Nancy Oliver Movies
Nancy Oliver emerged as a screenwriter in the early 2000s and built a professional reputation as a scribe with a quirky, offbeat sense of humor (and more than an occasional dark edge), a deft hand for idiosyncratic characterization, and an instantly identifiable voice. One of Oliver's earliest and most memorable accomplishments arrived when she teamed with Alan Ball on that director-cum-producer's pay-cable series Six Feet Under (2001-2005), authoring manifold scripts for the distinctly macabre HBO seriocomedy in its third, fourth, and fifth seasons; she also occasionally assumed production duties on the program. Oliver transitioned to features by scripting the Craig Gillespie-directed black comedy Lars and the Real Girl; it told of a socially backward, orphaned young man (Ryan Gosling) who shocks just about everyone by ordering an inflatable female doll over the Internet and toting it around as his latest "girlfriend." The film earned Oliver nominations from the Writers Guild of America as well as the Academy for Best Original Screenplay. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide- 2008
This quirky TV series based on the novels by Charlaine Harris stars Anna Paquin as Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic waitress who lives in a small Louisiana town that just happens to be cohabitated by both humans and vampires. After a Japanese company successfully comes up with a synthetic blood for vampires to live on, it becomes possible for humans to share the world with the bloodsuckers. Even still, it's no easy thing when Sookie finds herself harboring feelings for one charming undead fellow named Bill, played by Stephen Moyer. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, (more)
- 2006
Inspired by the many real-life stories of "instant millionaires" created by various state lotteries, the weekly, 60-minute Windfall dramatized the trials and tribulations of 20 friends who had pooled their resources to win a 386-million-dollar lottery jackpot. The series focused on nine main characters, and how their sudden wealth changed their lives, both for good and ill, with emphasis on the legal, ethical, and moral problems arising from overnight affluence. Luke Perry and Lana Parrilla headed the cast as married couple Peter and Nina, who had entered the lottery with their lifelong friends Cameron (Jason Gedrick) and Beth (Sarah Wynter), also married; the enormous financial windfall caused Nina and Cameron, who'd once been sweethearts, to seriously reconsider resuming their premarital romance. Others in the cast included D.J. Cotrona as Sean Mathers, who tried to shun the spotlight after winning his share of the lottery so as not to expose an unsavory secret in his past; Jon Foster as teenager Damien, who, in order to claim the money and cut the cord binding him to his parents, impulsively married a Russian woman to gain legal status as an adult; Alice Greczyn as another teenager named Frankie, caught in the crossfire when her separated parents declared open warfare after her father claimed he was entitled to half of her mother's winnings; Malinda Williams as Kimberly George, a single mom with big ambitions; and Jaclyn DeSantis as nurse Maggie Hernandez, whose efforts to be generous with her money often proved disastrous. Originally set to air on Fox in the fall of 2005, Windfall was purchased by NBC, which unveiled the series on June 8, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Luke Perry, Lana Parrilla, (more)
- 2003
Threesomes, romantic triangles, and even polygamy intersect in the lives of the Fisher family when they're asked to bury Daddy (Leon Rippy), the patriarch of a commune known as "The People." Nate (Peter Krause) and Ruth (Frances Conroy) both find themselves charmed by Daddy's unorthodox clan -- Nate by one of his daughters and Ruth by one of his wives. Meanwhile, Keith (Mathew St. Patrick) and David (Michael C. Hall) bring an unconventional element into their own union: Sarge (Josh Stamberg), a burly hunk who ends up in their bed after an afternoon of paintball and an evening of hard drinking. Claire (Lauren Ambrose) isn't quite so willing to share her man; she freaks out when she suspects there may be something going on between her boyfriend, Russell (Ben Foster), and her Machiavellian art professor, Olivier (Peter MacDissi). By these standards, Ruth's furtive crush on intern Arthur (Rainn Wilson) seems downright wholesome, although her feelings don't remain hidden for long once she starts kissing him. Lisa, however, is perfectly capable of keeping a secret, and she does so after meeting Brenda (Rachel Griffiths) under an assumed name by posing as a massage client and picking her brain. Originally broadcast April 20, 2003, on HBO, "Tears, Bones and Desire" marked season three, episode eight of the made-for-cable drama. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
