Peter Saraf Movies

Two New Yorkers (Alicia Silverstone and Ebon Moss-Bachrach) stumble upon a group of Greek Gods living it up on Earth in this comedy from Marc Turtletaub. Christopher Walken and John Turturro head up the cast of immortals, whose ranks also include Sharon Stone, Phylicia Rashad, Edie Falco, Oliver Platt, and Rosie Perez. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Secrets from the Dolly Madison Room
This thoughts and feelings of gays with AIDS are revealed in this documentary set in a New York West Village clinic. One of the patients dies during the course of the film. The patients speak with candor and humor about their grave condition, about the support they give each other, and about their preparations for death. The outcome alternates between pathos and the upbeat. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

An assistant scoutmaster takes a group of sheltered youths on an unauthorized outing, fleeing from his straight-laced brother, an overzealous security guard, park rangers, and angry parents while attempting to shape his young charges into respectable boy scouts. The son of a late, great scoutmaster, Randy Stevens (Patton Oswalt) plots to take his shrinking troupe on a trip that would have made his father proud. Crashing the slumber party that his upwardly mobile brother Kirk (Johnny Knoxville) is throwing for his newly adopted 10-year-old son, Randy lures the kids away from their television trance with promises of the ultimate scout trip. But when Kirk catches wind of Randy's plan, he recruits his loyal security guard (Rob Riggle) to bring the kids back to the safety of the suburbs. Meanwhile, as word of the outing spreads and a massive search gets underway, Randy realizes that turning these 21st century tykes into true scouts will be no simple task. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A personal ad placed for a time-travel partner prompts an investigation involving three magazine reporters in this quirky comedy produced by Mark and Jay Duplass (Jeff, Who Lives at Home) and starring Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation). Kenneth is a self-proclaimed time traveler who doesn't want to take his next journey alone. Intrigued by Kenneth's cryptic ad, a local newspaper editor dispatches cynical reporter Darius (Plaza) and a pair of other employees to get the scoop. Upon meeting Kenneth, Darius see past his peculiar front and recognizes the lonely soul inside. As genuine as Kenneth may be, however, his questionable sanity leaves Darius uncertain of how to proceed with her story. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Adapted from Bob Glaudini's play of the same name, Philip Seymour Hoffman's directorial debut, Jack Goes Boating, tells the simple tale of Jack (Hoffman), a shy, fortyish limo driver with a fondness for pot and reggae music -- he likes it because it sounds happy -- who meets Connie (Amy Ryan) for a blind date set up by Connie's co-worker Lucy (Daphne Rubin-Vega), who is married to Jack's best friend and fellow limo driver, Clyde (John Ortiz). As the young couple tentatively come together, breaking through layers and layers of awkwardness and low self-esteem, Clyde and Lucy's marriage begins to dissolve because of Clyde's inability to get over an incident from their past. All the while, Clyde gives Jack swimming lessons so that he can take Connie on her dream date -- a boating trip on the lake. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

A thirtysomething single mother whose boundless potential was squandered through a series of failed relationships and a misguided effort to help her younger sister succeed in life finds the fruits of her labors finally coming together in director Christine Jeffs' dark family comedy. Back in high school, the future looked pretty bright for Rose Lorkowski (Amy Adams); not only was she the cheerleading captain, but she was also dating the star quarterback. Flash forward a little over a decade, and Rose is working overtime in hopes of getting her son into a better school. Her sister, Norah (Emily Blunt), is still living at home with their father, Joe (Alan Arkin), a failed salesman whose penchant for jumping into get-rich-quick schemes has left the family without a financial net to fall back on. Rose may be down, but she certainly isn't out, and when she hatches a plan to launch a crime-scene cleanup business, the money starts rolling in. Sure, cleaning up murder scenes and suicide sites may not be the most glamorous job in the world, but death is a fairly profitable business, and as the phone keeps ringing, Rose and Norah finally begin to experience the closeness of sisterhood that has eluded them all these years while also providing their family with true security. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The creative team behind Being John Malkovich -- director Spike Jonze and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman -- return with this equally offbeat comedy, in which Kaufman himself becomes the leading character. Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage) is a gifted but profoundly neurotic screenwriter who, after the success of Being John Malkovich, has been hired to write a script adapted from the nonfiction book The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean. But while Charlie is obsessive about his work, he's also intensely paranoid, given to deep depression, socially inept, and terrified of talking to women, qualities which are making it difficult to get on with his work or hold on to his tenuous relationship with girlfriend Amelia (Cara Seymour). Meanwhile, Charlie's identical twin brother, Donald Kaufman (also played by Cage), has shown up to move in with his brother. Emotionally, Donald is Charlie's polar opposite -- a loudmouthed, over-confident, superficial party animal who has an easy way with the ladies. Donald has decided to follow his brother's footsteps and take up screenwriting as well, but embracing the dictates of screenwriting tutor Robert McKee (Brian Cox), he's cranking out a cliché-ridden serial-killer thriller when not busy making time with new girlfriend Caroline (Maggie Gyllenhaal). As Donald blazes through his screenplay, Charlie slowly picks away at his story, in which author Susan Orlean (Meryl Streep) chronicles John Laroche (Chris Cooper), a scruffy but devoted plant enthusiast who tries to save rare species of orchids by stealing them from their natural home in the swamps of Florida. As John and Susan become better acquainted, they find themselves attracted to one another; similarly, Charlie finds himself increasingly fascinated with Susan, and finds himself falling in love with her, even though he's only seen her photo on the dust jacket of her book. Charlie arranges to meet Susan, but is too nervous to confront her face to face, so he sends Donald (who has just scored a seven-figure deal for his script) in his place, while he attends a screenwriting seminar held by McKee. Adaptation also features Tilda Swinton, Judy Greer, and Stephen Tobolowsky. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Peter Fonda received a richly deserved Oscar nomination for his superb performance as Ulysses "Ulee" Jackson, a Florida beekeeper forced to put his splintered family back together. Ulee is a Vietnam veteran whose wife died several years ago, a blow he's still learning to live with. His son Jimmy (Tom Wood) is in prison, and his daughter-in-law Helen (Christine Dunford) ran away, leaving Ulee to raise their two daughters by himself. Ulee is a quiet man who has a hard time displaying warmth and does not always deal well with the rebellious children put in his care. But he possesses an intense inner strength and a firm sense of loyalty and responsibility. One day Ulee gets a call from Jimmy; he's received word that Helen has fallen in with a pair of drug dealers and is in sad shape. While he doesn't much care for the idea, Ulee heads out to rescue her, only to discover the men who have her were Jimmy's partners in the robbery that put him behind bars; they threaten Ulee by saying if they're not given the $100,000 Jimmy has stashed away, they'll come after his daughters. Meanwhile, Ulee is forced to deal with Helen's painful withdrawal from drugs; he gets some help from Connie (Patricia Richardson), a divorced nurse who has recently moved into the neighborhood and seems to understand Ulee's lonely stoicism. Written and directed with subtle intelligence by Victor Nuñez, Ulee's Gold is a moving story about the trials and responsibilities of family ties, with Peter Fonda leading a fine cast that delivers uniformly impressive work. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A young man takes a strange and unexpectedly funny journey in search of a family heroine he's never known in this screen adaptation of the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer. Jonathan (Elijah Wood) is a lifelong collector of any and all objects pertaining to his family, and he has become obsessed with a woman he's never met. The woman saved the life of his grandfather during World War II, when the Ukrainian town where he was born was destroyed by Nazi troops. Wanting to know more about the woman, Jonathan flies to the Ukraine, where with the help of a hip-hop obsessed, gold-toothed tour guide and translator named Alex (Eugene Hütz), Alex's grandfather (a chauffeur who has claimed to be blind since his wife's death, played by Boris Leskin), and a dog named Sammy Davis Junior Junior, Jonathan searches for the meaning of the present that lies buried in the past, unexpectedly shedding the same such light on the lives of those around him. Everything Is Illuminated was the first directorial assignment for acclaimed actor Liev Schreiber. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The fifth in a series of documentaries revolving around Haiti's struggle for democracy, this piece from director Jonathan Demme revolves around the life of Jean Dominique, a Haitian radio personality who spent his life campaigning for reform within the notoriously oppressed nation. The Agronomist begins just after the 1991 overthrow of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, when Dominique and his wife, while at the radio station, came under fire from rebels involved with the coup. Referred to as an agronomist due to his background in agriculture -- which, consequently, brought him into contact with the feudalistic nature of Haiti's farming system -- Dominique's passion for reform landed him in exile. Rather than give up after his release, Dominique initiated a career as a radio communicator, and he allowed Demme access to the station and his personal life during key periods of unrest and political fluctuation. Sadly, the documentary ends with an account of Dominique's assassination in April of 2000. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

A street-smart orphan determined to make a better life for himself and his sixteen year-old sister spends his days working in an auto body repair shop in director Ramin Bahrani's gritty coming of age drama. Alejandro may be a young boy on the verge of adolescence, but his tough persona and driving ambition give the impression of a man twice his age. As with many street kids Alejandro has been forced to mature before his time. Now, in a disheveled junkyard on the outer edge of Queens, New York, one boy will learn what it means to become a man as he sets out to build a brighter future for the only family he knows. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi