Dan Cox Movies

When America's number one NASCAR speed-demon is issued a direct challenge from a gay, French Formula One racer with a hunger for the top spot and a mean talent for tight-cornering, the race is on to become the number one man in all of NASCAR in a full throttle comedy starring Will Ferrell and directed by Anchorman cohort Adam McKay. Ricky Bobby (Ferrell) is a national hero with a "smokin' hot" trophy wife, pair of borderline-abusively precocious sons, and an endless line of endorsement deals filling his mansion with toys and driveway with sports cars and Hummers. His racing partner and lifelong friend Cal Naughton, Jr. (John C. Reilly), never fails to provide him with a hand on the racetrack, frequently performing their trademark "slingshot" maneuver to shoot Ricky into first place, leaving Cal in second. While the public loves these buddies (popularly known by the meaningless childhood nicknames they find so exceedingly cool: "Shake and Bake"), a wedge comes between the two, as Ricky Bobby's longstanding winning-streak is broken by flamboyand French Formula One driver Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen), robbing Ricky of everything in an instant as the trauma leaves him unable to drive. Ricky's wife takes his fortunes while Cal takes his wife, and now he's back with his mother (Jane Lynch) and long-estranged father (Gary Cole). Things look bad for Ricky, but his father was once a race car driver himself, and now with the help of a training montage, a live cougar, and the courage to drive without his gleaming white Wonder Bread endorsement, Ricky might be ready to face the track again. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

British director Mike Hodges brought an extra measure of integrity to this made-for-TV thriller. Rosanna Arquette stars as Martha Travis, a psychic who travels the rural American South with her alcoholic father, Walter (Jason Robards), plying her mystical trade for credulous yokels. In reality, Martha is a con woman whose only gift is the ability to defraud those who seek messages from dead loved ones. However, one night the bogus medium intercepts mental images of a murdered man whose wife is in the audience -- and indignantly proclaims that her husband is still very much alive. Within hours, however, Martha's vision becomes reality. Martha has suddenly developed the ability to see murders before they happen, but her newfound ability to prognosticate puts a professional contract killer on her trail. In the meantime, Martha becomes lovers with Gary Wallace (Tom Hulce), a small-town reporter who's intrigued enough by Martha to write a story about her, although he's skeptical about her supernatural talents. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide