Cody Arens Movies

Based on a novel by Kent Haruf, the Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie Plainsong looks back on a year in the lives of several very special people in a close-knit Colorado prairie community. Deserted by his seriously disturbed wife Ella (Megan Follows), dedicated high school teacher Tom Guthrie (Aidan Quinn) is forced to raise his mentally challenged sons Ike (Mick Hazen) and Bobby (Cody Arens) by himself. Cruelly tormented by their peers and shunned by many of the adults in the community, the boys find a friend and kindred spirit in lonely old Iva Stearns (Marian Seldes), who offers to let them work on her ranch. At the same time, Tom's fellow teacher Maggie Jonas (Rachel Griffiths) comes to the rescue of Victoria Roubidoux (America Ferrera), a pregnant 17-year old Native American girl who has been evicted by her mother. Maggie arranges for Victoria to stay at the home of the McPherson Brothers (Geoffrey Lewis, William Andrews), a pair of crusty old bachelors who have never lived with anyone other than themselves. The stories of these two "extended" families inevitably converge, reaching a crossroads when Ike and Bobby stumble across Iva's dead body. Despite this morbid turn of events, the story gives special emphasis to forgiveness and the acceptance of those who are different -- and the ability to come to grips with the fact that life offers no guarantees. Filmed on location in Utah, Plainsong made its CBS network bow on April 25, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Penny Marshall directed this serio-comic story, based on the memoir by Beverly Donofrio, about a young woman who finds her life radically altered by an event from her teen years. Born in 1950, Beverly (Drew Barrymore) grew up bright and ambitious in a working-class neighborhood in Connecticut; her father (James Woods) was a tough but good-hearted cop with an understanding ear for his daughter's problems, and her mother (Lorraine Bracco) was a nervous woman eager to imagine the worst. From an early age, Beverly displays a keen intelligence and an interest in literature, and she dreams of going to college in New York and becoming a writer. However, she also develops a precocious interest in boys, and at 15 finds herself madly in love with a boy from her high school. However, an attempt to get his attention leads to an embarassing incident at a party, and Ray Hasek (Steve Zahn), a sweet but thick-headed 18-year-old, steps forward to defend her. Beverly and Ray end up making out, and after one thing leads to another, Beverly discovers she's pregnant. Telling Ray is only marginally less difficult than informing her parents, and at 16, Beverly is a wife and mother. Against the odds, Beverly is determined to still finish high school and go on to college, but that goal becomes more difficult with time, especially after Beverly's marriage begins to fall apart; while Ray tries to do the right thing, he has trouble holding a job, and circumstances become all the more difficult when Beverly learns her husband is addicted to heroin. Riding in Cars With Boys also stars Brittany Murphy as Beverly's best friend Fay; Beverly's son Jason is played, at various points in his life, by Adam Garcia (age 20), Logan Lerman (age eight), Cody Arens (age six), and Logan Arens (age three). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide