Jack Rovello Movies
A less than auspicious homecoming for an introspective artist sets the stage for this low-key comedy drama directed by Steve Buscemi. Jim (Casey Affleck) is a chronically glum aspiring novelist who, after a failed two-year sojourn in New York City, has returned home to his parents' home in Goshen, IN. Jim's folks, Don (Seymour Cassel) and Sally (Mary Kay Place), run a ladder factory, a family business Jim wants nothing to do with. His older brother, Tim (Kevin Corrigan), is also living at home, and has problems of his own after his marriage ended in divorce and his business went broke. When Tim makes the latest of a number of suicide attempts by driving into a tree, Jim is reintroduced to Anika (Liv Tyler), a nurse who had a one-night fling with Jim a while ago. Jim and Anika strike up a conversation and start seeing one another again, though she seems to have feelings for Tim as well. With Tim in the hospital, Jim is persuaded against his better judgment to take on some of his brother's responsibilities, including doing some work at the ladder factory. At work, he bonds with his uncle Stacy (Mark Boone Jr.), who prefers to use the nickname "Evil" and deals drugs on the job. Jim's attempts to help Uncle Stacy with his side business backfire and implicate his parents, with Sally ending up in jail. But between his budding relationship with Anika and coaching a kids' basketball team that includes Tim's daughters, Jim begins to cautiously consider the notion that life might be worth all the trouble. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Casey Affleck, Liv Tyler, (more)
Three women, separated by a span of nearly 80 years, find themselves weathering similar crises, all linked by a single work of literature in this film adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Michael Cunningham. In 1923, Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) is attempting to start work on her novel Mrs. Dalloway, in which she chronicles one day in the life of a troubled woman. But Virginia has demons of her own, and she struggles to overcome the depression and suicidal impulses that have followed her throughout her life, as her husband Leonard (Stephen Dillane) ineffectually tries to help. In 1951, Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) is a housewife living in suburban Los Angeles, where she looks after her son Richie (Jack Rovello) and husband Dan (John C. Reilly). Laura is also an avid reader who is currently making her way through Mrs. Dalloway. The farther she gets into the novel, the more Laura discovers that it reflects a dissatisfaction she feels in her own life, and she finds herself pondering the notion of leaving her life behind. Finally, in 2000, Clarissa Vaughn (Meryl Streep) is a literary editor who is caring for Richard Brown (Ed Harris), a former boyfriend and noted author, who is slowly losing his fight with AIDS. Clarissa is trying to arrange a party to celebrate the fact that Richard has won a prestigious literary award, but is getting little help from Richard's ex-lover, Louis (Jeff Daniels). As she labors to help Richard through another day, he wonders if his life is worth the unending struggle. The Hours also features Toni Collette, Miranda Richardson, Allison Janney, and Claire Danes. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, (more)
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