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Kerry Washington Movies

Actress Kerry Washington's strong background in theater and academics found the talented and ambitious young starlet, even at the start of her career, setting her sights on producing, screenwriting, and eventually directing -- a goal that certainly seemed reachable given her early success in such films as Lift and Save the Last Dance. The daughter of a real-estate broker, Washington was born in New York City and attended the Spence School of Manhattan before enrolling in George Washington University's theater program. It wasn't long after her 1998 graduation that the aspiring actress made her feature debut in the 2000 drama Our Song, with nominations for the film at the Independent Spirit Awards and the Sundance Film Festival serving to increase her exposure among cinephiles, even if the film did go largely unseen by the masses. Of course it would take more than a small independent film to truly set Washington apart from the pack, and many saw her performance in the 2001 romantic drama Save the Last Dance as one of the few redeeming qualities in the otherwise forgettable teen drama. Though her only true experience as a thief resulted in the stealing of an apple from a New York deli when directors DeMane Davis and Khari Streeter encouraged her to engage in a minor bit of thievery in preparation for her role as a shoplifter in the 2001 drama Lift, Washington ultimately proved so convincing and effective in the role that she received a nomination as Best Female Lead at the 2002 Independent Spirit Awards. Of course the all-too-honest actress would return to the deli to pay for the apple following completion of the film. By this point there was little doubt as to Washington's talent, and despite the fact that she would be overshadowed by such big names as Anthony Hopkins and Meg Ryan in such subsequent efforts as Bad Company, The Human Stain, and Against the Ropes, she still managed to make an impression with a series of memorable supporting roles. A substantial role as a lesbian looking to be impregnated by her ex-boyfriend in director Spike Lee's 2004 comedy drama She Hate Me threatened to put an end to the trend of casting Washington almost exclusively in supporting roles; a role as the wife of legendary musician Ray Charles in the same year's Ray truly took her career to the next level. Despite her recent onscreen success, Washington remains true to her stage roots by remaining active in theater and has also begun to branch out by attempting to make a name for herself as a writer and producer as well.
Still, it was on the screen that Washington truly earned her keep, and following roles in Sexual Life, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and Fantastic Four, Washington took a trip to the courtroom for a supporting role on David E. Kelley's Emmy-winning television comedy Boston Legal. In 2006 Washington would find herself the recipient of a most unusual houseguest when a diminutive thief appeared on her doorstep disguised as an abandoned toddler in the Wayans brothers comedy Little Man. She was in Chris Rock's romantic comedy I Think I Love My Wife, and appeared in Spike Lee's World War II movie Miracle at St. Anna. She was one of them women in the ensemble put together by Tyler Perry for the adaptation For Colored Girls, and starred opposite Eddie Murphy in the comedy A Thousand Words. In 2012 she was cast in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained.
~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
2012  
PG13  
Add A Thousand Words to Queue Add A Thousand Words to top of Queue  
Norbit director Brian Robbins re-teams with that film's star, Eddie Murphy, for this comedy about a smooth-talking man who discovers that he has only 1,000 words left to speak before dying. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Eddie MurphyKerry Washington, (more)
 
2010  
R  
Add For Colored Girls to Queue Add For Colored Girls to top of Queue  
Ntozake Shange's Obie Award-winning play exploring the plight of black women makes the leap from stage to screen with this ensemble drama directed by Tyler Perry, and starring Janet Jackson, Loretta Devine, Hill Harper, Thandie Newton, Whoopi Goldberg, Kerry Washington, and Macy Gray. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Kimberly EliseJanet Jackson, (more)
 
2010  
R  
Add Night Catches Us to Queue Add Night Catches Us to top of Queue  
A man comes home to find some of the demons of his past waiting for him in this independent drama from writer and director Tanya Hamilton. Marcus (Anthony Mackie) was born and raised in Philadelphia, but hasn't been there for years when he comes back in 1976 to attend the funeral of his father, a local minister. Marcus came of age during the late '60s and was a member of the Black Panther Party when revolution and black power were hot topics in Philly's African-American community. After a key figure in the local Black Panther organization was assassinated, many suspected someone inside the group had informed on them to the police, and more than a few were certain Marcus was the rat as he walked out on the Panthers and left town shortly after the murder. As Marcus visits his old neighborhood, he has to deal with strained relationships in his family and the distrust of old friends convinced he betrayed a close friend; he also spends some time with Patricia (Kerry Washington), a fellow activist he used to love who was also married to the man Marcus is said to have betrayed. As Marcus wrestles with the shadows of another era, he's shadowed by Jimmy (Amari Cheatom), Patricia's disturbed and homeless cousin who still believes in the Panthers' cause. Featuring an original score by the Roots, Night Catches Us received its world premiere at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Anthony MackieKerry Washington, (more)
 
2009  
R  
Add Life Is Hot in Cracktown to Queue Add Life Is Hot in Cracktown to top of Queue  
Based on writer/director Buddy Giovinazzo's novel of the same name, Life Is Hot in Cracktown explores how crack cocaine infiltrated the streets of urban America by following the journeys of four people whose lives are on a tragic collision course. Pre-op transsexual Marybeth (Kerry Washington) is working as a prostitute in order to save enough money to make her transformation complete. She lives with her lover, Benny, a small-time burglar, whom she hopes to marry after her final operation. Meanwhile, Manny (Victor Rasuk) is busy pulling double shifts while his wife, Concetta (Shannyn Sossamon), cares for their sickly infant son in their run-down apartment. By night Manny works at a 24-hour bodega frequented by junkies, drug dealers, and prostitutes, and by day keeps the peace as a security guard at a welfare hotel. One of the residents at that hotel is Willy, a ten-year-old boy who lives with his mother (Illeana Douglas) and her abusive boyfriend. Willy begs for money on the street so he and Susie can get some fast food. But it's dangerous out there, because volatile gangster Romeo (Evan Ross) is still searching the streets for his brother's killer, and he won't hesitate to terrorize anyone unfortunate enough to cross his warpath. Lara Flynn Boyle, Brandon Routh, Desmond Harrington, and RZA co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Kerry WashingtonVictor Rasuk, (more)
 
2009  
R  
Add Mother and Child to Queue Add Mother and Child to top of Queue  
Writer/director Rodrigo García (Nine Lives) teams with executive producer Alejandro González Iñárritu to craft this drama highlighting the powerful bond between a mother and her son. It's been years since Karen (Annette Bening) gave her daughter, Elizabeth, up for adoption, and the decision to abandon her child has always haunted her. Upon meeting laid-back Paco (Jimmy Smits), Karen permits her anxiety and mistrust to get the best of her. On the surface it appears that Elizabeth (Naomi Watts) is none the worse for never knowing her biological mother; she's a fast-talking lawyer who's just landed a high-profile job at a firm fronted by Paul (Samuel L. Jackson), though her unsavory penchant for exploiting others is about to blow up in her face. Meanwhile, maternal-minded baker Lucy (Kerry Washington) longs to experience the joys of motherhood, eventually deciding that adoption is the best bet to start a family with her husband, Joseph (David Ramsey). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Naomi WattsAnnette Bening, (more)
 
2008  
R  
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Spike Lee's World War II film Miracle at St. Anna begins in 1983 with Hector Negron, a veteran of that war, unexpectedly shooting a customer dead. Police discover that the suspect, a quiet postal worker, kept a statue head worth millions of dollars in his apartment. An eager young reporter (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) interviews Negron in his cell about the mysterious artifact. While serving in the all-minority 92nd "Buffalo Soldier" Division, Negron and three comrades managed to sneak deep into enemy territory in Italy. One of the men, Sam Train (Omar Benson Miller), picked the head up while they were serving in Florence and believes it brings him good luck. Negron (Laz Alonso), Train, and Bishop Cummings (Michael Ealy), along with their sergeant, Aubrey Stamps (Derek Luke), take refuge in the Italian village of St. Anna, harbored by locals who are resisting the Nazis -- who themselves surround the area. Train also protects an injured Italian boy he discovers while investigating a seemingly abandoned dwelling. Eventually, the soldiers make contact with their superiors, and are ordered to capture a German so that he may be interrogated about an upcoming attack. Lee adapted Miracle at St. Anna from a novel by James McBride, who also penned the screenplay. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

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Starring:
Derek LukeMichael Ealy, (more)
 
2008  
PG13  
Add Lakeview Terrace to Queue Add Lakeview Terrace to top of Queue  
An interracial couple moves into their California dream home, only to find themselves the target of their volatile next-door neighbor -- a racist LAPD officer -- in this tightly wound thriller starring Samuel L. Jackson and Kerry Washington. Newlyweds Chris and Lisa seem like they have the perfect marriage and now, with their new home in the exclusive community Lakeview Terrace, the perfect life as well, but things soon turn ugly in the posh neighborhood when they begin to receive threats from their neighbor Abel, a middle-aged LAPD officer who has obvious objections to the couple's interracial marriage. What starts as an attitude problem soon morphs into full-on harassment, and before long the couple finds that their worries go far beyond their property values -- or the encroaching California wildfire burning in view of their community -- as they begin to fear for their lives. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Samuel L. JacksonPatrick Wilson, (more)
 
2007  
R  
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Actor/comedian Chris Rock directs and stars in this American remake of Eric Rohmer' s classic French comedy Chloe in the Afternoon. Richard Cooper (Rock) is a high-powered investment banker with a beautiful wife and two wonderful children. Though on the surface it would appear that Richard could want nothing more out of life, his thoughts always seem to drift toward sex. Whether it's during his daily commute into the city, his endless barrage of meetings, or even his downtime changing diapers at home, Richard's mind is constantly preoccupied by fantasies about the women he sees on the commuter train, on the city streets, and in the boardroom. Richard's daily life has gradually devolved into a blur of mind-numbing banality, and these days sexual fantasy has become his sole means of escaping the constant pressures of work and fatherhood. Though Richard never had any real intention of cheating on his faithful but preoccupied wife Brenda (Gina Torres), a chance run-in with his old friend Nikki (Kerry Washington) -- a drop-dead gorgeous stunner who appears at his office door one day seeking career advice from the successful banker -- finds his steely resolve fast turning flimsy. It's not long before the smitten Richard and the smoldering Nikki are meeting for clandestine lunches, and temptation begins to turn Richard's once-predictable life upside down. As his uncontrollable fantasies begin to lead him down the dangerous path of infidelity, the man who once kept his libido safely in check finds it increasingly difficult to refrain from acting on his impulses. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Chris RockKerry Washington, (more)
 
2007  
PG  
Add Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer to Queue Add Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer to top of Queue  
The world's most famous team of astronauts-cum-superheroes returns in the effects-heavy sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. As the story opens, Sue Storm (aka The Invisible Girl [Jessica Alba]) and Reed Richards (aka Mr. Fantastic [Ioan Gruffudd]) prepare for their upcoming, superhero-studded wedding celebration. But Reed cannot stay focused on the nuptials -- he's distracted by wire reports of a bizarre, comet-like object hurtling toward the Earth with tremendous force, triggering brownouts, blackouts, tropical storms, and various other climatological disasters. When the said object hits the island of Manhattan, destroying much of the city in its wake, its identity becomes resoundingly clear. "It" is actually a "he" -- a psychotic villain known as The Silver Surfer (voice of Larry Fishburne) who intends, for some unascertainable reason, to destroy much of the Earth, just as he obliterated dozens of planets before it. Feeling compelled to rally their old gang and save the day, Sue and Reed summon Ben Grimm (aka The Thing [Michael Chiklis]) and Johnny Storm (aka The Human Torch [Chris Evans]) to take on the Surfer -- and end up battling not only him, but an obnoxious Army general (Andre Braugher) and the cantankerous Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon), who has broken out of his icy prison that held him captive at the end of the first movie. Tim Story returns to direct this sequel. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

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Starring:
Ioan GruffuddJessica Alba, (more)
 
2006  
R  
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Karen Moncrieff, the Independent Spirit Award-nominated director of Blue Car, assembles a stellar cast comprised of Toni Collette, James Franco, Giovanni Ribisi, and Mary Beth Hurt to tell the tale of one girl's mysterious death, and how the tragic actions of the people who surround her eventually led to her savage murder. When the brutalized and lifeless body of a once-vital young girl (Brittany Murphy) is discovered, a community is scarred by the unspeakable horror of seeing one of their own so viciously desecrated. But the discovery of the body is just the beginning of the story, and now as a wife uncovers her husband's dark secret, a mother searches frantically for her missing daughter, and a series of other, seemingly unrelated occurrences slowly begin to converge, the heartbreaking truth behind a tragic act of violence will shake the very foundation of a once close-knit community. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Toni ColletteRose Byrne, (more)
 
2006  
PG13  
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Fate brings a childless couple a bundle of joy -- who happens to have a criminal record -- in this comedy directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans. Calvin Simms (Marlon Wayans) is a master criminal who with the help of his friend and sidekick, Percy (Tracy Morgan), plans a daring robbery of a museum where one of the world's largest diamonds is on display. One of reasons Calvin is able to get inside secure areas is his size -- Calvin is dwarf who stands less than two feet tall, and can slip in unnoticed where more conventionally sized people would not. While Calvin is able to get the diamond, he's nearly caught by the police while making his getaway, and stashes the jewel in a bag carried by a passerby. Eager to recover the diamond from the unwitting accomplice, Calvin and Percy figure out a way to get into his house -- they dress Calvin up as a baby, and leave him on the doorstep of the passerby's home. As it happens, the couple who live there (Shawn Wayans and Kerry Washington) have been wanting to have a baby, and they eagerly take the new arrival under their wing, embracing the joys of parenthood while ignoring some of the toddler's unusual behavior. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Marlon WayansShawn Wayans, (more)
 
2006  
R  
Add The Last King of Scotland to Queue Add The Last King of Scotland to top of Queue  
Director Kevin MacDonald teams with screenwriter Jeremy Brock to adapt Giles Foden's novel detailing the brutal reign of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin as seen through the eyes of his personal physician. James McAvoy stars as the doctor who slowly realizes that he is trapped in an inescapable nightmare, and Forest Whitaker assumes the role of the notorious despot. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Forest WhitakerJames McAvoy, (more)
 
2005  
PG13  
Add Mr. & Mrs. Smith to Queue Add Mr. & Mrs. Smith to top of Queue  
Many married couples have secrets, but one pair of lovebirds discover they've both been living dangerous secret lives in this action thriller laced with comedy. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt and play Jane Smith and John Smith, a suburban couple whose marriage has started to go a bit stale after five or six years. Both wish for more excitement in their relationship, but as it happens, each of them is finding plenty of thrills elsewhere. Both Jane and John are world-class assassins who will take on perilous missions for the right price, but neither is aware of the other's secret life - Jane thinks her husband runs a successful construction company, and John believes his wife works on Wall Street. However, when John and Jane are both assigned to take out the same target, one Benjamin Danz (Adam Brody), they become aware of each other's secret lives, and suddenly both their careers and their marriage go through some dramatic and potentially deadly changes. Mr. and Mrs. Smith also stars Vince Vaughn as an assassin with John's company who still lives with his mother and Kerry Washington as one of Jane's associates. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Brad PittAngelina Jolie, (more)
 
2005  
PG13  
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A handful of heroes become superheroes under unlikely circumstances in this action drama adapted from the long-running Marvel comic-book series. Four astronauts are on a mission aboard a new experimental spacecraft when they are unexpectedly exposed to a massive dose of gamma rays. The accident causes strange and unexpected transformations in all four. Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd), top scientist and leader of the mission, can now stretch his body like elastic and is dubbed Mr. Fantastic. His partner and sweetheart, Sue Storm (Jessica Alba), develops the ability to become invisible at will, and becomes known as The Invisible Girl. Her younger brother, Johnny Storm (Chris Evans), is renamed The Human Torch for his new talent of being able to summon up fire from his body when he chooses. And Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis), pilot for the journey, mutates into a monstrous creature with superhuman strength and muscles like stone, known as The Thing. Together, the travelers become known as the Fantastic Four, and they set out to use their unusual skills to fight crime, quickly gaining a nemesis in another altered hero who uses his talents for evil, Doctor Doom (Julian McMahon). A long-gestating project that had been talked about by a number of filmmakers since the early '90s, Fantastic Four was previously the basis for a pair of animated television serials, and was made into a feature film in 1994 by producer Roger Corman, though that film was never officially released. (Fantastic Four creator Stan Lee has said the 1994 film was made only so that the producers could hold on to the rights to the characters, and that it was never intended to be distributed to the public.) ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Ioan GruffuddJessica Alba, (more)
 
2004  
R  
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Directed by Spike Lee, She Hate Me follows John Henry "Jack" Armstrong (Anthony Mackie), who is fired from a posh job in biotechnology after informing the proper authorities of some sketchy business dealings from within the company. Unemployed and desperate for some quick cash, Jack accepts a strange offer -- his ex-girlfriend Fatima (Kerry Washington) says she will pay him generously if he successfully impregnates her. Once word gets out among the lesbian community, Jack is inundated with requests, and is initially quite happy with his new direction in life. However, things -- as they are wont to do -- get complicated. There's his former employer, who is actively trying to pin the blame for their wrongdoings on his shoulders, for one thing, and it isn't long before the moral implications of his life as a sperm donor come to the forefront. The film co-stars John Turturro, Ellen Barkin, Woody Harrelson, Monica Bellucci, and Q-Tip. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

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Starring:
Anthony MackieKerry Washington, (more)
 
2004  
PG13  
Add Ray to Queue Add Ray to top of Queue  
Directed by Taylor Hackford, this biopic profiles the life of legendary musician Ray Charles. Despite humble beginnings and the loss of his eyesight due to glaucoma at the age of six, Charles, depicted by Jamie Foxx, would nonetheless become an icon in both the music industry and the civil rights era. While the film delves into his problems with drugs and women, the bulk of the story details his career; among the highlights of that career are 12 Grammy awards and 11 R&B chart-toppers, such as "Unchain My Heart," "Hit the Road, Jack," "Georgia," "Doin' the Mess Around," and "Hallelujah I Just Love Her So." Also among the cast are Larenz Tate as Quincy Jones, as well as Regina King, Kerry Washington, and Clifton Powell. Charles' son, Ray Charles Jr. helped produce the film. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

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Starring:
Jamie FoxxKerry Washington, (more)
 
2004  
PG13  
Add Against the Ropes to Queue Add Against the Ropes to top of Queue  
Charles S. Dutton's feature-length directorial debut Against the Ropes is based on the real-life story of Jackie Kallen, a Jewish woman from Detroit who became a successful boxing manager. Played by Meg Ryan, Kallen works her way up in the world of boxing by believing in the fighting skills of Luther Shaw (Omar Epps). Director Dutton appears as veteran trainer Felix Reynolds, whom Kallen encourages to come out of retirement. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

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Starring:
Meg RyanOmar Epps, (more)
 
2004  
R  
Add SEXual Life to Queue Add SEXual Life to top of Queue  
Eight loosely connected city dwellers find their lives intersecting through their sexual proclivities in director Ken Kwapis' screen adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's enduring play La Ronde. As the revolving set of bedroom doors spin ever faster, the hopes, fears, truths, and heartaches of those longing to make a meaningful connection surface to offer a revealing look at modern sexuality. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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2003  
R  
Add Sin to Queue Add Sin to top of Queue  
It's often said that in order to catch a killer, you must first truly understand the motivations that drive their madness. The old saying is true, and retired homicide detective Eddie Burns (Ving Rhames) is about go to some of the darkest depths imaginable in a desperate bid to rescue his sister from a monstrous maniac (Gary Oldman) whose relentless sadism knows no bounds. Slowly drawn into the dark underworld of drugs and pornography, detective Burns soon learns that the bond he shares with the maniac he stalks runs stronger and deeper than he ever imagined. When the two men come face to face, their worlds collide in a furious blaze of lead and hellfire that threatens to consume their very souls. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Ving RhamesGary Oldman, (more)
 
2003  
R  
Add The Human Stain to Queue Add The Human Stain to top of Queue  
For his first film since 1998's Twilight, acclaimed director Robert Benton helmed this tense drama written by Fatal Attraction co-scribe Nicholas Meyer and based on the novel of the same name by Philip Roth. Set in the late '90s at the height of the Clinton sex-scandal, The Human Stain stars Anthony Hopkins as Coleman Silk, a respected professor at a New England college who suddenly finds his life unraveling after a comment he makes about some African-American students is misinterpreted as a racial slur. As the scandal heats up, Nathan Zuckerman (Gary Sinise), a writer researching a biography of Silk, begins to dig deeper and deeper into Silk's life. Eventually, matters are made worse when an affair with a young married janitor named Faunia Farley (Nicole Kidman) is exposed. But amid the controversy, Silk must struggle to keep his greatest secret, a secret he's held for the majority of his life, from becoming public. Ed Harris, who previously worked with Benton in 1984's Places in the Heart, also stars. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

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Starring:
Anthony HopkinsNicole Kidman, (more)
 
2002  
PG13  
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Dignified Oscar-winner Anthony Hopkins tries the buddy action-comedy on for size with this typically slick and bombastic offering from producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Hopkins stars as Gaylord Oakes, a CIA spy attempting -- along with his partner, Kevin Pope (Chris Rock) -- to secure a suitcase-sized nuclear bomb in Prague from a Russian black marketer (Peter Stormare). Just as the partners discover that another bidder for the device exists, they are ambushed and Pope is killed trying to protect Oakes. Desperate for the bomb's owners and their attackers to believe that Pope is still alive so that the deal can commence in ten days time, Oakes recruits his late partner's long-lost twin, ticket-scalping chess hustler Jake Hayes (also played by Rock), a small-time criminal who never knew he had a brother. Offered a sizable payday and the admiration of his student nurse girlfriend, Hayes agrees to undergo vigorous training and dangerous situations as he impersonates his brother and helps Oakes to remove the nuclear threat, but the new partners clash in every way possible, from personal discipline to musical taste. Meanwhile, the assassin of the real Kevin Pope sends another cadre of killers after the agent he believes is still alive. Bad Company co-stars Kerry Washington, Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon, Gabriel Macht, and Matthew Marsh. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

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Starring:
Anthony HopkinsChris Rock, (more)
 
2002  
R  
Add The United States of Leland to Queue Add The United States of Leland to top of Queue  
Produced by Kevin Spacey, The United States of Leland is a psychological drama concerning the aftereffects of a brutal murder. It's also the first big-studio theatrical release for writer/director Matthew Ryan Hoge, whose previous work consists of the independent comedy Self Storage. Ryan Gosling plays Leland, an imprisoned teenager doing time for the stabbing murder of a disabled boy. Prison writing teacher Pearl Madison (Don Cheadle) gets caught up in the story with the intention of making a book out of it, especially when he finds out that Leland's father is the famous novelist Albert Fitzgerald (Spacey). Pearl's investigation uncovers some of the details and effects of the murder for everyone involved, including the victim's parents, Harry (Martin Donovan) and Karen Pollard (Ann Magnuson). Jena Malone plays Becky, the teenage junkie who is both Leland's ex-girlfriend and the victim's sister. The situation also complicates the relationship between Becky's older sister, Jennifer (Michelle Williams), and her sensitive boyfriend, Allen (Chris Klein). The United States of Leland premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

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Starring:
Ryan GoslingDon Cheadle, (more)
 
2001  
PG13  
Add Save the Last Dance to Queue Add Save the Last Dance to top of Queue  
In this romantic drama, two teenagers in love struggle to look past their differences. After the unexpected death of her mother, Sarah Johnson (Julia Stiles) moves to Chicago to live with her father. Knowing no one at her new school and not at home in a gritty, inner-city high school, Sarah has trouble adjusting, but she soon becomes friends with Derek (Sean Patrick Thomas), who has talent and street smarts but a checkered past. Sarah was an avid student of ballet before her mother's death sidelined her studies, while Derek has some serious hip-hop moves, and their mutual love of dance leads their friendship into something deeper. However, since Sarah is white and Derek is black, they have more to contend with than the average high school couple; Sarah gets static from Nikki (Bianca Lawson), Derek's former girlfriend, while Derek has to deal with his friend Malakai (Fredro Starr), who is still deep in the thug life Derek is trying to avoid. Save the Last Dance was directed by Thomas Carter, who previously examined the sociopolitical side of dancing in Swing Kids. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Julia StilesSean Patrick Thomas, (more)
 
2001  
R  
Add Lift to Queue Add Lift to top of Queue  
A thief plans one last heist -- though hardly for the typical reasons -- in this offbeat drama. Neicy (Kerry Washington) is a stylish, well-dressed young woman who maintains an air of intelligent arrogance in her part-time job as a window dresser at an upscale Boston department store. Neicy has a secret to looking good on a window dresser's salary -- she's an expert shoplifter, who has learned how to steal the best outfits for herself and her friends, and occasionally makes a few bucks lifting items she can sell to others (though she charges much less than the market will bear). Neicy's boyfriend Angelo (Eugene Byrd) thinks she ought to get out of shoplifting before she's arrested, but since he makes his living selling marijuana, Neicy doesn't have much respect for his opinions in this area. However, when Neicy discovers she's pregnant, she begins to think that a less risky occupation might be in order after all; her boss at the department store thinks enough of her work to suggest a career in design, and is even willing to give her a better paying job in New York. But Neicy has never gotten much affection from her mother (Lonette McKee) and wants to do something to prove her love; when she sees her mother admiring a beautiful and very expensive necklace, Niecy decides to steal it as a gift for her. However, the jewelry store in question has much better security than the shops Neicy is used to, and she's forced to bring an outside accomplice into the picture -- Christian (Todd Williams), a jewel thief whose demands involve more than just money. The second feature from the writing and directing team of DeMane Davis and Khari Streeter, Lift premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Kerry WashingtonLonette McKee, (more)