Michael Arata Movies

A corporate retreat becomes a crash course in taking control of men for a woman with serious relationship issues. Try as she might, nice girl Lonnie just can't find a man who respects her. But as Lonnie prepares for an important weekend work trip, her friends convince her that it's time she finally stops allowing men to call all the shots. Before the trip is over, not only has Lonnie learned the trick to switching the script, but she's also caught the eye of her boss' son David - a handsome guy who seems different from all the rest. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A milquetoast serial killer (Colin Hanks) finds his insatiable blood lust growing after winning the lottery and marrying the woman of his dreams (Ari Graynor) in this black comedy from director Gil Cates, Jr. (A Midsummer Night's Rave, Life After Tomorrow). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A newlywed marriage counselor fights to save her mother and father's crumbling union in this romantic comedy from director Dermot Mulroney. The more energy Ava (Mandy Moore) devotes to keeping her parents together, though, the further she drifts away from her new husband (Kellan Lutz). James Brolin and Jane Seymour co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A high school valedictorian winds up with the last job he ever expected, and scrambles to save his future by transforming a hedonistic party into a haughty Harvard soiree. Alex Sperling (Brett Davern) is fresh out of high school, and Harvard bound. That is, until his big summer internship goes up in flames. Now, in order to stay on the right track, Alex sets his sights on Los Angeles, where his cousin Roger (Matthew Lillard) runs a successful business. But when Alex arrives to find that Roger has dropped out of Harvard and taken up cleaning pools, his Ivy League dreams start to wither. A new opportunity presents itself, however, when one of Roger's biggest clients leaves town, and the ambitious pool boys meet Laura (Rachelle Lefevre), an entrepreneurial escort seeking to start her own business. With a sprawling mansion now at their disposal, Roger and Alex team up with Laura to start an escort service that caters to a wealthy clientele. Before long all three are swimming in cash. Trouble arises, however, when Alex's parents drop in with some old friends from Harvard. Now, unless Alex can convince them all that the kinky bash is catering to the Harvard elite, his entire future could very well go up in flames. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director Joe Dante returns to his horror roots for this Parallel Zide/VooDoo production centering on a red-eye flight that's hijacked while transporting frightful contents. Writing duo Drew McWeeny and Scott Swan provide the script. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

A hot-shot college card player and a retired poker legend team up to take Sin City for all its worth, only to find themselves going toe to toe in the ultra-high-stakes World Poker Tour. Alex Stillman (Bret Harrison) is a Yale senior with a knack for Texas Hold 'Em. But while Alex dreams of the day he'll be able to dominate the tables out in Las Vegas, he hasn't mastered the art of the cards just yet. Alex's luck begins to change, however, after a chance encounter with legendary poker player Tommy Vinson (Burt Reynolds). Tommy gave up gambling 20 years ago in hopes that he could save his family. He recognizes the potential in Alex, and he's beginning to regain his confidence after two decades of maintaining a low profile. Alex agrees to become Tommy's protégé, and together the pair wins every tournament they enter. But Alex's attraction to beautiful Las Vegas call girl Michelle (Shannon Elizabeth) has caused his attention shift away from the tables, and that distraction has opened up a deep chasm between the emerging talent and the undisputed master. Later, after Alex and Tommy call off their partnership, they find themselves on opposite sides of the table at the prestigious World Poker Tour. Who will take the top prize? Will it be the old pro who promised he would never gamble again or the newcomer who learned all of his tricks from the true master of the trade? ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Horror duo Adam Gierasch and Jace Anderson (The Toolbox Murders, Mother of Tears) re-team for this frightener about a group of road-tripping college graduates who are spirited to a mysterious hospital after crashing their car on a lonely Louisiana road. Emily, her boyfriend Bobby, and their good friends Claire and Jude are driving through the darkened Louisiana countryside when their car spins out of control and crashes into a tree. When the ambulance arrives to take them to Mercy Hospital, the traumatized travelers assume that the worst is behind them. But why are there so few doctors at Mercy Hospital, and why are most of the floors empty? As the mystery of this foreboding hospital grows, the weary travels realize that the horror is only beginning. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Thirty years after realizing that they had they had both found that rare once in a lifetime love, a man and a woman separated by fate decide to take a second shot at romance despite the fact that both had moved on with their lives a long time ago. As children growing up together in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, Mark and Sara were inseparable. As teens it just seemed that the two adolescents were just really close friends, but when Mark's family moves to New Orleans in the early 1970s the letters that he and Sarah exchange reveal that their true feelings for one another run far deeper. Though their love is vividly expressed in a pair of intensely heartfelt letters, any chance for romance is effectively destroyed when Mark's meddling mother Carole (Brooke Adams) intercepts the letters and hides them from her son. Mistakenly believing that each has rejected the other's love, Mark and Sara both manage to move on with their lives despite their initial devastation. Years later, Mark and Sara are both in their forties, living in different cities and locked in unhappy marriages - Mark to a career-driven psychiatrist named Laura (Jessica Hecht) and Sara to struggling alcoholic named Chris (Michael Arata). Mark feels like his life has become hollow, and spends the majority of his time confiding his true feelings in his older brother Earl (M.C. Gainey), an eccentric French Quarter artist. But one day, when Mark discovers the letters that had been hidden by his mother, he sees the opportunity for a new life of happiness and contacts Sara to tell her the truth. The moment the two make contact, it's as if they were both transported back to that special time when nothing else mattered aside from their growing feelings for one another. Neither Mark nor Sara are particularly happy with the way their lives have turned out, and excitedly make plans to rendezvous in New Orleans. Could it be that Mark and Sara were truly meant to be with one another, or did their one chance at a lifetime of happiness actually end with the hiding of those passionate correspondences so many moons ago? ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

According to the Lifetime channel publicity, the made for cable Miracle Run was "inspired by the true story of the winner in all of us." The life of single mother Corinne Morgan (Mary-Louise Parker) is forever changed when she learns that both of her twin sons are autistic. The medical experts advice Corinne either to have the boys institutionalized or farm them out for adoption: The educational establishment writes off both kids as "unteachable" virtually before they ever set foot in a school. But Corinne is determined to the point of bullying that the twins will have as a normal a life as possible--and with the help of sympathetic handyman Douglas Thomas (Aidan Quinn), her hopes are fulfilled beyond her wildest dreams. Despite its optimistic outlook, the film stresses the fact that the lives of young Steven and Phillip Morgan will forever remain a steep and often treacherous uphill climb. Miracle Run debuted August 9, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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

Tia Carrere stars in this made-for-cable melodrama as Dr. Vicki Westin, whose brilliance as a surgeon does not quite compensate for her coldness as a human being. Dr. Westin is forced to think outside of herself for the first time in her life when her husband (Richard Burgi) and daughter (Zoe Gaber) are kidnapped. Their abductor is Jeff Bender (Dale Midkiff), a grieving father who child had been one of Vicki's patients, and who had died on the operating table. The grimly vengeful Bender offers Dr. Westin a choice: She can save either her husband or her daughter, but not both--and she has only 48 hours to make her decision! Filmed on location in New Orleans, Torn Apart originally aired over the Lifetime Channel on September 30, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A good-old-boy small-town sheriff in a New Orleans parish happens upon a murder case that threatens to end his career in Behind the Badge, the embattled second feature of writer/director Robby Henson (Pharaoh's Army). Billy Bob Thornton stars as Darl, a divorced lawman first spotted sleeping in his truck outside his favorite bar. Darl gets a call about a truck accident, and happily hands out shoes from the ditched tractor-trailer to win over the locals for his re-election. But then the body of a beautiful woman is found in the mud near the wrecked truck. The "woman" turns out to be a transsexual with a .22 slug in her back. Prejudice reigns in the small community, and no one seems to be taking the murder too seriously. Local politicians, including a powerful judge (William Devane), are focused on the upcoming election, and are also angling to build a casino in town, and so they want to keep the sordid murder quiet. The victim's wife, Scarlet (Patricia Arquette), a New Orleans stripper, shows up. Despite Darl's own prejudices, he finds himself attracted to Scarlet, and starts to look into the case. Soon he learns that his investigation and his big mouth have cost him his slot on the ticket. When he presses on, he finds himself jailed on a trumped-up statutory rape charge. Struggling with his own family history of disgrace, Darl considers making a deal with the local bigwigs in order to keep his job. But when he learns that Scarlet is in danger, he's forced into action. Sela Ward and Jena Malone also star. Behind the Badge was heading for theatrical distribution before production company Propaganda Films went bankrupt. The film was unable to find a new distributor and premiered on Starz cable on September 7, 2002. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi