Jenny Maguire Movies
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
- Starring:
- Naomi Watts, Sean Penn, (more)
A family struggles to come to terms with their differences and their many emotional shortcomings in this powerful documentary from director Samantha Beck. After learning that she's pregnant with her first child, Sharon decides she needs to settle her quarrels with her family before she can start a family of her own, and returns with her husband to her hometown of Buffalo, New York for a visit and some fence-mending. However, while there's still plenty of bad blood between Sharon and her mother, it doesn't take long to see that the real family crisis involves Sharon's sister Karen. Karen is single and already has two children, one of whom has a rare and untreatable illness that should claim her life in three years, and Karen has discovered she's expecting a third child. Adding to her mother's anxieties, Karen's current boyfriend and the father of her unborn child is a small-time drug dealer who often abandons her and seems like a poor candidate for responsible parenthood. While Sharon is as appalled as her mother at the poor choices Karen has made, as they spend some time together they're reminded of how much they share, and that their situations aren't as dissimilar as they seem on the surface. 21 Below received its world premiere at the 2009 Hot Docs International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
A man with a "doormat" personality tries standing up for himself for a change in this comedy. Mild mannered tax accountant Elliot Sherman (Michael Showalter) is what he calls a "Baxter": the kind of calm, unexciting fellow who "wears sock garters" and "enjoys raking leaves." Loved by bosses and parents, Elliot is a perfectly nice guy. And that's his problem -- he's safe and pleasant, but not very interesting, so as a consequence he hasn't had much luck with long-term relationships, and more than one woman has abandoned him for someone more exciting. Elliot believes his luck has finally changed for the better when he becomes engaged to Caroline Swann (Elizabeth Banks), a smart and attractive editor at a successful magazine. However, a few weeks before the wedding, who should come back into Caroline's life but Bradley Lake (Justin Theroux), her high school sweetheart and, according to many, the great love of her life. Bradley quickly makes it clear that he wants to win Caroline back, and generally in such circumstances Elliot would politely step aside, but just this once Elliot decides to fight for the woman he loves. Elliot gains an unexpected champion in Cecil Mills (Michelle Williams), a frumpy but adorable temp employee at his office who encourages Elliot to develop a take-charge attitude, though the results aren't quite what he expects. The Baxter was written and directed by Michael Showalter, who also plays Elliot; Showalter was a member of the sketch comedy troupe the State, and also works with the comedy performance trio Stella, whose other members, Michael Ian Black and David Wain, also appear in the movie. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Showalter, Elizabeth Banks, (more)





