Debra Messing Movies
A stunning brunette, New York-born actress who shot to stardom with her role as the latter half of television's Will and Grace, Debra Messing's playful creativity beginning in her youth left her family with little doubt that the talented youngster would seek a career in some aspect of the entertainment industry.Raised in a small community outside Providence, RI, Messing's song and dance routines were the source of endless entertainment for her family throughout her youth, and the precocious youngster frequently attended performing arts camps in order to focus her skills as an actress. Later touring Canada, the U.S., and Mexico before planning her initial bid for stardom, Messing followed her mother's advice and enrolled in Massachusetts' Brandeis University, where she majored in theater arts. Traveling to London late in her schooling to study at the prestigious B.E.S.G.L. program, she was later accepted into New York University's Graduate Acting Program.
Early roles such as a stint as sexpot Dana Abandando on television's NYPD Blue garnered much attention for the stunning starlet, and it wasn't long before Messing made her feature debut with A Walk in the Clouds (1995). Jumping back to the small screen for the short-lived Ned and Stacey the following year, she next turned up in the feature Prey (1997) and a subsequent television series based on the film. Launching her career into overdrive in 1998 with her role as Grace Elizabeth Adler in television's Will and Grace brought Messing critical and public praise, and her role as the interior designer living with a homosexual lawyer charmed audiences with its snappy writing and talented cast. With personal interests lending to involvement with such organizations as the Best Friend's Pet Sanctuary, Gay Men's Health Crisis, and AmFAR, the actress uses much of her personal time to encourage social awareness of HIV and AIDS-related issues and encourage people to adopt pets.
The massive success of Will & Grace helped Messing gain a foothold in a film career. She tested the waters gingerly at first, taking small but key roles in films as diverse as the thriller The Mothman Prophecies and the Woody Allen comedy Hollywood Ending. She played Ben Stiller's newlywed wife in the hit comedy Along Came Polly in 2004. Although audiences ignored her romantic comedy The Wedding Date, Messing scored her most prestigious post-Will & Grace work yet landing a major role in Curtis Hanson's Lucky You in 2006, the same year as she lent her vocal talents to the animated film Open Season.
Over the next several years, Messing would enjoy a number of projects, starring in series like The Starter Wife and Smash, and in movies like The Women. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- 2012
A fascinating group of people work tirelessly to make a Broadway musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe - complete with technical magic, captivating music, and massive amounts of drama, both on stage and off. The show features original music by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi
- Starring:
- Katharine McPhee, Debra Messing, (more)
Freddy Rodriguez, John Leguizamo, Debra Messing, Alfred Molina, and Elizabeth Peña star in Washington Heights director Alfredo de Villa's earnest family drama about the importance of familial relationships in times of personal crisis. The snow is falling and Christmas has come to Chicago. For the Rodriguez family, there is particular cause to celebrate this year; youngest sibling Jesse (Rodriguez) has recently returned home safe and sound after fighting in the war overseas. But as the members of the Rodriguez family converge on their parent's home, there's a strange sense of tension lingering heavy in the cool winter air. Despite the fact that Jesse is doing his best to get back in the good graces of his old flame, she seems reluctant to forgive him for leaving in the first place. Meanwhile, his older sister, Roxanna, has little to show for time spent chasing her Hollywood dreams, and eldest brother Mauricio (Leguizamo) is married to a high-strung executive who seems more interested in advancing her career than starting a family. But while none of this sits too well with concerned mother Anna (Peña), the bombshell she's about to drop could prove the straw that broke this family's back. When Anna announces to her children that she is planning to divorce their father, Eduardo (Molina), Roxanna, Jesse, and Mauricio instinctively pull together and begin to reevaluate their past while looking at the future in a whole new light. Later, as lingering resentments are let go and weakened bonds are reaffirmed, the Rodriquez family begins to experience the healing power of laughter while discovering that together as a family they are far stronger than they ever could be apart. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Freddy Rodriguez, John Leguizamo, (more)
Veteran producer/director Diane English (The Lathe of Heaven, Murphy Brown) helms this contemporized remake of George Cukor's beloved proto-feminist comedy drama The Women (1939), an adaptation of Clare Boothe Luce's play. The English version follows the gossip, bitchy wisecracking, and overall disillusionment that erupt among a group of socialite friends when their dearest and most envied learns of her husband's marital infidelity at the hands of a backstabbing shopgirl. The all-female cast is fronted by Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Candice Bergen, with supporting roles inhabited by Bette Midler, Cloris Leachman, and Carrie Fisher. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, (more)
- 2008
Debra Messing stars in this primetime comedy/drama based on the Emmy award winning mini-series of the same name. It focuses on the frequently wild experiences of Molly Kagan, once the wife of Hollywood royalty and now, a frantic divorcee struggling to figure out life on her own terms. Molly is faced with nothing but firsts, from raising her seven year old daughter Jaden as a single mom, to starting up a career in her 40's. The waters usually seem rough, but she's determined to stay focused on her future - even when her past keeps landing her in court. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi
- Starring:
- Debra Messing, Hart Bochner, (more)
Based on the 2005 bestselling novel by Gigi Levangie Grazer, the six-part miniseries The Starter Wife starred former Will & Grace leading lady Debra Messing as Molly Kagan, an archetypal "Hollywood wife" who for ten years had enjoyed the perks and privileges of being married to powerful studio executive Kenny Kagan (Peter Jacobson). All of this changed drastically when Kenny dumped his spouse for a much-younger pop singer named Shoshanna (Trilby Glover), adding insult to injury by informing Molly that their marriage was through via cell-phone. Having carefully timed the breakup to coincide with the expiration of the couple's pre-nuptual agreement, Kenny was able to escape without providing Molly with a huge monetary settlement, leaving our benumbed heroine high and dry. Also, Molly was now "persona non grata" in her Brentwood community, with many old doors (especially those on stores and restaurants) being literally closed in her face, and such fair-weather friends as Cricket Stewart (Miranda Otto) and Joan McAllister (wonderfully played as a self-hating lush by Judy Lewis) conspicuously unavailable. Vowing to start life anew for the sake of herself and her teenaged daughter, Molly relocated to Malibu, where she found a new best friend in the form of airheaded Malibu gate guard Lavender Caraway (Arika Noni Rose). She also entered into a brace of tempestuous relationships with aging, moody movie producer Lou Manahan (Joe Mantegna) and handsome but untrustworthy beachcomber Sam Knight (Stephen Moyer). All of the episodes were scripted by Josann McGibbon and Sara Parriott and directed by Jon Avnet--and curiously, all were filmed in Australia rather than "La-la Land". Making its USA Network debut on May 31, 2007 with a two-hour episode, The Starter Wife ran on a weekly, hourly basis until June 28 of that year. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Debra Messing, Joe Mantegna, (more)
A professional poker player whose astounding luck at the table fails to translate into his lonesome love life attempts to win the World Series of Poker while simultaneously earning the affections of a beautiful Las Vegas singer in a high-stakes emotional drama from L.A. Confidential director Curtis Hanson and Munich screenwriter Eric Roth. When his personal problems threaten to distract him from what could be his biggest win ever, seasoned poker pro Huck Cheever (Eric Bana) finds comfort in the company of singer Billie Offer (Drew Barrymore). Upon preparing for the biggest card game in the country, however, Huck soon realizes that his problems have only just begun when he finds that his opponent at the table will be none other than his estranged father, L.C. (Robert Duvall), a poker legend whose mythical reputation makes him a more than worthy opponent for his troubled son. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore, (more)
An unhappy woman finds new love with her old boyfriend in this romantic comedy-drama from writer and director Edward Burns. Patti Selma Blair) is a woman in her early thirties living in New York City. For years, Patti chased after her dream of becoming a successful novelist, but recently she's had to put writing on hold and is unhappily working in real estate. Patti's ennui isn't helped by the fact her marriage has fallen into a rut and neither she nor her husband are interested in one another anymore. When she was in college, Patti was in love with Brian (Patrick Wilson), and while Brian is fortunate enough to support himself writing crime fiction, he's smarting from the uncharitable reviews given to his latest and most personal work. One night, Patti is having dinner with her best friend Kate (Debra Messing) when she bumps into Brian, who is out with his friend Murph (Edward Burns), who in turn used to be involved with Kate. As the former lovers talk about their past and where life has taken them, Patti finds herself falling for Brian all over again, but both she and Brian are still dealing with the differences and insecurities that drove them apart years before. Purple Violets received its world premiere at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Selma Blair, Patrick Wilson, (more)
A domesticated grizzly bear finds that there's more to life than being the star attraction of a mountain town nature show when a fast-talking mule deer offers him a crash course in woodland living in Sony Pictures Animation's first full-length animated feature. Raised by kindly park ranger Beth (Debra Messing) since he was a just a cub, 900-pound grizzly Boog (Martin Lawrence) is content to spend his days entertaining Timberline tourists and his nights nestled safely in Beth's luxurious garage. Boog's life is about to get much more complicated, however, when paranoid hunter Shaw (Gary Sinese) returns from a recent foray in the woods with a frightened, one-horn mule deer named Elliot strapped trophy-like to the hood of his truck. Though at first reluctant to answer Elliot's desperate cries for help, gentle giant Boog eventually frees the thankful creature, who in turn decides to teach his hulking friend what it truly means to be free. Subsequently tranquilized and relocated into the wilderness after momentarily reverting to his true animalistic nature, Boog is forced to team with seasoned forest-dweller Elliot in order to find their way out of the woods before hunting season starts and Shaw comes gunning for all creatures great and small. Things are different in the woods than they were back in the safe confines of park ranger Beth's garage, though, and in order to find their way back to Timberline, Boog and Elliot are going to have to rely on the kindness of their fellow creatures, a rowdy and unruly bunch that includes an army of Scottish squirrels led by rogue critter McSquizzy (Billy Connolly), and a productive beaver construction team whose foreman, Reilly (Jon Faverau), is more than willing to lend a helping tail. With hunting season now upon them and time running out as the hunters close in, the unlikely duo of bear and mule deer put their new life lessons to good use by turning the tables on the gun-toting gamesmen, and once again making the woods safe for the furry critters who call the forest home. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Martin Lawrence, Ashton Kutcher, (more)
A gal who needs a date for a family function gets the best man money can buy in this romantic comedy. Kat Ellis (Debra Messing) is a woman in her mid-thirties living in New York City and has had more than her share of romantic problems -- enough so that she's gotten word that her younger half-sister Amy (Amy Adams) is getting married, and that her mother Bunny (Holland Taylor) and father Victor (Peter Egan) want to fix her up with someone so she won't look alone and miserable for the big day. Adding insult to injury, Kat learns that the best man at the ceremony will be Jeffrey (Jeremy Sheffield), a former boyfriend who cruelly dumped her without warning two years before. Determined not to show up alone, Kat swallows her pride and hires Nick Mercer (Dermot Mulroney), a professional escort, who will pose as her boyfriend for a $6,000 fee. Kat and Nick fly to England for the wedding, and her family and friends are all struck by how charming, handsome, and personable Nick is -- and Kat begins wondering if their relationship has to be all business; however, as it turns out, Nick understands Kat far better than she expects. The Wedding Date was based on the novel Asking for Trouble by British author Elizabeth Young. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Debra Messing, Dermot Mulroney, (more)
Will and Grace was supposed to have been cancelled at the end of its seventh season, but somehow managed to hang on for an eighth and final year. To improve its flagging ratings (the series had dropped from ninth place in 2001 to a miserable 61 five years later), NBC moved the show to a new timeslot, sequestered among the network's most successful sitcom offerings. As a ratings gimmick, two of the episodes--including the season opener--were telecast "live", a ploy that had worked wonders for such previous offerings as ER and Drew Carey. The festivities begin as gay attorney Will (Eric McCormack) tries to keep the snobbish but emotionally fragile Karen (Megan Mullally) from finding out that her wealthy ex-husband Stan, believed dead, is actually still among the living. At the same time, Will's erstwhile straight roommate Grace (Debra Messing) toys with the possibility of compromising her values by beginning an affair with her old flame Tom (Eric Stolz), who happens to be married. Also, Will's flamboyantly gay pal Jack (Sean Hayes) launches the latest phase of his checkered showbiz career as host of his own TV series, "Jack Talk". This last-mentioned device seems to have been contrived purely for the purpose of spotlighting Season Eight's most highly publicized celebrity guest star Britney Spears, gloriously miscast as an ultra-right-winger with whom Jack is forcibly teamed on the air. Other well-known actors passing through during this season are Andy Richter as one of Grace's blind dates, Richard Chamberlain as an elderly homosexual whom an altruistic Will "adopts", and Debbie Reynolds, who after a long absence returns as Grace's overbearing mother. This is also the year in which Will enters into a new romance with James Hanson (Taye Diggs), whom he meets at a Sound of Music singalong, and with whom he shares his first serious onscreen kiss (a piquant moment which, like the Britney Spears appearance, was noisily overhyped by the NBC publicity department). Though Will eventually returns to his police-officer boyfriend Vince (Bobby Cannavelle), Grace generously offers to marry the foreign-born James so he won't be deported--only to discover on the eve of the wedding that she is pregnant, the result of a one-night stand with her ex-husband Leo (Harry Connick Jr.)! Likewise receiving a visit from Mr. Stork are Will and Vince, the proud parents of baby Ben--actually the issue of a most surprising sperm donor. Season Eight's various and sundry loose plot strands are neatly wrapped up in the series' now-famous final episode, set twenty years in the future. Though Will & Grace was clearly on its last legs, the series still managed win two more Emmy awards, making a total of sixteen. The lucky recipients this year were supporting actors Megan Mullally and Leslie Jordan, the latter cast as Karen's perennial adversary, closeted Republican Beverly Leslie. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, (more)
Season Seven of Will & Grace begins by tying up several loose ends from Season Six, notably the almost instantaneous breakup of nearly-weds Karen Walker (Megan Mullally) and Lyle Finster (John Cleese), while wedding singer Jennifer Lopez (as herself) hires--and fires--Jack McFarland (Sean Hayes) as her backup dancer. Fortunately for Jack, he quickly lands a job as executive at a new all-gay TV network, OutTV. Meanwhile, Grace Adler (Debra Messing) now knows full well that her doctor husband Leo (Harry Connick Jr.) has been cheating on her while doing charity work in Africa. Before long, the newly divorced Grace has inadvertently driven a wedge between her gay roommate Will Truman (Eric McCormack) and his police-officer boyfriend Vince D'Angelo (Bobby Cannavale, who would win one of the series' two Emmies this season). Amidst a seemingly endless parade of gratuitous celebrity cameos this season, Jeff Goldblum actually contributes something to the proceedings in the role of Karen's old high school enemy Scott Woolley, who spends half of the season vengefully sabotaging her designing career, and the other half trying to win her love! Likewise seen to good advantage are Lili Tomlin as Will's new law-firm boss Margot; Edward Burns as Nick, a handsome greeting-card writer who briefly dates Grace; Luke Perry as bird fancier Aaron, with whom Jack is fixed up in a double date; Sharon Stone as Will's therapist Georgia Keller; Seth Green as a nasty child actor who causes Jack to lose his TV job; and Alan Arkin as Grace's aloof father Martin Adler. As the season rushes to a conclusion Will experiences an epiphany and quits the legal world to become a writer, linking up with a well-connected gentleman named Malcolm (Alec Baldwin) who turns out to be a covert government agent; Grace rekindles an old flame in the form of Tom (Eric Stolz), who happens to be married; and Karen must publicly humiliate herself to avoid a lawsuit from her longtime adversary, closeted ultraconservative Beverly Leslie Leslie Jordan. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, (more)
Jim Davis' famous cartoon cat finally makes his way to the big screen in this adaptation of the popular comic strip Garfield, which combines live action with CGI animation. Jon Arbuckle (Breckin Meyer) is a sweet, if somewhat clueless, man who shares his home with his pet cat, Garfield (voice of Bill Murray). Garfield is not your ordinary tabby -- he's fat, he's smart-mouthed, he's arrogant, he won't do anything he doesn't have to, and would rather stuff himself with lasagna than do something Jon asks of him. Despite this, Jon loves his cat, but when he decides to expand his animal family, Garfield is less than enthusiastic about the presence of Odie, a lovably enthusiastic dog whose only flaw is his extreme stupidity. While Jon is crazy for Odie, and especially likes having two pets that necessitate periodic visits to Dr. Liz Wilson (Jennifer Love Hewitt), a veterinarian he has a crush on, Garfield decides to remove Odie from the picture. Garfield arranges for Odie to become the property of Happy Chapman (Stephen Tobolowsky), a television host who acts like an animal lover on the round-cornered screen but doesn't much like pets on his own time. While Garfield at first enjoys ruling the roost again, he soon realizes the error of his ways, and in a rare example of selfless and ambitious behavior, hatches a plan to rescue Odie from Chapman. Garfield also features the voice talents of Debra Messing, Brad Garrett, Jimmy Kimmel, and Alan Cumming. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bill Murray, Breckin Meyer, (more)
Screenwriter John Hamburg directs his second film (since his 1998 debut Safe Men) with the romantic comedy Along Came Polly. Ben Stiller plays Reuben Feffer, a professional risk assessor who never takes chances in any aspect of his life. When his new bride Lisa (Debra Messing) leaves him for a European scuba instructor named Claude (Hank Azaria), he finally decides to a risk of his own. At a party, he meets free-spirited Polly Prince (Jennifer Aniston), whom he remembers from his seventh-grade Model U.N. Unlike the control-freak Reuben, she's spent her life living on the edge. They reluctantly begin a romance and Polly introduces him to a new world of spicy food and suggestive dances. Along Came Polly also stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as Reuben's washed-up best friend Sandy Lyle and Alec Baldwin as the obnoxious insurance company boss Stan Indursky. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston, (more)
Picking up where Season Five of Will & Grace left off, Season Six begins as gay lawyer Will (Eric McCormack) awaken from a drunken evening on an ocean liner to find themselves naked and in the same bed--but with no recollection of how they got there. Simulatenously, Will's straight interior-designer roommate Grace (Debra Messing) has stumbled upon evidence that her doctor husband Leo (Harry Connick Jr.) is cheating on her; and meanwhile, Grace's newly widowed business partner Karen (Megan Mullally) is somewhere in the middle of the ocean, stuck in a life raft with her former maid (and Jack's former wife) Rosario (Shelley Morrison). Once this situation is ironed out and everyone (except Leo, still in South America with Doctors Without Borders) is back in Manhattan, several new complications spring up, among them the revelation that Leo's former girlfriend (Mira Sorvino) is also the only woman that Will has ever slept with, giving Grace two more reasons to seethe with jealousy. Also, a revenge-bend Karen begins searching for Britisher Lorraine (Minnie Driver), the woman who broke up her marriage with her late husband Stan; ironically, Karen ends up engaged to Lorraine's zany father Lyle, played by an uncredited John Cleese! And elsewhere, Will reluctantly moves in with his recently disabled (and impossible-to-live-with) mother Marilyn (Blythe Danner). But, wait, there's more! Will falls for gay cop Vince D'Angelo (Bobby Cannavale), while Jack, newly graduated from nursing school, takes up with Will's client Stuart (Dave Foley), whereupon Jack and Stuart become the first clients of new business partners Will and Grace, who have launched an apartment-refurbishing operation. Most of the one-shot guest stars this season appear as themselves, with such noteworthy exceptions as Geena Davis, who is seen as Grace's freeloading sister Janet. Otherwise, Barry Manilow plays Barry Manilow, James Earl Jones plays James Earl Jones, and so on. In another cliffhanger season finale, Karen elopes to Las Vegas with her new love Lyle, coaxing Jennifer Lopez to sing at the wedding; and the long-overdue reunion of Grace and Leo is scuttled by a freak accident! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, (more)
- 2002
Parenthood prospects fluster Will and Grace, who consider having a baby; a conjugal visit vexes Karen; a Broadway audition rattles Jack. ~ TV Guide, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, (more)
- 2002
Will and Grace decide to have a child together; Karen becomes enamored of a smooth-talking man-about-town (Rip Torn). ~ TV Guide, Rovi
- 2002
Harry Connick Jr. guest stars as a charming MD drawn to Grace, who's still intent on having a child with Will. ~ TV Guide, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, (more)
Based on a book by paranormal investigator John Keel, this spooky, X-Files-type supernatural thriller is purportedly based loosely on true events that occurred in the small town of Point Pleasant, WV, in 1966-1967. Richard Gere stars as journalist John Klein, an up-and-coming reporter devastated by the death of his beloved wife Mary (Debra Messing) following a car accident. Mary saw a mysterious vision immediately before the crash, a haunting image of a moth-like creature. Two years later, Klein is driving to an interview with the governor of Virginia when he suddenly finds himself hundreds of miles out of his way in a small town on the West Virginia-Ohio border. He discovers that strange events are occurring there, including sightings of the "mothman," as well as UFOs and bizarre alien-like telephone calls. Klein stays to investigate, despite the protests of skeptical cop Connie Parker (Laura Linney) and the initial hostility of spooked local Gordon (Will Patton). He soon discovers that sightings of the mothman are historical portents of doom and disaster, omens that may foretell a terrible cataclysm about to strike Point Pleasant. The Mothman Prophecies reunites Gere and Linney, who previously starred together in Primal Fear (1996). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Laura Linney, (more)
Fans of Will & Grace were taken aback by the series' fifth season, in which plotlines bordered on the ludicrous and the main characters became more wildly inconsistant--and much, much, more abrasive. For starters, longtime friends and roommates Will (Eric McCormack) and Grace (Debra Messing) (he's the gay lawyer, she's the straight interior designer) have a bitter falling out when she decides not to bear his child by artificial insemination, choosing instead to impulsively marry a handsome Jewish doctor named Leo Markus, played by singer-composer Harry Connick Jr.) (the fact that TV journalist Katie Couric is present at the ceremony would seem to prove beyond doubt that the marriage was preplanned as a fall-sweeps ratings stunt, rather than a logical outgrowth of Grace's character). At the same time, Grace's business partner Karen (Megan Mullaly) goes into full harpie mode when her wealthy incarcerated husband Stan throws her over for prison cafeteria worker Lorraine Finster (Minnie Driver), reducing Karen to homeless destitution (for a while, she lives in the family limo!) And Stan's flamboyantly gay buddy Jack (Will Hayes) morphs from harmless eccentric to menacing stalker when he spots Kevin Bacon (one of several celebrities playing themselves) strolling down the avenue. Guest actors this season include Gene Wilder, whose performance as Mr. Stein, the long-missing, hyperneurotic senior partner of Will's law firm won the actor one of the series' four Emmy awards for 2002-2003 (another Emmy went to star Debra Messing, and about time!); Rosanna Arquette as a masseuse who evidently has the "hots" for Grace; Dan Futterman as Grace's gay cousin Barry, only recently and very awkwardly "outed", who briefly becomes the object of affection for both Will and Jack; and Madonna as Karen's new, high-maintenance roommate. As the season winds down, Stan starts divorce proceedings against Karen, who is incensed to find that Will is representing her husband (HER attorney is a greenhorn played by Macauley Culkin)--but the courtroom proceedings are interrupted by some shocking news about Stan. Everything comes to a head in the season's cliffhanger finale, which takes place during an ocean voyage, wherein Grace weighs the possibility of moving to Guatemala to be closer to husband Leo. . .until she finds out about Leo's sexy coworker (Nicollette Sheridan). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, (more)
A down-on-his luck auteur gets one more chance at the big time -- provided his neuroses don't swallow him whole -- in Woody Allen's 33rd feature release, Hollywood Ending. Allen plays Val Waxman, a one-time cinematic genius who's resorted to taking advertisement work to pay the bills for himself and his airhead live-in girlfriend, Lori (Debra Messing). Val finds his luck is about to change, however, when he receives the script for The City Never Sleeps, a period noir set against the backdrop of 1940s New York City. It seems his ex-wife, Ellie (Tea Leoni), now an executive at Galaxy Pictures, has been pulling for him to direct the picture, claiming he's the only man who can do justice to the script. She even manages to convince her boyfriend, Hal (Treat Williams), Galaxy's high-powered studio head, to take a chance on Val's "unique vision." Just when the cameras are ready to roll, however, Val finds that unique vision in jeopardy -- literally -- as he's struck with a psychosomatic case of blindness. When physicians and psychiatrists fail to cure him, Val contrives a scheme to forge ahead with the picture, for fear of blowing his one last chance at greatness. Hollywood Ending co-stars George Hamilton and Mark Rydell. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
- Starring:
- Woody Allen, Téa Leoni, (more)
As Season Four of Will & Grace gets under way, we find interior designer Grace Adler still living with her oafish boyfriend Nathan (Will Harrelson), but before long she has gravitated back (platonically, of course) to her former roommate, gay lawyer Will Truman (Eric McCormack). Eventually, Nathan proposes to Grace, but she turns him down--and lives to regret it. As for Will's flamboyantly gay buddy Jack (Sean Hayes), he is basking in the joys of new-found parenthood as he bonds with Elliott (Michael Angarano), the teenaged son that resulted from one of Jack's sperm-bank donations. This story arc leads to a nasty confrontation with Elliott's biological mother, a vitriolic lesbian named Bonnie (Rosie O'Donnell). Meanwhile, Grace's wealthy socialite business partner Karen (Megan Mullaly) blithely continues living the high life even though her husband Stan has been thrown in jail for income tax evasion. Guest stars this season include Blythe Danner as Will's nails-on-the-blackboard mother Marilyn; Suzanne Pleshette) as snooty Karen's trailer-trash mom Lois; Matt Damon as a straight man posing as a homosexual in order to take a free trip to Europe with a gay men's chorus; Parker Posey as Darlene, Jack's coworker at Barney's Department Store; Eileen Brennan as Jack's whisky-voiced acting coach Zandra; and Glenn Close as an eccentric celebrity photographer named Fannie Lieber (sound vaguely familiar)? In the season's cliffhanger finale, Will and Grace respond to their mutually ticking biological clocks by deciding to have a baby together (though just HOW they plan to do this remains up in the air!); and Karen toys with cheating on her incarcerated husband with courtly Lionel Banks (Rip Torn). Will & Grace enjoyed its best-ever ratings during its fourth season, attaining the coveted Number Nine slot. Also, the series picked two more of its sixteen Emmy awards. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, (more)
He was a poor carpenter who never traveled further than 50 miles from his home and died at the age of 33, but his teachings changed the world and he's still followed by hundreds of millions of people around the world, 2,000 years after his death. Jesus, originally produced as a television mini-series, offers a glimpse of the human side of the messiah, as well as recounting the story of his life and martyrdom. Jeremy Sisto stars as Jesus, with Jacqueline Bisset as Mary, Armin Mueller-Stahl as Joseph, Gary Oldman as Pontius Pilate, and Debra Messing as Mary Magdalene. The home video release is expanded from the broadcast edition, featuring material that was cut for time purposes. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jeremy Sisto, Jacqueline Bisset, (more)
Season Three of Will & Grace finds gay lawyer Will Truman (Eric McCormack) returning from his annual vacation to find that his straight roommate Grace Adler (Debra Messing) is torn between two lovers, Josh (Corey Parker) and Ben (Gregory Hines), the latter gentleman happening to be Will's law partner. Meanwhile, Will's flamboyantly gay buddy Jack (Sean Hayes) has a falling out with Grace's wealthy, self-centered business partner Karen (Megan Mullally) when he divorced Karen's illegal-immigrant maid Rosario (Shelley Morrison). This season marks the first appearance of diminutive character actor Leslie Jordan as Karen's bete noire Beverly Leslie, a noxious right-winger who covers up his obvious gayness by spouting homophobic drivel; Beverly is introduced in the controversial episode wherein gay actress Ellen DeGeneres shows up as a nun. We also meet Tina (Lesley Ann Warren), the manipulative mistress of Will's father George (Sidney Pollack); Will's athletically inclined boyfriend Matt, played by future Grey's Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey); and most significantly, Grace's loser-lout neighbor Nathan (Woody Harrelson), with who she inexplcably falls in love. Season Three also marks the first of the series' several celebrity cameos, as Jack unexpectedly confronts his idol Cher, in an episode which also features a pre-Boston Public Camryn Manheim as a psychic. Topping off the year is Jack's astonished reaction to the fact that he's a father--and in fact has been one for nearly a dozen years! Ranked as the 14th most popular series in America during the 2000-2001 season, Will & Grace also won three more Emmy winners, one of them picked up by leading man Eric McCormack. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, (more)
Moving out of the apartment she shares with gay lawyer Will Truman (Eric McCormack), straight interior designer Grace Adler (Debra Messing) personifies the old adage "gone but not forgotten" when she moves into the apartment next door to Will's as Will & Grace begins its second season. Meanwhile, in an effort to avoid a scuffle with the INS, Will's flamboyantly gay pal Jack (Sean Hayes) moves in with his much-older immigrant bride Rosario (Shelley Morrison), former maid of Grace's filthy-rich business partner, the selfish, superficial, squeaky-voiced Karen Walker (Magan Mullally). Major developments this season include Will's brief and frustrated period of unemployment, and a run-in with his otherwise supportive father George (Sydney Pollack), who has gone to great lengths to cover up his son's sexual orientation by telling his friends that Will and Grace are married. Also, Jack tries to belatedly break the news to his hyperjudgmental mom Judith (Veronica Cartwright) that he's been "out" for years; and Karen faces the possibility of losing her cushy home and limitless bank account when her fabulous wealthy, grotesquely overweight husband Stan (who remains an unseen presence) has a heart attack. The season ends with Will trying to act as peacemaker in the battle of wills between his law partner Ben Doucette (Gregory Hines) and his once-again-roommate Grace, with surprising results; and Rosario, far from grateful to Jack for keeping her from being deported, demands a divorce. Will & Grace closed out its second season by winning three Emmy awards, one for "Outstanding Comedy Series", and two for supporting players Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, (more)
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