Bobby Cannavale Movies
Growing up in Union City, NJ, Bobby Cannavale participated in the school play because his mother wanted him off the streets. Today, he is a recognizable New York-based character actor with roles in the city's best theater, television, and film productions. Television writer/producer John Wells and the legendary Sidney Lumet frequently rely on Cannavale's talents; he can usually be found rounding out their ensemble casts, and is married to Lumet's daughter, Jenny.Cannavale was born in New Jersey to an Italian father and a Cuban mother. His parents insisted that he attend St. Michael's Catholic School in Union City where he took part in almost every after school activity, from the alter boys to the chorus. When he was eight, Cannavale secured the plum role of "the lisping boy" in his school's production of The Music Man and a part in Guys and Dolls. Ever since then, he wanted to do nothing but perform.
Cannavale's parents divorced when he was 13 and his mother moved the family to Puerto Rico. After two years in Latin America, they returned to the United States and settled in Coconut Creek, FL. Cannavale returned to New Jersey after graduating high school in the late '80s -- he needed to be closer to New York in order to begin his acting career. Forgoing acting lessons for actual performance experience, Cannavale became involved with Manhattan's prestigious Circle Repertory Theater. He served as a "reader" for several plays and was eventually cast as Mark Linn-Baker's understudy in Georges Feydeau's French farce A Flea in Her Ear. Cannavale soon ended up replacing Baker for two weeks. His first-rate performance secured him a role in the company's next play, Paul Rudnick's The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told. Television powerhouse John Wells attended one of the shows and cast Cannavale in his television series Trinity. Cannavale's character, a tugboat operator, was supposed to appear in only three episodes of the show, but starred in nine.
Trinity was canceled in 1998, but Wells immediately secured Cannavale for his next television venture, 1999's Third Watch. As dedicated and lovesick paramedic Robert "Bobby" Caffey, Cannavale struck a cord with female audiences. The show was renewed for a second season, but Cannavale felt that Caffey's character was not being developed. He asked Wells to let him exit the series and to make sure he exited "big." The producer obliged his friend: Caffey left the show mid-season after being fatally shot in the chest. The dramatic two-part episode even included a "beyond the grave" meeting between Caffey and his deceased dead-beat dad. In 2001, Cannavale joined the cast of his father-in-law, Sidney Lumet's heralded television courtroom drama, 100 Centre Street. Cannavale's brazen, ambitious prosecutor, J.J. Jellinek, is a far cry from the softhearted paramedic he portrayed on Third Watch. Debuting on the show at the beginning of its second season, Jellinek shook up 100 Centre Street -- immediately romancing a fellow lawyer and shamelessly advancing his career in any way possible.
Cannavale's television career has not kept him away from theater or film. He appeared on-stage throughout the '90s, participating in productions such as Lanford Wilson's Virgil Is Still the Frog Boy and Noel Coward's In Two Keys. His movie credits include Herbe Gardner's I'm Not Rappaport (1996) with Walter Mathau and Ossie Davis, Lumet's Night Falls on Manhattan (1997), and Gloria (1999), John Irvin's HBO original film When Trumpet's Fade (1998), Phillip Noyce's The Bone Collector (1999) with Angelina Jolie and Denzel Washington, Spike Lee's 3 A.M. (2001) with Danny Glover, Alec Baldwin's The Devil and Daniel Webster (2002), and Daisy Von Scherler Mayer's The Guru (2002). Cast as friendly and outgoing lunch truck vender Joe in the critically acclaimed 2003 indie hit The Station Agent, Cannavale provided the perfect contrast to Peter Dinklage's introverted protagonist. WIth subsequent small screen roles in Kingpin and OZ that same year, the up and coming actor would become a familiar face to television viewers before once again returning to the silver screen for supporting roles in Shall We Dance?, Haven, and Romance and Cigarettes.
A recurring, Emmy-winning role on Will and Grace ensured Cannavale's continued presence on the small screen right through to the final episode of the series aired in May of 2006, with a slew of supporting performance in such the features The Night Listener, Fast Food Nation, Snakes on a Plane, 10 Items or Less, and Dedication that same year proving that Cannivale was the go-to guy for producers in search of quality supporting players. This trend would continue for the actor in the coming years, as he turned up in everything from the quirky Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, to the family friendly Paul Blart: Mall Cop. In 2010 he took a small part in the Will Ferrell comedy The Other Guys. The next year he reteamed with Tom McCarthy for Win Win. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, Rovi
- 2013
- R
The life of one of the most infamous women in early '70s America gets a dramatization in this offbeat period biopic from co-directors Jeffrey Friedman and Robert Epstein. In the Florida suburbs, circa 1970, Linda Boreman (Amanda Seyfried) is an ordinary and unremarkable young woman who moved back in with her parents (Robert Patrick and Sharon Stone) a year or so earlier, following an unplanned pregnancy. One night on the town, she crosses paths with Chuck Traynor (Peter Sarsgaard) a local bar and restaurant owner who sees Linda as an opportunity; he soon wins her over as a girlfriend, and not long after, the two are married. Within a couple of years, Chuck shoots a private stag film of Linda performing oral sex on a partner, and decides to show it to Gerry Damiano (Hank Azaria), an up-and-coming porn director with ties to the Mafia. Damiano is so impressed by the footage that he immediately decides to cast Linda in his new picture, the hardcore comedy Deep Throat, which becomes the single most lucrative adult film of all time and turns the young woman -- renamed Linda Lovelace -- into a household name. The film then flashes forward to six years later, when Linda authors a shocking tell-all book about what really happened when the cameras weren't rolling; she describes the sadistic abuse that she endured at the hands of Traynor and a series of increasingly futile attempts to escape from his clutches, and claims that she was coerced to appear in the movie. The media then turns Lovelace -- who became a Long Island housewife named Linda Marciano -- into a feminist icon and a crusader against domestic violence and the enslavement of the porn industry. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Amanda Seyfried, Peter Sarsgaard, (more)
- 2011
- R
A man has to give up a life of lifting amps and chasing groupies to take on the challenges of the real world in this independent drama. Jimmy Testagross (Ron Eldard) was a teenage rock & roll fan when he was growing up in Queens, and a couple years out of high school, he landed what seemed like the perfect job -- joining the road crew of hard-rock icons Blue Oyster Cult. After spending 20 years on the road, Jimmy is cut loose when economics force the band to streamline their operation, and at the ripe old age of 40, he has no idea what to do with his life. Needing some time to regroup, Jimmy returns home to visit his elderly mother (Lois Smith), only to discover she's growing senile and may need him to move in and look after her. As he struggles with the notion of facing adult responsibilities for the first time, he also crosses paths with Randy (Bobby Cannavale), who bullied him in high school and still acts like a spoiled brat, and Nikki (Jill Hennessy), Randy's wife, who dated Jimmy in high school and is still holding on to a fading dream of making it as a singer/songwriter. Jill Hennessy, an accomplished musician as well as an actress, wrote the songs she performs in character in the film. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ron Eldard, Jill Hennessy, (more)
Paul Giamatti headlines writer/director Tom McCarthy's comedy drama centering on a beleaguered attorney and part-time wrestling coach who schemes to keep his practice from going under by acting as the legal caretaker of an elderly client. Mike Flaherty (Giamatti) thinks he has discovered the perfect loophole to keep his practice in business. But his brilliant plan hits an unexpected hitch when his client's troubled grandson shows up looking for a place to stay. With his home life in turmoil and both of his careers in jeopardy, Mike quickly realizes that he'll have to get creative in order to find a way out of his current predicament. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, (more)
A desk-jockey detective and his tough-talking partner get their moment to shine in this buddy police comedy starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, and directed by Adam McKay (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby). New York City detective Allen Gamble (Ferrell) is more comfortable pushing pencils than busting bad guys. A meticulous forensic accountant, his numbers are never off. Detective Terry Hoitz (Wahlberg) is Gamble's reluctant partner. Try as Detective Hoitz might to get back on the streets, an embarrassing encounter with Derek Jeter has left a sizable black mark on his permanent record. Detectives Danson (Dwayne Johnson) and Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson) are the complete opposites of Gamble and Hoitz: unwaveringly confident, they always get their man, and they do it with style to spare. When the time comes for Gamble and Hoitz to prove their mettle and save the day, their incompetence becomes the stuff of legend. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, (more)
- 2009
Mythically powerful or mentally unstable, Trevor Pierce believes he's Cupid. After spending three months in a mental institution for embarking on a mission from Zeus to find love for 100 lonely people, he's released, and placed under the care of psychiatrist Dr. Claire McCrae -- but Trevor is no less sure of his purpose. He starts bringing his romantic expertise into his job as a bartender at the Tres Equis Cantina, where he does display a knack for making relationships bloom. But is it really his magical heritage, or just his romantic charm? As Trevor goes about his mission on Earth, some of the people he touches find themselves believing Mount Olympus. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bobby Cannavale, Sarah Paulson, (more)
A New Jersey rent-a-cop gets his moment to shine as the holidays approach and Santa's little helpers stage a coup at the local shopping mall in this comedy starring King of Queens' Kevin James. Paul Blart (James) is a single suburban dad attempting to make ends meet by working as a mall security guard. Paul takes his job very seriously; unfortunately the same can't be said for the shoppers he deals with on a daily basis. That all changes the day that Santa's little helpers shut down the mall and start taking hostages, including Paul's daughter and his main squeeze. Realizing that no one knows the mall better than the man who's paid to guard it, Paul mounts his Segway and speeds to the rescue. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kevin James, Keir O'Donnell, (more)
- 2009
- NR
- Add Brief Interviews With Hideous Men to Queue Add Brief Interviews With Hideous Men to top of Queue
Adapted from the book by David Foster Wallace, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men tells the story of Sara Quinn, a graduate student in anthropology who's left feeling lost after her boyfriend breaks up with her and offers little explanation as to why. With her dissertation looming, Sara begins a project to interview men, all sorts of men, trying to unearth the mystery of their bizarre behavior. As her personal life and her academic life continue to mingle, Sara uncovers some strange and disturbing things about the male perspective, but nothing could be quite as strange as what she learns about herself. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi
- Starring:
- Julianne Nicholson, John Krasinski, (more)
A war of wills takes place between two men who want to run the same grocery store in this offbeat comedy from writer and director Steven Conrad. Doug (Seann William Scott) is a seemingly ordinary guy who works as the assistant manager of a supermarket near Chicago. When the owners of the market announce they're opening a new branch near Doug's neighborhood, he applies to become manager of the new store, and both he and his wife (Jenna Fischer) assume he's a shoo-in to get the job. But Richard (John C. Reilly), a gregarious recent hire at the store who has relocated to Illinois from Canada, announces he's also applying for the management position, and a keen rivalry develops between Doug and Richard even as they strive to act like friends on the surface. As the competition grows between the two, their personality flaws become increasingly evident -- Doug's short temper, Richard's history of drug abuse -- and when Richard's wife (Lili Taylor) leaves him, the contest starts taking an uncomfortable turn. The Promotion also stars Fred Armisen, Gil Bellows, and Bobby Cannavale. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Seann William Scott, John C. Reilly, (more)
Michael Keaton makes his directorial debut in this low-key story of two unlikely kindred spirits. Kate Frazier (Kelly Macdonald) is a sweet woman who has left behind an abusive husband to start her life over in Chicago. Kate lands a job as a receptionist, but one afternoon after leaving work for the day she sees a man with a rifle on the ledge of a nearby building. The man is about to jump, and Kate screams; the noise startles the man, and he falls backward to safety. As it happens, the man with the gun was Frank Logan (Michael Keaton), a hired killer who has a lingering illness and has fallen into a suicidal depression. Kate is questioned by the police about Frank, and police detective Dave Murcheson (Tom Bastounes) quickly becomes infatuated with her after their brief conversation. But Frank seeks out Kate, and they discover they have more in common than they might imagine as two lonely people dealing with a troublesome past. The Merry Gentleman received its world premiere at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Keaton, Kelly MacDonald, (more)
Author Sherwood Kiraly pens the screenplay adaptation of his own comedic novel concerning a man (Matthew Broderick) who gets amnesia after suffering a blow to the head and the road trip he embarks on with his Alzheimer's-afflicted uncle (Alan Alda) and high-school sweetheart (Virginia Madsen). Convinced that they will make a fortune by selling an ultra-rare baseball card at a high-profile memorabilia show, the trio sets out on the open road in search of adventure. Bobby Cannavale and Lois Smith co-star in the feature directorial debut of actor-turned-director Terry Kinney. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Matthew Broderick, Virginia Madsen, (more)
Much of the group responsible for MTV's The State -- including director/actor David Wain and performers Ken Marino, Kerri Kenney-Silver, and Joe Lo Truglio -- reunite for this outrageous, irreverent, and raunchy sketch comedy, which skewers the Ten Commandments. In the framing sequences, comedian Paul Rudd (who collaborated with much of the cast on Wet Hot American Summer and The Baxter) stands on a black stage with giant Biblical tablets projected behind him and promises to deliver ten mini-stories, each loosely based on one of the commandments, from "Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Before Me" through "Thou Shalt Not Covet." For all of the storyteller's efforts, however, he is constantly, comically distracted by interferences, particularly those emanating from intrusions by his multiple girlfriends. The stories are nonetheless told one by one in short-film form, beginning with a sketch in which Stephen (Adam Brody) goes skydiving with his intended, Kelly (Winona Ryder), but forgets to wear his parachute and gets stuck in the mud, waist-deep, which draws gawkers, media, and in time, worshipers. Several of the subsequent stories consist of raunchy, jet-black riffs on sexual perversion, including one about a virginal librarian (Gretchen Mol) entangled in a sultry and messy affair with a Mexican, and another memorable bit about a nutty surgeon who plays a prank by burying a pair of scissors in a patient's stomach and is then sent to prison -- where he experiences brutal sexual abuse at the hands of other men. As an added bonus, the picture packs in a fully animated sequence, narrated by several crack-smokers, entitled "The Lying Rhino." ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Paul Rudd, Famke Janssen, (more)
Actor Justin Theroux (Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Mulholland Dr.) steps behind the camera for his directorial debut with this irreverent romantic comedy. Billy Crudup is Henry, a cynical children's book writer who holds little more than disdain for his pint-sized target audience. Artist Rudy (Tom Wilkinson) is both Henry's illustrator and the only friend in his miserable life. But when Rudy's health fails, Henry unwittingly finds himself paired with a new illustrator, played by Mandy Moore, who proves to be the oil to his water. Dedication also stars Mia Farrow and Bob Balaban. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Billy Crudup, Mandy Moore, (more)
- 2007
Ken Burns continues his exploration of massive, sweeping subjects with his 15-hour documentary The War; in this case, the conflict in question is World War II. Yet within the scope of that gargantuan subject, Burns and co-director Lynn Novick narrow their scale of emphasis, honing in on four "average" American towns and charting the experiences of individual young men who enlisted to go overseas and fight against the encroaching shadow of fascism. The film covers each major "region" of the U.S. by transporting audiences to the west coast (Sacramento, California); the south (Mobile, Alabama); the east coast (Waterbury, Connecticut) and the Midwest (the farming community of Luverne, Minnesota). Within that geographic framework, Burns uncovers a series of astonishing tales about bravery in the midst of adversity - from the story of a young man who transported 12 American soldiers from the Normandy beach on D-Day, to the accounts of innumerable young men who falsified their ages and enlisted early. Burns and Novick thus repeatedly emphasize the human side of war - an aspect all too often glossed over when documentarians treat WWII on a broader scale. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Glenn Frazier, Sam Hynes, (more)
Music video director Brad Furman teams with Josh and Jonas Pate, the creators of the NBC series Surface, for this independent drama tracing an armored truck driver's efforts to track down the thief who shot him during a heist, changing his life forever. John Leguizamo stars as the driver who must endure months of rehabilitation before setting out to track down the gunman, and Tyrese Gibson plays the man responsible for pulling the trigger. Rosie Perez and Bobby Cannavale co-star in a thriller that was shot guerrilla-style in the Latino neighborhoods of Los Angeles. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Leguizamo, Rosie Perez, (more)
Inspired by author Eric Schlosser's New York Times best-seller of the same name, director Richard Linklater's ensemble drama examines the health issues and social consequences of America's love affair with fast food and features an all-star cast that includes Greg Kinnear, Ethan Hawke, Kris Kristofferson, Patricia Arquette, and Luis Guzman. Mickey's is the most popular fast-food chain in America, and The Big One is the top-selling burger that put them on the map. When the higher-ups at Mickey's corporate offices learn that the frozen meat patties used to make the wildly popular burger have somehow been tainted with contaminated meat, they send marketing executive Don Henderson (Kinnear) on an urgent mission to ensure quality control and find out precisely how their product became compromised. It's a long way from the Southern California boardroom to the immigrant slaughterhouses, though, and the further Henderson works his way through the bustling feedlots and toward the ubiquitous restaurant sites that have become a staple of modern culture, the more he begins to realize just how dangerous convenience can become when it leads to blissfully ignorant complacency. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Patricia Arquette, Bobby Cannavale, (more)
A man whose life has been touched by tragic illness is drawn into the life of another victim whose story has an unsettling twist in this drama. Gabriel Noone (Robin Williams) is a radio talk show host who has developed a loyal following for his deeply personal on-air monologues, many of which deal with his relationship with his companion Jess (Bobby Cannavale), who is HIV-positive and struggling with his health. When Jess' condition improves, he surprises Gabriel by announcing he needs his space and has decided to break up with him. Gabriel is shaken and feels creatively blocked until Ashe (Joe Morton), a friend in the publishing business, gives him an advance copy of a memoir by Pete Logand (Rory Culkin), a 14-year-old boy living with AIDS. Pete's book is a harrowing memoir of a childhood fraught with abuse of all sorts meted out at the hands of his parents, and Gabriel is deeply moved by his story. One night, Gabriel gets a phone call from Pete, who claims to be a big fan of his radio show, but the call is cut off by Donna (Toni Collette), Pete's stern and protective stepmother. While Gabriel admires Pete's book, he begins to question its veracity, and with the help of Anna (Sandra Oh) tries to research the facts behind the story. As he uncovers more loose ends, Gabriel begins to suspect that Pete isn't the true author of the work, and that Donna has created his terrible past in the name of literary celebrity. The Night Listener was adapted from the novel by Armistead Maupin. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robin Williams, Toni Collette, (more)
An aging Hollywood icon whose fear of failure has caused his once-luminous star to smoulder strikes up an unlikely friendship with an acid-tongued checkout clerk while researching his latest role in City of Angels and Moonlight Mile director Brad Silberling's intimate drama. Crippled by his own all-consuming fears, the man who was once Hollywood's hottest icon (Morgan Freeman) is forced to consider a role in a low-budget independent after a series of more lucrative prospects wither away on the vine. When his driver abandons him during a trip to Carson to research his upcoming role, the onetime showbiz supernova strikes up a lively conversation with Scarlet (Paz Vega), an outspoken check-out girl at a Latino community market. Now, stuck on his own, far from Brentwood, the actor must rely upon the kindness of a common stranger to help him get back on his feet. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Morgan Freeman, Paz Vega, (more)
Forget terrorists or hijackers -- there's a handful of deadly assassins aboard a jet liner and they don't even have arms or legs in this airborne thriller. Neville Flynn (Samuel L. Jackson) is an FBI agent handling what seems like a routine assignment -- serving as bodyguard for Sean Jones (Nathan Phillips), a Hawaiian surfer dude who is flying to California to testify in a high-profile criminal trial after witnessing mobster Eddie Kim (Byron Lawson) murdering one of his underlings. However, Flynn's job gets a lot more challenging when he discovers Kim's associates don't want Jones to talk, and have devised a unique way to ensure his silence. A cache of highly dangerous poisonous snakes has been hidden on board the jet, and is released using a timed mechanism once the flight is well underway. The snakes quickly attack several members of the flight crew and are eagerly eying the passengers when Flynn decides its time to get medieval on the reptiles. Also starring Rachel Blanchard, Benjamin McKenzie, and Mark Houghton, Snakes on a Plane was produced under the title of Pacific Air Flight 121, but in several interviews Samuel L. Jackson expressed his enthusiasm for the script's original title, Snakes on a Plane, and the high-concept moniker quickly made the film's title and theme a favorite with bloggers and on Internet fan sites all over the world. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Samuel L. Jackson, Julianna Margulies, (more)
Adapted by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen from their own off-Broadway play, The Exonerated dramatizes the real-life stories of six innocent citizens who spent anywhere from three to 20 years on death row until DNA testing proved that they had all been falsely convicted. Each of the six stories is related in the first person, using free-flowing flashbacks to highlight selected events. Some critics felt that, by using such A-list actors as Susan Sarandon, Aidan Quinn, Danny Glover, Brian Dennehy, and Delroy Lindo to play the unfairly condemned protagonists, the text of the original play was thrown off balance; this may be the reason why the relatively unknown David Brown Jr., cast as the sixth main character, received some of the best reviews. In the tradition of Schindler's List, the actual people whose experiences are enacted in the film show up on camera for the final scene. Directed by veteran Broadway and Hollywood actor Bob Balaban (Seinfeld, A Mighty Wind), The Exonerated was produced for the Court TV cable channel, and was first broadcast on January 27, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Susan Sarandon, Aidan Quinn, (more)
Three loosely interrelated stories of dysfunctional relationships are played for edgy laughs in this dark comedy drama from writer and director Don Roos. An unexpected assignation between stepsiblings Mamie and Charley results in Mamie becoming pregnant, with the child being put up for adoption shortly after birth. Twenty years later, Mamie (Lisa Kudrow) is approached by Nicky (Jesse Bradford), an aspiring filmmaker with an abrasive personality who claims to know where her long-lost son is living. However, there's a catch -- Nicky wants to shoot the reunion for the student film he's working on, and won't tell her about her child unless she agrees, though her lover, Javier (Bobby Cannavale), attempts to work out a compromise. Meanwhile, Charley (Steve Coogan), now out of the closet, has a longstanding relationship with Gil (David Sutcliffe), and the couple are involved in a legal battle over whether or not Gil's donated sperm produced a baby who has been adopted by a lesbian couple they know (Laura Dern and Sarah Clarke). And finally, Jude (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is a bohemian malcontent who becomes involved with Otis (Jason Ritter), a sexually ambiguous rock musician. Otis has a difficult relationship with his father, Frank (Tom Arnold), but when Jude meets Frank, she likes him fine -- in fact, she soon falls in love with him and leaves Otis for his dad. Happy Endings had its world premiere at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tom Arnold, Jesse Bradford, (more)
Worn to a frazzle by her job at trendy "Glow" magazine, straitlaced J.J. Jenner (Carly Pope) is gratified when her boss offers her the job of writing an important food column--but only if she can finish a decent article within a two-week deadline, which will fall upon Christmas Eve. Impeding J.J.'s potential success is the breakup of her current romance, and especially the unannounced arrival of her freewheeling mother Lee (Christine Baranski), former hippie and lifelong chorus girl. To get her well-meaning but annoying mom out of her hair, and to assure that the food-column job will definitely be hers, J.J. enters into an arrangement with publicity-hungry restaurant owner Alex (Bobby Cannavale), wherein he will date Lee in exchange for a glowing review of his eating establishment. Suffice to say that things don't quite turn out as either J.J. or Alex originally planned. Produced for the Lifetime cable channel,Recipe for a Perfect Christmas debuted December 5, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Actor and filmmaker John Turturro wrote and directed this emotionally resonant blend of music and drama. Nick Murder (James Gandolfini) is an ironworker who has been married for years to Kitty (Susan Sarandon), who works as a seamstress and is the mother of Nick's three daughters. While Nick loves his wife, his head is turned by Tula (Kate Winslet), a sexy salesgirl at a lingerie shop, and soon they're having a passionate affair. When Kitty finds out about Nick's infidelity, she becomes enraged and kicks him out of the house, forcing him to decide what he really wants out of life and what is most important to him. Along the way, many of the characters in the film periodically turn to their favorite songs to explain and amplify their emotions, lip-synching along with the original recordings. Romance & Cigarettes also stars Steve Buscemi, Mandy Moore, Christopher Walken, Eddie Izzard, and Elaine Stritch. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, (more)
Directed by Peter Chelsom, this film is the English-language remake of Masayuki Suo's 1995 romantic comedy of the same name; the Japanese version earned a record-breaking 9.5 million dollars in United States box offices. Shall We Dance? revolves around John Clark (Richard Gere), a workaholic Chicago lawyer who, despite a respectable paycheck and loving family, is unable to shake the feeling that something in his life is missing. On a whim, John disrupts his normal evening commute to attend a dance class in hopes of meeting Paulina (Jennifer Lopez), a beautiful dance teacher he would occasionally spot gazing out of the studio windows. Though Paulina quickly lays to rest any preconceived romantic notions John may have had about her, she nonetheless forms a bond with him that goes beyond those normally held by a teacher and student. Invigorated with his new hobby, John focuses his newfound enthusiasm into training for an upcoming dance competition; however, he chooses not to let his wife (Susan Sarandon) in on his plans. Unaware that dance may be, in fact, saving her marriage, John's wife becomes suspicious of all the time he spends away from home and hires a private investigator to find out whether or not her husband is having an affair. Ultimately, John is forced to examine how his old dreams fit in to his new life. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, (more)
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