Leelee Sobieski

Jon Avnet directs Al Pacino in the thriller 88 Minutes. Pacino plays university professor Jack Gramm, who occasionally assists the FBI in matters of forensic psychiatry. His recent testimony against a freshly convicted criminal seems to be the reason he has gotten a scary phone call informing him he will die in 88 minutes. As with the like-minded thriller D.O.A. (both the original and the remake), the protagonist must use his skills in order to track down who has hatched this evil plot and hopefully prevent his own demise. Alicia Witt and Leelee Sobieski co-star as the professor's star students. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

James Ivory directed this drama adapted from Kaylie Jones' 1990 autobiographical novel in which the character Bill Willis is based on her father, James Jones, author of From Here to Eternity and A Thin Red Line. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's screenplay about expatriate Americans in Paris during the 1960s/1970s offers a portrait of a normal family (as opposed to the dysfunctional families of The Ice Storm and many other 1990s films), seen from the point of view of daughter Channe. Her father is Bill Willis (Kris Kristofferson), a successful novelist and WWII veteran who's married to enthusiastic poker-player Marcella (Barbara Hershey). Divided like the sections of a novel, the story's first chapter is titled, "Billy," in which French orphan Benoit (Samuel Gruen) is brought to the Willis household for adoption, while his unmarried biological mother (Virginie Ledoyen) writes about him in her diary. Six-year-old Benoit has been shipped through so many orphanages and foster homes that he doesn't unpack his suitcase. Benoit's presence prompts the young Channe (Luisa Conlon) to turn to her protective Portuguese nanny Candida (Dominique Blanc). After Benoit becomes acclimated to his new family, he asks that his name be changed to Billy. In the second segment "Francis" a strong friendship develops between Channe (Leelee Sobieski) and fatherless Francis Fortescue (Anthony Roth Costanzo). Obsessed with opera, Francis lives with his expatriate British mother (Jane Birkin). The family's French idyll is disrupted when Bill Willis plans a return to the United States because he wants American doctors to treat his bad heart. The closing act "Daddy" takes place in North Carolina during the 1970s as Bill's health worsens, Billy (Jesse Bradford) grows up, and an alienated Channe seeks acceptance through sex. A bedridden Bill dictates his fiction to Channe, who transcribes tapes and types his manuscript pages. During intimate conversations about boys and sex, Willis helps his daughter find her footing on the path of life. This movie arrived only 14 weeks prior to the release of Terrence Malick's 1998 adaptation of the elder Jones' The Thin Red Line. Shown at 1998 film fests (Venice, Toronto). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Mimi Leder (The Peacemaker) directed this science-fiction disaster drama about the possible extinction of human life after a comet is discovered headed toward Earth with the collision only one year away. Ambitious MSNBC reporter Jenny Lerner (Tea Leoni) stumbles onto the story, prompting a White House press conference. United States President Beck (Morgan Freeman) announces the government's solution: a team of astronauts will travel to the comet and destroy it. The team leader aboard the spaceship Messiah is Spurgeon Tanner (Robert Duvall), who was once the last man to walk on the moon. However, the mission fails, splitting off a chunk of the comet, now due to land in the Atlantic with the impact sending a 350-foot tidal wave flooding 650 miles inland, destroying New York and other cities. The larger part of the comet, hitting in Canada, will trigger an E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event), not unlike a "nuclear winter" as dust clouds block out the sun and bring life to an end. President Beck reveals Plan B: a cavernous underground retreat constructed to hold one million Americans, with most to be selected through a national lottery. Since teenage amateur astronomer Leo Biederman (Elijah Wood) discovered the comet, his family gets a pass to enter the cave, but his girlfriend Sarah (Leelee Sobieski) and her parents will be left behind. Meanwhile, still in space, Spurgeon Tanner devises a plan for a kamikaze-styled operation that could possibly save the Earth. Special visual effects by Scott Farrar and Industrial Light & Magic. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

The scene is a parking garage, where a defiant Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) takes a stand -- and blocks traffic -- when he feels he's being unjustly charged for a full 20 minutes' parking when he only owes for a few minutes. Refusing to allow anyone to pay the fee for him, Frasier transforms an insignificant molehill into an impassable mountain, much to the dismay of his passenger Niles (David Hyde Pierce). Meanwhile, Roz (Peri Gilpin) makes an unexpected public confession when she subs for Frasier on his radio show. ~ All Movie Guide

Advertised as telling the tale of "The Man Behind the Myth," the expensive-looking but economically produced NBC miniseries Hercules stars Paul Telfer as the musclebound protagonist. The issue of a romantic fling between Alcmene (Elizabeth Perkins), the Princess of Thebes, and God of the Underworld Zeus, Hercules is banished by his mother and scorned by his envious half brother Iphicles (Luke Ford). In fact, for a while it seems as though poor Herc has nothing but enemies. In addition to his own mother and brother, our hero is hated by Zeus' wife, Hera -- so much so that a war breaks out between the two gods -- and by covetous Grecian monarchs Eurystheus (Kristian Schmid) and Anateus (Tyler Mane). Worse still, Hercules has managed to get on the bad side of the Delphic Oracle Tiresias (Kim Coates) by killing that worthy's three sons. As a means to destroy Hercules and prevent him from taking his rightful place beside the throne of Zeus, all manner of deadly tasks and challenges are thrown at the poor guy, enabling the producers to trot out innumerable CGI battle sequences. Fortunately, Hercules can rely upon the help and support of Alcmene's husband, Amphytron (Timothy Dalton), not to mention Herc's sidekick, the troubadour Linus (Sean Astin, going through his familiar Lord of the Rings paces in a different setting!); his sweetheart, the statuesque Goddess of Nature Deianeira (Leelee Sobieski); and, at least for a little while, Herc's wife, the Priestess Megara (Leeanna Walsman). By the time Hercules made it to the small screen, it had been pared down from a multipart miniseries to a single, 150-minute feature film, leaving several plot points unresolved and removing a number of key characters -- including the all-important Zeus and Hera, who never appear! Evidently NBC didn't have much faith in this Hallmark production, as witness the network's decision to telecast the film on May 16, 2005, directly opposite the series finale of Everybody Loves Raymond. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A young nanny makes a terrifying discovery about the children she is charged with caring for in first-time director Donato Rotunno's unsettling take on The Turn of the Screw. When Anna Veigh (Leelee Sobieski) accepted a job watching two angelic orphans at a remote country estate, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to get out of the city and clear her head. Though her initial meeting with Miles and Flora goes remarkably well, Anna's sense of unease slowly begins to build when she discovers that her predecessor died under mysterious circumstances. Later, Anna's discomfort turns to outright fear as unidentifiable figures appear to stalk the estate's scenic grounds. When it begins to appear as if these malevolent apparitions have targeted the children, the devoted nanny does her best to keep the youngsters safe from harm. The dark cloud of Anna's past casting an ominous shadow over the battle for the souls of her two young charges, the stage is set for a supernatural confrontation that will reveal a terrifying truth too horrific for the human mind to even comprehend. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A literal interpretation of the oft-produced biography of 15th century historical heroine Joan d'Arc, this four-hour television miniseries version of Joan's story is lavishly produced. In a tiny village during the Hundred Years' War, teenager Joan d'Arc (Leelee Sobieski) has been raised by her parents, flinty Peter (Powers Boothe) and Isabelle (Jacqueline Bisset), amidst the wreckage continually wrought by British incursions into the area. A devout girl, Joan experiences visions of St. Catherine, which lead her to believe that she may be the "Maid of Orleans," a mythical figure who will lead France to victory over its enemies. Counseled by local priest Father Monet (Robert Loggia), Joan pursues her destiny in spite of her father's wishes. At first supported only by lowly commoners, Joan comes to the attention of the Dauphin, King Charles (Neil Patrick Harris). Together with his scheming advisor Bishop Cauchon (Emmy-winner Peter O'Toole), Charles uses Joan to unite his quarreling factions. Skeptical but superstitious, Charles' generals, including La Hire (Peter Strauss) are eventually won over by Joan's startling victories. But awaiting Joan is a disastrous Parisian campaign and Charles' betrayal. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

A man finds the son he never knew he had, and a boy discovers a city he never knew existed, in this comedy. Michael Cromwell (Tim Allen) is a commodities broker who deals in coffee beans; while on a trip to Brazil, Michael is abandoned by his wife, Patricia (JoBeth Williams), an anthropologist who decides to stay behind to study the indigenous tribespeople of the area. Fourteen years later, Michael has decided to marry his new girlfriend, Charlotte (Lolita Davidovich), but since he never formally divorced Patricia, he must go to Brazil, find her, and get her to sign a divorce agreement. Once he arrives, he discovers that there's a bit of a complication -- Patricia was pregnant at the time she left Michael, and she is now the mother of a 13-year-old son, Mimi-Siku (Sam Huntington). Mimi-Siku is about to undergo the manhood rituals of the tribe that adopted Patricia and himself, and when the leader discovers that the boy's father has arrived, he insists that Mimi-Siku should return to the "Stone Island" of Manhattan to get to know his dad. Arriving in New York City with a loincloth and a blowgun, Mimi-Siku has a lot to learn about living in contemporary America. Charlotte is not too happy about discovering that she's about to be a stepmother, while Richard (Martin Short), Michael's business partner, wishes the boy wouldn't eat the tropical fish from his aquarium. Jungle 2 Jungle is an Americanized remake of the French comedy Un Indien Dans la Ville. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In the wake of his rise to power, Adolf Hitler became known as perhaps the most villainous and destructive political leader of the 20th century. But what was he like before he formed the Nazi party? Screenwriter and director Menno Meyjes explores that question in this drama, a work of fiction keyed to the fact that Hitler unsuccessfully pursued a career as an artist following World War I. In 1918, Max Rothman (John Cusack) is a former artist who lost an arm during the war. While Max can no longer create, his eye for talent is as keen as ever, so he has become a successful art dealer, specializing in Modernists such as George Grosz. Max's success has brought him a fine home and a beautiful wife, Nina (Molly Parker); he's also acquired a mistress, Liselore (Leelee Sobieski), a lovely young woman with artistic aspirations of her own. One day, Max meets Adolf Hitler (Noah Taylor), an emotionally intense, fellow war veteran who has found himself penniless in Munich. Adolf fancies himself an artist, and while Max isn't especially impressed with his technique, he sees in him a burning passion and a desire to communicate, so he encourages Adolf to express his demons through his art. While Adolf takes Max's advice to heart and strikes up a friendship with him, Max's friends find Adolf's open advocation of anti-Semitism rather troubling; Max, who is Jewish, simply chalks Adolf's attitudes up to unpleasant wartime experiences. But as Adolf immerses himself more deeply into his political interests and his thoughts on social engineering, he begins to leave painting behind in favor of a more interesting art form, the political arena. Max marked the first directorial effort of noted screenwriter Meyjes. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Many people wish they could go back to high school, knowing what they know as an adult; Josie Geller gets the chance to do just that in the comedy Never Been Kissed. Josie (played by Drew Barrymore) is a 25-year-old copy editor at a newspaper in Chicago. But it's her youthful looks as much as her journalistic skills that finally win her a writing assignment: she's ordered to enroll in high school posing as a teenager for a story on the state of America's youth. Trouble is, Josie was a hopeless nerd in high school (called "Josie Grossie" by her classmates); she had no idea of how to fit in with the cool kids, and she's hardly gotten any better at it in the seven years since graduation. While Josie makes fast friends with a bookish girl named Aldys (Leelee Sobieski), and also takes notice of her good-looking English teacher Mr. Coulson (Michael Vartan), she realizes for the sake of her story she has to infiltrate the cool girls' clique, which will be impossible without someone to give her a crash course in hipness. Josie's brother Rob (David Arquette), obviously the more style-conscious sibling, offers to sign up for the same school to act as the cool-guy friend she'll need to fit in, but just when Josie starts making headway (and starts enjoying high school for a change), her editor changes the focus of the story -- he now wants a feature on improper relations between teachers and students, which will not be good for her deepening friendship with Mr. Coulson. Never Been Kissed also features supporting performances from John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon and Jordan Ladd (the latter in a much more wholesome vehicle than her last cinematic visit to cinematic teen-town, Gregg Araki's Nowhere). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This teen psychological thriller marks the feature film debut of respected television producer and director Daniel Sackheim. Leelee Sobieski stars as Ruby Baker, a high school student who is devastated when her parents Grace and Dave (Rita Wilson and Michael O'Keefe) are killed in a tragic car accident. With her younger brother Rhett (Trevor Morgan), Ruby is sent to live with the legal guardians chosen by her parents, their best friends Terry (Stellan Skarsgård) and Erin Glass (Diane Lane). The Glasses live in an opulent Malibu mansion where Ruby and Rhett are promised all of the finest luxuries money can buy and a lavish new rich-kid lifestyle. Before long, however, Ruby begins to suspect that her new caretakers are not what they appear on the surface and that the couple's financial woes may force them to harm her or Rhett in order to cash in on their sizable life insurance policies. The Glass House was written by Wesley Strick, screenwriter of Cape Fear (1991), Wolf (1994), and The Saint (1997). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Uprising is based on the true story of the Jewish Fighting Organization, a courageous band of youthful Polish guerrillas and freedom fighters who refused to knuckle under to the Nazis during World War II. Led by schoolteacher Mordechai Anielewicz (Hank Azaria), the organization comes into being as the Warsaw Jewish ghetto is being systemically decimated and shipped off to the Treblinka death camp by the German occupational forces. From April 19 to May 16, 1943, Anielewicz' followers staged a valiant uprising, which -- though ultimately unsuccessful in stopping the Nazi "final solution" juggernaut -- inflicted an enormous amount of damage upon the enemy and enabled hundreds of Polish Jews to escape the gas ovens and crematoriums. Much of the story is based upon the eyewitness testimony of surviving freedom fighter Simha "Kazik" Rotem, portrayed in the film by Stephen Moyer. Director Jon Avnet brilliantly combines newly filmed scenes with digitally refashioned archival footage of the actual uprising. Filmed in Bratisla, Slovakia, and boasting an all-star cast, Uprising was shown in two-hour installments on November 4 and 5, 2001, over the NBC network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide