Gift SubscriptionsAlfonso Freeman
- 1998
Scott Storm made his directorial debut with this intense psychological thriller. Screenwriter Ben Sharpe (Randall Slavin), is attempting to conquer a writer's block when former friend Tom Rice turns up with a completed manuscript and solid publisher connections. Ben pretends to be pleased for his one-time pal, but in truth he harbors much envy and resentment, a situation that worsens when he eavesdrops on Tom's lovemaking with publisher's daughter Amanda (Andrea Roth). At the typewriter, he pecks out a fiendish plot to gain the upper hand on Tom -- with Amanda becoming a pawn in the game. Synthesized music score by Joe Kraemer. Shown at the 1998 Slamdance Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Randall Slavin, David Hayter, (more)
After two acclaimed independent films in which he took a troubling look at male/female relations, director Neil LaBute moves on to less controversial ground in this dark comedy. Betty Sizemore (Renee Zellweger) is a woman from Kansas City who waits tables at a diner and is married to an insensitive thug named Del (Aaron Eckhart). One of Betty's few pleasures in life is the soap opera A Reason to Love. Her favorite character is handsome Dr. David Ravell, played by George McCord (Greg Kinnear). One night, Del gets involved in a drug deal with a pair of gangsters, Charlie (Morgan Freeman) and his sidekick Wesley (Chris Rock). Del's thoughtless racial slurs lead to an arguement, and the short-tempered Wesley attacks him; Charlie is forced to kill Del, as Betty watches. Dazed and in shock, Betty hops into her car, deciding that the time is right for a date with destiny. Betty tracks down George McCord, and soon the soap's producer Lyla (Allison Janney) is considering Betty for a part on A Reason to Love, not realizing that Betty doesn't want to play Dr. Ravell's nurse and fiance, she wants to be her. Betty, meanwhile, has no idea that the drugs that Del was trying to sell are still in her car, and that Charlie and Wesley are hot on her trail, determined to get the dope and silence her once and for all. Nurse Betty also features Kathleen Wilhoite, Crispin Glover, and Pruitt Taylor Vince. The film was shown in competition at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the prize for Best Screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Renée Zellweger, Morgan Freeman, (more)
As the clock counts down the final minutes of what will likely be the last morning of Larry Taylor's life, events unfolding simultaneously at another location detail precisely how what seemed to be a typical home invasion may in fact be something far more sinister. Larry Taylor was jet-lagged when he awoke to find two strangers in his bedroom, and in the next ten minutes he will be forced to make some important decisions that could mean the difference between life and death. Only by acknowledging the events unfolding elsewhere at precisely the same moment can it be determined who these men are and what they truly want, and as the connection between the two events slowly begins to come into focus, so, too, does the truth. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alfonso Freeman, Rick Wasserman, (more)
Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman star as two terminally ill cancer patients who decide to break out of the hospital and live their last days to the fullest in director Rob Reiner's seriocomic road movie. Edward Cole (Nicholson) is a corporate billionaire who is currently sharing a hospital room with blue-collar mechanic Carter Chambers (Freeman). Though initially the pair seems to have nothing in common, conversation gradually reveals that both men have a long list of goals they wish to accomplish before they kick the bucket, and an unrealized desire to discover what kind of men they really are. But one can't accomplish such lofty objectives from the confines of a hospital bed, so now, in order to live their lives to the absolute fullest, Edward and Carter will have to make a break for it. With a checklist that includes playing the poker tables in Monte Carlo, consuming copious amounts of caviar, racing the fastest machines on four wheels, and much more, these two terminally ill men will do their best to fit a lifetime of experience into their last remaining days while forging an unlikely, but truly remarkable, friendship. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, (more)
