Karl Bury

Frank Langella (Dracula, Good Night, and Good Luck.) stars in Andrew Wagner's independent drama Starting Out in the Evening, an adaptation of the acclaimed 1999 best-seller by Brian Morton. Langella plays Leonard Schiller, a once-celebrated author whose first four novels inspired Heather Wolfe (Lauren Ambrose) to pursue a career as a writer. These days, Leonard is still working toward completion of the novel that has occupied his life for nearly a decade. On the surface, Leonard has removed himself completely from the deep-seated need for success that characterized his life at an earlier point in time; but on a more buried level, he still longs for his fiction to be rediscovered and re-acclaimed. Now an eager graduate student in the throes of her thesis, Heather is writing her dissertation on Schiller, and promptly convinces him that she can use the thesis to regenerate popularity and discovery of his work. Heather also projects personal interest in Leonard, however, which cuts straight through to the core of his loneliness and brings him in touch with his need for a meaningful relationship even as it leaves him feeling shaken and increasingly uncertain. Meanwhile, Leonard finds that his relationship with his daughter, Ariel (Lili Taylor), is challenged, both by Heather's presence and by Ariel's decision to begin dating her former boyfriend Casey (Adrian Lester) once again -- a fact that Leonard finds most upsetting thanks to his disapproval of Casey. Suddenly, Leonard feels his entire world turned upside down, from his familial relationships to the security of his writing to his own physical vitality -- but he is also taking risks and plunging headfirst into the core of life for the first time, thus living out the principles long celebrated and upheld in his fiction and giving himself the capacity to grow. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Ground Control follows the reluctant return to work of Jack Harris (Kiefer Sutherland), a retired air traffic controller who is still haunted by his role in a probably unavoidable plane crash that has left him guilt-ridden and professionally gun shy. When a Phoenix airport fighting budget cutbacks calls him in for emergency duty, he begins experiencing flashbacks to the night of the disaster, all while trying desperately not to lose concentration even for the single moment it would take to cause a fresh disaster. He is supported by a seasoned supervisor (Bruce McGill) but challenged by a cocky young controller (Robert Sean Leonard) who not so privately questions his mettle. All must put aside their differences and band together when stormy weather and failing equipment puts another flight in harm's way. The tension mounts as a resourceful mechanic (Henry Winkler) tries to paste together the outdated circuitry and give the skeleton crew technical support beyond their professional cunning. Ground Control also stars Kristy Swanson and Kelly McGillis. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide

Following the suspicious death of a doctor-in-residence at a local mental hospital, a private investigator masquerades as a patient in order to solve the case. That the slain doctor was the detective's friend only complicates matters. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A photographer becomes famous overnight for a photo he didn't take himself in this satiric comedy. Delbert Mosely (Bill Campbell) is an award-winning photojournalist whose career has gone into a nosedive, forcing him to take a job with a sleazy tabloid. After getting fired by his editor, Cobb (Bobcat Goldthwait) for not giving him the kind of exploitive material he wanted, Delbert buys an old camera at a garage sale, which still has some old film left in it. Delbert develops the roll, and finds to his surprise it includes pictures of an alien abduction. Delbert's photos suddenly make him a very popular man with reporters, Air Force investigators, UFO theorists, and Cobb, who runs a story about the photos which question his credibility. Delbert gets in a fight with Cobb that lands him in jail, but he's soon bailed out by Paige (Wendy Schaal), who has her own reasons for wanting to talk to Delbert -- she thinks her father is the one being abducted in the photos. Out There also stars Rod Steiger, Jill St. John, Paul Dooley, and .J. Soles; Billy Bob Thornton, a year before Sling Blade would make him a star, has a bit part as a UFO enthusiast Delbert meets in jail. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide