Darryl Taja Movies
Renée Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr. headline this romantic comedy about an ambitious Miami executive who meets the man of her dreams and begins reassessing her big-city values after accepting a temporary transfer to the middle of nowhere. When it comes to climbing the corporate latter, Lucy Hill (Zellweger) is a good few rungs above her closest competitor; she's got ambition to spare, and she cares more about driving the latest model car and filling her closet with shoes than making friends around the office. Offered a temporary assignment restructuring a manufacturing plant in the snowbound town of New Ulm, Lucy accepts, knowing that a big promotion is just around the corner. But New Ulm and Miami couldn't be more different if they were each located on separate continents, and as Lucy warms to the locals she discovers that there's more to life than making top dollar and wearing the latest fashions. When handsome local Ted Mitchell (Harry Connick Jr.) takes an interest in Lucy, it isn't long before the whole town is abuzz with rumors of romance, and the girl from the city discovers that a bit of rural magic could work wonders for her outlook on life. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Renée Zellweger, Harry Connick, Jr., (more)
An ambitious book editor (Sarah Michelle Gellar) determined to rise through the ranks of Manhattan literati by her own accord reluctantly enters into a relationship with a womanizing publishing magnate (Alec Baldwin) many years her senior in director Marc Klein's adaptation of Melissa Bank's best-seller The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sarah Michelle Gellar, Alec Baldwin, (more)
A multi-millionaire plans a scam that goes wrong in a great many ways in this comedy. Malcolm King (Anthony Anderson) is a wildly successful businessman who has gotten used to having things his own way. When King decides to divorce his wife, she's none too thrilled at the prospect and makes it clear she will make him pay a huge settlement in exchange for his freedom. King isn't keen on this idea, so he and his mistress hatch a scheme by which one of her friends (Jay Mohr) will "kidnap" King and demand a large portion of his fortune for his return, which will be kicked back to the businessman later. But King seriously underestimates the ineptitude of his would-be kidnapper -- no to mention how many other people want a piece of his fortune. King's Ransom also stars Regina Hall, Leila Arcieri, Charlie Murphy, and Donald Faison. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Anderson, Jay Mohr, (more)
Jean Claude La Marre directs the urban comedy Go for Broke. Two guys win the New York lottery, then get held up by a robber at a cafe. The woman robbing the place gets caught, taking their winning lottery ticket with her to prison. In order to get the stolen ticket back, the two guys dress in drag to infiltrate a women's prison. Starring Pras, Michael A. Goorjian, and Marjorie Jean. Go for Broke was shown at the Urbanworld Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pras, Michael A. Goorjian, (more)
After suffering a brutal rape, Marie (Katharina Wressnig) becomes agoraphobic, refusing to leave her house and remaining oblivious to events in the outside world. Though young women are being found dead and mutilated on local freeways, Marie takes in boarders, one of whom is Tom (Peter Sarsgaard), a cryptic young man who works as a cook on an offshore oil rig. Despite Marie's paranoid musings -- Tom begins lugging around garbage bags and locking the kitchen door to cook various meat dishes -- the two form a relationship. This relationship is first interrupted by the arrival of Marie's flirtatious sister Mignon (Angeline Ball) and then by Tom's sudden disappearance. Ironically, his absence gives Marie the ability to finally leave the house and thus get on with her life. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathi Wressnig, Peter Sarsgaard, (more)
A stellar roster of hip-hop performers star in this streetwise story about a pair of gang-bangers who want to channel their energies into music, but soon discover how hard it can be to leave their old lives behind. DJ (Mack 10) and Lonzo (Fat Joe) are members of rival street gangs in inner-city Los Angeles; both have an interest in rap music, and after DJ's equipment is destroyed in a fire and Lonzo gets shafted by a sleazy record company executive, they decide that they have more in common than they thought, and they join forces to bring their sounds to the people. Needing financing, they approach Gator (CJ Mac), a wealthy drug kingpin, who agrees to bankroll their projects; with Gator's capital, the record label is a success, but things start to go sour when the police discover who is financing the operation, and an escalating gang war drives a wedge between the partners. Meanwhile, DJ is juggling two girlfriends, Brandy (Kidada Jones) and Leyla (Tom'ya Bowden), and is being pressured by his mother to renew his ties with his father, who abandoned the family when DJ was a child. Thicker Than Water also stars Ice Cube as Slink, MC Eiht as Lil' Ant, and Big Pun as Punny, with Krayzie Bone and Flesh-N-Bone from Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and B-Real from Cypress Hill appearing in cameo roles. Snoop Doggy Dogg was originally cast in the role of Lonzo, but he dropped out shortly before shooting began; New York rapper Fat Joe then stepped in, which added a East Coast vs. West Coast flavor that mimicked the gang rivalry between DJ and Lonzo. Mack 10 served as executive producer and helped write the original story. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
