Amy Ryan Movies

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

Adapted from Bob Glaudini's play of the same name, Philip Seymour Hoffman's directorial debut, Jack Goes Boating, tells the simple tale of Jack (Hoffman), a shy, fortyish limo driver with a fondness for pot and reggae music -- he likes it because it sounds happy -- who meets Connie (Amy Ryan) for a blind date set up by Connie's co-worker Lucy (Daphne Rubin-Vega), who is married to Jack's best friend and fellow limo driver, Clyde (John Ortiz). As the young couple tentatively come together, breaking through layers and layers of awkwardness and low self-esteem, Clyde and Lucy's marriage begins to dissolve because of Clyde's inability to get over an incident from their past. All the while, Clyde gives Jack swimming lessons so that he can take Connie on her dream date -- a boating trip on the lake. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

United 93 director Paul Greengrass explores the aftermath of the Iraq invasion in this feature adaptation of author Rajiv Chandrasekaran's literary exposé Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone. A onetime Baghdad bureau chief of the Washington Post, Chandrasekaran was present as American forces attempted to set up a provisional government on the grounds surrounding former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's opulent palace. The resulting governing body, according to critics, existed in a bubble so far-removed from the grim realities of the Iraq War that it failed to properly assess the needs of the people. In this fictional thriller set during the U.S.-led occupation of Baghdad, director Greengrass and screenwriter Brian Helgeland use Chandrasekaran's journalistic account as the foundation for the story of an officer who joins forces with a senior CIA officer to unearth evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Matt Damon) is certain that Hussein has been stockpiling WMDs in the Iraqi desert, but in their race from one empty site to the next, they soon stumble across evidence of an elaborate cover up. As a result, Miller realizes that operatives on both sides of the conflict are attempting to spin the story in their favor. Now, as Miller searches for answers made ever more elusive by covert and faulty intelligence, the truth becomes the most valuable weapon of all. Will those answers prove pivotal in clearing a rogue regime, or escalate the war in a region that grows increasingly unstable with each passing day? Amy Ryan co-stars as the New York Times foreign correspondent who travels to Iraq investigating the U.S. government's allegations about weapons of mass destruction, with Greg Kinnear appearing in the role of an additional CIA officer, and Antoni Corone essaying the role of a colonel. Brendan Gleeson rounds out the main cast for this Universal Pictures production. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Love and reinvention -- sometimes touching, other times cringe-worthy -- are major themes in Season 5 of the acclaimed mockumentary that perfectly captures the petty agonies and daily lunacies of corporate America. The first episode sets up story arcs that resonate throughout the season. Repressed party-committee peon Phyllis (Phyllis Smith) reveals her scheming side by blackmailing Angela (Angela Kinsey), whom Phyllis witnessed having an interpersonal encounter of the illicit kind with Dwight (Rainn Wilson) at Season 4's end. But it's the coveted party-planning power Phyllis desires, not money. She later uses her newfound authority to plan a Moroccan-themed holiday fete that she promises will not be "your grandmother's Christmas party...unless of course she's from Morocco." A not-so-humbled Ryan (B.J. Novak) returns to Dunder Mifflin as a temporary replacement for new art-school student Pam (Jenna Fischer), and later participates in an ill-conceived business venture by dunderhead boss Michael Scott (Steve Carell). A relationship develops between Michael and new human-resources associate Holly (Amy Ryan), possibly the only person in the world who doesn't think he's an idiot. Interfering with the budding romance, however, is the cold corporate machine that is Dunder Mifflin -- not to mention Michael's very pregnant (and, according to Oscar, "certifiably insane") ex-girlfriend Jan (Melora Hardin). There's also a few surprises concerning the relationship between Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam, and Idris Elba has a deliciously deadpan seven-episode arc as Michael's new boss, a no-nonsense manager who makes Jan look like a softy. ~ Dianne Zoccola, Rovi

A sardonic, gin-soaked detective contends with an odd cast of characters while tailing a mysterious, middle-aged man traveling with a Mexican boy from Chicago to Los Angeles in writer/director Noah Buschel's twisting neo-noir mystery. John Rosow is a Chicago gumshoe whose skill for cracking a case often comes with a price; he has a penchant for getting in over his head, but he never loses his cool. Contacted by influential lawyer Drexler Hewitt and asked to shadow a man who is currently en route to Los Angeles with a young boy, Rosow collects his cash and instructions from Hewitt's gruff assistant, Miss Charley, and sets out on his latest assignment. Upon arriving in Santa Monica, however, Rosow is caught off guard when he learns that his objective has been updated. He is now to bring the man back to New York. For his efforts, Rosow will receive the tidy sum of half a million dollars. Later, as Rosow attempts to track down his target, a Segway-riding LAPD officer and a cab driver with extensive knowledge of the Catholic saints offer some helpful clues to the man's whereabouts as meddling FBI agents close in and a sensual femme fatale follows his every move. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney, and Marisa Tomei star in director Sidney Lumet's thriller concerning two brothers who hatch a plan to rob their parent's jewelry store. When the job goes awry, the entire family is set on a collision course with tragedy. Andy (Hoffman) is an overextended broker in desperate need of some cash. His brother, Hank (Hawke), isn't much better off, so when Andy hatches a plan to rob their parent's modest jewelry store, it seems like a foolproof way to make a quick buck. But Andy's trophy wife, Gina (Tomei), is secretly sleeping with libidinous younger brother Hank, and when the robbery proves a complete disaster it isn't long before loyalties start to shift. Now Andy and Hank's father, Charles (Finney), is determined to make the unidentified robbers pay for their crime. What's a father to do when he discovers that the ones he loves have become his worst enemies? ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Amy Ryan (Keane, The Wire) and Nick Offernan co-headline director Cecily Rhett's 13-minute fictional short Forward. The seriocomic work covers a reenactment of the Civil War, in addition to splits in various personal relationships. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Ben Affleck's adaptation of Dennis Lehane's novel Gone, Baby, Gone stars Casey Affleck as Patrick Kenzie, a private investigator from working-class Boston who takes on a case involving a kidnapped girl. The girl's aunt begs Patrick to take the case because he has connections to criminal Boston that the police do not. He agrees and along with his partner, Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan), they uncover a web of corruption that threatens the relationship between the two. Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman co-star as members of the Boston Police Department. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

The Kid Stays in the Picture director Brett Morgen turns his unique eye toward the infamous 1968 Democratic National Convention in this 2006 documentary. Using a star-studded voice cast along with a blend of archival footage and animation, Morgen tells the story of the eight demonstrators who were arrested and tried for conspiracy in the wake of the violent anti-war protests. Featuring the voices of Nick Nolte and Mark Ruffalo among others, Chicago 10 premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

A woman discovers she has miraculous powers that make her unhappy life all the more complicated in this independent satiric comedy. Gwen (Martha Plimpton) is a woman in her mid-thirties who has been in a deep funk ever since her marriage fell apart. With nowhere to go, Gwen is living with her sister, Queenie (Amy Ryan), and brother-in-law, Lars (Ewen Bremner), and Queenie tries to lift her sister's sagging spirits by setting her up on a blind date. The date doesn't go well, but when her would-be suitor is unable to get his car started, Gwen discovers to her surprise that she can repair the auto with her psychic powers. Word gets around about Gwen's unusual talent, and soon neighbors are lining up to let Gwen fix old appliances with her mind, while Lars makes a fast buck charging folks for the privilege. But when it's discovered Gwen's talents don't stop at repairing toasters, Queenie and Lars launch her on a career as a faith healer. Queenie soon installs herself as Gwen's public sidekick and mouthpiece, while they hire Laura (Annabella Sciorra) to manage Gwen's growing public profile. But Gwen is no happier as a famous psychic and faith healer that she was immediately after her divorce, and she increasingly seeks solace in alcohol. "Marvelous" was screened in competition at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The creation of one of the most memorable books of the 1960s -- and the impact the writing and research would have on its author -- is explored in this drama based on a true story. In 1959, Truman Capote (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman) was a critically acclaimed novelist who had earned a small degree of celebrity for his work when he read a short newspaper item about a multiple murder in a small Kansas town. For some reason, the story fascinated Capote, and he asked William Shawn (Bob Balaban), his editor at The New Yorker, to let him write a piece about the case. Capote had long believed that in the right hands, a true story could be molded into a tale as compelling as any fiction, and he believed this event, in which the brutal and unimaginable was visited upon a community where it was least expected, could be just the right material. Capote traveled to Kansas with his close friend Harper Lee (Catherine Keener), herself becoming a major literary figure with the success of To Kill a Mockingbird, and while Capote's effete and mannered personal style stuck out like a sore thumb in Kansas, in time he gained the trust of Alvin Dewey (Chris Cooper), the Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent investigating the murder of the Clutter family, and with his help Capote's magazine piece grew into a full-length book. Capote also became familiar with the petty criminals who killed the Clutter family, Dick Hickock (Mark Pellegrino) and Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.), and in Smith he found a troubling kindred spirit more like himself than he wanted to admit. After attaining a sort of friendship with Smith under the assumption that the man would be executed before the book was ever published, Capote finds himself forced to directly confront the moral implications of his actions with regards to both his role in the man's death, and the way that he would be remembered. Capote also co-stars Bruce Greenwood as Capote's longtime companion Jack Dunphy, and Amy Ryan as Mary Dewey, Alvin's wife who became a confidante of Capote's. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A woman is found dead at the bottom of a cliff the day before her wedding. It is up to Ballard (Callie Thorne) and Bayliss (Kyle Secor) to determine if the woman killed herself, or if she was murdered. In another investigation, Sheppard (Michael Michele) and Mike (Giancarlo Esposioto) find themselves with no shortage of suspects when a loud and obnoxious film fan is murdered in a movie theater. And on the domestic front, Al Giardello (Yaphet Kotto) learns that he is about to become a grandfather. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi