Clea Lewis Movies

A Manhattan shopaholic (Isla Fisher) whose buying sprees have buried her in immense debt lands a columnist gig dishing out financial advice in this Touchstone comedy based on Sophie Kinsella's series of books. P.J. Hogan (My Best Friend's Wedding) directs, with producing duties being handled by Jerry Bruckheimer. Rebecca Bloomwood (Fisher) can't seem to break her habit for making impulsive purchases, and while she's always decked out in the latest styles, her credit card bills are as thick as a telephone book. If Rebecca could somehow manage to land her dream job at a high-profile fashion magazine, perhaps she could transform what is now a simple addiction into something that could really benefit her professionally. When Rebecca becomes an advice columnist at a financial magazine published by the same company as her favorite fashion magazine, her fresh approach strikes a chord with readers and she quickly becomes the toast of the town. Meanwhile, her bank account is still bone dry, wreaking havoc on her love life and placing her career in jeopardy. As Rebecca teeters on the brink of bankruptcy, she gradually begins to reassess her priorities in life. Joan Cusack, John Goodman, Hugh Dancy, and Krysten Ritter co-star in the Touchstone Pictures production. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

Coproduced and cowritten by latenight host Conan O'Brien, Andy Barker PI was conceived as a vehicle for O'Brien's longtime cohort Andy Richter. The star was cast as doltish CPA Andy Barker, who after opening his own business is mistaken for Lew Staziak (Harve Presnell), a two-fisted private eye whose office Andy had inherited. Our hero also inherited Lew's clients and caseload, obliging him to carry on an exhausting double life, handling both expense accounts and baffling murder cases--doing rather better in the latter pursuit because of his uncanny math skills. Andy's partner was Simon (Tony Hale), a video store owner, while his chief contact man and confidant was Wally (Marshall Manesh), the neurotic manager of an Afghan restaurant. Packed with clever references to earlier detective movies and TV shows, Andy Barker PI joined NBC's powerhouse Thursday-night lineup on March 15, 2007. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mark Twain's classic novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is re-created here as an animated adventure movie. Featuring a country music soundtrack with songs by Hank Williams Jr., Waylon Jennings and Lee Ann Womack, the video is also accented with famous voices, like those of Don Knotts and Betty White. The characters have all been resurrected as animals; Tom and Becky are cats, Huck is a fox, and Injun Joe (more sensitively corrected to be "Injurin' Joe" in this production) is a bear. The animation is excellent, though the plot itself is a looser interpretation of Twain's story. Children aged five to 12 should enjoy the story and lively animation while getting a basic introduction to a classic piece of literature. ~ Sarah Block, All Movie Guide

In this TV sitcom, Maggie Winters (Faith Ford), after a bitter divorce, returns home to Shelbyville, Indiana, where she was once voted "most likely to succeed." Minus husband and job, she spends time with her insensitive mom (Shirley Knight), and her high-school friends, including cynical boutique owner Lisa (Alex Kapp Horner). She finds former BMOC Tom (Brian Haley) is now a bartender with a case of arrested development, and her gal-pal Robin (Jenny Robertson) is busy filling cribs with babies. Maggie turns to her old high-school flame Bobby (Vincent Ventresca). Filmed in L.A., this series premiered September 30, 1998 on CBS. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

This is a domestic thriller in the Hitchcock mode with a legalistic twist involving that modern invention, the prenuptial agreement. Halle Berry stars as Josie Potenza, the unhappy wife of alcoholic, philandering executive Tony Potenza (Christopher McDonald). Josie is unfaithful too, but she wants to salvage her marriage and proposes an alcohol-free vacation in a remote backwoods location. Tony agrees, but soon after they arrive, he's called back to work. Angry and lonely, Josie goes to a nearby bar, where she meets sympathetic Cole Wilson (Peter Greene), who's actually a psychotic ex-con. After hearing Josie's tale of marital woe, Cole proposes that he kill Tony. Appalled, Josie refuses, but soon Tony is murdered in a carjacking, leaving Josie the possible inheritor of millions. A prenuptial agreement that would've left her penniless in a divorce puts the LAPD on Josie's scent, while Wilson blackmails her and both her lover Jake (Clive Owen) and his cuckolded wife Nora (Clea Lewis) scheme to profit from Josie's loss. Of course, it's also possible that Josie manipulated the events to transpire exactly as they did. Writer-director Amy Holden Jones also wrote the screenplays for Mystic Pizza (1987) and Indecent Proposal (1993). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Comedian Ellen DeGeneres made the jump from standup to television stardom with this hit situation comedy. Ellen (which debuted in 1994 under the short-lived title These Friends of Mine, which lasted for the first 11 episodes) starred DeGeneres as Ellen Morgan, an employee at a book store who each week deals with the misadventures of her oddball friends, including sweet but brassy Paige (Joely Fisher), squeaky-voiced busybody Audrey (Clea Lewis), large-egoed barista Joe (David Anthony Higgins), neurotic photographer Adam (Arye Gross), and her sharp-witted cousin Spence (Jeremy Piven, who joined the cast in the third season). (Two other regulars -- Anita, played by Maggie Wheeler, and Holly, played by Holly Fluger -- vanished without explanation after the first season, doubtless banished to the same dimension where Richie Cunningham's brother Chuck now resides.) In the show's second season, Ellen's parents, Lois (Alice Hirson) and Harold (Steven Gilborn), began dropping by occasionally, and a year later, Ellen went from working at the bookstore to owning Buy the Book. But the show's biggest and most controversial change came later, in season four, when in a special one-hour episode Ellen (like DeGeneres in real life) decided to come out of the closet as a lesbian. After the show's brave fifth season, with Ellen's sexual preference dealt with to some extent in most episodes, Ellen was canceled in 1998 due to declining ratings, though DeGeneres would bounce back with her successful talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, in 2003. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Stephen Frears' Hero is a contemporary re-working of a Frank Capra-styled fable about a two-bit criminal named Bernie (Dustin Hoffman) who saves several passengers from a plane crash and leaves the scene without being identified, leaving only a lost shoe for identification. One of the passengers happens to be news-reporter Gale (Geena Davis) who is intent on finding her savior, and offers a million dollars to the "hero" of the crashed flight. Bernie has since given his remaining shoe to a homeless man named John (Andy Garcia) who decides to cash in on the offer. A handsome, charming man, John wins the hearts of the entire city. Soon, Bernie realizes that he's been cheated out of a million dollars, and he begins an effort to get his proper recognition--and his money. Hero manages to be quite funny and satirical while sticking to a story that is essentially a Hollywood fable. That is to the credit of director Frears and the cast, who turn in uniformly excellent performances. Nevertheless, Hoffman is superb as a bitterly comic and spiteful variation on his classic Ratso Rizzo character. By the way, be on the lookout for Chevy Chase in a very funny cameo. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide