Alan Jacobs Movies

A teenager considers an opportunity that could save her life or end it in this streetwise drama from director Alan Jacobs. Rascal (Jessica Romero) is fifteen years old and attending high school in East Los Angeles. Rascal is also one of the leaders of a gang of young Latinas who inherited their turf from older girls from the neighborhood. Rascal's gang often fights with a rival band of African-American teens, and as the long standing territorial battle goes on, the violence increases and the stakes grow higher. But Mr. Shannon (Danny Glover) is an English teacher at Rascal's school who believes she has a real talent for writing, and wants to offer her a chance to escape the cycle of crime around her. Mr. Shannon is lobbying for Rascal to be accepted in a writing workshop for promising young students in Iowa. However, Mrs. Castro (Elizabeth Pena), the principal, knows Rascal best as a severe disciplinary problem, and is against having her represent the school. Even if Rascal is able to persuade Mrs. Castro that she's worth a chance, she knows that loyalty is very important to the gang, and trying to leave could be even more dangerous than staying. Down For Life also features Snoop Dogg, Kate del Castillo and Emily Rios. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

James Coburn stars in this disappointing drama about a man who tracks the gun he believes killed his daughter. Living out his twilight years in a dreary, snowbound Vermont town, tragedy strikes when his beloved daughter (Virginia Madsen) returns home for the holidays. While out doing some last minute shopping, she is shot and killed, seemingly by a nameless local thug. Crushed by her tragic and sudden death Coburn's hard-working everyman falls to pieces and decides to set out on in search of the weapon that laid the final blow. Also in search of his estranged granddaughter, Coburn crisscrosses the country as he comes into contact with the various owners of the titular weapon, hearing each of their diverse stories. ~ Rachel Deahl, Rovi

This adventure story, created with state-of-the-art computer animation technology, follows the adventurer Sinbad (voice of Brendan Fraser) as he discovers a mysterious island ruled by King Akron (voice of John Rhys-Davies) and his daughter, Princess Serena (voice of Jennifer Hale). Their benevolent rule is being challenged by Baraka (voice of Leonard Nimoy), a vicious wizard who uses his powers to sway the island to his own evil purposes. Serena enlists Sinbad's help in a voyage to find the missing ingredients for a spell that will conquer Baraka once and for all. Sinbad: Beyond the Veil of Mists was the first full-length animated feature using the 3-D Animated Motion Capture process, which allows computer animators to translate the movements of live actors into animated characters, providing a heightened degree of realistic, natural movement. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Nina (Laura San Giacomo), a young married woman, has an affair with a British photographer in this low-key comedy drama about adultery and romantic role-playing. Nina Takes a Lover, the debut film of writer-director Alan Jacobs, tells its story in flashback, as Nina is interviewed by a journalist who is writing an article on modern marriage -- or, more specifically, modern infidelity. The affair begins after Nina's husband has left for a long business trip, leaving Nina lonely, depressed, and seriously doubting his faithfulness. In this vulnerable state, she meets a stranger in the park. He's from Wales, he's a photographer, and he's quite handsome. Encouraged by the experience of her best friend, who has been unfaithful to her husband for some time now, Nina begins an affair with the photographer. She finds the experience a wonderful, revitalizing thrill and is soon considering leaving her husband to move in with her new lover. However, Nina's feelings become more complicated when she discovers some of her lover's hidden secrets. While on the surface the film is a rather uneventful, performance-driven character study, Nina's story in fact builds toward a surprising revelation, one that casts an entirely new light on the nature of her affair. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

Romeo has played one practical joke too many on his beleaguered co-workers, and they decide to retaliate with one of the meanest-spirited jokes on record. They hire an actor to impersonate a doctor and give Romeo the bad news that he is HIV-positive. Suddenly suicidal, the joker goes to take his life by jumping off a bridge but runs into another jumper, a cute girl named Julia, who's there for the exact same reason. Believing that they are going to die anyway, they open up to each other and begin living more in the here-and-now, inspiring others to do the same. Romeo and Julia separately discover that their immune status is not compromised but still believe that the other's is. By now, they are so much in love that they decide to risk all in consummating their love without protection. Some reviewers found the whole direction of this film exceptionally tasteless and were offended by its "romantic" conclusion -- which is a pity, because they also found the performances to be fresh and the direction competent. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi