John E. Blazier Movies

Two men return home from the Army to find that their attitudes on life, love, and the town where they grew up have changed in this bittersweet coming-of-age drama. Sonny Burns (Jeremy Davies) and Gunner Casselman (Ben Affleck) are two guys from Indianapolis who were drafted during the Korean War. In high school, Gunner was a football player and big man on campus, while Sonny was a social outcast who kept to himself. Sonny spent most of his hitch in the Army in Kansas City, while Gunner was stationed in Japan and found his perspectives changed by exposure to Asian philosophies. Gunner and Sonny run into each other on a troop train as they return to Indiana in 1954. While they were never close in school, Gunner finds himself reaching out to Sonny, believing that Sonny is a deep thinker, though Sonny spends a lot more time thinking about girls than his place in the universe. Sonny has a girlfriend, Buddy (Amy Locane), who would like to get married; Sonny's mother Alma (Jill Clayburgh) is almost as eager as Buddy to see her son head to the altar, but Sonny doesn't find Buddy very interesting, and he's not sure if he wants to settle in Indianapolis. He's far more attracted to Gail (Rose McGowan), an exotic looking brunette who appeals to his girly-magazine fantasies, but while he can make love to Buddy, he's struck with impotence when Gail offers to sleep with him. Meanwhile, Gunner has fallen in love with Marty Pilcher (Rachel Weisz), a sexy Jewish woman, but Gunner's mother Nina (Lesley Ann Warren), who seems inappropriately fond of her son, doesn't care for Marty and spouts anti-Semitic venom at her son in hopes of driving him away from his new girlfriend. Like Sonny, Gunner finds himself thinking that his destiny lies outside of his home town. Dan Wakefield wrote the screenplay for Going All the Way, based on his own novel. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In the film Happy New Year (1987), actor Peter Falk donned old-age makeup to play a senior citizen. Eight years later, he did it again, twice, in the TV movie remake of The Sunshine Boys (1995) and this film, a comedy-drama. Falk stars as Rocky Holzcek, a cantankerous 76-year-old Polish-American baker who insists, despite relatives' protests, upon adopting his young grandson Michael when the boy's parents pass away. Twenty years later, Michael (D.B. Sweeney) is a medical student who's forced to take in his still-spry grandfather when the old man is evicted from his apartment building. Although the crusty, outspoken Rocky gets along fine with Michael's Chinese college roommates, he is less enthused about his grandson's girlfriend Beth (Julianne Moore). Eventually, Michael and Beth marry, move away and have children, while Rocky continues working as a baker, passing the age of 100. When a tragedy befalls Michael and his kids, the old man once again comes to his grandson's rescue, but even a force of nature like Rocky can't last forever. Roommates was loosely based on the real-life experiences of screenwriter Max Apple and his grandfather. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

In this sports drama, a diver has all the right stuff to make it to the Olympics. There is only one catch--he is terrified of heights. Fortunately his lovely coach is there to patiently help him overcome his terror and go for the gold. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Hoosiers tells the true story of a group of underdogs who become champions. Set in the 1950s, Hoosiers is about a hard-luck, unemployed college basketball coach (Gene Hackman) who gets a chance to coach a small-town Indiana high-school basketball team. Facing resentment from the community and the team itself, Hackman manages to inspire his young athletes, leading them to the state championship with the help of the assistant coach (Dennis Hopper), who happens to be a recovering alcoholic. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi