Arnold Rifkin Movies

If you could talk to the child that you used to be, what advice would you give him? That question forms the basis of this comic fantasy. Forty-year-old Russ Duritz (Bruce Willis) is a wealthy and powerful "image consultant" who has made a career out of telling people how to present themselves. But while he's a success in business, he's a failure in life; he's vain, mean-spirited, and hasn't been able to hold onto a marriage (or even a pet dog). One day, Russ is startled to meet Rusty (Spencer Breslin), a stocky kid whom he soon realizes is himself at the age of eight, having passed through a wrinkle in time. Young Rusty doesn't seem much happier than the grown-up Russ, so the older man takes his younger self under his wing and tries to teach him how to avoid the mistakes he's made, while Rusty encourages Russ to be a more caring human being. Along the way, Russ and Rusty become friends, and realize how much they can learn from each other. Disney's The Kid also stars Jean Smart as one of Russ' clients, Lily Tomlin as his assistant, and Daniel Von Bargen as his father. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A man tries to get away from a violent madman, only to discover that the madman is following him in this thriller. Joe (John Mellencamp) is a police photographer who is buckling under the strain of his job as he documents the work of a serial killer preying on young women in Rochester, NY. The killer, an introverted loner named Rye (Michael Zelnicker), trails Joe, convinced they share a spiritual bond, since both are obsessed with Rye's grisly handiwork. Joe takes a leave of absence to get away from the killings, but his home life is stressful enough as he helps care for his aging aunt (Louise Fletcher), whose health is failing, and his brother Sammy (Billy Burke), who is mentally handicapped. Lora (Terrylene) is a woman who works around the house; she can't hear or speak, but that doesn't prevent a romance from growing between her and Joe. But as Lora and Joe grow closer, she begins having nightmares that bear a striking resemblance to Rye's latest crimes, which have been carefully arranged so that Joe will be likely to find them first. Afterimage marked the first screen role for musician John Mellencamp since the 1990 feature Falling From Grace, which he also directed. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Crikey! Following a brief cameo in Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001), hyperactive, high-energy cable television star and native Australian naturalist Steve Irwin parlays his success as a confronter of all things scaly, fanged, and venomous into this feature-film adventure. Irwin and his wife Terri Irwin play themselves as animal activists who rescue an endangered crocodile, not realizing that the critter has swallowed a downed top-secret satellite beacon that's the subject of an intense search by CIA personnel. Believing that the spies are poachers out to steal the animal's precious hide, the Irwins evade their pursuers while attempting to get the crocodile to safety in a remote area of the Outback, adopting an orphaned joey (a baby kangaroo), and grappling with bird-eating spiders and poisonous snakes along the way. In the meantime, the secret agents mistakenly believe the Irwins are enemy operatives trying to steal their highly valuable technology. The real-life Irwins donated all of their fees from The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course (2002) to wildlife conservation efforts. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

A career soldier is forced to choose between following orders and saving lives in this action thriller. Lt. A.K. Waters (Bruce Willis) is a veteran Navy SEAL whose commander (Tom Skerritt) has given his team a special assignment. A Central African nation is expected to explode into war at any moment, and Waters and his cohorts are to escort any American citizens in the area to safety, most notably Dr. Lena Kendricks (Monica Bellucci), a doctor from the United States who has set up a clinic in the jungle. Waters and his men find Kendricks, but she refuses to leave with them unless she can bring along 70 refugees who have been left to her care. Kendricks makes it clear that if they are left behind, the refugees will face certain death, but Waters's C.O. insists he bring back Kendricks -- but not her patients. Forced by his conscience to disobey orders, Waters and his team race against time to escort the refugees to a border town where they will find safe haven before invading troops can ambush them. Tears of the Sun (which was produced under the title Man of War) also features Cole Hauser and Fionnula Flanagan. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry reprise their roles as a killer for hire and a dentist with a bad case of nerves in this sequel to the comedy hit The Whole Nine Yards. Former hitman Jimmy "The Tulip" Tudeski (Bruce Willis) has retired from his life of crime and is living a quiet life of cooking and housekeeping in Mexico, despite the fact his wife, Jill (Amanda Peet), a would-be hired killer, still wants to keep her hand in the business. Tudeski has been able to convince the authorities he's dead thanks to dental records falsified by his former neighbor Nicholas "Oz" Oseransky (Matthew Perry), who lives in Los Angeles. But Oseransky discovers that not everyone is fooled by Tudeski's handiwork when his wife, Cynthia (Natasha Henstridge), is kidnapped by Lazlo Gogolak (Kevin Pollak) and his goons. Gogolak is a high-ranking member of the Hungarian mafia, and Tudeski previously murdered his son, so he's abducted Cynthia in order to get Oseransky to reveal the hired killer's current whereabouts. But Tudeski has come to like the quiet life, and isn't so sure he wants to face Gogolak and his crew for the sake of a jittery dentist who once did him a favor. Most of the principle cast of The Whole Nine Yards returned for this sequel, though director Howard Deutch stepped in to replace Jonathan Lynn, who was working on The Fighting Temptations when The Whole Ten Yards went into production. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A hard-drinking, hard-living cop assigned the task of transporting a small-time criminal to the nearby courthouse finds that a simple, 16-block drive can be the longest ride of his life in director Richard Donner's urban action thriller. Hung-over, has-been cop Jack Mosley (Bruce Willis) has seen better days, and all that the force expects out of him these days is to stay out of trouble while he's on the clock. Eddie Bunker (Mos Def) is set to testify before a grand jury at 10:00 a.m., and it's up to Mosely to make sure that Bunker makes it to the courthouse in one piece -- a job that Mosely estimates will take a maximum of 15 minutes. A black van has been trailing the pair unnoticed, though, and after stopping off at a nearby liquor store to pick up some breakfast, Mosely emerges from the store just in time to save Eddie from the lethal bullet of a determined assassin. When backup arrives in the form of Detective Frank Nugent (David Morse), Mosely quickly realizes that the detective on Nugent's team is the same cop that Bunker is set to testify against. Now faced with the tough task of dodging bullets and eluding a massive onslaught of corrupt cops, Mosely must keep Bunker alive long enough to get him before the judge and ensure that justice is served. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

When a high-profile hip-hop star is denied membership into an exclusive country club in the Hamptons, he comes up with a cunning plan to subvert the questionable ruling in this comedy of manners starring OutKast's Antwan Andre Patton. By purchasing property directly adjacent to the 18th hole, popular rapper C-Note (Patton) is subsequently granted membership into the haughty club by default. As the curmudgeonly club members make it their mission in life to get him kicked out, the clever rapper infuses the stodgy old club with new life. Andy Milonakis, Jeffrey Jones, and Faizon Love co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

An old-fashioned cop emerges to foil a high-tech attack on the country's computer infrastructure as Bruce Willis brings back one of the biggest action franchises in screen history. It's been over a decade since audiences last saw New York cop John McClane (Willis), but now, as the world's greatest criminal mastermind (Timothy Olyphant) attempts to cripple the entire country with an innovative act of technological terrorism, only one cop can insure that the integrity of the system stays intact. In this, the fourth installment of the long-running action series, Underworld director Len Wiseman picks up the torch formerly carried by directors John McTiernan and Renny Harlin to helm a script penned by Mark Bomback. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A disconnected accountant finds his mundane life injected with a new sense of urgency after striking up a friendship with a charismatic attorney in director Marcel Langenegger's sexually charged action thriller. Jonathan (Ewan McGregor) is an accountant who has lost his passion in life. When his powerful new lawyer friend, Wyatt (Hugh Jackman), introduces Jonathan to a salacious underground sex club called The List, the dejected accountant soon believes he has found the woman of his dreams (Michelle Williams). His newfound happiness takes a turn for the worse, however, when Jonathan is named the prime suspect in the woman's disappearance as well as the theft of 20 million dollars. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide