Stockard Channing Movies
Born Susan Williams Antonia Stockard Channing Schmidt on February 13, 1944, Channing is the daughter of a wealthy shipping executive, and became interested in the dramatic arts while attending college at Radcliffe. After graduating in the mid-sixties, Channing joined Boston's experimental Theater Company. Several unsuccessful Broadway auditions later, she landed a lead role in a Los Angeles production of Two Gentlemen of Verona. Eventually, Channing made it to Broadway, and won a Tony for her performance in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg.In the early '70s, Channing appeared in several small television roles, and made her big screen debut in 1971's The Hospital. In 1973, the actress starred in the Joan Rivers-penned black comedy The Girl Most Likely To..., a TV movie about an overweight college girl who loses weight, gets cosmetic surgery, and sets off in hopes of getting even. Channing's first major film role came two years later, when she starred in Mike Nichols' The Fortune with Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty. It wasn't until 1978, however, that Channing would win her most memorable role to date -- tough gal Rizzo in the retro-musical Grease. Interestingly enough, although she was cast as a teenager, the actress was in her early thirties when she was chosen for the film. Around the same time, Channing starred in two similar and short-lived sitcoms: Stockard Channing in Just Friends and The Stockard Channing Show.
By 1980, Channing's film career was idling in neutral, so she focused her energies on the theater, though she began showing up in various supporting film roles in the mid to late eighties. In 1993, she was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for playing the formidable Upper East Side matron of Six Degrees of Separation; the role had also earned her a Tony nomination when she performed it in the film's stage version. Channing subsequently made steady appearances in both film and television, and co-starred as a witch in Practical Magic with Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock, as well as The First Wives Club, Moll Flanders, Edie & Pen, and An Unexpected Family. In 2000, Channing would play one of the more eccentric residents of a small Oklahoma town in Where the Heart Is. After filming Other Voices in 2001, which was screened at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival, Channing would receive a solid amount of critical success for her role in The Business of Strangers (2001), in which she starred as a high-level corporate player who saves her own job only to find out her boss is a rapist. In between filming a variety of television and documentary appearances - namely, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister (2002), A Girl Thing (2001), Out of the Closet, Off the Screen: The William Haines Story (2001), and New York Firefighters: The Brotherhood of 9/11 (2002) -- Channing joined up with Oscar-winner Angelina Jolie in Stephen Herek's Life or Something Like It.
In 2003, Channing made a cameo appearance in Bright Young Things, and went on to co-star in Le Divorce with Kate Hudson, Glenn Close, and Matthew Modine during the same year. The actress also signed on with the legendary Woody Allen in Anything Else, in which she played a middle-aged mother determined to land a role in a cabaret production.
~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Three stories, which offer differing perspectives on the AIDS pandemic, are featured in this anthology-drama. Sister Clara (Chloë Sevigny) is a young nun who is working with two, more experienced, missionaries (Olympia Dukakis and Sandra Oh) in a village along the African coast. Sister Clara finds herself struggling against ignorance and misinformation among the natives, but discovers she can only accomplish so much through traditional means and is forced to make a great personal sacrifice for the greater good. Denny (Shawn Ashmore) lives in Montreal and makes his living acting in pornographic movies -- a career he's kept hidden from his mother (Stockard Channing), who depends on Denny for financial support. Like most of his colleagues, Denny must present current HIV tests to producers in order to keep working. But unlike most of his fellow porn actors, Denny is actually carrying the AIDS virus, and presents fraudulent test paperwork in order to keep working. And Jin Ping (Lucy Liu) collects blood donations from villagers in mainland China, but while she claims that the blood will be used in government hospitals, Jin Ping is actually in cahoots with illegal private doctors, and she fails to use proper methods for safe blood collection. When Tong Sam (Tanabadee Chokpikultong) loses nearly all of his friends, family, and villagers to AIDS, he takes it upon himself to do something about Jin Ping and her reckless actions. Three Needles received its North American premier at the Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shawn Ashmore, Stockard Channing, (more)
Stockard Channing stars in this made-for-cable comedy-drama as Dr. Beth Noonan, a female psychiatrist trying to hold her life together as she guides four of her patients through personal turmoil. Lauren Travis (Elle MacPherson), a respected lawyer, finds her sexual identity thrown into question when she discovers she's attracted to another woman, Casey (Kate Capshaw). Helen McCormick (Glenne Headly) is forced to spend a week with her two estranged sisters, Kathy (Allison Janney) and Kim (Rebecca DeMornay) after the death of their mother. Nia Morgan (Lynn Whitfield) is convinced her husband is being unfaithful to her; she hires Rachel (Linda Hamilton) to lure her spouse into infidelity, but Rachel learns that Nia's husband is actually involved with Betty (Mia Farrow), an older and unglamorous waitress. And after Dr. Noonan decides she can't handle the deep neuroses of Suzanne Nabor (Camryn Manheim), Suzanne snaps and takes the doctor hostage, along with three other people. It's a Girl Thing also stars Scott Bakula, Buck Henry, and Bruce Greenwood; it first aired in two parts on the Showtime premium cable network in January, 2001. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stockard Channing, Elle MacPherson, (more)
When Stockard Channing agreed to co-produce the made-for-TV Gun in the House, she fully intended to play the leading role of Emily Cates herself. But schedule conflicts intervened, and Channing was forced to relinquish the role to Sally Struthers, who was quite good. Attacked in her home by two male assailants, Emily Cates grabs a handgun and shoots and kills one of the intruders. Alas, the police find no evidence that Emily was in fact attacked--nor do they discern any need for excessive force. As a result, Emily is arrested like a common criminal and charged with murder--targeted as an "example" to other would-be gun owners by politically ambitious DA Lance Kessler (Jeffrey Tambor). The Stephen Zito-James M. Miller teleplay takes an inordinately melodramatic approach to the film's provocative subject matter, offering cut-and-dried hero and villain types and occasionally illogical plot twists. Still, Gun in the House has remained food for thought ever since its February 11, 1981 debut. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
- PG13
Martin (William Hurt) and Jack (Timothy Hutton) are World War II soldiers who go from being army buddies to bitter enemies during the war in this uneven melodrama. Not realizing they are brothers-in-law, Martin eventually learns that Jack is married to his sister Josie (Melissa Leo). On their wedding night, Josie's father Jorge (Francisco Rabal) had abducted her in an attempt to dominate her with his old-world ideals of marriage. When Jorge drowns in a lake after the car skids off the road, black-sheep Martin returns home to learn of his father's death, vowing to avenge his father after he learns his buddy is his sworn enemy. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Hurt, Timothy Hutton, (more)
- 1996
In this drama, a career woman is forced to re-evaluate her fast-track life after her sister's young children come to live with her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stockard Channing, Stephen Collins, (more)
- 1997
- PG
A USA original movie, this drama centers on a woman faced with a series of life-altering surprises. First her niece and nephew come to live with her, forever. Then she falls in love and her new beau moves in. The makeshift family decides that New York City life is too much for them and so they move into the countryside. Just when it looks like the little group may finally come together, the woman discovers that she is pregnant. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stockard Channing, Stephen Collins, (more)
A young artist struggling with his career and his muse is getting more than a little aggravation from Cupid in this romantic comedy written and directed by Woody Allen. Jerry Falk (Jason Biggs) is a promising 21-year-old comedy writer living in New York City. While Jerry has talent, he's having a hard time getting his career off the ground, which might have something to do with the fact his agent Harvey (Danny DeVito) is a well-meaning, but ineffectual, blowhard, and his mentor David Dobel (Allen) is an increasingly paranoid eccentric whose twin careers as a teacher and standup comic are both floundering. Poised at the top of Jerry's mountain of anxieties is his relationship with his girlfriend Amanda (Christina Ricci); from the first moment he saw her, Jerry has been in love with her, but Amanda's multiple neuroses, fear of commitment, and frustrating intimacy issues make her all but impossible to be around. Jerry is approaching his breaking point when the small flat he shares with Amanda becomes home to a third roommate -- Amanda's mother Paula (Stockard Channing), who has decided to come to New York to chase her dream of becoming a cabaret singer. Anything Else also features supporting performances from Jimmy Fallon, William Hill, and jazz vocalist Diana Krall. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Woody Allen, Jason Biggs, (more)
In the decaying, crime-ridden Gotham City of the future, embittered millionaire Bruce Wayne is persuaded to pass along the mantle (and mask and cowl) of legendary "Caped Crusader" Batman to teenager Terry McGinniss in Season One of the animated series Batman Beyond. The two-part pilot establishes the fact that Terry has been given this honor because he has stumbled onto Wayne's long-buried secret identity, and because the teen wants to avenge the death of his own father by a sinister cartel bent on world domination. The elderly Wayne instructs Terry in the intricacies of his high-tech, gadget-laden Batsuit and shows him how to navigate the new flying Batmobile. Meanwhile, Wayne's business partner Derek Powers, the secret brains behind the conspiracy, works overtime to scuttle Terry McGinniss/Batman's crusade to restore law and order to Gotham City. Also in the opening episode, we are introduced to the Jokerz, a gang of "Clockwork Orange"-like street punks who have enshrined the memory of the "old" Batman's prankish nemesis, the Joker. Other villains whom the new Batman tangles with this season are shapeshifting female saboteur Inque; the Royal Flush Gang, so named because they were card-like costumes and go by the names of King, Queen, Jack, Ten and Ace; Shriek, who can demolish skyscrapers with his high-pitched sound waves; the mesmerindign Spellbinder, Curare, a ninja assassin; Derek Powers' son Paxton, every bit as ruthless and demonic as his dad; and even a revitalized Mr. Freeze--or rather, Mr. Freeze's cryogenically frozen head. Plus: Just as Terry McGinnis had accidentally glommed onto the fact that Bruce Wayne and the earlier Batman were one and the same, so to does his discover in a rather spectacular fashion the fact that the current police commissioner of Gotham City, silver-haired Barbara Gordon, once went by the name of Batgirl. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Friedle, Kevin Conroy, (more)
Such formidable villains as Shriek, Inque, the Jokerz and the Royal Flush gang continue to make like difficult for the "new" Batman, aka Terry McGinniss, as he tries to purge crime from the Gotham City of 2021 AD in Season Three of the animated Batman Beyond. Adding to Terry's burden this season is an old friend who has switched over to the dark side and reemerged as criminal genius "Big Time" Bigelow; and then there's that "invulnerable" supervillain whom even Batman cannot defeat despite a veritable arsenal of high-tech crimebusting hardware. As for "original" Batman Bruce Wayne, he is not as embittered and isolated as in seasons past, though he still yearns for the days of his idealistic youth, so much so that he agrees to undergo an experiment that will shave several years off his age--an experiment which, unfortunately, carries a heavy price tag. Episode highlights during the third season include the two-part "The Call", a crossover with the like-vintage superhero cartoon series Justice League of America, with guest appearances by Superman, Aquagirl, the Green Lantern and Warhawk--one of whom will, to universal horror, emerge as the villain of the piece. And in another two-parter, Terry/Batman goes "mano y mano" with a particularly vicious ninja gang known as Kobra. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Friedle, Kevin Conroy, (more)
In this pilot film for the Batman Beyond television series (which aired as a two-part episode), Bruce Wayne (Kevin Conroy) has become too old for super heroics and has hung up his bat suit for good. However, a young man named Terry McGinnis (Will Friedle) wants to avenge the death of his father, which he believes was caused by the new head of Wayne Industries. After he does a bit of digging, McGinnis discovers Bruce Wayne's long-held secret and takes Bruce's suit out of mothballs to become the new Batman, with a new complement of high-tech gadgets at his disposal. Boasting a futuristic look inspired by Japanese anime, Batman Beyond also features appearances from Stockard Channing as the new Commissioner Gordon and Teri Garr as Mary McGinnis, Terry's mom. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Set in New York and New England (but filmed in Newfoundland), Behind the Red Door stars Kyra Sedgwick as Manhattan-based photographer Natalie Haddad, who enjoys success with her strangely gloomy and foreboding camerawork. When her agent and best friend Julia (Stockard Channing) arranges for her to accept a lucrative contract with a Boston ad agency, Natalie discovers that she will be working for her own gay brother Roy (Kiefer Sutherland), whom she hasn't seen in a decade. Although Roy is insufferably snobbish and manipulative, he manages to exert a curious control over Natalie, forcing her to confront several disturbing, long-suppressed memories of her past (shown in black-and-white flashbacks). Before the film is over, Natalie is made to realize why Roy's behavior is so overbearing -- and also, the viewer learns just how intimately Julia is involved in the lives of both siblings. Underwritten by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation as part of an ongoing program to heighten HIV/AIDS awareness, Behind the Red Door made its Showtime cable-network bow on January 12, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kyra Sedgwick, Kiefer Sutherland, (more)
A perverse, dark-humored comedy drama, Bitter Moon crosses the line into intentional camp more often than not in its tale of a kinky cripple Oscar (Peter Coyote) and his beautiful wife Mimi (Emmanuelle Seigner). Oscar ensnares a proper British man, Nigel (Hugh Grant) on an ocean-liner and makes him listen to the twisted tale of his relationship with Mimi (related in lengthy flashbacks) and how erotic obsession turned to homicidal hatred. Nigel is married to Fiona (Kristin Scott-Thomas), but is captivated by Mimi and listens to Oscar's grotesque stories because of his fascination. Naturally, the whole thing ends in tragedy, but it's wicked fun getting there, as director Roman Polanski paces the film quite well and the cast (particularly Coyote) is wonderful. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Coyote, Emmanuelle Seigner, (more)
- 2002
Based on the (somewhat darker) novel by Gregory Maguire, the made-for-TV movie Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister offers a refreshing revisionist spin on the old Cinderella legend. Having squandered her late husband's fortune, 17th century widow Margarethe (Stockard Channing) moves from London to her native Holland, in hopes of snagging wealthy tulip merchant Van Den Meer (David Westhead) as Hubby Number Two. Going along for the ride are Margarethe's two daughters, Iris (Azura Skye) and Ruth (Emma Poole), whom their mother regards as hopelessly homely and awkward -- especially when compared to Van Den Meer's gorgeous, aloof, and chronically agoraphobic daughter Clara (Claire Harrison). Though unattractive by her mother's idiotically exacting standards, Iris glows with beauty from within, especially when her artistic soul is unleashed by a wise old mentor known as the Master (Jonathan Pryce) (who, without giving too much of the game away, bears a remarkable resemblance to the great Rembrandt). When Margarethe selfishly attempts to marry off Iris to a handsome Prince, ignoring the girl's growing fondness for the Master's humble apprentice Casper (Matthew Goode), Iris formulates a plan to draw Clara out of her shell and prepare her unofficial stepsister for a royal marriage. Deftly challenging still-prevalent notions of "ugly," "beautiful," "good," and "evil," Confessions of an Ugly Sister was a Canadian-Luxembourg coproduction, filmed in 2001 and first telecast as part of ABC's Wonderful World of Disney anthology on March 10, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
- PG
Sweet Revenge was originally shipped out as Dandy, the All-American Girl. The multitalented Stockard Channing plays a car thief with a penchant for elaborate disguises. She hopes to trade in her stolen goods and purchase a snazzy sports model for herself. Sam Waterston costars as a public defender who, much against his will, falls in love with the charming thief. Producer/director Jerry Schatzberg seems so certain of Channing's considerable talents that he feels a coherent story is unecessary. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stockard Channing, Sam Waterston, (more)
Kirstie Alley earned a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in this moving made-for-TV drama. She plays Sally Goodson, the devoted mother of autistic child David. Abandoned by her husband years before, Sally has sacrificed much for her son but has felt it in his best interest. One of the key things she accomplished was keeping her son out of the institution that the government feels is in his best interest. Unfortunately, she could not avoid "the System" forever and when a well-meaning social worker learns that the boy is still in Sally's care, a heated battle ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirstie Alley, Sam Waterston, (more)
- 1987
Based on a best-selling book by Joseph Wambaugh, this is the story of the investigation of the murder of a Philadelphia school teacher and the search for her missing children, which eventually leads the police to two rather eccentric colleagues involved in the dead woman's life. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
In this comedy, two women head for Reno to get simultaneous quicky divorces and end up becoming friends. Edie was married years ago, but her husband abandoned her two weeks after the wedding. Pen spent nine years married to an ice-cold businessman who neglected her. Edie and Pen meet while leaving the courtroom. They immediately head for a bar where they encounter Harry, who is despondent that his wife took his beloved dog when she left him. As the three grow increasingly inebriated, they begin having long conversations about their pasts, presents and futures. Now that ditzy Edie is divorced, she plans to marry her new love in Acapulco. Meanwhile, womanizing Harry attempts to bed the vulnerable Pen. Dramatic tension rises when Pen discovers that Edie's fiancé is her ex-husband. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stockard Channing, Jennifer Tilly, (more)
"Grease," said the poster and the Barry Gibb song, "is the word." Transferring its setting from Chicago to sunny California, and adding a dash of disco to the ersatz '50s score, producer Allan Carr and director Randal Kleiser turned this long-running Jim Jacobs - Warren Casey Broadway smash into the biggest blockbuster of 1978. 1950s teens Danny (John Travolta) and Australian transfer Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) spend their "Summer Nights" falling in love, but once fall comes, it's back to Rydell High and its cliques. As one of the bad boy T-Birds, Danny has to act cool for best pal Kenickie (Jeff Conaway) and their leather-clad mates Sonny (Michael Tucci) and Doody (Barry Pearl, in the role Travolta played on stage). Despite befriending Frenchy (Didi Conn), one of the rebel Pink Ladies, virginal Sandy is "too pure to be Pink," as the Ladies' leader Rizzo (Stockard Channing) acidly observes. Declaring their devotion in such ballads as "Hopelessly Devoted to You" and "Sandy," Sandy and Danny split, reconcile, and split again amidst a pep rally, dances, drive-ins, and a drag race, before deciding "You're the One That I Want" at the climactic carnival. With Travolta white-hot from Saturday Night Fever (1977), Grease soundtrack singles climbed the charts and summer movie crowds poured in. With the presence of Joan Blondell, Eve Arden, Sid Caesar, Edd "Kookie" Byrnes and Frankie Avalon appealing to grown-up memories, Grease became the highest grossing film of 1978, the highest grossing movie musical ever, and the third most popular film of the new blockbuster '70s after Star Wars (1977) and Jaws (1975). Its sequel, Grease 2, did not exactly set the world on fire in 1982. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, (more)
Though she always played coy about the fact in interviews, Nora Ephron's novel Heartburn is a thinly disguised "a clef" rehash of her marriage to Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein. Meryl Streep plays Rachel, an influential food critic who marries charismatic columnist Mark (Jack Nicholson) after a whirlwind courtship. Warned that Mark is constitutionally incapable of settling down with any one woman, Rachel gives up her own job to make certain that her marriage works. When Rachel announces that she's pregnant, Mark virtually jumps out of his skin with delight. But as the news sinks in, Mark chafes at the impending responsibilities of fatherhood, and the philandering begins-- as if it had ever really stopped! Our favorite scene: Rachel and her friends being robbed at her therapy group. That's Meryl Streep's real-life daughter playing Rachel's offspring. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, (more)
British actor Robert Carlyle stars as the 20th century's most infamous dictator in this two-part TV biopic. The film covers the life of Adolf Hitler from his childhood to his emergence as absolute ruler of Germany in 1934. Most of the ground covered should be familiar to history buffs: Hitler's failed efforts to become a great artist, his frustration at watching his adopted country fall apart at the seams during World War I, his resolve to put Germany back on its feet by exploiting the nation's horrendous postwar economic woes and its ingrained anti-Semitism, his 1923 arrest, the publication of Hitler's virulent screed Mein Kampf, the growing popularity of National Socialism, and the fatal error made by senile German chancellor Von Hindbenburg (Peter O'Toole) to "neutralize" Hitler by giving him a relatively unimportant political post in 1933. Also covered is Hitler's abortive romance with his half-niece Geli Raubal (Jena Malone) and his longer relationship with the estimable Eva Braun (Zoe Telford). Given the difficulties faced by actor Carlyle and the screenwriters to successfully convey pure, unadulterated evil, much of what we learn about Hitler is conveyed by the observations and reactions of other characters, notably crusading but ineffectual anti-Nazi journalist Fritz Gerlich (Matthew Modine), and especially German publisher Ernst Hanfstaengl (Liev Schreiber) and his wife, Helene (Julianna Margulies). Originally a staunch supporter of Hitler, Hanfstaengl eventually comes to realize the danger the man poses to the world ("He's not human. He simply studies others to become human."); in contrast, Helene, who at the outset is vaguely opposed to National Socialism, is ultimately seduced and swept up by the movement. Not surprisingly, this film stirred up a great deal of controversy even before it aired; some Jewish leaders and prominent Holocaust survivors worried that Hitler might come off as being sympathetic (a concern that may have dictated altering the film's title, which was to have been Hitler: The Early Years); and one of the film's producers was summarily dismissed after issuing a public statement which seemed to compare Germany's blind, unthinking allegiance to Hitler to America's rallying behind George W. Bush during the Iraq crisis. Hitler: The Rise of Evil originally aired May 18 and 20, 2003, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Carlyle, Stockard Channing, (more)
Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Paola di Florio directs Home of the Brave, a documentary about the impact of Viola Liuzzo's murder. Detroit housewife and mother of five, Liuzzo was a civil rights activist who went to Alabama to help with voter registration in 1965. She was in town during the pivotal march organized by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which ended in violence at the Edmund Pettus Bridge near Selma. While trying to transport the tear-gased marchers in her car, she was shot by three members of the Ku Klux Klan. Suspects Eugene Thomas, Collie Leroy Wilkins Jr., and William Orville Eaton were found guilty of civil rights violations and later acquitted. The film also explores the FBI investigation in the aftermath of her death, as well as the reaction in the Liuzzo home. Home of the Brave was shown at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004 as part of the documentary competition. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Liuzzo, Tony Liuzzo, (more)
Jacqueline Susann spent a long career on the edges of show business as an actress and model, but it never really paid off until she quit acting to write her first novel. Valley of the Dolls was a proudly sleazy potboiler that sold 26 million copies and had readers wondering which characters matched up to which real-life show-biz figures. Susann wrote several other successful novels, but fame and fortune didn't make her life any less tumultuous; she had well-publicized problems with drugs and alcohol and a series of free-wheeling affairs, although she stayed with her husband Irving Mansfield until her death in 1974 at the age of 56. Isn't She Great is a screen biography that focuses on Susann's roller-coaster literary career, with Bette Midler as Susann and Nathan Lane as Mansfield; David Hyde Pierce, Stockard Channing, John Cleese, and Sarah Jessica Parker round out the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bette Midler, Nathan Lane, (more)
An adolescent who is sorting out his new sexual feelings is less than comforted by the example of his immediate family in this coming-of-age comedy drama. Jack (Anton Yelchin) is a boy in his early teens who is rolling headlong into puberty and trying to make sense of his feelings about girls, which are making themselves known at a less than opportune moment. Jack's parents, Paul (Ron Silver) and Anne (Stockard Channing), have just announced they're getting a divorce, which coincides with Paul's decision to come out as a gay man and move in with his boyfriend. Jack is certain his family has gone crazy, and tries to find suitable role models in his friends' families, although he soon discovers they have more than their share of their own troubles to deal with. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
