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Cherry Jones Movies

Well known as a premiere theater actress and an advocate for gay rights, Cherry Jones has also appeared in a number of high-profile films. Born and raised in Tennessee, Jones headed north to study drama at Carnegie Mellon University. A founding member of the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, MA, Jones spent the early years of her professional career performing in a wide range of plays. After she relocated to New York, Jones acted in numerous Broadway productions, including Angels in America, The Night of the Iguana, Our Country's Good, and A Moon for the Misbegotten. Her performance as the lonely heroine in the 1995 production of The Heiress earned Jones several awards, including the Tony.

Even as she became a theater star, Jones added TV and films to her repertoire in the 1980s, with supporting roles in the TV docudrama Alex: The Life of a Child (1986) and Paul Schrader's Light of Day (1987). Though drama was her primary forte, Jones also appeared in the hit comedies Housesitter (1992) and A League of Their Own (1992). After several years of stage work, Jones returned to films in the independent black comedy Julian Po (1997), and Robert Redford's The Horse Whisperer (1998). Jones brought an air of forceful integrity to her roles as the embattled head of the Federal Theater Project in Tim Robbins' 1930s tapestry Cradle Will Rock (1999) and as one of the chemical contamination victims in Steven Soderbergh's Erin Brockovich (2000).

Unabashedly out since her professional debut at age 21, Jones made theater history of sorts when she thanked her same-sex domestic partner from the podium when she won her Tony for The Heiress. Jones added her voice to Out of the Past (1998), a documentary about the struggles of the gay rights movement throughout U.S. history, and co-starred in the TV movie about lesbian parents, What Makes a Family (2001).

Continuing to take smaller roles in big movies between her stage work, Jones followed Erin Brockovich with a turn as one of the residents on land forced to come to grips with the tragic effects of The Perfect Storm (2000). Back on summer movie screens two years later in two heavily hyped releases, Jones was one of the many oddly monikered women populating the eccentric female universe in Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002). In M. Night Shyamalan's spiritual science fiction hit Signs (2002), Jones quietly shined with her gentle yet no-nonsense performance as the local cop who gets involved in teasing out the meaning of the crop circles in anguished father Mel Gibson's corn field. Both Soderbergh and Shyamalan would continue to feature her such films as Ocean's Twelve and The Village, as Jones continued to rack up acclaim for her stage work, including a Best Actress Tony in 2005 for John Patrick Shanley's Doubt. In 2007 Fox announced that Jones would be portraying the first female president on the seventh season of 24.

In 2009 she would play a first lady embodying Eleanor Roosevelt in the biopic Amelia, and had a busy 2011 appearing in Jodie Foster's The Beaver as well as Garry Marshall's ensemble romantic comedy New Year's Eve. She returned to TV in 2012 with a role in the series Awake. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi
2012  
 
A reality-bending drama about a detective who lives in two parallel worlds after surviving his family's car accident. In one reality, his wife survived the crash and his son perished. In the other, his son continues to live but his wife was killed. While trying to regain footing in his complex double lives, he continues his efforts to crack cases in both worlds. ~ Dean Maurer, Rovi

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Starring:
Jason IsaacsDylan Minnette, (more)
 
2011  
PG13  
Add The Beaver to Queue Add The Beaver to top of Queue  
A successful businessman and loving father finds a unique means of coping with his debilitating mental illness in this drama from director Jodie Foster. When Walter Black (Mel Gibson) finds himself stuck in a downward spiral, the chance discovery of a beat-up beaver hand puppet offers him a unique opportunity to pull himself back from the brink. By using The Beaver to speak with others, Walter develops the abilities to express the suppressed feelings that were slowly eating him away from the inside. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Mel GibsonJodie Foster, (more)
 
2011  
PG13  
Add New Year's Eve to Queue Add New Year's Eve to top of Queue  
Director Garry Marshall follows up his surprise hit Valentine's Day with this all-star ensemble film featuring a cast that includes Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Hilary Swank, and Ashton Kutcher. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

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Starring:
Halle BerryJessica Biel, (more)
 
2009  
R  
Add Mother and Child to Queue Add Mother and Child to top of Queue  
Writer/director Rodrigo García (Nine Lives) teams with executive producer Alejandro González Iñárritu to craft this drama highlighting the powerful bond between a mother and her son. It's been years since Karen (Annette Bening) gave her daughter, Elizabeth, up for adoption, and the decision to abandon her child has always haunted her. Upon meeting laid-back Paco (Jimmy Smits), Karen permits her anxiety and mistrust to get the best of her. On the surface it appears that Elizabeth (Naomi Watts) is none the worse for never knowing her biological mother; she's a fast-talking lawyer who's just landed a high-profile job at a firm fronted by Paul (Samuel L. Jackson), though her unsavory penchant for exploiting others is about to blow up in her face. Meanwhile, maternal-minded baker Lucy (Kerry Washington) longs to experience the joys of motherhood, eventually deciding that adoption is the best bet to start a family with her husband, Joseph (David Ramsey). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Naomi WattsAnnette Bening, (more)
 
2009  
PG  
Add Amelia to Queue Add Amelia to top of Queue  
Hilary Swank and Richard Gere star in director Mira Nair's biopic tracing the life of famed aviator Amelia Earhart -- who made history in 1932 by becoming the first woman ever to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. The trip made the aviatrix a national celebrity -- with help from her publicist George Putnam (Gere), whom she fell in love with and eventually married. Their union was tested, however, as Earhart developed feelings for contemporary Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor ), and the couple's marriage faced the ultimate tragedy years later, as Earhart's fierce independent spirit spurred her to attempt to fly around the world -- a venture that infamously shrouded her in mystery, as the pilot simply vanished after crashing into the Pacific Ocean. Christopher Eccleston and co-star in the Avalon Pictures production. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Hilary SwankRichard Gere, (more)
 
2008  
 
Add 24: Redemption to Queue Add 24: Redemption to top of Queue  
A made for TV movie that provides a bridge between the sixth and seventh seasons of the hit FOX action series 24, 24: Redemption features series star Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer. As the program opens, Bauer spends his time doing missionary work in Africa, laying low while the United States government attempts to capture him. His work leads him into contact with an evil warlord who maintains a loyal army by constantly brainwashing children into joining him. Bauer risks his freedom in order to stop the warlord. Redemption co-stars Oscar winner Jon Voight, Gil Bellows, and Robert Carlyle. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

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Starring:
Kiefer SutherlandCherry Jones, (more)
 
2004  
PG13  
Add The Village to Queue Add The Village to top of Queue  
M. Night Shyamalan, the creative mind behind The Sixth Sense and Signs, wrote and directed this characteristically atmospheric thriller. The rustic village of Covington is a small town in rural Pennsylvania that is home to 60 souls. The citizens of Covington lead a quiet and peaceful life, but not without an unusual caveat -- terrible creatures lurk just outside the borders of the village, and the people of Covington have reached an agreement of sorts with the beasts, in which they are allowed to go about their business as long as they never cross the village's boundaries. However, this precarious balance is upset when a headstrong young man, Lucius Hunt (Joaquin Phoenix), decides to find out what lies outside Covington, and unwittingly invites the wrath of the creatures upon the town. The Village also stars Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt, Adrien Brody, Judy Greer, and Bryce Dallas Howard; both Kirsten Dunst and Ashton Kutcher were at one time attached to the project, but both left the cast before filming began. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Joaquin PhoenixBryce Dallas Howard, (more)
 
2004  
PG13  
Add Ocean's Twelve to Queue Add Ocean's Twelve to top of Queue  
After pulling off the heist of their lives, Danny Ocean and his pals unexpectedly find themselves back in harness in this sequel to 2001's blockbuster hit Ocean's Eleven. After robbing a cool $160 million from the Bellaggio Hotel Casino and winning back his former wife, Tess (Julia Roberts), from Bellagio owner Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), Danny Ocean (George Clooney) is living quietly on the lam in Connecticut when he's unexpectedly approached by Benedict. It seems Benedict has tracked down Danny and the ten men who helped him pull off the seemingly impossible robbery, and Benedict offers them a proposal -- if they can repay the $160 million in two weeks, he won't have them killed. As it turns out, both Danny and his best friend, Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt), haven't been doing so well in terms of money management and could use some cash, so they set out to plan a robbery to recover the loot, with the same crew helping out -- Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon), Frank Catton (Bernie Mac), Basher Tarr (Don Cheadle), Saul Bloom (Carl Reiner), Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould), Livingston Dell (Eddie Jemison), Yen (Shaobo Qin), Virgil Malloy (Casey Affleck), and his brother Turk (Scott Caan). Danny and Rusty discover that an incredibly rare Fabergé egg is being displayed at a museum in Rome which would fetch the price they need, but they soon discover a notorious cat burglar, François Toulour (Vincent Cassel), is also after the egg, and it turns into a race to see who can claim it first. Adding to the intrigue is Isabel Lahiri (Catherine Zeta-Jones), a woman Rusty used to be involved with who is now a top agent with Interpol and is after both Toulour and Ocean's crew. Shot on location in both the United States and Europe, Ocean's Twelve was, like its precursor, directed by the stylish Steven Soderbergh, who also photographed the picture under his nom de lens, Peter Andrews. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
George ClooneyBrad Pitt, (more)
 
2003  
 
Add Broadway: The Golden Age to Queue Add Broadway: The Golden Age to top of Queue  
Directed by Rick McKay, who traveled across five continents during the documentary's production, Broadway: The Golden Age is both a celebration of current Broadway stars and a tribute to Broadway legends past. Through a plethora of interviews and vast amounts of archival footage, McKay presents a variety of factoids, anecdotes, and memories from over 100 Broadway actors, writers, and directors. The careers of Laurette Taylor, Kim Hunter, Jessica Tandy, and Marlon Brando are all animatedly retold, as is some of the Broadway "lore of olde," such as Angela Lansbury's struggle to land a role in Mame and the shocked reaction to West Side Story on its opening night. In addition to footage and discussion regarding highly successful Broadway stars, a variety of actors recount their experiences and struggles in finding even a small amount of critical recognition. The cast includes Shirley MacLaine, Bea Arthur, Edie Adams, Alec Baldwin, and Kaye Ballard, and many others. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

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Starring:
Edie AdamsBea Arthur, (more)
 
2002  
PG13  
Add Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood to Queue Add Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood to top of Queue  
Screenwriter Callie Khouri makes her directorial debut with this adaptation of a pair of popular novels by author Rebecca Wells, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and Little Altars Everywhere. Sandra Bullock stars as Sidda Lee Walker, a New York playwright who opens a can of emotional worms with her estranged, boozy mother, Vivi (Ellen Burstyn), when she discusses her painful childhood and particularly Vivi's less-than-enviable mothering skills in a Time magazine article. The eccentric Louisiana drama queen Vivi has already been barred from her daughter's oft-delayed wedding to her fiancé, Connor (Angus Macfadyen), so the article sends her into a rage. Coming to the rescue of the relationship are Necie (Shirley Knight), Caro (Maggie Smith), and Teensy (Fionnula Flanagan), a trio of bickering women, who, along with Vivi, formed a secret society of feminist empowerment and friendship 60 years earlier that they dubbed the "Ya-Ya Sisterhood." The Ya-Yas kidnap Sidda and bring her home to Louisiana, where they reveal to Sidda via a carefully maintained scrapbook her mother's painful past (with Vivi portrayed in flashback by Ashley Judd), effecting a rapprochement between mother and daughter. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood also stars James Garner. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

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Starring:
Sandra BullockEllen Burstyn, (more)
 
2002  
PG13  
Add Signs to Queue Add Signs to top of Queue  
Following the smash hit The Sixth Sense (1999) and the under-performing follow-up Unbreakable (2000), directing phenom M. Night Shyamalan returns to the summer box office landscape that served as the backdrop for his cinematic breakthrough. In Signs, another paranormal outing for the writer-director, Shyamalan explores the eerie implications of a 500-foot crop circle that mysteriously appears on the Bucks County, PA farm of reverend Graham Hess (Mel Gibson). As Hess and his family (Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin) try to take stock of what the sign means, and how its message incorporates into their faith, they start to get the feeling they are not alone in the fields behind their house. Shyamalan re-teams with producers Frank Marshall, Sam Mercer and Kathleen Kennedy, and produces the project in association with his Blinding Edge Pictures banner and Touchstone Pictures. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

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Starring:
Mel GibsonJoaquin Phoenix, (more)
 
2000  
 
Add Cora Unashamed to Queue Add Cora Unashamed to top of Queue  
A short story by Langston Hughes provides the source material for this emotional made-for-TV drama. Ma Jenkins (CCH Pounder) and her adult daughter Cora (Regina Taylor) work as servants for the Studevant family, a wealthy clan living in a small Iowa community in the 1930s. Cora and Ma are also the only African-Americans in town, and they must deal with emotional isolation as well as open and inflammatory racism. When Cora's young daughter succumbs to illness, Cora continues to do her chores for the Studevants, though inside she's devastated. Lizbeth Studevant (Cherry Jones), the lady of the house, has a daughter, Jessie (Molly Graham), and given Lizbeth's busy social schedule, Cora spends much of her time watching over the child. Cora begins to project her maternal feelings on Jessie, and the child grows to love Cora as a member of the family. However, as Jessie grows to adulthood (and is now played by Ellen Muth), Lizbeth begins to feel that Cora has a closer bond with her daughter than she does, and her resentment has ugly consequences. Cora Unashamed was produced for the acclaimed PBS anthology series Masterpiece Theatre, and first aired on October 25, 2000. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Regina TaylorCherry Jones, (more)
 
2000  
R  
Add Erin Brockovich to Queue Add Erin Brockovich to top of Queue  
Julia Roberts stars in this legal drama based on the true story of a woman who helped win the largest settlement ever paid in a direct-action lawsuit. Erin Brockovich (Roberts) is a single mother of three who, after losing a personal injury lawsuit, asks her lawyer, Ed Masry (Albert Finney), if he can help her find a job. Ed gives her work as a file clerk in his office, and she runs across some information on a little-known case filed against Pacific Gas and Electric. Erin begins digging into the particulars of the case, convinced that the facts simply don't add up, and persuades Ed to allow her to do further research; in time, she discovers a systematic cover-up of the industrial poisoning of a city's water supply, which threatens the health of the entire community. Erin Brockovich was directed by Steven Soderbergh; Julia Roberts earned a $20 million payday for her work on the film, the highest salary paid to a female film star up to that time. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Julia RobertsAlbert Finney, (more)
 
2000  
PG13  
Add The Perfect Storm to Queue Add The Perfect Storm to top of Queue  
In October 1991, a dying tropical hurricane from Bermuda collided with a cold front from the Great Lakes, resulting in a "perfect storm" of previously unknown destructive impact that resulted in 100-foot waves; tragically, the crew of a fishing boat was lost in the midst of the fearsome storm. Based on the best-selling book by Sebastian Junger, The Perfect Storm tells the story of the ship's brave and hard-working crew. Billy Tyne (George Clooney), captain of the Andrea Gail, hasn't had much luck finding catch on his most recent trips to sea, and with money short, he and his crew -- Bob Shatford (Mark Wahlberg), Dale Murphy (John C. Reilly), and David Sullivan (William Fichtner) set out again when they hear that the fish are running. Billy's hunch proves correct, but when the ship's refrigeration system goes haywire, they have to return to shore as quickly as possible before the fish spoil, sending them into the middle of the worst storm in history. The supporting cast includes Mary Elziabeth Mastrantonio, Diane Lane, Bob Gunton, and Karen Allen; Wolfgang Petersen, whose breakthrough film was the aquatic wartime drama Das Boot, directed. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
George ClooneyMark Wahlberg, (more)
 
1999  
R  
Add Cradle Will Rock to Queue Add Cradle Will Rock to top of Queue  
The sometimes rocky relationship between art and politics in America in the 1930s -- as well as the gulf between the wealthy and the struggling -- sets the stage for Tim Robbins' ambitious comedy-drama Cradle Will Rock. Pulling together a variety of threads from actual events, Robbins examines the lives and ambitions of a variety of creative mavericks and figures of power. Orson Welles (Angus Macfadyen) and John Houseman (Cary Elwes) are working with Marc Bliztstein (Hank Azaria) to stage the latter's leftist musical "The Cradle Will Rock" for the WPA-funded Federal Theater Project. After Congress cuts funding for the embattled Federal Theater over the perceived leftist slant of their presentations, the project is canceled on the day of its premier. Welles and his cast respond by marching 21 blocks from the theater where the show was to open to another venue where, in deference to Actors Equity regulations, they perform the entire show from the audience. A member of Welles' cast, Aldo Silvano (John Turturro), is a dedicated actor from Italy who is trying to resolve his attitudes about his family, who loyally support Mussolini, to Silvano's disgust. Meanwhile, El Duce's former mistress, Margherita Sarfatti (Susan Sarandon), is consorting with industrial tycoon Gray Mathers (Philip Baker Hall) -- whose wife, Contesse LaGrange (Vanessa Redgrave) is a friend and supporter of Welles' project. Elsewhere, Nelson Rockefeller (John Cusack) has hired expatriot Mexican artist Diego Rivera (Ruben Blades) to create a mural for his projected Rockefeller Center, but the two are soon locking horns over their different views on art, politics and the work at hand. And a ventriloquist fallen on hard times, Tommy Crickshaw (Bill Murray), finds himself trying to teach both comedy and speaking without lip movements to a pair of would-be performers at a WPA-backed vaudeville house. William Randolph Hearst (John Carpenter), Marion Davies (Gretchen Mol), Frida Kahlo (Corina Katt), and Olive Stanton (Emily Watson) are also woven into the tapestry of this historical epic, which premiered at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Hank AzariaRubén Blades, (more)
 
1999  
 
Gene Wilder wrote and starred in this detective story produced for the A&E cable television network. Set in 1938, Wilder plays Larry "Cash" Carter, a one-time Broadway theatrical director who has moved to a quiet Connecticut town, where he oversees a community theater group and works as a private investigator. When a local philanthropist with strong anti-Nazi sentiments is murdered, the police ask Cash to help them track down the killer. Cash discovers his little town isn't as quiet as he imagined, with nefarious servants, devious relatives, and an Axis agent all figuring into the deadly puzzle before he can determine the killer's identity. The Lady in Question was the second in a projected series of made-for-cable "Cash" Carter mysteries written by Wilder; the character was introduced in the first film, 1999's Murder in a Small Town. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Gene WilderMike Starr, (more)
 
1998  
PG13  
Add The Horse Whisperer to Queue Add The Horse Whisperer to top of Queue  
Robert Redford directed himself for the first time in this romantic drama adapted from the 1995 best-seller by Nicholas Evans. Fourteen-year-old Grace MacLean (Scarlett Johansson of Manny & Lo) and her friend Judith go horseback riding in upstate New York on a winter morning, but their horses lose their footing on ice and slide onto a road, where Judith and her horse are killed by a jackknifing truck. Grace and her horse are also seriously injured -- doctors must amputate Grace's right leg -- and the frightening incident leaves a lasting trauma not only on Grace but also on her horse, Pilgrim. Grace's mother -- magazine editor Annie MacLean (Kristin Scott Thomas) -- seeking Grace's recovery, feels there's a link between her crippled, embittered daughter and Pilgrim's behavior. Learning about a horse trainer with a special gift, she takes Grace and Pilgrim to Montana where horse whisperer Tom Booker (Robert Redford) lives on a ranch with his younger brother Frank (Chris Cooper), Frank's wife Diane (Dianne Wiest) and their children. Tom's work with the horse also has a rejuvenating effect on the guilt-ridden Grace. Annie loses her magazine job, and the low-key romantic involvement between Annie and Tom develops during the summer, stifled by the unexpected arrival of Annie's husband, Robert MacLean (Sam Neill). Screenplay by Eric Roth and Richard LaGravenese (who adapted The Bridges of Madison County). Filmed in Montana and Saratoga Springs, New York. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

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Starring:
Robert RedfordKristin Scott Thomas, (more)
 
1998  
 
Add Out of the Past to Queue Add Out of the Past to top of Queue  
This 64-minute documentary, winner of the "Audience Award" at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, details the hurdles that determined teenager Kelli Peterson had to confront when she decided to organize a Gay-Straight Alliance at her Utah high school in 1996. After both the school board and the state legislature made efforts to bar the Alliance from the school, the teens drew national attention as they continued to fight for their rights. Peterson, her family, and friends are interviewed by filmmaker Jeff Dupre, who put the situation in perspective with five historical segments, presented chronologically yet intercut with the modern-day Utah conflicts -- the secret diary of 17th-century Puritan clerk Michael Wigglesworth; the 19th-century "marriage" in Boston of novelist Sarah Orne Jewett and socialite Annie Fields; the 1924 organization in Chicago of the first American gay rights group; Bayard Rustin and his role in the Civil Rights movement; and the work of activist Barbara Gittings during the '50s and '60s. Actors Stephen Spinella, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cherry Jones, Edward Norton, and Leland Gantt deliver the narration for these historical segments through readings of letters and diaries. Filmed in 16mm color and black-and-white, Out of the Past was shown at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

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Starring:
Stephen SpinellaGwyneth Paltrow, (more)
 
1997  
PG13  
Add Julian Po to Queue Add Julian Po to top of Queue  
A man brings new life to a small town by announcing that he's killing himself in this low-key comedy-drama that marked a significant change of pace for star Christian Slater. Julian Po (Slater) is a quiet, unassuming bookkeeper -- so quiet and unassuming, in fact, that most people hardly notice that he exists, as his life quietly slips by. Julian has few friends and little to look forward to in life, so one day he decides to commit suicide. One of his few ambitions in life has been to see the ocean, so Julian plans to take one final vacation in which he'll visit the seashore before doing himself in. En route to the coast, Julian's car breaks down in a small town so obscure that the name isn't even posted at the city limits. Julian's plan is to spend the night, get the car fixed, and move on, so he stops to get a room at Vern's Boarding House, where Vern himself (Michael Parks) informs Julian that he almost never has guests. In fact, the town gets so few visitors that most of the locals view Julian with tremendous suspicion, especially the Mayor (Harve Presnell) and the Sheriff (Frankie R. Faison). After his car disappears, Julian decides to tell everyone, while eating at the only diner in town, that he means them no harm and has not come to cause any trouble -- he's merely decided to go somewhere to kill himself. Suddenly, everyone's attitude towards him changes; at once expressing admiration for his determination and concern for his well-being, the whole town tries to leap to his rescue, and as they gently try to convince Julian to go on living, they gain a new lease on life -- especially Sarah (Robin Tunney), a beautiful but lonely woman who has fallen in love with the quiet stranger. Julian Po was the first feature film for writer and director Alan Wade; it was also released as The Tears of Julian Po. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Christian SlaterRobin Tunney, (more)
 
1992  
PG  
Add Housesitter to Queue Add Housesitter to top of Queue  
In this romantic comedy from director Frank Oz, Steve Martin plays Boston architect Newton Davis, an impulsive dreamer who builds a bucolic dream home for his girlfriend (Dana Delany) as a means of proposing to her -- only she turns him down. Three months later, the depressed Davis meets a waitress who calls herself Gwen (Goldie Hawn), though pretending to be Hungarian proves to be only the first of her many deceptions. Davis has a one-night stand with Gwen during which he tells her the sad story of the house, which remains unoccupied just outside the city in his hometown of Dobbs Mills, because he can't bear to sell it. Following what seems to be a familiar path for this con artist, Gwen locates the house, figuring she can take up residence without anyone noticing. During a trip to the local grocery, she ends up telling the proprietor she's Davis' wife while trying to charge her purchases to his account. When she offers the same story to a local furniture dealer (Donald Moffat), unaware he's Davis' father, it triggers a string of fabrications in which the shocked Davis unwittingly becomes a co-conspirator. Seeing an opportunity of his own, Davis allows Gwen to stay in the house and agrees to go along with her story in hopes of winning back his jealous ex. Of course, this also necessitates outlandish lie upon outlandish lie, leaving the whole enterprise forever on the verge of collapse. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

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Starring:
Steve MartinGoldie Hawn, (more)
 
1992  
PG  
Add A League of Their Own to Queue Add A League of Their Own to top of Queue  
The All-American Girls' Professional Baseball League was founded in 1943, when most of the men of baseball-playing age were far away in Europe and Asia fighting World War II. The league flourished until after World War II, when, with the men's return, the league was consigned to oblivion. Director Penny Marshall and screenwriters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel re-create the wartime era when women's baseball looked to stand a good chance of sweeping the country. The story begins as a candy-bar tycoon enlists agents to scour the country to find women who could play ball. In the backwoods of Oregon, two sisters -- Dottie (Geena Davis) and Kit (Lori Petty) -- are discovered. Dottie can hit and catch, while Kit can throw a mean fastball. The girls come to Chicago to try out for the team with other prospects that include their soon-to-be-teammates Mae Mordabito (Madonna), Doris Murphy (Rosie O'Donnell), and Marla Hooch (Megan Cavanagh). The team's owner, Walter Harvey (Gary Marshall) needs someone to coach his team and he picks one-time home-run champion Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks), who is now a broken-down alcoholic. After a few weeks of training, as Dugan sobers up, the team begins to show some promise. By the end of the season, the team has improved to the point where they are competing in the World Series (which is no big deal, since there are only four teams in the league). ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

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Starring:
Geena DavisTom Hanks, (more)
 
1987  
PG13  
A brother and sister grapple with family and lifestyle issues in this rock-n-roll drama. Real-life rocker Joan Jett stars as Patti Resnick, an unwed mother who sings and plays guitar in a Cleveland bar band with her brother Joe (Michael J. Fox). Estranged from her parents and struggling to make ends meet, Patti decides to dive headlong into a carefree rock-n-roll lifestyle. Good-guy Joe pulls away from music to provide some stability for her tiny son. It takes a family crisis to bring Patti back home and force her to face the prickly past with her devoutly Christian mother (Gena Rowlands). Despite a somewhat thin story, the film has solid performances all around, most especially from the refreshingly compelling Jett. Bruce Springsteen penned the title song. ~ Bernadette McCallion, Rovi

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Starring:
Michael J. FoxGena Rowlands, (more)