Noah Fleiss Movies
An actor all his life, Noah Fleiss appeared on both stage and television before making his first film appearance at the age of nine. His debut starring role was in the family-oriented road movie Josh and S.A.M., as the "Strategically Altered Mutant" little brother to child actor Jacob Tierney. In 1995, he played the younger version of D.B. Sweeney in the comedy Roommates with Peter Falk. The same year, Fleiss earned his first Hollywood Reporter Young Star Award for the TV tearjerker A Mother's Prayer. The next few years of his career consisted mostly of made-for-TV movies (more tearjerkers) and guest spots on such shows asTouched by an Angel. In 1999, he starred in the Sundance award-winning drama Joe the King, the directorial debut of actor Frank Whaley. He appeared in the segment "Someone for Rose" in the episodic drama Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her, which also played at the Sundance Film Festival. Fleiss played the title character Joe, the troubled teenage child of unloving parents (Val Kilmer and Karen Young). He was also cast as a troubled teen in the comedy drama Double Parked (2000), which was screened at Slamdance. In 2001, he returned to the realm of made-for-TV movies, appearing in the acclaimed Lifetime drama The Truth About Jane and the HBO original movie The Laramie Project. Fleiss continued to make festival favorites, notably as the straight-laced football player in the "Non-fiction" section of Todd Solondz's Storytelling, which premiered at Cannes. His next few features were independent films with good soundtracks: the high school movie Bringing Rain (with music by Vic Chesnutt) and the coming-of-age drama Evergreen (with music by John Stirratt). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
When the growing divide between a troubled teen and his emotionally distant father finds the boy seeking the friendship of a disheveled and temperamental high-school umpire, the bond shared between the unlikely pair leads both to realize things about themselves that they never knew in an affecting coming-of-age tale starring Nick Nolte, Timothy Hutton, Trevor Morgan, and Sally Kirkland. Ray Cook (Nolte) is a gruff, hard-drinking ump whose questionable call has recently cost a high-school baseball team one of the season's most crucial games. When Ray discovers his house being vandalized one evening and manages to capture vengeful young baseball player Dave (Morgan) in the act, the fundamentally decent boy agrees to return to the house and repair the damage. A lonely and terminally ill teen whose relationship with his father (Timothy Hutton) has gradually disintegrated following the death of his mother, Dave is offered the option of foregoing his daily clean-up sessions if he will agree to pose as Ray's son for the grizzled elder's upcoming 40th high-school reunion. Despite Dave's initial hesitation to take part in the plan, he soon agrees, and what was once a simple business plan gradually blossoms into something much more meaningful. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nick Nolte, Trevor Morgan, (more)
- 2006
Five people cross paths in New York City over the course of a day marked by violence in this independent drama from writer and director Jay Anania. Judy (Judy Kuhn) is a singer who is busy in a recording studio working on an album of British folk songs with jazz keyboardist John Medeski. Shira (Alyssa Sutherland) is a successful fashion model doing a photo shoot. Najia (Carmen Chaplin) is a journalist from Palestine who is in the United States working on a piece on treating victims of wartime violence, and she's arranged an interview with a well-respected doctor, Dr. Mary Wade (Olympia Dukakis). And Walter (Martin Donovan) is a quiet man who enjoys spending time in the park observing others. When a Palestinian suicide bomber sets off an explosive charge on a busy Manhattan street corner, all five characters are forced to deal with the physical and emotional wreckage of its aftermath. Day on Fire was screened as part of the "Visions" series, devoted to challenging works from new filmmakers, at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Olympia Dukakis, Martin Donovan, (more)
A tough-talking teen attempts to uncover his ex-girlfriend's killer in director Rian Johnson's hard-boiled high-school noir, told in the style of a Dashiell Hammett mystery. An outsider by nature, Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is forced to penetrate the elaborate ranks of the high-school social scene and its more insidious underbelly when the body of his former girlfriend Emily is found lying lifeless in a remote creek. Though the pair had been on the outs, Brendan can't seem to shake the hysterical phone call that he received from Emily the day before her body was discovered, a call in which she rattled off a number of cryptic words: "brick," "pin," "tug," "poor Frisco." He's determined to find the guilty party, and to do that he'll need to uncover the meaning behind her enigmatic phone call. From the highest-ranking athlete to the lowest-level burnout, no one is above suspicion of leaving her in that creek or putting her in the position to end up there. Brendan's skill for getting the right attention from the right people leads him to a local drug dealer of urban-legendary status (Lukas Haas), who walks with a cane and lives with his mother. As Brendan infiltrates the social and political web more deeply, his theory solidifies and each player's role becomes clear, from the shifty-eyed pot slinger to an upper-crust innocent who may well be a femme fatale. Brendan may soon be ready to make his case, even if it's too late for him to get out. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Nora Zehetner, (more)
- 2003
- PG13
Writer/director Enid Zentelis makes her feature-length debut with the coming-of-age drama Evergreen, shot on-location in Seattle, WA. Teenager Henri (Addie Land) and her single mother Kate (Cara Seymour) move in with Henri's grandmother (Lynn Cohen) in a crumbling old house. Kate works at a factory but the working-poor household just barely gets by. Henri goes to a new school and meets Chat Turly (Noah Fleiss), a wealthy boy from an upscale family. Welcomed with open arms, Henri falls in love with the Turly family (Mary Kay Place and Bruce Davidson) and all the material comfort that their lifestyle affords. Envy of this new family causes her to have shame for her own roots. John Stirratt from Wilco and Uncle Tupelo contributes to the musical score with his band the Autumn Defense. Evergreen premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004 as part of the dramatic competition. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cara Seymour, Mary Kay Place, (more)
- 2002
A high school girl is found murdered in the laundry room of her building. The ensuing investigation reveals that the dead girl had informed upon several of her classmates, who were running a website which spread vicious sexual rumors about their peers. The solution to the murder may hinge upon the eyewitness testimony of the victim's best friend -- if only the DA's office can persuade the reluctant friend to testify. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Laramie, WY, is a small town which became infamous overnight in the fall of 1998, when Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, was found tied to a fence after being brutally beaten and left to die, setting off a nationwide debate about hate crimes and homophobia. A month after the crime, Moises Kaufman, a writer and director with the New York City theater troupe the Tectonic Theater Project, traveled to Laramie with a handful of actors to interview people who lived in and around Laramie in preparation for an upcoming production; Kaufman's goal was to create a play that focused not on the assault on Matthew Shepard, but on the community where such an attack could happen, and how many of the citizens reacted to the crime. The result was The Laramie Project, which was first performed in early 2000, and was performed in Laramie in the fall of that year, two years after Kaufman and his associates first arrived in the city. The Laramie Project is a film adaptation of Kaufman's play, in which the thoughts and opinions of Laramie residents from all points of the political spectrum are presented alongside re-enacted excerpts from the trials of the two men who attacked Matthew Shepard. Produced for the premium cable network HBO, The Laramie Project was adapted for the screen by Moises Kaufman, who served as both writer and director. The distinguished cast includes Dylan Baker, Steve Buscemi, Peter Fonda, Janeane Garofolo, Laura Linney, Amy Madigan, Camryn Manheim, Christina Ricci, and Frances Sternhagen. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christina Ricci, Peter Fonda, (more)
From the controversial director of Happiness comes another dark look at New Jersey, this time broken into two separate stories. The first is a 26-minute segment entitled "Fiction," which highlights the life of Marcus (Leo Fitzpatrick), an aspiring writer who was born with deformities due to cerebral palsy. He unsuccessfully tries to read a new short story to his girlfriend Vi (Selma Blair), and leaves her after the story is similarly dismissed by his fellow students and teacher, Mr. Scott (Robert Wisdom), a black Pulitzer Prize winner. Vi approaches Mr. Scott in a bar one night and agrees to go home with him, recalling a "fictional" account of their experience in the next class. The second segment, titled "Nonfiction," follows Toby Oxman (Paul Giamatti), a thirtysomething sad sack who gets the idea to make a documentary of contemporary suburban teenage life. Looking for subjects, he runs into Scooby (Mark Webber), a disaffected, dim young man who dreams of being a TV star. Scooby's home life is highly dysfunctional, with a strict father (John Goodman), a prim and proper mother (Julie Hagerty), a football player brother (Noah Fleiss), and a younger brother Mikey (Jonathan Osser), who continually chats up the family's put-upon maid Consuelo (Lupe Ontiveros). Consuelo is soon banished from the household due to her involvement with Mikey, becoming an outcast just like Scooby. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Selma Blair, Leo Fitzpatrick, (more)
- 2001
A teenager going through the typical traumas of adolescence has to confront an especially big hurdle in this made-for-TV drama. Jane (Ellen Muth) is a seemingly typical 15-year-old high school student; she's popular at school, does well in her classes, and has a good relationship with her parents, Janice (Stockard Channing) and Robert (James Naughton). Despite all this, Jane has always felt as if she's different in some way from the other kids at school, though she's not sure how. When Taylor (Alicia Lagano) moves into town and transfers into the same school as Jane, the two girls become fast friends. Before long, Jane and Taylor are inseparable, and Jane senses this is not an ordinary friendship; one night, Jane kisses Taylor, and Jane finally comes to the realization that she's attracted to women and has fallen in love with Taylor. While Jane and Taylor are happy together, Jane now faces the responsibility of telling her family that she's a lesbian, and her parents are not readily accepting of this news. The Truth About Jane features RuPaul in a rare dramatic role as Jimmy, a close friend of Janice who is also a gay man. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stockard Channing, Ellen Muth, (more)
Stephen Kinsella directs this family comedy-drama about a single mom looking for a job and her son's slow slide to the streets. Rita Ronaldi (Callie Thorne) ekes out a living as a waitress until she is unceremoniously canned. Tough-minded but unskilled, she faces an uphill fight to find a job to support her and her teenaged son Matt (Rufus Read). Pudgy, bespectacled, and asthmatic, Matt is struggling himself, especially after he comes under the sway of local riff-raff Bret (Noah Fleiss), who loves sex, drugs, and leading helpless teens astray. Soon Matt worships Bret, and he descends into a life of criminality. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- P.J. Brown, Anthony de Sando, (more)
- 2000
- PG13
- Add Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her to QueueAdd Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her to top of Queue
Although Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her does bear some similarities to Short Cuts and Magnolia in its setting (Southern California) and mood (modern malaise), and its multiple story format, its focus is exclusively on female characters, and it's possible to view each story on its own. The film begins with a prologue: Police detectives are investigating the apparent suicide of a Hispanic woman (Elpidia Carillo). "This Is Dr. Keener" deals with Dr. Elaine Keener (Glenn Close), a single professional woman attempting to care for her aging and infirm mother and deal with her own loneliness. She invites Christine (Calista Flockhart), a tarot card reader, into her home to make some sense of her life. "Fantasies About Rebecca" profiles a successful bank manager (Holly Hunter) involved with a married man (Gregory Hines). When she learns that she is pregnant, he coldly advises her to take care of the "problem." Before she visits Dr. Keener to have an abortion, she impulsively has a fling with a colleague (Matt Craven). She is also confronted by a female street person in the bank's parking lot. "Someone for Rose" is about a single mother (Kathy Baker), a writer of children's books. She is attracted to a new neighbor, a dwarf (Danny Woodburn), and he catches her spying on him in his house. She's also amazed to find that her son is more sexually active than she knew -- and more than she is herself. "Good Night Lilly, Good Night Christine" details the relationship between the tarot card reader Christine and her lover, Lilly (Valeria Golino), who is critically ill with an unnamed disease. The final story, "Love Waits for Kathy," concerns two sisters, Carol (Cameron Diaz), a lovely blind woman with an active social life, and her police detective sibling, Kathy (Amy Brenneman), one of the detectives who appeared in the prologue. Kathy is attracted to the medical examiner in the suicide case, and her story ends with him taking her out on a date. In an epilogue, Dr. Keener drops in to a bar, where she meets a male character from one of the earlier stories. Debuting director Rodrigo Garcia, a noted cinematographer, is the son of writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Things You Can Tell made its debut on cable television, although it was originally intended to be a theatrical release. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Close, Cameron Diaz, (more)
Actor Frank Whaley makes his directorial debut with Joe the King, a downbeat drama about a 14-year-old boy coming of age in an abusive and uncaring environment. When he was nine, Joe Henry (Noah Fleiss) lied to his friends about his father's job because he was ashamed that his father was the school janitor; in turn, he was humiliated in front of his class. Five years later, things are much worse; his father (Val Kilmer) has become a violent alcoholic who can't hold a job, while his mother (Karen Young) is harsh and unloving. Joe works illegally as a dishwasher to help support the family, but resorts to petty theft when it's clear his salary alone won't pay his father's debts. Eventually Joe attempts to steal the restaurant's cash box to get his father out of the red -- with tragic results. Whaley, who claims this story is "loosely autobiographical," assembled a strong cast for his first turn behind the camera, including Ethan Hawke, John Leguizamo, and Austin Pendleton. Joe The King premiered at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Noah Fleiss, Val Kilmer, (more)
- 1998
Teenage spelling champ Aaron (Noah Fleiss) finds it impossible to cope with the death of his older brother Michael (Jess Raynes), who was not only his mother's favorite, but also a surrogate parent to the fatherless Aaron. Monica (Roma Downey) must not only help Aaron come to grips with his loss, but also prepare him from some more disturbing news regarding the affectionate letters supposedly written by his long-absent father. In the end, however, it is Aaron's mother Mary (Bess Armstrong) who must stand up and be counted in her son's hour of greatest need. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
- PG
A USA original movie, this drama centers on a woman faced with a series of life-altering surprises. First her niece and nephew come to live with her, forever. Then she falls in love and her new beau moves in. The makeshift family decides that New York City life is too much for them and so they move into the countryside. Just when it looks like the little group may finally come together, the woman discovers that she is pregnant. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stockard Channing, Stephen Collins, (more)
- 1996
Produced especially for the Lifetime Cable Network, this emotionally charged and painfully realistic drama looks at the prevalence of heroin addiction in the middle class as it tells the story of one single mother's struggle to overcome her addiction and reassemble her shattered life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Markie Post, Dennis Boutsikaris, (more)
- 1995
- PG13
Based on a true story, this emotional made-for-television drama is aimed at heightening public awareness of the tragedy for children with HIV-positive parents. Linda Hamilton was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her performance as widow Rosemary Holmstrom, a single mother who is battling the AIDS virus. As she struggles to deal with her disease, she is also faced with the grim reality of making arrangements for the future care of her son (Noah Fleiss). Gender-bending singer RuPaul makes an appearance as a helpful HIV-positive social worker. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- 1995
A coach develops an unlikely friendship with a member of his Little League team in this made-for-television movie. Richard Dean Anderson stars as Bill Parish, a father grieving over the loss his 11-year-old son. He is coaxed into coaching an underdog baseball team to help him work his way through his grief. While coaching, Bill takes a liking to a mysterious member of the team named Lucky Diamond (Grayson Fricke) who brings both Bill and the team out of their respective slumps. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
In the film Happy New Year (1987), actor Peter Falk donned old-age makeup to play a senior citizen. Eight years later, he did it again, twice, in the TV movie remake of The Sunshine Boys (1995) and this film, a comedy-drama. Falk stars as Rocky Holzcek, a cantankerous 76-year-old Polish-American baker who insists, despite relatives' protests, upon adopting his young grandson Michael when the boy's parents pass away. Twenty years later, Michael (D.B. Sweeney) is a medical student who's forced to take in his still-spry grandfather when the old man is evicted from his apartment building. Although the crusty, outspoken Rocky gets along fine with Michael's Chinese college roommates, he is less enthused about his grandson's girlfriend Beth (Julianne Moore). Eventually, Michael and Beth marry, move away and have children, while Rocky continues working as a baker, passing the age of 100. When a tragedy befalls Michael and his kids, the old man once again comes to his grandson's rescue, but even a force of nature like Rocky can't last forever. Roommates was loosely based on the real-life experiences of screenwriter Max Apple and his grandfather. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk, D.B. Sweeney, (more)
- 1993
- PG13
In this road movie, the motorists are a pair of preteens--brothers Josh (Jacob Tierney) and Sam (Noah Fleiss)--who hit the highway after their parents announce their pending divorce. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacob Tierney, Noah Fleiss, (more)
