Vincent D'Onofrio Movies
An actor whose hulking presence belies his ability to slip quietly into an astonishing variety of roles, Vincent D'Onofrio is one of Hollywood's most unpredictable and compelling performers. Throughout his career, D'Onofrio has played a diverse range of characters, from Full Metal Jacket's fatally unhinged army recruit to a wholly convincing Orson Welles in Ed Wood to a bisexual porn star in The Velocity of Gary.Born in Brooklyn, NY, on June 30, 1959, D'Onofrio was raised in the diverse locales of Hawaii, Colorado, and Miami's Hialeah section. His career as an actor began on the stage, with study under Sonia Moore of New York's American Stanislavsky Theatre and Sharon Chatten at the Actors Studio. D'Onofrio's early years in the theater were filled with an obligatory helping of obscurity and miniscule paychecks (so miniscule that he worked for a time as a bouncer to help pay the bills). His fortunes began to shift in 1984, when he joined the American Stanislavsky Theatre as a performer. There, he appeared in such well-regarded productions as Of Mice and Men and David Mamet's Sexual Perversity in Chicago, and also made his Broadway debut in Open Admissions.
D'Onofrio debuted onscreen in the straight-to-oblivion 1983 comedy The First Turn-On!, but it was not until his haunting portrayal of Pvt. Pyle (a role for which the actor gained 70 pounds) four years later in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket that he earned much-deserved notice for his work. Defying easy categorization, D'Onofrio next appeared in the romantic comedy Mystic Pizza (1988), slimming down to his normal weight and giving a convincing portrayal as Lili Taylor's lovestruck boyfriend.
Having thus given audiences a glimpse of his remarkable versatility, D'Onofrio spent the next few years making his presence felt in such films as JFK (1991), in which he played assassination witness Bill Newman; The Player (1992), which cast him in the pivotal role of ill-fated screenwriter David Kahane; and Nancy Savoca's Household Saints (1993), which, through a particularly odd feat of casting, had him playing the father of Lili Taylor. Although D'Onofrio worked at a prolific pace, it was not until he portrayed Conan the Barbarian author Robert E. Howard in the 1996 The Whole Wide World that he really had his screen breakthrough. A low-key romantic drama about the relationship between Howard and a schoolteacher (Renée Zellweger), the film allowed D'Onofrio to take center stage, rather than lend support to better-known co-stars. Critics roundly applauded his performance, but although the actor kept working steadily, he was by no means a Hollywood fixture. Eschewing the limelight, he turned in particularly memorable performances in Feeling Minnesota (1996) as Cameron Diaz's cuckolded fiancé and in the 1997 blockbuster Men in Black, which cast him as the film's resident bad guy.
D'Onofrio had long since become an established actor by the 2000's, and he would remain a solid force on screen in such films as The Cell, Happy Accidents, Steal This Movie, andThumbsucker. D'Onofrio would also find just as much notoriety on the small screen, most notably as Detective Robert Goren on the phenomenally successful Law & Order spin-off Criminal Intent, and even step behind the camera, penning, helming and starring in the drama Mall. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi
Is Ruby Weaver's Mr. Right really an emissary from the year 2,470, or is he just a complete loon ball? This question is at the heart of Brad Anderson's whimsical romantic comedy. The story opens with Ruby (Marisa Tomei) lamenting over her boyfriend Sam (Vincent D'Onofrio) to her shrink (Holland Taylor). In a series of flashbacks, the film quickly sketches Ruby as a neurotic with an unhappy track record concerning men and Sam as an oddball who is afraid of small dogs and has a barcode tattooed to his arm. But he's nuts over Ruby, and at least initially, that is enough for her. Slowly, Sam begins to reveal his "past." He tells her that he is from the Dubuque of the future and that he hails from a rare "anachronistic" family who believe that reproduction should occur the old-fashioned, fun way as opposed to the more popular cloning method. At first, Ruby is amused, until she realizes that he's not kidding. After a series of arguments, he agrees to visit Ruby's analyst, which yields unexpected results. This film premiered at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marisa Tomei, Vincent D'Onofrio, (more)
Steal This Movie! is a dramatic account of the tumultuous life and times of Abbie Hoffman, one of the most visible and influential figures of America's 1960s counter-culture. (Its title was inspired by Hoffman's irreverent "survival guide," Steal This Book.) Hoffman's founding of the Youth International Party (better known as the "Yippies") and inventive acts of street theater -- including an "exorcism" of the Pentagon and the riotous protests at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago -- made him a household name and a star of the anti-war movement. They also earned him enemies, and he was eventually arrested for trying to sell cocaine to an undercover cop, a bust that he contended was a set-up meant to discredit him. Rather than face a long prison sentence, Hoffman went underground, leaving behind his wife and children and posing as "Barry Freed," who became a respected environmental activist. In time, Freed acknowledged that he was Hoffman, spent two months in jail, and returned to activism full-time until his 1989 death. Steal This Movie stars Vincent D'Onofrio as Hoffman, Janeane Garofalo as his wife Anita, Kevin Corrigan as Jerry Rubin, Troy Garity as Tom Hayden, and Jeanne Tripplehorn as Joanna Lawrenson, who became romantically involved with Barry Freed. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vincent D'Onofrio, Janeane Garofalo, (more)
In this science fiction thriller, child psychiatrist Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez) has developed a technique that allows her to travel through the minds of her patients. When Stargher (Vincent D'Onofrio), a multiple murderer who methodically drowns his victims and performs bizarre rituals with their bodies, falls into a coma, FBI agent Peter Novak (Vince Vaughn) asks Deane to enter the killer's psyche, in the hope of finding a missing girl whom Stargher has kidnapped; if she's not soon found, in all likelihood she'll die in his torture cell. However, once Deane enters the bizarre world of Stargher's mind, she finds getting out to be a very difficult matter. The Cell was the first feature from director Tarsem, who previously made award-winning commercials and music videos, including the video for R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion." The supporting cast includes Catherine Sutherland, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Dylan Baker, and Pruitt Taylor Vince. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jennifer Lopez, Vince Vaughn, (more)
The increasingly blurry lines between what is real and what is an artificial construct - both physically and philosophically - are the point of focus in the science fiction drama The Thirteenth Floor. In 1937, a man named Fuller (Armin Mueller-Stahl) gives a note to Ashton (Vincent D'Onofrio), the bartender at a swank hotel, that's addressed to Douglas Hall (Craig Bierko). Fuller tells Ashton it's crucial that no one else sees the note, and that the information enclosed is of great importance. Moments later, Fuller transports himself to 1998. He's soon found murdered, and a shirt stained with Fuller's blood is found in Hall's apartment. Fuller and Hall both work for Intergraph Computer Systems, a cutting edge artificial intelligence firm, and the "past" Fuller was visiting was actually a stunningly realistic recreation of Los Angeles 50 years ago, complete with people you can meet and places you can visit, that exists only in a microchip. The message he left with Ashton, however, is real. Some people, including LAPD detective Larry McBain (Dennis Haysbert) believe Hall murdered Fuller to assume his position of leadership at Intergraph. Jane (Gretchen Mol), Fuller's daughter, soon arrives on the scene, and Hall finds himself infatuated; Hall is determined to clear his name, so with the help of Whitney (also played by (Vincent D'Onofrio), he into the virtual 1937 in hopes of discovering just what happened. The Thirteenth Floor makes copious use of digital effects technology to allow its characters to travel between 1937 and 1998 - ironically using computer technology to create a world that exists inside a computer. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Craig Bierko, Armin Mueller-Stahl, (more)
A group of four friends reunite on the 20th anniversary of their high school basketball championship season. The reunion turns dark, however, when long hidden secrets are revealed. ~ Rovi
One day Jack (Matthew Lillard) shows up at the antiques-laden warehouse apartment of Max (Vincent D'Onofrio) and Jamie (Valeria Golino), two ruthless low-level criminals with higher aspirations than the two-bit thieving they do now. Jack insists he's Max's brother, but Jamie, whose hobby is collecting poison, has her doubts. When Max arrives to find Jack tied to a chair, it's revealed that Jack isn't Max's brother -- he's a hoodlum with a line on a briefcase with a million dollars and a priceless, mysterious antiquity called the Spanish Judges; all he wants is Max and Jamie's help recovering the loot. But when the plan goes awry, and violently so, suddenly loyalties and motives are called into question. Was this Jack's plan all along, or did Jamie have something to do with it? ~ Buzz McClain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vincent D'Onofrio, Valeria Golino, (more)
Dan Ireland directed this romantic comedy-drama (adapted by James Still from his own play) about a romantic triangle. Doughnut shop waitress Mary Carmen (Salma Hayek) is the girlfriend of bisexual porn star Valentino (Vincent D'Onofrio), but she's frozen out after Valentino gets a look at Midwestern hunk Gary (Thomas Jane). Rivalries end, and the three become close after Valentino succumbs to the AIDS virus. Shown at the 1998 San Sebastian Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Salma Hayek, Vincent D'Onofrio, (more)
American filmmaker Lodge Kerrigan (Clean, Shaven) directed this French production, set in New York. Dublin native Claire (Katrin Cartlidge of Naked and Career Girls) is a New York prostitute constantly working to eliminate her debt to menacing Roland Cain (Colm Meaney), who's known her since she was a child. After the death of her mother, Claire sets out to unleash her pent-up feelings and gain control of her life. She meets a guy in a bar and has sex, is befriended by calm cabbie Elton (Vincent D'Onofrio), visits her Newark cousin, plays with her niece, and eventually tells Elton that she wants to have a baby. Atonal score by Ahrin Mishan and Simon Fisher. Shown in competition at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Katrin Cartlidge, Vincent D'Onofrio, (more)
- 1998
Made for television, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is adapted from the suspense novel by John Godey, previously filmed as a theatrical feature in 1974. The earlier version was highlighted by the verbal cat-and-mouse game between a cynical veteran NYPD detective, played by Walter Matthau, and a world-weary master criminal, played by Robert Shaw. The remake offers two detectives, Piscotti (Edward James Olmos and Ray (Lorraine Bracco), who match wits with a man calling himself Mr. Blue (Vincent D'Onofrio), who has masterminded the hijacking of a New York subway car. As his cohorts hold the 14 passengers hostage, Mr. Blue demands a $5 million ransom, to be delivered in one hour, or else the captives will be killed one by one. Though the dark humor which pervaded the 1974 version is largely absent here, the remake pulls off the neat trick of being highly suspenseful and subtle and low-key at the same time. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three debuted February 1, 1998, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Edward James Olmos
Richard Linklater's fifth feature is a major departure from his previous work -- his first big-budget picture, it's also the first of his films since his 1987 Super-8 effort "It's Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books" not set during his signature 24-hour time frame, offering instead a ravishing bankrobber period piece buoyed by a gentleness of spirit rare among movies of any genre. Its true story tells of the four Texas-born Newton brothers, who between 1919 and 1924 were the most successful robbers in the U.S.; led by the newly-paroled Willis Newton (Matthew McConaughey, in arguably his strongest performance to date), the gang -- siblings Jess (Ethan Hawke), Joe (Skeet Ulrich) and Dock (Vincent D'Onofrio), as well as nitroglycerin expert Brentwood Glasscock (Dwight Yoakam) -- embarks on a crime spree which spreads across the U.S. and into Canada, heisting bank vaults only at night in order not to hurt or kill anyone. (As Willis figures it, the bankers -- all covered by insurance -- are merely thieves themselves anyway.) A sweetly contemplative film, The Newton Boys is almost an anti-crime caper -- no one gets killed, and the violence which does occasionally erupt is handled with a light comic touch. By no means a master storyteller, Linklater has instead crafted a movie tailored to his own strengths, among them his skillful direction of actors, his flair for period detail and his unerring sense of rhythm; like all of his work, The Newton Boys is also informed by its maker's deep and abiding love for the film medium itself, complete with any number of striking visual and emotional references to classics ranging from Greed to Jules et Jim. While viewers expecting slam-bang action typical of the genre will undoubtedly be disappointed, those seeking a more humane and poetic alternative will be utterly charmed. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
- Starring:
- Matthew McConaughey, Skeet Ulrich, (more)
For his fifth effort as a feature-film director, one-time cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld brought his cartoonish visual style and darkly humorous sensibilities to this adaptation of, appropriately enough, a tongue-in-cheek sci-fi comic book. Will Smith stars as James Darrel Edwards, a New York City cop with an athletic physique and a flippant, anti-authoritarian attitude toward law enforcement. After chasing down a mysterious perpetrator one night who turns out to be an alien, James is recruited by "K" (Tommy Lee Jones), a veteran of a clandestine government agency secretly policing the comings and goings of aliens on planet Earth. Nicknamed the "men in black" for their nondescript uniform of black suit, shoes, tie, and sunglasses, the agents are assigned to recover a bauble that's been stolen by an intergalactic terrorist (Vincent D'Onofrio). It seems the item is none other than the galaxy itself, and its theft has plunged humanity into the center of what's shaping up to become an interstellar war, unless K and his new wisecracking partner, now renamed "J," can stop the bad guy. On their side but somewhat in the dark is a pretty, unflappable city medical examiner (Linda Fiorentino) who has been zapped one too many times by K's ingenious memory-sapping device. Men in Black was a box office smash, inspiring an animated children's television series and a hit soundtrack album that featured a performance by star (and rapper) Smith. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, (more)
The second outing in the Boys Life series collects another set of gay-themed shorts. Must Be the Music follows a group of Los Angeles teens, three gay and one straight, through a night of romantic misadventures at a hip dance club. In Nunzio's Second Cousin, police Sgt. Tony Randozzy (Vincent D'Onofrio) turns the tables on a group of homophobes (one of them played by Seth Green) and forces one of them, Jimmy (Miles Perlich), to have dinner with him and his mother (Eileen Brennan). Alkali, Iowa uses the backdrop of a Midwestern agricultural community to tell the story of Jack (J.D. Cerna), a gay teen who discovers tantalizing glimpses of his dead father's life buried on the family farm; Mary Beth Hurt plays the boy's distant, defeated mother. The Academy award-winning Trevor relates the tale of a chunky, effete youngster (Brett Barsky) whose love of Diana Ross is matched only by his obsession with Pinky (Jonah Rooney), a handsome classmate. For Boys Life 2's video and DVD release, The DadShuttle replaced Trevor, which had received a video release of its own. An almost plotless tale that takes place during a single car ride to the airport, The DadShuttle focuses on the emotional distance and between a city-dwelling gay man and his suburban father. Alkali, Iowa director Mark Christopher would go on to direct the Hollywood feature 54, while Nickolas Perry, director of Must Be the Music, would go on to helm the Gus Van Sant-produced Speedway Junky. Before directing Trevor, Peggy Rajski was known primarily as a producer; her credits include the Jodie Foster directorial efforts Little Man Tate and Home for the Holidays. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
- 1997
As dozens of commuters look on in horror, John Langer (Vincent D'Onofrio) falls between the cars of a subway train. No one, however, is quite certain whether Langer fell accidentally, jumped, or was deliberately pushed. But the homicide detectives on the scene are certain about one disturbing fact: If any attempt is made to move Langer, he will probably die on the spot. As the grimly philosophical Langer awaits the inevitable, the detectives search for two people -- one of whom may be a killer. "Subway" was the episode profiled on the PBS documentary Anatomy of a 'Homicide: Life on the Street' (originally telecast November 4, 1998). The episode was also nominated for two Emmys: one for D'Onofrio as Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, the other for James Yoshimura for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Andre Braugher, Clark Johnson, (more)
It's not unusual in the movies for a woman to be torn between two brothers, but she usually doesn't change her mind on her wedding day. Then again, hardly anything goes the way one might expect in this black comedy. Freddie (Cameron Diaz), a pretty but hard-as-nails stripper, dreams of some day dancing in a Las Vegas revue, but for the meantime she works at a seedy dive in Minnesota. Freddie is forced by the owner of the club, Red (Delroy Lindo), to marry his accountant, the less-than-charming Sam Clayton (Vincent D'Onofrio), as punishment for supposedly stealing from the strip joint's till (as a further indignity, Red has also had the word "slut" tattooed on her arm). Sam has a rocky relationship with his brother Jjaks (Keanu Reeves) -- his curious name is the result of a typing error on his birth certificate -- but Jjaks receives an invitation to the nuptials from their mother Nora (Tuesday Weld), and he arrives at the wedding reception only a few hours after he's released from prison. When Freddie and Jjacks meet for the first time, there's an immediate chemistry between them, so immediate that before the evening is out, the new in-laws are making love in a bathroom and Freddie has persuaded Jjacks to run away with her; Freddie has also grabbed Sam's bankroll to finance the unscheduled vacation. Sam, understandably enraged, vows to track them down and enlists the help of Ben Costikyan (Dan Aykroyd), a sleazy career criminal. Feeling Minnesota was the debut feature for writer and director Steven Baigelman. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Keanu Reeves, Vincent D'Onofrio, (more)
- 1996
- R
After director Alex Cox alienated the powers that be in Hollywood with Straight to Hell and Walker, his anarchic follow-ups to Repo Man and Sid and Nancy, it would be nearly a decade before he made a film in the United States again. After making the critically acclaimed, underseen Highway Patrolman in Mexico, he agreed to direct The Winner, based on the play A Darker Purpose by Wendy Riss. Vincent D'Onofrio stars as Philip, a soft-spoken, rather dimwitted young man who stumbles into an incredible lucky streak in Las Vegas. Every Sunday, he enters the same casino, wins some money, and goes home. While Philip himself is pretty nonchalant about his lucky streak, it earns him the attention of a lot of unsavory characters. Louise (Rebecca De Mornay, who also executive produced the film), a tacky nightclub singer, and her impotent hitman boyfriend, Jack (Billy Bob Thornton), plan to get Philip to fall in love with Louise and offer her a fortune to pay off her debt to the sinister, seemingly omnipotent Kingman (Delroy Lindo), the casino owner who employs Jack. A small-time hood, Joey (Frank Whaley) and his motley crew (Richard Edson and Saverio Guerra) plan to rip Philip off, but their plans are complicated when the antic, impulsively violent Joey begins to feel a strange attraction to his would-be prey. Wolf (Michael Madsen), Philip's thuggish brother (and Louise's former lover) arrives in town, practically guaranteeing some kind of violent showdown. After shooting the film, Cox returned to Mexico to work on his next project. While he was away, the producers then re-edited The Winner without his consent, and replaced the film's soundtrack. Cox has since distanced himself from the final product. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vincent D'Onofrio, Rebecca De Mornay, (more)
- 1996
- R
Simply switch on the nightly news and you will see that the media has become increasingly intrusive into the lives of people involved in extraordinary circumstances. What is the true impact of the omnipresent camera upon those circumstances? How does it change the existence of those living beneath a publicly broadcast microscope? This provocative drama takes the notion of the intruding camera a step further to follow the machinations of a determined documentary filmmaker who chooses an ordinary man on the street for the subject of her latest probing film. In following her attempts to chronicle even the most intimate details of his mundane existence the film offers a double character portrait, not only of the victim himself, but also of the disaffected (and but for her hands, unseen) filmmaker who is unable to relate to life without the barrier of a hand-held camera to protect her. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vincent D'Onofrio, Hope Davis, (more)
A touching and unusual love story, The Whole Wide World was based on a memoir by Novalyne Price Ellis, in which she recalled her brief romance with Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Barbarian and one of the finest and most prolific pulp writers of his day. In 1933, Novalyne Price (Renee Zellweger) is a pretty but shy Texas schoolteacher who would like to be a writer some day. A friend offers to introduce her to Howard (Vincent D'Onofrio), who writes broad, bold yarns about superhuman heroes and damsels in distress and has little patience for writers of more pretentious fiction. Novalyne likes Howard and he seems to like her, but she finds him a hard man to deal with. He lives in the world of his stories, and he devotes as much time as possible to his bedridden mother, which leaves him little time to pursue a romance. But when Howard discovers that another man has been courting Novalyne, he's heartbroken -- even if they didn't have a conventional romance, he felt there was a special emotional bond between them, and he hates to see it thrown away. Renee Zellweger and Vincent D'Onofrio both deliver fine performances and are a believable (if unconventional) romantic couple; D'Onofrio also co-produced. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vincent D'Onofrio, Renée Zellweger, (more)
Aside from the fact of his disability and the possession of a nickname, what does Tony "Ole" Olezniak (Vincent D'Onofrio), a bitter, blinded, football player have in common with wheelchair-bound Bernard "Bern" Lemley (Gregory Hines)? Absolutely nothing until Bern enthusiastically convinces Ole to join him in a whitewater rafting adventure as part of the first step in Bern's plan to offer this and other extreme sporting adventures to other disabled people. During their arduous journey, the disparate duo learn more about themselves and each other, and in so doing, become real friends. This film features appearances by sports-greats Joe Theismann and Roy Firestone as themselves. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vincent D'Onofrio, Gregory Hines, (more)
Al Franken brings his Saturday Night Live character Stuart Smalley to the big screen in this unexpectedly downbeat comedy about a man desperately trying to overcome his dysfunctional upbringing. Stuart hosts a TV show on public access TV in which he offers bits of New Age wisdom on self-help, often incorporating his trademark affirmation, "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!" Too bad Stuart's advice doesn't work so well for himself; he barely supports himself as a waiter, his self-esteem is shaky at best, and his family is dominated by depressive alcoholics sunk in denial (for all his quirks, Stuart is the only Smalley willing to admit he has a problem). One day, Stuart's friend Julia (Laura San Giacomo) tells him that a cable network is looking for programming, and suggests he should pitch his show to them. Soon Stuart has a nationwide audience and is actually able to support himself, but that's small comfort when his family falls into another crisis. By turns a goofy comedy and a serious look at a dysfunctional family, Stuart Saves His Family does feature a few strong dramatic performances by Laura San Giacomo, Vincent D'Onofrio and Shirley Knight, and a distinctive comic turn by Julia Sweeney as a guest on Stuart's show. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Al Franken, Laura San Giacomo, (more)
Set in Los Angeles two days before the end of 1999, Strange Days introduces us to Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes), an ex-cop turned sleazy hustler who hawks the newest underground thrill on the black market: a "squid," a headpiece that allows one to transmit digital recordings of other people's thoughts, feelings, and memories into their brain; as Lenny describes it, "this is real life, pure and uncut, straight from the cerebral cortex." Lenny deals "clips" (the software) as well as "squids" (the hardware) for this new and illegal entertainment system, and while sex and violence are the most popular themes, Lenny refuses to deal in "blackjack" -- slang for snuff clips. Lenny is nursing a broken heart after his girlfriend, punk singer Faith Justin (Juliette Lewis), left him, and he spends a lot of time with clips he recorded when they were together. Faith is now involved with Philo Grant (Michael Wincott), a music business tycoon who once managed Jeriko One (Glenn Plummer), a hip-hop musician and political activist whose murder has sent L.A. into a state of chaos. When a clip emerges that shows that Jeriko was killed by L.A. police officers, Lenny finds his life in danger, and he tries to escape possible death on both sides of the law with the help of his friend Mace Mason (Angela Bassett). Strange Days was written by James Cameron in collaboration with former film critic Jay Cocks; Kathryn Bigelow directed. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, (more)
- 1995
This anthology is comprised of three steamy vignettes from three different filmmakers. The first, Cinzia Torrini's "Sweeties," follows the desperation of a rotund, neglected housewife who goes to a psychic for help. The mystical woman gives the housewife a few special sweets with the warning that she should not eat too many. The candies are delicious though, and the greedy housewife gobbles them all and finds herself paying a terrible price. In the second, "Hotel Paradise," from Nicolas Roeg, a woman awakens on her wedding day chained to a bed with a stranger. He informs her that they just spent the wildest night of her life together. Unfortunately, she remembers nothing and arguments ensue as she dons her gown and prepares for her nuptials. The third story comes from Polish director Janusz Majewski. "Devilish Education" centers on the deflowering of a luscious Polish farm girl at the turn-of the-century by a handsome artist who hires her as his model and begins tutoring her in the art of lovemaking. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
Hollywood visionary Tim Burton pays homage to another Hollywood visionary, albeit a less successful one, in this unusual fictionalized biography. The film follows Wood (Johnny Depp) in his quest for film greatness as he writes and directs turkey after turkey, cross-dresses, and surrounds himself with a motley crew of Hollywood misfits, outcasts, has-beens, and never-weres. The real story, however, is his friendship with aging, morphine-addicted Bela Lugosi (Martin Landau), whom he tries to help stage a comeback. Landau's unforgettable Oscar-winning performance must be seen to be believed, as must Rick Baker's Oscar-winning makeup. While it would have been easy to make a film simply ridiculing the bumbling director, Burton instead focuses on his driving passion for filmmaking and his unwavering persistence in the face of ridicule and failure. Possibly the most surprising aspect of the film is the genuine sentiment with which Burton treats the relationship between Wood and Lugosi; his devotion to Lugosi is touching, as is Lugosi's final soliloquy -- an inane bit of dialogue from the hilariously bad Bride of the Monster that grows into a poignant metaphor for the actor's life and ultimate triumph of his spirit. Even the look of the film is right; it manages to preserve the air of one of Wood's own films while retaining a sense of artistry in much of the composition on screen (note the scene at the drug rehab where Lugosi endures a horrifying night of detox). In all, Ed Wood is a unique film -- at times side-splittingly funny; at others, tragic or even frightening -- and a heartfelt tribute to the love of movies, good and bad alike. ~ Jeremy Beday, Rovi
- Starring:
- Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, (more)
Usually cast in showy or unsympathetic supporting roles, Harvey Keitel here gets the rare chance to play a leading role as a "nice guy" -- albeit a nice guy with some serious problems -- in this family drama. Ray Weiler (Keitel) is the widowed father of two girls, high school senior Sonya (Fairuza Balk) and her younger sister Greta (Elizabeth Moss). Ray is full of get-rich-quick schemes that never quite pan out and often skirt the edges of the law. While it's obvious that he loves his daughters, he's hardly a healthy role model, and Sonya and Greta both know it -- dealing with bill collectors and angry investors who've dumped money into one of their father's schemes is just a part of life at the Weiler household. Ray has enrolled Sonya in a private school that he can't actually afford, but he's certain his latest mining venture is going to bring him some real money. Mr. Webster (Vincent D'Onofrio), one of Sonya's teachers, thinks she has a real gift as a writer and should go on to college. Sonya, however, knows that Ray would be against it -- and even if he did approve, how would they pay for it? Meanwhile, Ray seems to have found a backer for his latest mining project -- a man named Jarvis (Chris Penn) -- but one of his partners starts to get cold feet, and Jarvis looks like a man who does not take disappointment well. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Harvey Keitel, Fairuza Balk, (more)
A young man (Matt Dillon) is trying to go in with his friends on a bowling-alley investment, but finds that his finances are too strapped to attempt the venture. To curb his outlays, he begins arranging a marriage for his ex-wife (Annabella Sciorra) so he can end the alimony payments which keep him in debt. ~ John Bush, Rovi
- Starring:
- Matt Dillon, Annabella Sciorra, (more)
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