning home, Christine was distressed to discover that Walter was nowhere to be found. Over the course of the following months, the desperate mother would launch a search that would ultimately prove fruitless. Yet just when it seemed that all hope was lost, a nine-year-old boy claiming to be Christine's son seemed to appear out of thin air. Overcome with emotions and uncertain how to face the authorities or the press, Christine invites the child to stay in her home despite knowing without a doubt that he is not her son. As much as Christine would like to accept the fact that her son has been returned to her, she cannot accept the injustice being pushed upon her and continues to challenge the Prohibition-era Los Angeles police force at every turn. As a result, Christine is slandered by the powers that be, and painted as an unfit mother. In this town, a woman who challenges the system is putting her life on the line, and as the situation grows desperate, the only person willing to aid her in her search is benevolent local activist Reverend Briegleb (John Malkovich). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Woody Harrelson is construction worker by day, self-made superhero by night in Defendor, a comedy that takes aim at society's infatuation with comic-book mythologies. While the city is awake, Arthur Poppington (Harrelson) holds traffic signs, and is nearly invisible to all who pass; after hours, he assumes his secret identity (complete with homemade costume) and prowls the streets in search of his arch nemesis, "Captain Industry." Along the way, he saves a young prostitute (Kat Dennings) from an abusive undercover cop (Elias Koteas), a move that proves his commitment to fighting for the weak, but also turns him into a real live fugitive from the law. ~ Kimber Myers, Rovi

The Bourne Identity director Doug Liman teams with screenwriters Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth to streamline Joseph Wilson's and Valerie Plame's books detailing the explosive outing of undercover CIA agent Plame into a tense docudrama thriller starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn. At the time her cover was blown by the George W. Bush administration, Plame (Watts) was combing Iraq for evidence of weapons of mass destruction as part of the CIA's Counter-Proliferation Division. Her husband, American diplomat Joe Wilson was attempting to verify a claim that the Iraqis had recently purchased enriched uranium from Niger when the White House began beating the war drums before any solid evidence had been gathered. When Joe penned an editorial in The New York Times decrying the hasty call to war, a prolific Washington, D.C. journalist took the opportunity to reveal Plame's identity as a CIA operative, an act that not only put her career in jeopardy, but also left her various contacts overseas in a precarious position. Years later, a jobless and publicly disgraced Plame wages a vicious fight to clear her name, set the record straight, and keep her family from falling apart. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

In another episode loosely inspired by actual events, the limo driver for star baseball player Kevin Seleeby (Reynaldo Rosales) is murdered. When it turns out that the victim was regularly supplying steroids to his boss, Seleeby becomes the prime suspect. But, as often happens on this series, the DA's office discovers that nothing is cut and dried, not even what seems to be irrefutable evidence. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Tim Kirkman wrote and directed Loggerheads, a film that follows three different storylines that all transpire over the course of a Mother's Day weekend, but take place at different times. One of the stories features a man who arrives in a coastal North Carolina town in order to preserve turtles that are endangered. He becomes involved with a local businessman and must decide where he feels in his heart that he belongs. A second story concerns a woman who begins to feel her small-town changing in ways that frighten her. She must face these changing social realities while constantly listening to the speeches of her minister husband. The third storyline involves a woman who intends to spend the weekend celebrating the holiday with her own mother while also attempting to make contact with the child she gave up for adoption years before. Loggerheads was a selection at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Eric Drilling wrote and directed this adaptation of his one-act play, set in rural New England, about alcoholic abuse in a single-parent family. After Dave Holden (Tom Everett Scott) fatally stabs his father while protecting his younger brother Tom (David Moscow), it's Tom who takes the rap and is sent off to a juvenile correction facility. But then Dave discovers dad's debts, works as a dishwasher to pay them off, and finally turns to robbery. Scott was the director of Drilling's one-act play. Shown at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

The budding romance between a rising U.S. congressman and a gifted ballet dancer is unexpectedly complicated by otherworldly forces seeking to drive them apart by altering the very fabric of reality in this high-concept sci-fi thriller based on a story by famed author Philip K. Dick. David Norris (Matt Damon) is a rising New York congressmen whose everyman charisma has earned him a loyal following among locals. One night, after suffering a crushing political defeat, David is rehearsing his concession speech in a hotel bathroom when out of a stall wanders Elise (Emily Blunt), who was hiding out from security guards after crashing a wedding. The chemistry between David and Elise is instant and electric. But as fast as she appeared, Elise has vanished, leaving David to wonder if he will ever see her again. A few days later, as if by chance, David is boarding a bus for work when he spots Elise in a window seat. Though he manages to get her number this time, David is terrified when he arrives at his new job and discovers a mysterious group of men performing an unusual procedure on his paralyzed co-workers. Informed by the imposing and sharp-dressed Richardson (John Slattery) that he has just seen behind a curtain that few will ever know even exists, David agrees never to tell anyone of their encounter or talk to Elise again lest his entire memory be completely erased. But three years later, when David spots Elise walking down the street from the window of a city bus, he can't resist the urge to rekindle their romance. Unfortunately for the two young lovers, the mysterious agents at the Adjustment Bureau are determined to keep them apart at all costs in order to ensure there is no deviation from the master plan drawn up by "The Chairman" for the future of all humankind. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A mysterious, mind-altering epidemic has infected humankind, and when a Washington, D.C. psychiatrist discovers that the outbreak seems to be extraterrestrial in origin, she struggles to save her son from infection in this sci-fi thriller starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, and directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel (Das Experiment). The space shuttle has crashed, and investigators assigned to explore the wreckage have found something unimaginable in the debris -- something from the deepest reaches of outer space. Everyone who comes into contact with it soon begins to transform in ways that can't be explained by modern science. While their physical appearance remains completely unaltered, their emotions seem to be drained and their actions become strangely inhuman. The only people who know the truth about this extraterrestrial epidemic are Washington, D.C. psychiatrist Carol Bennell (Kidman) and her longtime friend Dr. Ben Driscoll (Craig). It seems that the alien virus attacks people in their sleep, and by the time they awaken, the transformation has already taken place. The contagion is spreading rapidly, and as more people fall victim to its eerie effects by the hour, it becomes impossible to differentiate the infected from those who can still be trusted. When Carol realizes that her young son may hold the only hope for saving the human race, she struggles to remain awake long enough to find the boy and prevent planet Earth from becoming host to a terrifying new breed of extraterrestrials. Based on the book The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney, The Invasion was written by David Kajganich and co-stars Jeffrey Wright and Jeremy Northam. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Trapped in an abandoned hospital by a wandering band of savage cannibals, a small group of survivors intent on repopulating a post-apocalyptic world must fight for their lives and the future of the human race. We've run out of gas, and now the civilized world is a fading memory. Still, there are some who would work to see society rebuilt. One such group has taken refuge in an empty hospital. Upon discovering a young girl who has somehow managed to survive an attack by a nomadic horde of cannibals known as Rovers, the frightened heirs of humanity are forced to defend themselves against a predator that knows precisely what they fear most. Now, as the Rovers methodically emerge from the wasteland to pick off their savory brethren one at a time, the remaining survivors must adapt the same hunting skills as the flesh-eating subhumans who stalk them if they hold out any true hope of saving the legacy of humankind from certain tragedy. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi