Jim Denault Movies

Kevin Spacey and Bob Balaban headline Austin Powers director Jay Roach's all-star docudrama examining the events surrounding the most controversial presidential election in United States history. The highest office in the country is up for grabs, and the fate of the free world may hang in the balance. When the initial tallies from Florida voting polls prove inconclusive, the decision is made to hold a recount. But it's a controversial decision to say the least, and one that caused many skeptical voters to suspect foul play. Eventually the case would go all the way to the Supreme Court, and as the trial gets under way charismatic Texas republican James Baker (Tom Wilkinson) attempts to rally public support for the recount. But the Democrats aren't about to lie down and die just yet, because Al Gore's former chief of staff Ron Klain (Spacey) can play hardball with the best of the old elephants. Now, as these two opposing giants come to blows over the fate of the presidency, they gradually begin to develop a grudging respect for one another. Laura Dern, John Hurt, Dennis Leary, and Ed Begley, Jr. round out the cast for the film that blends actual news footage and verbatim dialogue into fictionalized recreations that are both highly entertaining and deeply dramatic. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

First-time feature filmmaker Mark Heller follows a fun-loving American and his jocular British pal on a trip to Morocco that soon gives way to paranoia, fear, and the frightening effects of the globalized economy. Adventuresome backpackers Luke (Stephen Dorff) and Adam (Neil Jackson) are living it up in Morocco, their days filled with good food and their nights punctuated by endless parties. The trip seems to be the perfect means for Luke to move past the recent death of his girlfriend, and before long he even connects with a beautiful local named Zahara (Sarai Givaty). Despite their undeniable attraction to one another, Luke and Zahara are careful to keep their distance in public in order to respect the local customs. Later, the three new friends decide to take a two-day trip to an ancient mud house in the scenic Atlas Mountains in order to get better acquainted and take in some sights that most tourists never see. When Luke learns that there are a series of underground tunnels that connect all of the huts in the region, his curiosity gets the best of him and he soon descends into the darkness to explore. But there's more to this story than Luke knows, and somewhere deep in these winding and pitch-black passageways awaits an evil the likes of which this naïve American has never imagined. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A precocious but troubled young girl living in 1950s-era Alabama seeks solace in the music of Elvis Presley in director Deborah Kampmeier's controversial tale of childhood trauma and musical healing. An air of repression lingers over the home of spirited youngster Lewellen (Dakota Fanning), who finds both comfort in the music of pop sensation Presley, as well as a place to store her pain and anger. In time Lewellen begins to find her own voice, a voice that will instill her with the strength to move beyond the pain of her past and into a more hopeful future. Piper Laurie, David Morse, and Robin Wright Penn star in a period drama that made its debut at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

His life seemingly spiraling out of control with no means of pulling out of the earthbound dive, a Dallas powerbroker follows his daughter's punk rock boyfriend for a wild night of youthful mayhem that may just bring him back around if it doesn't kill him first. There was a time when Max Hagen (Tom Wilkinson) had it all, but somewhere between a heart attack, an impending third divorce, and being kicked out of his lavish mansion by his soon-to-be ex-wife Barbara (Janine Turner), everything fell apart. Now faced with the arduous prospect of pulling himself up by the bootstraps and attempting to re-claim his ever shrinking lot in life, Max finds an unlikely ally in the form of his daughter's renegade boyfriend Raff (Nick Stahl), a free-spirited rock-and-roller who may just hold the key to teaching this old dog a few new tricks. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

New York-based writer/director Joshua Marston makes his feature film debut with the coming-of-age drama Maria Full of Grace, with a script developed at the Sundance Screenwriter's Lab. Catalina Sandino Moreno plays Maria Alvarez, a teenager living in Bogotá, Colombia. Along with most of the other able-bodied people in her community, she works a perilous job in a flower plantation. She wants to quit, but her large family depends on her meager salary. One day, Maria meets a smooth-talking young man named Franklin. He offers her a business proposition to make some money and travel. However, the task involves her acting as a drug mule and smuggling heroin into the U.S. Maria Full of Grace premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004 as part of the dramatic competition. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

In this powerful and disturbing drama, Danny Balint (Ryan Gosling) is a member of a gang of racist skinheads who espouses a vile but well-articulated philosophy of anti-Semitism. Danny also has a secret -- he is a Jew, and was a top student in Hebrew school before he began to ask too many questions about the deeper implications of the teachings in the Torah and the Old Testament, leading to his expulsion. Angry and confused, Danny began to explore the philosophies of the neo-Nazi movement, which he soon came to embrace through a mixture of anger over the tragic history of the Jewish people, bitterness over his experiences in Hebrew school, and a loathing of himself. Danny soon becomes a key member of a skinhead sect led by Curtis (Billy Zane) and Lina (Theresa Russell), but while Curtis and Lina believe that the desire for cultural assimilation by many American Jews will lead to their self-destruction, Danny advocates a more direct and violent approach in dealing with the "enemy." Danny gains the admiration of his fellow skinheads for his intelligence and commitment, and wins the affection of Carla (Summer Phoenix), a group member with severe masochistic tendencies. But in time Danny's beliefs begin to shift once again, just as the truth about his background becomes known to his comrades. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival, The Believer was inspired by the true story of Daniel Burros, a member of the American Nazi Party who committed suicide in the 1960s when it was revealed by the press that he was born to a Jewish family. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This Big Apple-based romantic comedy charts the tumultuous relationship between liberal arts student and budding chef Al (Freddie Prinze Jr.) and his first girlfriend, Imogen (Julia Stiles), a self-possessed freshman who wants to become an artist. After meeting in a bar, the pair jump into a giddy, passionate affair that's grown-up enough to include face time between the young lovers and Al's DJ mom and TV-chef dad (Henry Winkler). After a summer abroad, however, Imogen feels like the relationship is robbing her of her youth, and the couple must struggle with romantic and domestic growing pains. Meanwhile, their wacky friends -- who include porn stars (Selma Blair and Zak Orth), stoners (Rosario Dawson), a mullet-haired lunkhead (Shawn Hatosy), and a Jim Morrison look-alike named Jim Morrison (Ashton Kutcher) -- provide laughs, advice, and sexual temptation. The debut film from writer/director Kris Isacsson, the teen-themed Down to You marked a change of pace for normally grown-up Miramax Films. In addition to a slew of recent rock and pop, the film prominently features music from such downtown New York fixtures of the past decade as Deee-Lite ("Groove is in the Heart") and Cibo Matto ("Moonchild"). ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Ed Saxon (Jeff Daniels) is an English professor of some repute whose life is thrown into serious chaos when his wife, Eve, fails to return home one day. After a sleepless night, Ed phones the police, who find no trace of Eve, save her abandoned car. Later Ed, by now exhausted and disheveled, is visited by a young student (Emily Bergl) who is concerned about his absence from class and has stopped by to drop off some food for him. The student has an obvious attraction towards Ed, and he lets her in the house, where she has an accident that results in a nosebleed and a blood-soaked sweater that she leaves behind. Inevitably, detectives come calling on Ed, who is close to a fatigue-fueled nervous breakdown and nearly loses it completely. His fragile state is further exacerbated when he discovers a mysterious object under a chest of drawers, causing him to veer more precipitously towards an all-encompassing emotional collapse. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

A small town's secrets prove deeper and more mysterious than they initially seemed in A Good Baby. Toker (played by Henry Thomas) is a young man living in a small North Carolina community, where he prefers to keep to himself. One day, while taking a walk in the woods, Toker finds a baby, and ventures into town to find out to whom it belongs. However, no one seems to know who the child's parents are, and no one will claim it as their own. Toker soon draws the attention of an attractive woman named Roby (Cara Seymour), who is interested in him, but will have nothing to do with the baby. Toker, however, has grown to love the child and does not want to turn it away. The arrival of a mysterious salesman (David Strathairn) eventually leads to the discovery of the child's true parentage. The directorial debut for Katherine Dieckmann, A Good Baby was screened at the 1999 Los Angeles Independent Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Premiering in the dramatic competition at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival, Getting to Know You is director Lisanne Skyler's first narrative feature, following her 1995 Sundance Film Festival documentary No Loans Today. The film takes place in one afternoon at a bus depot where Judith (Welcome to the Dollhouse's Heather Matarazzo) and her brother Wesley wait for the bus. There Judith meets Jimmy (Michael Weston), a kid with a great imagination and nowhere to go. Jimmy tells Judith stories about the lonely people who are sitting at the depot, and his tall tales become flashbacks in the film. As the story progresses, Jimmy and Judith start falling in love and finally reveal the secrets of their own lives: Jimmy's father was a cop who was killed in a simple domestic disturbance call, and Judith lives with her aunt following a spousal argument that put Judith's father in prison and her mother (Bebe Neuwirth) in a mental institution. ~ Arthur Borman, All Movie Guide

Christopher Walken, Jared Harris and Alison Elliott star in this supernatural tale of terror about a beautiful Ireland-born American young woman who has been suffering from terrible headaches and memory blackouts. On a trip to her ancestral home in the Irish countryside, she discovers that the key to her problems is neither physical nor psychological -- it is the curse of a druid witch that is slowly destroying her. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

South Korean-born Wonsuk Chin, a NYC resident for eight years, made his directorial debut with this hip comedy, shown at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. With numerous cinematic references and allusions (Bergman, Godard, Woo, Hartley), the tale begins with a black-and-white silent sequence depicting Death chasing a young man through Old Baghdad. The setting shifts to present-day New York, where a Japanese man, Kenji (Takeshi Kaneshiro of Chungking Express) is seen abed in a sparsely furnished apartment. Kinji goes to a local cafe where he chats with several others: Italian friend Fabrizio (Michael Imperioli) who proclaims, "Lubitsch is the god!"; a literary wit, Balzac Man (Jeffrey Wright); and an enigmatic German woman, Pola (Geno Lechner), who hints at a possible sexual liaison with Kinji. Death (Mira Sorvino) drifts about, assuming various forms -- disco gal, Japanese geisha, Chinese woman, devil with a red dress on, and a French-accented figure dressed as a man. The sad and lonely Death informs Kenji that she has no choice in determining her victims, and he also learns from her that he has only 12 hours left to live. She suggests that he make the most of his remaining minutes, so he sets forth on a series of brief adventures. At the cafe, he chides famous artist John Sage (Ben Gazzara) for being involved with a decades-younger girlfriend, the beautiful Korean Anouk (Hye Soo Kim). Sage invites Kenji to dinner at their home, and Death invites herself. Kenji makes the proposal that since he's due to die, he could be allowed sex with Anouk as a final act. This request isn't well received by anyone present, leaving Kenji to his own devices as the darkness closes in. Mira Sorvino wears a virtual fashion show of colorful costumes in this movie, which also provided her with the opportunity to speak Chinese onscreen for the first time. Sorvino majored in Asian studies at Harvard and lived for eight months (1988-89) in Beijing, where she studied Chinese, taught English, and viewed a variety of Chinese films. Too Tired to Die and The Replacement Killers both brought her several steps closer to her announced goal of making a film in Mandarin and working with a Chinese director. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide