Alexandra Neil Movies
In keeping with the light and slick tones of her earlier film What Women Want, Nancy Meyers writes and directs the romantic comedy Something's Gotta Give. Jack Nicholson plays Harry Langer, a swinging sixtysomething entertainment executive surrounded by plenty of young girlfriends. His latest romance is young petite sophisticate Marin (Amanda Peet), who takes him to her mother's beach house in the Hamptons for a weekend fling. However, Marin's successful Broadway playwright mother Erica Barry (Diane Keaton) is already vacationing at the house with her sister Zoe (Frances McDormand). Marin and Harry stay anyway, and Harry ends up having a heart attack. He goes to the hospital and is looked after by thirtysomething doctor Julian Mercer (Keanu Reeves). Impressed by her writing, Dr. Mercer finds himself pursuing a romance with Erica. Because of his serious health condition, he orders Harry to stay near the hospital. While Marin returns to Manhattan, Erica agrees to stay on and look after Harry. Of course they are repulsed by each other at first, but they end up falling in love throughout the recovery process. Also starring Jon Favreau as Harry's assistant. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Nicholson, Diane Keaton, (more)
- 2001
A body fished out of the East River turns out to be that of Karen Hall, a criminal investigator with the State Attorney General's office. Detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Greene (Jesse L. Martin) launch their investigation by questioning Hall's boss Conroy (Nestor Serrano), who theorizes that Karen was kidnapped and killed while on a case. Things change dramatically when the facts surrounding Conroy's tempestuous private life (and his hold over three different women) come to light. Writer Fran Lebowitz makes the first of several cameo appearances as Arraignment Judge Goldberg. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
A bail bondsman is murdered, and the detectives subsequently haul in a likely perpetrator. Then, an offhand comment made by the suspect leads to irrefutable evidence that a disreputable attorney has been fixing cases for a price. Even more disturbing is the possibility that the attorney's accomplice is a "mole" working within the New York City legal system -- and maybe in the offices of the DA himself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The third pairing of comic actors Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder was much less successful than their previous team-ups, Silver Streak(1976) and Stir Crazy (1980). Wilder plays Dave, the deaf proprietor of a newsstand and employer of blind gambler Wally (Pryor). When Wally's bookie is shot and killed at the stand, Dave and Wally are arrested for the crime. Since the deaf Dave had his back turned and didn't see the crime, while the blind Wally only heard it, the clues they have to offer the police are slim: Dave's glimpse of a shapely leg and Wally's whiff of a perfume called Shalimar. It turns out the dead man was in possession of a coin that he dropped into Dave's tip box, which Wally is now carrying. The coin contains a valuable microchip sought by crime baron Sutherland (Anthony Zerbe), for whom hired killer Eve (Joan Severance) and her British partner Kirgo (Kevin Spacey) are working. Posing as lawyers, Eve and Kirgo spring Dave and Wally from jail, leading to a series of misadventures as the coin changes hands and the two sensory-challenged pals attempt to learn who has framed them and why. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Pryor, Gene Wilder, (more)
"Greed is Good." This is the credo of the aptly named Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas), the antihero of Oliver Stone's Wall Street. Gekko, a high-rolling corporate raider, is idolized by young-and-hungry broker Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen). Inveigling himself into Gekko's inner circle, Fox quickly learns to rape, murder and bury his sense of ethics. Only when Gekko's wheeling and dealing causes a near-tragedy on a personal level does Fox "reform"-though his means of destroying Gekko are every bit as underhanded as his previous activities on the trading floor. Director Stone, who cowrote Wall Street with Stanley Weiser, has claimed that the film was prompted by the callous treatment afforded his stockbroker father after 50 years in the business; this may be why the film's most compelling scenes are those between Bud Fox and his airline mechanic father (played by Charlie Sheen's real-life dad Martin). Ironically, Wall Street was released just before the October, 1987 stock market crash. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, (more)
