Noelle Beck
- 2007
Sibling filmmakers Benjamin and Orson Cummings write, produce, and direct this Hitchcock-influenced noir thriller starring Bill Sage as Davis Meyers, a trophy husband who lives in the Hamptons and resorts to infidelity and murder as a means of producing a suitable heir. By the time local investigator Linus (Roy Scheider) catches wind of the scheme, the stage has already been set for tragedy. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Sage, Roy Scheider, (more)
Two couples demonstrate that breaking up can be just as hard as staying together in this romantic comedy drama. Rebecca (Julianne Moore) and Tom (David Duchovny) are a seemingly happy married couple living in New York City -- she's a successful actress, while he stays home with the kids. However, beneath the surface, things are not going well. Rebecca is no longer amused with her husband's appetite for porn and constant sexual demands, while he's seriously considering having an affair. Rebecca's brother Tobey, (Billy Crudup), is in a more openly dysfunctional relationship; he's been dating Elaine (Maggie Gyllenhaal) for seven years but has no interest in marriage, while she's desperate to settle down and start a family. Tobey and Elaine decide to call it quits, as Tobey hooks up with an old friend from college (Eva Mendes) who is looking to cheat on her husband, and Elaine starts dating a handsome musician (James LeGros) who may be in need of a green card. Meanwhile, Rebecca and Tom go into couples therapy, which creates as many problems as it solves. Trust the Man also features Ellen Barkin, Garry Shandling, and Bob Balaban. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Duchovny, Julianne Moore, (more)
- 2000
In this concluding episode of a two-part "crossover" story which began on Law & Order's sister series Law & Order: SVU, the D.A.'s office endeavors to connect the murder of a salesman with the politically influential Mulroney family. Despite pressure brought to bear by powerful matriarch Regina Mulroney (Jane Alexander), A.D.A. Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) refuses to drop the prosecution. Featured in the cast are SVU regulars Richard Belzer (as Detective John Munch), Christopher Meloni (Detective Elliot Stabler), Mariska Hargitay (Detective Olivia Bensen), and Dann Florek (Captain Don Cragen). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2000
A teenage boy has his life turned upside down (usually once a week) in this half-hour situation comedy. 14-year-old Tucker Pierce (Eli Marienthal) is already having enough trouble dealing with school, the onset of adolescence, and his body's new habit of betraying his feelings about girls when his father decides to leave his mother Jeannie (Noelle Beck) for a younger woman. With few options, Tucker and Jeannie end up moving in with Jeannie's sister Claire (Katey Sagal), her husband Jimmy (Casey Sander), and their son Leon (Nathan Lawrence). Tucker is more than a little creeped out by Leon's malign obsession with professional wrestling, and Claire is convinced her nephew is some sort of pervert, but Tucker fortunately has an ally in the neighborhood -- a pretty girl his age named McKenna (Alison Lohman). Directed and co-produced by Allan Arkush, Tucker premiered on the NBC television network on October 2, 2000. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eli Marienthal, Katey Sagal, (more)
An ex-mercenary (Tom Berenger) becomes a take-no-prisoners teacher in a drug-ridden, gang-infested Miami high school in this campy morality tale about restoring lost American virtues to the inner city. Berenger's character, Shale, has no first name, a shadowy past as a patriotic gun-for-hire, and is temporarily unemployed and living with an idealistic teacher, Jane Hetzko (Diane Verona). Jane has angered a school gang leader, Juan Lucas (Marc Anthony), by asking the principal to get him transferred after he has threatened her in the schoolyard. After Jane is kneecapped by a gang member, Shale fakes a resume and becomes a substitute teacher, Mr. Smith. He lectures his class on the lessons of Vietnam ("We were fighting Communism") while looking for a way to get revenge on Juan. When he challenges the school's tolerance for student misbehavior, Smith is fired by the slimy principal, Claude Rolle (Ernie Hudson), an ex-cop who is running for City Council and doesn't want to rock the boat. Shale stays because he cites a union rule requiring two weeks' notice. During that period, tensions escalate and eventually Shale intervenes in a gang war that degenerates into a school-destroying inferno of violence. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Berenger, Ernie Hudson, (more)
Though the original Fletch was drubbed by critics, it proved a major success for star Chevy Chase. It was inevitable, then, that a sequel would make an appearance. Surprisingly, Fletch Lives didn't come out until 1989--a full five years after the original. Once more, Chase stars as Irwin Maurice "Fletch" Fletcher, the gonzo investigative reporter created by novelist Gregory McDonald. Indulging his penchant for disguises and bizarre aliases, Fletch investigates a deep dark mystery at a crumbling Southern plantation. Various friends and enemies are portrayed con brio by Hal Holbrook, Cleavon Little, Juliane Phillips, Randall "Tex" Cobb, Richard Libertini and Richard Belzer (Chase's cohort from the old Groove Tube days). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chevy Chase, Hal Holbrook, (more)
