Kevin Jones Movies
Director Bruce Paltrow teams with his Oscar-winning daughter Gwyneth Paltrow for this road comedy with music. Paltrow plays Liv, a struggling professional singer whose meets her father, Ricky Dean (Huey Lewis), for the first time at the funeral of her mother. As it turns out, both Liv and Ricky supplement the income from few-and-far-between gigs by singing in karaoke contests, and soon father and daughter are competing on the same circuit. Meanwhile, Todd Woods (Paul Giamatti), a salesman who has grown disenchanted with his job, his family, and his life, picks up a hitch-hiker named Reggie Kane (Andre Braugher), and during a stop at a tavern, they discover they make a good duet team while belting out a version of "Try A Little Tenderness." And waitress Suzi Loomis (Maria Bello) sweet talks Billy (Scott Speedman), a cabbie, into driving her to Omaha, where the national karaoke finals will determine who does the best job of singing along with the records, as the lives of these six characters begin to intersect. Duets also features Angie Dickinson as Blair, Liv's grandmother who was once a showgirl in Frank Sinatra's Las Vegas floorshow; Brad Pitt was originally cast in Speedman's role but withdrew after he and Paltrow announced the end of their off-camera relationship. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Bello, Andre Braugher, (more)
Former basketball star Dennis Rodman stars in this action-and-espionage thriller as Simon, an Interpol agent called into action when the daughter of a close friend is abducted. In order to track down the kidnappers, Simon seeks the assistance of a pair of monks (John Pinette and Ricky Harris) who are experts in computer sleuthing. Simon Sez was Rodman's first solo starring vehicle, following his dramatic debut alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme in Double Team. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Rodman, Dane Cook, (more)
- 1995
Three pairs of slacker dweebs wander mindlessly amongst the ultra-homogenized urban desert of strip malls, fast food joints and sprawling car lots in this funny look at modern urban youth from Canada. Though the characters have adventures, some of them life-threatening, the boys, though not unintelligent, are too numbed by the continual commotion of flashing lights, sounds, sales pitches and the never ending drone of the radio, to notice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joel McNichol, Stephen Spender, (more)
A priest is torn between church dogma and his personal beliefs in this British drama. Father Greg (Linus Roache) is a Catholic priest who tends to a parish in Liverpool. Like his superior, Father Matthew (Tom Wilkinson), Father Greg is not dealing well with his vow of celibacy. While Matthew has been discreetly having an affair with his housekeeper, Greg is homosexual, and he occasionally slips out to gay clubs for anonymous encounters with strangers. One night, Father Greg meets a man named Graham (Robert Carlyle) at the bar; when he bumps into him on the street a few days later, he realizes that he's falling in love with him. As Father Greg struggles with his sexual and spiritual identity, he hears a confession from 14-year-old Lisa Unsworth (Christine Tremarco), who tells him that her father has been molesting her. Mr. Unsworth (Robert Pugh) confirms his daughter's allegation during confession, and he tells the priest that he will not stop his incestuous behavior. Should Father Greg violate the seal of the confessional to save Lisa from further abuse? Priest, which opened in America on Good Friday, generated considerable controversy, both with Catholic organizations (who denounced the picture) and the MPAA (the film had to be re-edited to gain an R rating for U.S. release). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Linus Roache, Tom Wilkinson, (more)
