Jonathan Glickman Movies
Actor Edward Norton debuts as a director with this comedy-drama about love, friendship, and faith. Priest Brian Finn (Norton) and rabbi Jacob Schram (Ben Stiller) have known each other since childhood. When Anna Reilly (Jenna Elfman), whom they both knew as children, returns to New York, both men find themselves infatuated with her, sparking both rivalry and personal dilemmas: Brian has taken a vow of celibacy, and Jacob is allowed to marry only within his faith. Award-winning director Milos Forman appears in the supporting cast, alongside Anne Bancroft, Ron Rifkin, and Eli Wallach; the screenplay marks the debut of writer Stuart Blumberg, whom Norton met when they were both undergraduates at Yale. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Norton, Ben Stiller, (more)
Jackie Chan has often played a fish out of water, but he's rarely found himself so far upstream as in this comic adventure, in which he puts his fighting skills to the test in the Old West of the 1850s. Lo Fong (Roger Yuan), onetime captain of the Chinese Imperial Guard, has traded upholding the law for smuggling opium. Needing some operating capital, Lo Fong kidnaps the Emperor's daughter, Princess Pei Pei (Lucy Liu), and takes her to America. When the Emperor sends his best men to find her, Chon Wang (Chan), one of the Emperor's less distinguished guards, insists on joining them; he feels at fault for Lo Fong's capturing the Princess, and he wants to make amends. However, while the rescue party scours the West, Chon Wang gets separated from the group and soon becomes lost. When he crosses paths with Roy O'Bannon (Owen Wilson), a bright but arrogant train robber, the two become unlikely allies. While Shanghai Noon was billed as Jackie Chan's follow-up to Rush Hour, his first successful American-made feature, it was actually filmed in Canada, as was Chan's breakthrough film in America, the Hong Kong-backed Rumble in the Bronx. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson, (more)
Matthew Broderick stars in this live-action adaptation of the popular animated series. When a well-meaning but overly trusting security guard is wounded in an explosion created by the evil Dr. Claw, a beautiful scientist named Brenda (Joely Fisher) takes him under her wing and turns him into a crime-fighting dynamo by replacing his limbs with a wealth of gadgets and gimmicks. Now dubbed Inspector Gadget, the once-naïve guard can fulfill his dream of becoming a crime-fighting detective, and as he investigates his first case - namely, who blew him up -- he finds out that the man responsible also killed Brenda's father. Now it's up to the Inspector to find the fiend's identity and bring him to justice, using his homegrown bionic powers to crack the case. Inspector Gadget co-stars Rupert Everett, Dabney Coleman, Andy Dick, and Cheri Oteri. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matthew Broderick, Rupert Everett, (more)
Stephen Herek directed this comedy-drama in which soul-less exec Ricky Hayman (Jeff Goldblum), programmer for the failing Good Buy Shopping Network, is dismayed by a request to increase sales in two weeks. Bald do-gooder guru G. (Eddie Murphy) assists when Ricky and marketing director Kate (Kelly Preston) get a freeway flat. When G. passes out, tests indicate a heart murmur and heat prostration, so the robed prophet becomes Ricky's house guest. At a party, G. uses hypnosis and psychology to rid guest Nino Cerruti (portraying himself) of his flying fears. Ricky witnesses this and gets the notion to put G. on the air. Unfortunately, G. ignores both cue cards and on-sale products, prompting station owner McBainbridge (Robert Loggia) to calculate Ricky's severance pay. He's back on the job when both sales and ratings soar. The situation eventually causes Ricky to reexamine how his own values became lost in the labyrinth of corporate consumerism. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Murphy, Jeff Goldblum, (more)
Brett Ratner directed this action-comedy that found box-office success by teaming Chris Tucker with Jackie Chan -- performing his own stunts as per his earlier films. As the story begins, Hong-Kong supercop Lee's (Chan), detective savvy leads to the confiscation of $500 million in weapons, drugs, and Chinese art. When Hong Kong Chinese Consul Han (Tzi Ma), is sent on a diplomatic mission to Los Angeles, his 11-year-old daughter, Soo Young (Julia Hsu), is abducted by an international criminal mastermind. The FBI assures Han they will find the kidnappers and return her safely, yet Han only trusts his longtime friend and ally (also his daughter's beloved martial arts teacher) Inspector Lee, who immediately flies in to help. Unwilling to have an outsider interfere in their investigation, the FBI assigns rogue LAPD detective (and buffoon) James Carter (Chris Tucker) to the case. Hoping to impress the FBI, Carter enthusiastically reports for work but is dismayed to discover his real mission is only to keep Lee away from the case (read b-a-b-y-s-i-t-t-e-r). The arrogant Carter reacts by embarking on a one-man crusade to solve the case, but he must first distract Lee. It doesn't take Carter long before he realizes he has greatly underestimated his Hong Kong counterpart, who sees what's going on and slips away. Impatient FBI agents try to cast off these unwanted misfit cops, but with an assist from LAPD bomb expert Tania Johnson (Elizabeth Pena), Carter and Lee eventually confront the bad guys in a full-tilt action sequence. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, (more)
- 1997
- PG
During training, a member of the first manned mission to Mars is injured, and NASA chooses a replacement, spaced-out spacecraft designer Fred Z. Randall (Canadian stand-up comic Harland Williams), to team with cocky crew captain William "Wild Bill" Overbeck (William Sadler), efficient mission specialist Julie Ford (Jessica Lundy), and trained chimp Ulysses (Raven). Mission controller Bud Nesbitt (Beau Bridges) backs Fred, but flight-director Paul Wick (Jeffrey DeMunn) has doubts. En route to Mars, Fred's frenetic antics become a threat, but he wins respect with his navigational savvy. Filmed at Houston locations, including the Johnson Space Center, under the working title, Space Cadet. Shelley Duvall is seen in an uncredited cameo as Fred's mother. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harland Williams, Jessica Lundy, (more)
Most people have trouble deciding what to say when they're asked what they've been doing with their lives at a High School reunion, but Martin Blank (as played by John Cusack) has a different problem than most -- he has to make his career sound less interesting than it actually is. Martin is a former CIA operative who is now a freelance hit man, making good money for killing people he doesn't know. However, Martin's game has been a bit off lately; he's no longer happy in his work, and both his secretary Marcella (Joan Cusack) and his psychiatrist, Dr. Oatman (Alan Arkin), who is more than a bit nervous about having a hired assassin as a patient, think that Martin should accept an offered assignment in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, his old home town, which would conveniently coincide with his ten year high school reunion. While in Grosse Pointe, Martin discovers that his high school sweetheart, Debi Newberry (Minnie Driver), is still living in town, and still holds a grudge against him for standing her up on prom night. While Martin tries to sort out his past and tie up loose ends with Debi (whom he still loves), he discovers someone in Grosse Pointe is out to kill him; he's also confronted by the highly unstable Mr. Grocer (Dan Aykroyd), a fellow hit man who wants Martin to join forces with him and form a union and isn't keen on taking no for an answer. Grosse Pointe Blank was a pet project for star John Cusack, who co-wrote the screenplay and also served as co-producer. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Cusack, Minnie Driver, (more)
Director Barbet Schroeder and screenwriter Ted Tally adapted the novel by Rosellen Brown into this intriguing drama that, while heavily criticized for a third-act revelation that is something of a cop-out, nevertheless features -- typically of Schroeder's work -- compelling performances, domestic discord, and a search for the truth. Meryl Streep stars as Carolyn Ryan, a rural Massachusetts pediatrician married to Ben (Liam Neeson), a handsome, rugged sculptor. Although theirs is not a picture-perfect marriage, the Ryans consider themselves happy, until police arrive at their home one morning to inform them that their son Jacob (Edward Furlong) was the last person seen the night before with a teenage girl who has been murdered. Jacob is missing, and the Ryans frantically search for him, but when the boy returns, it is obvious that he's not being completely truthful about the night's events. While Carolyn wants the truth, Ben is willing to go to whatever lengths are necessary to defend Jacob, hiring an expensive lawyer (Alfred Molina), destroying evidence, and encouraging Jacob to be deceitful. Carolyn and Ben's opposing views of their son's legal trouble cause serious turmoil in the Ryans' marriage, which may be irreparably harmed in spite of the 11th hour appearance of the truth. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Meryl Streep, Liam Neeson, (more)
Two basketball fans, whose enthusiasm overwhelms their intelligence, come up with a new but legally problematic way of helping their favorite team in this comedy. Physical education instructor Mike O'Hara (Daniel Stern) and plumber Jimmy Flaherty (Dan Aykroyd) are close friends and obsessive followers of the Boston Celtics; to them, the Celtics are everything, to the point where Mike's marriage is falling apart because his wife can't deal with his mood swings, hinged as they are on the Celtic's fortunes. One night, with the Celtics and the Utah Jazz tied at three games each in the NBA championships, Mike and Jimmy spot Lewis Scott (Damon Wayans) in a sports bar. The star player with the Jazz, Lewis is known to sink up to 50 shots a game, and his talent on the court is exceeded only by his arrogance. Emboldened by alcohol, Mike and Jimmy start buying Lewis drinks, posing as Jazz fans; the next morning, they wake up hung over to discover that they kidnapped Lewis while drunk, and he's tied to a chair in Jimmy's living room. Neither of them planned on doing anything like this and at first they think they ought to let him go. But then again, if Lewis can't play the final game of the championship series, the Celtics chances look a lot brighter. Former Celtics star Larry Bird has a cameo as himself; as do sports heroes Bill Walton and Deion Sanders. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Damon Wayans, Daniel Stern, (more)
- 1995
- R
Two guys from Queens wind up in trouble with the mob because of their fondness for prank phone calls in this quickie comedy. Stars Johnny Brennan and Kamal Ahmed first found fame as "The Jerky Boys" thanks to a series of comedy albums featuring real prank calls in which the duo assumed a variety of abrasive and often extremely foul-mouthed characters. Playing characters based on themselves, they reprise many of these same routines in this debut film, linking the comic bits together through a loose plot concerning local organized crime. It seems the boys have used their phone skills to trick a local mobster (Alan Arkin) into thinking that they are notorious Chicago hoods, only to have to go on the run when their scheme is discovered. Made to capitalize on a Jerky Boys fad, the film failed to attract much of an audience beyond their existing fans. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Brennan, Kamal Ahmed, (more)
This latter-day romantic screwball comedy stars Sandra Bullock as a love-starved subway toll booth operator, Lucy. Lucy pines for regular customer Peter Callaghan (Peter Gallagher), but the self-absorbed attorney pays her no heed. One day, Peter is beaten by a gang of thugs and tossed onto the tracks. Lucy rescues him from death. While he is comatose in the hospital, a comment she makes at his bedside is misinterpreted, and she then allows his family members, who haven't seen Peter in awhile, to believe that she is his fiancée. Peter's parents, Ox (Peter Boyle) and Midge (Micole Mercurio), take a liking to Lucy. But Lucy takes a liking to Peter's brother Jack (Bill Pullman), though Jack is suspicious about her claim to be Peter's intended. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman, (more)
