Ruth Charny Movies

Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno are "The Yes Men" -- two guys who combine political activism, performance art, and the love of a good prank in the name of demanding that the private sector take responsibility for the damage it has done to the world and its people. Bichlbaum and Bonanno specialize in setting up realistic-looking mock websites that claim to represent famous and powerful multinational corporations, and when they're contacted to speak on behalf of the companies, they deliver absurd satirical presentations that sometimes fool their audiences into believing they've seen the real thing. The exploits of Bichlbaum and Bonanno were chronicled in the 2003 documentary The Yes Men, and their further adventures have spawned a second film, The Yes Men Fix the World, which follows the radical pranksters as they claim responsibility for a major environmental disaster in Bhopal on European television, demonstrate a new corporate rescue orb, "defend" corporate interests in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and publish a mock edition of The New York Times that declares the end of the war in Iraq. The Yes Men Fix the World received its world premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The amoral world of a handful of Wall Street businessmen is delineated in this black comedy written by Lemony Snicket creator Daniel Handler. Rick takes as its central character a mid-level manager (Bill Pullman) working in a nameless corporation for a boss, Duke (Aaron Stanford), who's nearly half his age. Duke and Rick are constantly one-upping each other around the office; compounding their contentious relationship is the fact that Duke is pursuing Rick's daughter, Eve (Agnes Bruckner), a teenager who frequents Internet sex-chat rooms. Rick thinks he has found the solution to his work problems in Buck (Dylan Baker), an old college buddy who's become a paid hitman; for a fee, he'll take care of anyone who comes between Rick and his climb up the corporate ladder. But when a jilted job interviewee (Sandra Oh) puts a hex on Rick, it seems his good fortune may come to an end. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide

Love Liza is a psychological drama about a man trying to come to terms with his wife's suicide. Wilson Joel (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) is searching for answers as to why his wife, Liza, killed herself. He is unable to bring himself to read the suicide note Liza left behind. Instead of facing his demons, Wilson becomes addicted to sniffing gasoline. Kathy Bates co-stars as Liza's mother. This film was written by the star's brother Gordy Hoffman, and directed by newcomer Todd Louiso. Love Liza was screened at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Dan McCormack spins this yuppie nightmare about lost identity, lost love, and New York. Phil (David Aaron Baker) and Anna (Mary McCormack) are a young couple whose marriage is slowly going sour. Each suspects the other of having an illicit affair. Anna shares with her analyst, Dr. Grover (Stockard Channing), that she is seeing another man, while Phil confides in his wildly erratic buddy John (Campbell Scott), that while he suspects Anna is sleeping around, he is engaging in a little extra-marital infidelity himself. Though Dr. Grover is unnerved by how flippantly Anna is treating her dalliances, John suggests that Phil consult with Jordin (Peter Gallagher in an outrageous French accent), one of Gotham's finest private dicks. Soon Phil finds himself jumped by Mink (Ricky Aiello), one of Jordin's goons, and Anna is stalked by her unhinged brother Jeff (Rob Morrow) who is trying to prevent a rendezvous between her and her mysterious lover. This film was screened at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Noted French actress Nathalie Richard makes her English-language debut in this downbeat drama. Anne (Richard) is a woman who, after the loss of her leg in an accident, has withdrawn into her apartment, where her only contact with the outside world is her significant other, Donny (Daniel Aukin). One day Anne's sister Iris (Sarah Adler) appears; she hasn't spoken with Anne in ten years, but after a decade of free-spirited traveling, she's decided this is where she wants to stay. Anne takes Iris in and comes to enjoy her boisterous personality, but Donny dislikes her intensely, and the two begin to spar, with a serious conflict inevitable. This first effort from writer/director David Barker was shown at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Illeana Douglas delivers a superb performance as Denise Waverly, a fictional singer and songwriter whose life bears more than a passing resemblance to that of real-life pop star Carole King. Edna Buxton, the daughter of a Philadelphia steel tycoon, aspires to a career as a singer, and when against her mother's bidding she sings a sultry version of "Hey There (You With the Stars in Your Eyes)" (instead of Mom's choice, "You'll Never Walk Alone") at a talent contest, she wins a recording contact and moves to New York City. She cuts a record and gains a new stage name, Denise Waverly; however, she soon finds that girl singers are a dime a dozen in the Big Apple and her career as a vocalist goes nowhere. But she has a knack for writing songs, and eccentric producer Joel Milner (John Turturro) asks her to pen some songs for his upcoming projects. Teamed with Howard Caszatt (Eric Stoltz), a hipster songwriter who wants to express his political and social ideals through pop tunes, she finds both a successful collaborator and husband. While her work with Howard gains Denise writing credits on a string of hit records and respect within the industry, their marriage falls apart, and she becomes involved with Jay Phillips (Matt Dillon), the gifted but unstable leader of a popular West Coast surf music combo. Students of pop music history will have a ball with the various characters modeled after real-life rock legends, and the 1960s-style song score includes numbers written by Joni Mitchell and J. Mascis (of the band Dinosaur Jr.), as well as one-time King collaborator Gerry Goffin; a collaboration between Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach, "God Give Me Strength," led to a full album written by the two great tunesmiths. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Martin Mirkhein (Griffin Dunne) is a failed entrepreneur trying to figure out how to pay a huge tax bill to the State of Florida when he gets a brainstorm -- Daniel Strong, the inspirational men's movement novel by New Age philosopher Luther Waxling (Dennis Hopper), would make a great film. Never mind that Mirkhein doesn't know a thing about making movies -- he decides that this film is his destiny, and he heads out with his girlfriend/personal assistant/aspiring screenwriter Marie (Illeana Douglas) to visit Waxling's representatives, who don't react with much enthusiasm when Mirkhein suggests that he'd like them to give him the film rights as well as the money to produce the movie. In search of financing, Mirkhein finds himself working with Kim Ulander (Christopher Walken), a businessman who doesn't mind if people think he's a gangster (and boy, is he something at karaoke night!), and Ron (John Turturro), a second-rate hood with a severely impaired fashion sense. The first directorial effort from artist David Salle, Search and Destroy was executive produced by Martin Scorsese, who also plays a small role as a tax agent. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Successful character actor Barry Primus spent seven years trying to get financing for his feature debut as a writer-director, Mistress. In the film, a once-promising writer-director, Marvin Landisman (Robert Wuhl), who now directs instructional videos, is sitting home one night, watching his own print of Jean Renoir's Grand Illusion, when he gets a strange phone call. A producer, Jack Roth (Martin Landau), formerly a bigwig at Universal, tells Marvin he was cleaning out his office when he came across Marvin's old script, "The Darkness and the Light." Jack claims he can get financing to make the film, and agrees to Marvin's stipulation that he be attached to direct. They "take a meeting" at a low-rent diner, and Jack brings along a gung-ho novice screenwriter, Stuart (Jace Alexander), to help Marvin polish the script. They meet with three potential backers, played by Eli Wallach, Danny Aiello, and Robert DeNiro, each one more meddlesome than the last, and each with a girlfriend (played by Tuesday Knight, Jean Smart, and Sheryl Lee Ralph, respectively) whom they demand be cast in the film. At first, Marvin adamantly resists changing his serious, downbeat, and very personal script, about an painter who commits suicide, rather than betray his ideals. But eventually, Marvin gets caught up in the momentum of actually getting his dream project made, and starts compromising. He agrees to cast the three women; he agrees to make the script funnier and sexier; he even agrees to change the painter to a photographer to please his backers. Laurie Metcalf plays Marvin's long-suffering wife, and Christopher Walken has a cameo as a tortured actor. Mistress was the first film produced by DeNiro's independent production company, Tribeca Films. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide