Jane Adams Movies
It was shortly after moving to Seattle from Illinois that the Washington, D.C. native realized her calling on the stage; a role in a junior high school production of Pinocchio eventually led her to become involved with the local community theater scene. Though Adams would initially enroll in Seattle's Cornish Institute as a political science major, the call of the stage proved too much to resist and she eventually packed her bags and opted to follow the bright beacon of the Broadway lights. Once she was in New York, Adams studied at Juilliard under the tutelage of Bill Kahn, later appearing in a Playwrights Horizons production of The Nice and the Nasty before landing her first Broadway role as the virginal Dierdre in Paul Rudnick's I Hate Hamlet. Moonlighting as a preschool teacher as a means to maintain her sanity during her downtime between roles, Adams set her sights on the screen after making her debut in the 1985 comedy Bombs Away! -- eventually realizing that if she was going to make it in film she would have to make the move to Los Angeles. In the early years of her Hollywood career, Adams got little chance to truly light up the screen since her roles were mainly of the supporting variety, but parts in such widely seen releases as Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, Father of the Bride II, and Kansas City did help to build her resumé and increase her exposure.A Tony-winning role in the 1994 production of An Inspector Calls also served to gain Adams some respect on-stage, and in 1998, she finally got her big break onscreen thanks to her endearing performance as plain Jane, sad sack Joy Jordan in Happiness. Though it was obvious to all who saw the film that Adams certainly had the talent to carry a film, Hollywood still relegated her to supporting roles in Songcatcher, Wonder Boys, and Orange County. If fans had wondered where Adams disappeared to following her small but memorable performance in Orange County, their questions were answered when she appeared in a small capacity in director Michel Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Adams would remain active over the next several years, appearing most notably in movies like The Brave One, and on TV series like Hung. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- 1985
- R
In slapstick routines that somehow miss the mark, this erstwhile comedy is about an atomic bomb named M.A.R.Y. that is mistakenly delivered to an Army surplus store in Seattle, instead of its intended arsenal. Along its misguided way, the bomb pays a visit to the Seattle Space Needle and is dangerously mishandled. The premise of a wayward bomb sets everyone into paroxysms of jumping, running, shouting, and carrying on with a cab driver (Michael Huddleston) as a befuddled observer who also gets involved. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Huddleston, Pat McCormick, (more)
Marisa Silver helmed this tightly directed hospital drama reminiscent of David Swift's 1962 The Interns. Jimmy Smits plays Dr. David Redding, who guides seven student doctors through their third year of residency at Los Angeles Central's medical school. The cast includes Laura San Giacomo as Lauren Rose, a hard-working waitress putting her uncaring husband Kenny (Jack Gwaltney) through medical school; Kenny eventually breaks down the resistance of cool fellow student Gena Wyler (Diane Lane). Kenny is also competing with doctor's son Michael Chatham (Adrian Pasdar), who wants to become the best surgeon at L.A. Central; Michael, however, has to reconsider his goals when he realizes that he also needs Gena's love. Bobby Hayes (Tim Ransom) and Suzanne Maloney (Jane Adams) are also struggling with medical school, but they are a support team who study, work, and even sleep together. Through all the competitions and love affairs it eventually takes the wisdom of a dying cancer patient (Norma Aleandro) to make the medical students realize the important things in life. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Adrian Pasdar, Diane Lane, (more)
- 1990
Brian Dennehy stars in this made-for-cable drama about a blue-collar family man laid off from his auto-industry job who learns that his resentful son plans to drop out of medical school. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
Paul Schrader's brilliant study of another alienated urban denizen skirting the borderline of madness stars Willem Dafoe as John Le Tour, a rich, upscale drug dealer for Manhattan professionals -- "White drugs for white people," as he puts it. John is a recovering addict and for him it's the perfect job, as he can relate completely with the self-absorbed eccentrics he services. But when his boss Ann (Susan Sarandon) tells John that she is planning to abandon the drug business for herbal cosmetics, John's life is thrown into disarray. With no future plans, he sees black clouds heading his way. Coincidentally, he runs into Marianne (Dana Delany), an old girlfriend and former addict who has returned to New York to be with her dying mother. John sees Marianne as his redemption and starts to pursue her, but she doesn't want to be reminded of her past. When the murder of an Upper West Side woman involved in a drug transaction has the police scouring the town for suspects, John thinks they are following him, and the strain upon his life and his hopes for the future become harder and harder to bear. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Willem Dafoe, Susan Sarandon, (more)
- 1994
- R
- Add Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle to Queue Add Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle to top of Queue
Jennifer Jason Leigh offers an acclaimed performance as humorist Dorothy Parker, who together with such 1920s luminaries as Robert Benchley, Alexander Woollcott and George S. Kaufman, was a charter member of the legendary Algonquin Round Table. The story is related in flashback form, as Mrs. Parker, in Hollywood to cowrite the 1937 feature A Star is Born with her second husband Alan Campbell (Peter Gallagher), recalls her glory days as an Algonquinite. A great deal of attention is afforded Parker's vituperative bon mots, her alcoholism, her self-destructiveness, her suicide attempts, and her affairs with such literary contemporaries as Charles MacArthur (an uncharacteristically unsympathetic Matthew Broderick) and Robert E. Sherwood (Nick Cassavetes). The one person Parker truly seems to care about is humorist Robert Benchley (Campbell Scott), who prefers to keep their friendship platonic. Director Alan Rudolph attempts to convey the ambience of the 1920s by having dozens of that decade's luminaries appear in fleeting cameos, from Will Rogers (Keith Carradine) to Harpo Marx. Also featured in Mrs. Parker are Tom McGowan as the waspish Alexander Woollcott and Andrew McCarthy as Dorothy's near-invisible first husband, Eddie Parker. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jennifer Jason Leigh, Matthew Broderick, (more)
In the style of the screwball comedies of the 1930s and 1940s, I Love Trouble depicts the developing romance of two rival reporters who reluctantly fall for each other while competing for a major scoop. Old hand Peter Brackett (Nick Nolte) and aspiring newcomer Sabrina Peterson (Julia Roberts) first meet when they are both assigned to cover a mysterious train crash. The pair immediately develops a connection despite their professional rivalry, and they decide to work together. Sensing something fishy about the crash, they look deeper and are soon fighting to expose a wide-ranging conspiracy, while also struggling to outmaneuver and out-charm each other along the way. Co-creators Charles Shyer and Nancy Meyers, who previously found success harking back to 1940s comedy in Father of the Bride, borrow heavily from His Girl Friday, Bringing Up Baby, and other screwball classics. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi
- Starring:
- Julia Roberts, Nick Nolte, (more)
Just as the original 1950 version of Father of the Bride spawned a sequel, so did the 1991 remake; like its counterpart four decades earlier, this story concerns a father who learns that his anxieties are just beginning after his daughter takes the big walk down the aisle. George Banks (Steve Martin) has finally adjusted to the marriage of his daughter Annie (Kimberly Williams) when the fates drop a new bombshell on his head: Annie and her husband Bryan (George Newbern) announce that they're going to have a baby. While George's wife Nina (Diane Keaton) is happy enough about the news, George is thrown into an immediate mid-life crisis; while he and Nina were once discussing the possibility of selling the family home and moving to a place on the beach, George impulsively sells their home to Mr. Habib (Eugene Levy), a greedy land speculator. Now, with ten days to move, George gets even more unexpected news: Nina, who had earlier been fretting about the onset of menopause, has just learned that she's pregnant as well. George now has to deal with being a father again as well as becoming a grandparent, while he also figures out how to get the Banks family home back. Martin Short returns as Franck, the oddly accented wedding planner from Father of the Bride, who has moved into a new career organizing baby showers and redecorating homes. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Steve Martin, Diane Keaton, (more)
The jazz world of 1930s Kansas City serves as the backdrop for an offbeat story of kidnapping, political corruption, and organized crime in director Robert Altman's loving but unsentimental look at his childhood hometown. The film's intricate story is triggered by petty thief Johnny O'Hara (Dermot Mulroney), who aims for a big score by trying to rob notorious crime boss Seldom Seen (Harry Belafonte), only to end up Seen's captive. In fear for her husband's life, Johnny's wife Blondie (Jennifer Jason Leigh) decides to take action. Following an eccentric personal logic, she takes as a hostage the wife of a prominent local politician, in hopes of getting the woman's husband to help; unfortunately, he is on the road with an upcoming presidential campaign, putting a major hitch in Blondie's plans. The film moves freely among its idiosyncratic characters in an overt attempt to mimic the improvisational structure of 1930s jazz. Indeed, many of the film's most important sequences take place in Seldom Seen's club, with contemporary jazz greats imitating the period's master musicians and Harry Belafonte shining as the magnetic, menacing Seen. The central narrative never achieves the seemingly effortless integration of Altman's greatest works, but those who share Altman's obvious passion for the period and its music will find much to admire. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jennifer Jason Leigh, Miranda Richardson, (more)
What do you do when you've loved someone literally all their life? As Music From Another Room opens, five-year-old Danny is with his father, a U.S. Army doctor, when Dad is faced with an emergency. It seems Grace Swan (Brenda Blethyn), an old friend of the family, is in the last stages of labor and there's no time to get her to the hospital. Danny ends up helping his father deliver the infant, and moments after birth, Danny is holding the baby in his arms, convinced this is the girl he will marry someday. 20 years later, Danny (played as an adult by Jude Law), now an artist educated in England after the death of his father, is back in the States to help restore a church, and he meets Anna Swan (Gretchen Mol), the girl he helped deliver now all grown up and very beautiful. However, she's also become cold and cynical, and has a fiance to boot, so while Danny's attraction to her hasn't dimmed in two decades, it's clear winning her heart will be an uphill battle. The increasingly eccentric Swan family isn't much help either, including sweet but dizzy Grace, eggheaded father Richard (Bruce Jarchow), angry feminist Karen (Martha Plimpton), shy and blind Nina (Jennifer Tilly) and self-centered lout of a doctor Billy (Jeremy Piven). Screenwriter Charlie Peters steps up to the directors chair for this romantic comedy with a superb supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Brenda Blethyn, Jude Law, (more)
After his 1995 breakthrough, Welcome to the Dollhouse, director Todd Solondz was courted by a number of studios to make a big-budget film with top stars. Instead, he chose to make this aggressively dark comedy-drama of perversions and twisted lives. Andy Kornbluth (Jon Lovitz) explodes with anger after rejection in a restaurant from Joy Jordan (Jane Adams), one of a trio of middle-class New Jersey sisters. Joy's sister Trish (Cynthia Stevenson), a housewife with three kids, is married to psychiatrist Bill (Dylan Baker), who counsels the lonely, overweight Allen (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Allen is obsessed with Joy's other sister, the successful poet Helen (Lara Flynn Boyle), all the while ignoring the attentions of his seemingly sweet yet overweight neighbor Kristina (Camryn Manheim). Bill has fantasies of turning an assault rifle on families in a park, masturbates to teen magazine photos, and develops an unhealthy interest in a classmate of his 11-year-old son, Billy (Rufus Read). After a telephone sales job, Joy moves on to substitute teach at an adult education class, where she falls prey to the advances of an insensitive cabdriver, Vlad (Jared Harris). Allen's series of obscene phone calls to Helen come to an end when she challenges him to come next door and carry out his sexual threats. Meanwhile, the sisters' parents, Lenny and Mona Jordan (Ben Gazzara and Louise Lasser), find their marriage collapsing after 40 years. Lenny has sparked the interest of divorcée Diane Freed (Elizabeth Ashley), but he actually would prefer to be alone. The path to happiness, it seems, is littered with dreams, despair, and abnormalities. Winner of the International Critics' prize at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival, Happiness met with much controversy both in pre-production and upon its release, as chronicled in producer Christine Vachon's book Shooting to Kill. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jane Adams, Dylan Baker, (more)
Lawrence Kasdan wrote and directed this comedy about a young psychologist named Mumford (Loren Dean), who arrives in a small town and sets up a practice. Mumford's style is short on analytic mumbo-jumbo and long on practical advice, and he soon finds that he has a long list of satisfied clients in his new home town, including many of the city's most prominent citizens. Mumford's advice also helps love bloom among the city's single residents. However, the city already had a psychologist, Ernest Delbanco (David Paymer), who is quickly losing business to Mumford. So Ernest starts asking questions: who is this Mumford, and just what are his qualifications? Mumford's supporting cast includes Ted Danson, Martin Short, Alfre Woodard, Hope Davis, Jason Lee, and Pruitt Taylor Vince. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Loren Dean, Hope Davis, (more)
- 1999
The Christmas Season is also a time of contemplation for Daphne (Jane Leeves). As she prepares for her marriage to Donny Douglas (Saul Rubinek), Daphne wonders if the time has come to clear the air concerning Niles' pent-up feelings for her. As for Niles (David Hyde Pierce), it may be a bleak holiday indeed when his current "significant other" Dr. Mel Karnofsky (Jane Adams) tumbles to a lie he has handed her. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1999
Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) is appalled when his own obituary is accidentally released to the media. Although reports of his death are highly exaggerated, the mistake sets Frasier to thinking about his future...or how much future he actually has. Meanwhile, Niles (David Hyde Pierce) begins seeing an attractive doctor named Mel Kanorfsky (Jane Adams, in her first series appearance) -- who happens to have been his ex-wife Maris' plastic surgeon. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2000
In the concluding half of Frasier's eighth-season opener, outraged lawyer Donny Douglas (Saul Rubinek) and infuriated plastic surgeon Mel Karnofsky (Jane Adams) draws up plans to get even with their respective mates Daphne (Jane Leeves) and Niles (David Hyde Pierce) for running out on them (Niles had sped off in the same Winnebago used by Daphne to escape her wedding to Donny). As Donny prepares to sue Daphne for breach of promise, Mel sharkishly promises to divorce Niles, with whom she had earlier eloped -- but only under certain humiliating conditions. Originally telecast as a 60-minute special, this episode has since been reedited as two half-hours for syndication. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2000
The Crane household is set on its ear when social-climbing Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) hires a "veddy" proper British butler named Ferguson (Victor Garber). Not only is he the perfect gentleman's gentleman, but Ferguson is also knowledge on all matters ranging from social decorum to gourmet food -- and he isn't afraid to express his opinions, albeit ever-so-respectfully. Ferguson, however, draws the line at any familiarity between employer and employee -- which does not rest well with the very "familiar" Daphne (Jane Leeves). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2000
If he wants to keep his job, Frasier must curry favor with Todd Peterson (Alan Tudyk), the youthful, self-made billionaire owner of station KACL. As it happens, Todd is shy around "high society" folks, and wants Frasier to give him a few pointers. The result: Todd turns into a Frasier clone, much to the dismay of the "original." Meanwhile, Niles continue humiliating himself in public to in order to secure his divorce from the vengeful Mel (Jane Adams) -- but the more he tries to run away from his contentious spouse, the more he is entangled in her web. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
In this comedy, a middle-aged man juggles his problems with women, literature, and a career, while a younger man chases the artifact of his dreams. Pittsburgh college professor Grady Tripp (Michael Douglas) is currently single following his divorce from his third wife; after publishing an acclaimed first novel, Grady has been working on a follow-up, but he's been sidelined by a severe case of writer's block. Grady has more than his writing career to think about; his affair with one of the (married) chancellors at the University of Pittsburgh (Frances McDormand), has resulted in her pregnancy, while Hannah (Katie Holmes), a student boarding at Grady's house, has developed a crush on him. While Grady is obsessed with his book, one of his students (Tobey Maguire) has an obsession of his own: finding a jacket once owned by Marilyn Monroe. Based on the novel by Michael Chabon, The Wonder Boys also features Robert Downey Jr., Rip Torn, and Richard Thomas. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, (more)
William Blake Herron directs this baroque family drama about dark family secrets, ear-sucking, and camel herding. The film opens with the funeral of family patriarch Grandpa Sparta (Martin Sheen). As witnessed by Little Sparta, the grieving widow Murtis (Grace Zabriskie) removes an ear from the corpse as a keepsake. Once Grandpa's will is read, family members start to reveal long untold secrets including the family's bizarre ear-fetish. This film won the Jury Prize at the 2000 L.A. Independent Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Patrick, Joanne Whalley, (more)
- 2000
In part one of Frasier?s eighth-season opener, the wedding of Daphne Moon (Jane Leeves) and attorney Donny Douglas (Saul Rubinek) has come to end before the knot has even been tied as Daphne runs off with her true love, Niles Crane (David Pierce). Left standing in the exhaust fumes of the fugitive couple's Winnebago are both Donny and Niles' vengeful bridge Dr. Mel Karnofsky (Jane Adams). The upshot of all this is an enormous lawsuit brought against Daphne by Donny and an even more sinister revenge cooked up by Mel. Originally telecast as a 60-minute special, this episode has since been reedited as two half-hours for syndication. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2000
In the concluding half of Frasier's Emmy-winning season-seven finale, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) tries to bring Niles (David Hyde Pierce) and Daphne (Jane Leeves) together for one last fond farewell before Daphne marries Donny Douglas (Saul Rubinek). Meanwhile, Daphne's boorish brother Simon (Anthony LaPaglia) continues putting the moves on Roz (Peri Gilpin) -- who, as Donny's ex-girlfriend, is not altogether unresponsive. A shocking revelation about Niles' current companion Dr. Mel Karnofsky (Jane Adams) sets off a chain reaction of calamitous events, culminating in perhaps the series' most famous season-ending cliffhanger. Originally telecast as a one-hour special, this episode has since been reedited as two half-hours for syndication. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2000
Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) is tired of being considered a stuffed shirt. Offering to throw a bachelor party for Daphne's fiancé Donny (Saul Rubinek), Frasier intends to prove that he's as much a swinger as the next man by booking a stripper -- the sort who brings her own handcuffs and other such things. Meanwhile, Niles (David Hyde Pierce) continues to have trouble with the estimable Dr. Mel Karnofsky (Jane Adams), especially when ex-wife Maris (who had previously used Mel's services as a plastic surgeon) finds out about their relationship. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2000
In the first part of Frasier's Emmy-winning season-seven finale, the wedding day of Daphne Moon (Jane Leeves) has arrived -- and so have several members of Daphne's bombastic cockney family. Admidst preparations for the big event, Daphne confesses to Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) that, although she is promised to Donny Douglas, she is still in love with Niles (David Hyde Pierce). Meanwhile, Daphne's loutish brother Simon (Anthony LaPaglia) tries to make time with Roz (Peri Gilpin). Originally telecast as a one-hour special, this episode has since been reedited as two half hours for syndication. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2000
With her wedding day rapidly approaching, Daphne (Jane Leeves) finds herself in a court-ordered anger-management therapy program. As her counselor (S. Epatha Merkerson of Law & Order fame) listens with professional detachment, Daphne recounts the events leading up to the outburst that led to her current plight. What it boils down to is this: Daphne may be marrying Donny Douglas (Saul Rubinek), but her heart still belongs to Niles Crane (David Hyde Pierce). Anthony LaPaglia makes his first series appearance as Daphne's boorish, hard-drinking brother Simon, who turns out to know his sister's heart better than she does. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2000
Niles' fractious lady friend Dr. Mel Karnofsky (Jane Adams) has no qualms about exploiting the long-standing rivalry between Niles (David Hyde Pierce) and Frasier (Kelsey Grammer). In fact, it was Mel's idea to pit brother against brother in a wine-tasting competition -- proof positive that it is high time Niles be told that Mel is definitely not the woman for him. As for the Crane boys' dad, Martin (John Mahoney), he is having trouble making peace with himself after sleeping with the widow (Anita Gillette) of one of his oldest friends. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Janet McTeer follows up her Oscar-nominated performance in Tumbleweeds (1999) with this period drama set during the 1910s. Dr. Lily Penleric (McTeer), an uptight musicologist, is furious after getting denied tenure again at an elite all-male East Coast university. She promptly quits out of protest, and having nowhere else to go, she joins her sister in a remote mountain school. Her high-minded, refined ways quickly clash with the locals, yet her academic interests are peaked when she realizes that this bucolic mountain culture is thoroughly infused with music that harkens back to traditional English and Scottish folk ballads. After retrieving some tools, including a primitive recording device, from the East Coast, she sets out collecting songs. The locals react with a mixture of amusement, bafflement, and suspicion. Meanwhile, a mining company is strong-arming the impoverished residences into selling their coal-rich land for a pittance. Lily soon realizes that the culture she's seeking to preserve is quickly being torn asunder. Aidan Quinn and David Patrick Kelly also appear in this film, which was screened at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Janet McTeer, Aidan Quinn, (more)
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