Paul Schneider Movies

A mother and daughter follow similar paths with different results in this drama with music from writer and director Christophe Honoré. In 1964, Madeleine (Ludivine Sagnier) is a restless young woman working at a shoe store who, after helping herself to a new pair of high heels, is mistaken for a streetwalker by a man passing by. Madeleine impulsively decides to go along with the stranger's assumptions, and soon discovers prostitution can be a profitable part-time job. One of her regular customers is a handsome doctor named Jaromil (Rasha Bukvic), and when he asks for her hand in marriage, she accepts. They settle in his native Czechoslovakia and have a daughter, Vera, though political upheaval leads Madeleine back to Paris and a new husband. Years later, a grown-up Vera (Chiara Mastroianni) looks back on the story of her mother and father (played in their later years by Catherine Deneuve and Milos Forman) with a viewpoint colored by both romanticism and regret. While Madeleine's life as a streetwalker brought her love and adventure and she now divides her attentions between two men, Vera has grown up in an era where AIDS has made such sexual openness something like Russian Roulette, and she's unable to commit to a relationship, tossing aside her on-and-off boyfriend Clement (Louis Garrel) in favor of obsessing over Henderson (Paul Schneider), a musician who prefers the company of men. Les Bien-aimés (aka Beloved) was an official selection at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

When slacker thirtysomething couple Burt (John Krasinski) and Verona (Maya Rudolph) discover that his parents are moving overseas, the duo -- who expect their first child in a few months -- set off on a cross-country tour to figure out where they should lay down some roots in Sam Mendes' poignant comedy Away We Go. They visit a number of different cities, and meet with a different friend or family member's family at each stop. Their hosts include a set of emotionally detached parents (Allison Janney and Jim Gaffigan), a pair of overprotective new-age parents (Maggie Gyllenhaal and Josh Hamilton), and old college pals (Chris Messina and Melanie Lynskey), who have adopted a number of kids. Novelist Dave Eggers wrote the script with Vendela Vida. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

A fast-talking rainmaker, his wealthy acquaintance, and an unemployed aerospace engineer forge an unusual partnership that hastens the deterioration of their relationships while forever altering the course of their lives in director Paul Schneider's minimalist tale of American entrepreneurialism. Curtis Prentiss (Billy Crudup) is a terminally optimistic dreamer who rolled into a small town with little more than an enthusiastic sales pitch and an unusual set of blueprints. When Curtis' unique plans for a personal "rocket belt" that he claims will revolutionize personal travel captivates the imagination of a gifted but out-of-work engineer (Paul Giamatti), all three men embark on an ambitious quest to raise the capitol needed to finance their endeavor and make flight more accessible to the masses. While the results are indeed promising, the stress of both the task at hand and some unexpected success soon takes an unhealthy toll on the venturesome partnership. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Lars (Ryan Gosling) and Gus (Paul Schneider) are the grown children of a father who died recently and a mother who died giving birth to Lars. But as brothers, they couldn't be more different. While Gus lives in the family home and has a loving wife (Emily Mortimer) and a child on the way, Lars leads a more reclusive existence in the family's garage, hiding in plain sight of his small, wintry hometown. Painfully shy and eccentric, Lars fails to recognize that his co-worker Margo (Kelli Garner) has a major crush on him, and he picks up on a casual reference made by his cubicle mate, who mentions a website where you can order life-sized, anatomically correct sex dolls. But instead of seeing a sex object, Lars sees in this doll a potential life partner and the only kind of social "peer" he can relate to. So Lars orders a doll, whom he names Bianca, and begins treating her with utmost gentlemanly respect -- and as though she's his real-life, flesh-and-blood girlfriend. As he begins bringing Bianca with him everywhere he goes, the townspeople have to find just the right balance between supporting Lars' unusual romance and trying to introduce him to a more conventional partner. Lars and the Real Girl was written by Six Feet Under scribe Nancy Oliver and directed by Mr. Woodcock's Craig Gillespie. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

A young man in need of a fresh start gets one under highly unexpected circumstances in this emotionally resonant comedy drama from writer and director Cameron Crowe. Drew Baylor (Orlando Bloom) is considered the big success story in his family, having moved away from the small Kentucky town where he was born to California, where he works as a designer for Mercury, the nation's biggest athletic shoe company. But success has begun to elude Drew -- his most recent design was a resounding flop that has cost him his job, and his girlfriend, Ellen (Jessica Biel), has given him his walking papers. Drew is contemplating suicide when he gets word that his father has died, and that he's needed back home in Elizabethtown, KY, to help organize the funeral. With his mother, Hollie (Susan Sarandon), deep in denial about her husband's passing, Drew comes home to discover no one knows about his recent poor fortune, and he's greeted like a conquering hero. As Drew reconnects with his family and helps his sister, Heather (Judy Greer), look after Hollie, Drew gets a new lease on life and is reminded about what's really important to him. Helping him learn these valuable lessons is Claire Colburn (Kirsten Dunst), a pretty and optimistic flight attendant Drew meets on his flight home who has her own philosophies about positive thinking and the curative powers of travel. Elizabethtown also stars Alec Baldwin, Paul Schneider, Bruce McGill, Loudon Wainwright III, and Paula Deen. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Owen (Paul Schneider of All the Real Girls) wants to be a serious writer, but ever since moving to Los Angeles, the only work he can get is co-writing trashy autobiographies for people who'd prefer he omit the unseemly truth, like Bucky (Fred Willard) an egotistical, philandering former astronaut. Owen thinks L.A. is keeping him from achieving his romantic and professional goals, but he can't bring himself to leave. After a big earthquake inspires Owen's manipulative, unfaithful ex-girlfriend to tell him she wants nothing more to do with him, he finally decides to get out of town. He arranges to write a bio for a Princeton physicist, and he tells all his friends and acquaintances the brutal truth, so that he won't be tempted to stay or come back to L.A. He tells his friend and housemate Rob (Dorian Missick) that he can't stand his girlfriend. He admits to Stephanie (Tori Spelling) that his other housemate, Allison (Poppy Montgomery), has always found her attractive, but he neglected to tell Stephanie this because he doesn't like her. But he can't bring himself to say anything unpleasant to his promiscuous bisexual best friend, Allison. Owen is at the airport, ready to board his flight, when he runs into Val (Jennifer Westfeldt of Kissing Jessica Stein), an attractive acquaintance of his ex. She's seeing off her ex-boyfriend, and invites Owen to have coffee, causing him to miss his flight. There's an immediate attraction. Owen is still determined to leave town, and now no one wants him around, but he has to take a few days to prove to himself that things would never work out with Val. How to Lose Your Lover, the feature debut of writer/director/producer Jordan Hawley, had its world premiere at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

David Gordon Green, who in 2000 made a splash on the festival circuit with his independent debut feature, George Washington, directed this drama about two people entering into a mature romantic relationship -- the sort that neither has been accustomed to. Paul (Paul Schneider) is a guy in his mid-'20s who lives in a small Southern town, where he earn a living fixing cars for his uncle. A man with little in the way of ambition, Paul still lives with his mother, Elvira (Patricia Clarkson), and still hangs out with his best friend from high school, rowdy Tip (Shea Whigham), and their buddies Bo (Maurice Compte) and Bust-Ass (Danny McBride). Among his friends, Paul has a reputation as a ladies' man, but he's not at all good with long-term relationships; most of Paul's romances last only a few weeks, and he's slept with nearly every girl in town who's worth having. Deep down inside, Paul senses that he would like to lead a different life, and that feeling becomes all the more clear when he meets Noel (Zooey Deschanel), Tip's teenage sister who has come back home after attending a boarding school. Noel is smarter and deeper than the girls Paul is used to, while Noel is taken with his charm, wit, and down-to-earth nature. Paul and Noel soon fall in love, but for Paul this is a different sort of relationship than he's accustomed to -- Noel is still a virgin, and her contemplative nature gives him a desire to be a better, stronger person. However, Tip doesn't approve of Paul dating his younger sister, which leads to a rift between these longtime friends. All the Real Girls was awarded a Special Jury Prize at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival; Patricia Clarkson's performance was also cited by the jury. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

David Gordon directs this bleak drama about a gang of rural teens going astray. The title character is 13-year-old boy who lives in an impoverished corner of North Carolina. While wandering around with his rag-tag band of mates, one boy gets inadvertently killed. Fearing parental retribution, the gang hides the body. Later, matters comes to a head when guilt and anxiety starts to take its toll. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi