Rich Komenich Movies

The sad and sometimes darkly funny lives of various denizens of Chicago's social and economic underside provide the focus of this adventurous independent comedy-drama. Seamus (Davidson Cole) is a sad sack working as a security guard at a warehouse. Misfortune befalls Seamus as regularly as the sun rises, and while his relationship with his girlfriend Kate (Mary Kay Cook) might be expected to buffer some of life's hard edges, her eccentric sexual tastes often leave him disoriented rather than satisfied. Meanwhile, Peter (Daniel J. Travanti) is a former teacher who now works a dispiriting job as a door-to-door salesman. Despondent since his wife left him, Peter has turned to alcohol to drown his sorrows, drinking himself into a stupor every night, leaving his teenage daughter Sonya (Jennifer Morrison) to see that he eats, changes clothes, and goes to bed. And Nicholas (Edward Cunningham) is a professional photographer whose hobby is snapping humiliating shots of strangers when they're not aware, often caught through windows. Nicholas' pastime creeps out his girlfriend (Kipleigh Brown), and when he moves on to sexually abusing the bride at a wedding he's been hired to shoot for the sake of his private photos, he's soon on the run from her family, determined to get revenge. The first feature film from writer and director Davidson Cole (who also plays Seamus), Design was screened in competition at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Two strangers discover you really can find anything at a convenience store -- even love -- in this engaging independent romantic comedy. Mike (Michael Gilio) is an aspiring actor stuck in a small town who has big plans of moving to Hollywood so he can strike it rich. One night, while on his way into a corner store, he meets Didi (Lara Phillips), a pretty but aimless girl hanging out in the parking lot. Mike and Didi strike up a conversation, and she discovers there's a big dose of self-doubt lurking beneath his confident exterior. Mike, on the other hand, finds that the longer he talks to Didi, the more he finds himself thinking she might be a good reason to stick around. Kwik Stop was the debut feature from writer and director Michael Gilio, who also co-stars as Mike; the film premiered at the 2001 Los Angeles Film Festival.



~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

What do you do if you're a white guy in a white town who happens to love black music? Flip (Danny Hoch) is a middle-class kid from the Iowa corn belt, but he doesn't think of himself as just another guy from farm country. Flip loves hip-hop, and he longs to be respected as a hard-core rapper. But a white guy from Iowa who drops mad rhymes looks weird. While Flip and his buddies Trevor (Mark Webber) and James (Dash Mihok) may have the clothes, the style, and the lingo down pat, to most folks they look like three white boys trying to be black. When Khalid (Eugene Byrd), an African-American from Chicago, transfers into Flip's school, Flip comes to his rescue when other kids give him a hard time, and, while Khalid is as baffled by Flip's affectations as most people, a friendship grows between them, and Khalid grudgingly agrees to take Flip and his crew to Chicago, where they get a look at hip-hop culture in a way they haven't seen before. Director Marc Levin previously explored elements of hip-hop culture in his first dramatic film, Slam; he also made a number of acclaimed documentaries, including Gang War: Bangin' in Little Rock, about middle-class kids who have absorbed the gang lifestyle through popular culture. Whiteboys features appearances by a number of noted hip-hop artists, including Snoop Dogg, Slick Rick, Doug E. Fresh, and Fat Joe. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Writer/director Chuck Parello's sequel to John McNaughton's Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer traces the murderous career of the title character after the events of the first film. Opening with scenes of woodland carnage, the film shifts to a homeless shelter where Henry (Neil Giuntoli, replacing Michael Rooker) ignores the rape of one fellow resident by another. Henry soon lands back on his feet by obtaining a job installing port-a-potties alongside straight shooter Kai (Rich Komenich) and his wife, Cricket (Kate Walsh). The kind but low-rent couple allow Henry to move into their home, where he makes the acquaintance of Cricket's dowdy, troubled niece, Louisa (Carri Lynn Levinson). As Louisa begins to develop a dangerous crush on Henry, the killer discovers that Kai is an arsonist and soon joins him on a series of jobs. When a pair of drugged-out teens witnesses one of the fires, Henry convinces Kai to help him kill the boys; soon the pair are murdering innocents to let off steam. Cricket, worried about her husband's erratic behavior and her niece's attachment to Henry, orders Kai to kick Henry out. Henry, meanwhile, rejects the sexual advances of the unbalanced Louisa, setting the stage for further bloodshed. Director Parello, who appeared in McNaughton's Mad Dog and Glory, and helped promote the original Henry, cast Giuntoli in the lead role after the actor played a serial rapist in McNaughton's The Borrower. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

If an otherwise peace-loving club owner wants himself and his girlfriend to survive, he must take on the hoodlums in his rough neighborhood. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

An unexpected late-1986 box-office hit, 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, All Movie Guide