Ellen Simon Movies
Even without money problems, many divorced single parents have a hard row to hoe. At the drop of a hat, a competent, responsible professional person can be reduced to a frazzled, bumbling parent, when his or her children become unexpected daytime wards. This is what happens to Jack Taylor (George Clooney) when his ex-wife suddenly decides to elope, leaving their daughter with him. Unhappily for him, his reporting job demands one-hundred-percent commitment as he attempts to link corruption with city hall. The same sort of thing is true in the life of architect Melanie Parker (Michelle Pfeiffer). She must not only somehow prepare a complex multimillion-dollar real-estate development presentation, but must also keep up the pretense that she doesn't have a son because her boss loathes children. When Jack flubs his assignment of getting the two children off on a school day-trip, he and Melanie, who barely know each other, have to take turns caring for the kids. Mishap follows mishap, as the initially antagonistic Jack and Melanie get to know one another. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michelle Pfeiffer, George Clooney, (more)
A woman dealing with an unexpected death has to help her friends with their own crises in this comedy-drama. Rebecca Lott (Elizabeth Perkins) gets an unpleasant surprise while waiting for her husband to return from his daily jog -- he was hit by a car and instantly killed. A handful of Rebecca's friends and relatives rally around her, including her close friend and neighbor Sylvie (Whoopi Goldberg), her former stepmother Alberta (Kathleen Turner), and her younger sister Lucy (Gwyneth Paltrow), but she has a hard time accepting the fact that she's now a widow (or, as she prefers to put it, "the 'W' word"). It also seems that the women trying to offer Rebecca emotional support could use some of their own; Sylvie's marriage is hanging by a thread, and Lucy is depressed and cynical owing to her inexperience with men. But romance begins to find its way back into Rebecca's life when a handsome younger man (Jon Bon Jovi) -- hired to paint the house -- takes a shine to her. Moonlight and Valentino was based on a play written by Ellen Simon, daughter of comic playwright Neil Simon. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Perkins, Whoopi Goldberg, (more)
