Daniel Taplitz Movies

After living his life with clockwork precision, a man throws any and all caution to the wind in this freewheeling comedy-drama. Frank Allen (Ryan Reynolds) is a successful motivational speaker and author whose book "The Five-Minute Efficiency Trainer" advises readers that strict organization and avoiding impulsive behavior is the key to success. Frank is married to Susan (Emily Mortimer), who has been his sweetheart since college, but while he's happy, she's beginning to have second thoughts -- she chose to be with Frank rather than his best friend Buddy (Stuart Townsend) because of his sweet and gentle nature, but his new habit of carefully budgeting every moment of the day has squeezed most of the fun out of their lives. After a quarrel with Susan leaves Frank in a troubled state of mind, he's enthusiastically propositioned by a sexy woman at a self-help seminar (Sarah Chalke), and has to take a pregnant woman (Jocelyne Loewen) to the hospital when he nearly runs her over on the street. Susan learns about Frank's day and comes to the mistaken conclusion that he's been unfaithful to her with both women. Susan leaves him and Frank decides that his hyper-organized life is to blame for the collapse of his marriage. Suddenly, Frank figures its time to give his id full reign -- he buys a motorcycle, starts fist fights in bars, sleeps with strange women, takes up streaking, and does nearly everything the old Frank would warn him against. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Sci-fi novelist Bo Aikens (Jay Mohr) is fed up with life in Los Angeles. He heads out of the hustle and bustle of the big city to the small, idyllic town of Black River, where everyone is happy, contented and welcoming of strangers -- except for a burly redneck, but he'll be put straight soon enough. Not by Bo, but by an invisible force that rules the town. Troubled by various, peculiar Twilight Zone-ish twists of fate, Bo tries to leave Black River but finds he cannot -- at first because his car has been smashed into a cube, and later by deadly beams that rain from the sky. What's the sinister secret of Black River? Why is Bo being kept prisoner? And why is everyone so dang happy? ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide

In this dark comedy, Seth Warner (Aidan Quinn) is a good man having a run of bad luck. His pregnant wife disappeared in the ocean during a trip to the beach, a tornado destroyed his house while leaving everything else in the neighborhood untouched, his boss fired him, and he was struck by a bolt of lightning that also injured his dog. While recovering in the hospital, Seth comes to the conclusion that God has cursed him. His brother-in-law Harry (Anthony LaPaglia) thinks that this conclusion is absurd -- after all, Harry reasons, he violates five or six commandments every day before lunch, and things are just great with him. This notion puts a bug in Seth's ear, and when he gets out of the hospital, he decides to confront God by deliberately violating all ten commandments; he hopes to start by seducing Harry's wife, Rachel (Courteney Cox). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Nightlife was produced for the USA Cable Network, which might give you a general idea of its artistic merit. On its own junk-food-for-the-eyes terms, however, this vampire comedy is a stitch. Ben Cross and Maryam D'Abo star as a loving vampire couple who go out on a night on the town (they certainly can't go out in the daytime). "Normal" human being Keith Szarabaijka spots Maryam, and it's love at first...sight. The script, by director Daniel Taplitz and former Saturday Night Live staffer Anne Beatts, works well on a comedy-sketch level, though the 90-minute length tends to suck the premise dry. Nightlife was first telecast on August 23, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide