Joe Mantegna

Tim Allen and Chiwetel Ejiofor co-star in writer/director David Mamet's martial arts drama Redbelt. Ejiofor plays Mike Terry, a jujitsu master who co-runs a very modest martial arts studio in Los Angeles with his bossy wife, Sondra (Alice Braga). Mike demonstrates an unwavering commitment to his craft and draws a cadre of defiantly loyal pupils including Joe (Max Martini), an LAPD cop. All told, it appears that he has chosen a peaceful and conflict-free path in life. The dedicated martial artist's fate takes an unanticipated turn, however, one evening when a young woman named Laura (Emily Mortimer) bursts into the academy, reaches for a gun, and accidentally shatters the front window. One thing leads to another, and before long, Laura is regularly receiving martial arts lessons from Mike. As master begins to teach pupil and his martial arts philosophies emerge, his path also crisscrosses with that of a Hollywood movie star, Chet Frank (Tim Allen), when he saves the fellow from a beating at a local club and gets invited (along with Sondra) to Chet's house for dinner. Chet extends gestures of friendship, and Mike's guard breaks town; he speaks openly and candidly of a special martial arts method he employs that requires one of the participants to "assume a handicap." In time, the association with Chet leads to involvement in the motion-picture industry, and relations with a bevy of characters who aren't exactly what they seem -- including a pay-per-view fight mogul (Ricky Jay) and Chet's slimy and manipulative manager (Joe Mantegna). ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The life story of famed Rat Packer Dean Martin comes to the screen in this adaptation of his daughter Deana's best-selling memoir of the same name. Producer Joe Mantegna had previously portrayed Martin in the HBO feature The Rat Pack. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Chris Klein, Joe Mantegna, Thomas Michael, and Paolo Mancini star in director Matthiew Klinck's holiday-themed comedy concerning two downsized Easter bunnies whose friendship starts to suffer when the multi-national corporation that owns all holidays decides to make some serious cutbacks. Hank and Mike are the Felix Unger and Oscar Madison of holiday mascots: They may seem like a mismatched pair yet their differences are precisely what's kept them together all these years. While Hank is a hard drinking ladies man, Mike can't seem to look past his own insecurities long enough to realize how truly miserable he is. Once a year, Hank and Mike dutifully venture out to deliver Easter baskets to families everywhere. This year, however, Easter Enterprises has taken a hit, and all "Tier 2" holidays (Christmas and Hanukkah being prime examples of "Tier 1") are fair game for downsizing. Since Hank and Mike work only once a year, their jobs are the first to go. Subsequently relegated to the unemployment office and unable to break free of their furry-tailed past, these two longtime pals are about to discover just how valuable their friendship can be in times of need. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A small-town beauty queen and an unlicensed mortician set out across the Texas plains on a journey of self-discovery in director Will Geiger's meditative road movie. Annabelle has never known what life is like outside the fiercely competitive world of beauty pageants; her mother's constant demands of physical perfection a never-ending stream of acute, soul-crushing criticism. Elvis doesn't have his mortician's license, but that doesn't stop his eccentric father from putting him to work in the family mortuary. When the sting of her mother's words becomes too painful to endure, Annabelle flees to the town mortuary knowing that is the last place her mother would come looking for her. When Elvis discovers the beautiful Annabelle cowering among the corpses, he sweeps her away on an impromptu road trip so that the pair may free themselves from their daily drudgery long enough to discover their own identities and realize what they really want out of life. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

They've kept television viewers laughing for nearly 20 years, and now the most popular animated family on the small screen makes the leap into theaters as Homer, Marge, Lisa, Bart, ad Maggie embark on their first-ever feature-length adventure. Directed by David Silverman and written by a whole host of Simpsons veterans including Matt Groening and James L. Brooks, The Simpsons Movie also features special guest appearances by Albert Brooks among others. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Joe Montegna and Danielle De Luca headline Ratz director Thom Erberhardt's thriller about a frightened stripper forced into a deadly game of human survival. Diana (De Luca) was attempting to start a new life in Santa Paula, New Mexico when she made a disturbing discovery: the strippers in this small southwestern town have been disappearing in droves, the victims of an elusive kidnapper. Before Diana can make sense of the crimes, she becomes the latest stripper to vanish from Santa Paula without a trace. Dropped off in the middle of the desert naked and defenseless, Diana finds herself the human target of a depraved hunter. If she can only find a means to turning the tables on her pursuer and somehow gaining the upper hand, perhaps Diana can give him a deadly dose of his own sadistic medicine. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

David Mamet wrote the screenplay for this adaptation of his play about a man who suddenly stumbles into a new and dangerous life. Edmond Burke (William H. Macy) is on his way home from work one evening when he impulsively stops to have his fortune read by a woman who informs him, "You are not where you belong." When he does arrive home, Edmond soon falls into an argument with his wife (Rebecca Pidgeon), and he storms out into the city, where he stops at a bar for a few drinks. There, Edmond finds himself talking with a man (Joe Mantegna) who freely shares his racist views about the role of African-Americans in society, and suddenly Edmond begins letting go of the sense of self-control that has always governed his actions. After a crawl through the city's underbelly of watering holes, strip clubs, gambling dens, and brothels, Edmond comes face to face with the violence of this world, and unexpectedly finds himself responding in kind. Edmond also stars Julia Stiles, Denise Richards, Mena Suvari, Bai Ling, and Dylan Walsh; it was directed by Stuart Gordon, who worked often with David Mamet during their early days at Chicago's Organic Theater Company. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

On a baseball team not often cited for its great players, Ron Santo was a hero and a legend. As a third baseman for the Chicago Cubs, Santo played 14 seasons (1960 through 1974), made the All-Star team nine times, earned five Gold Gloves, and in 1965 became the team's youngest ever captain. While Santo was establishing himself as one of the Cub's greatest players, he was also hiding a secret -- in 1958, the same year Ron signed with the Cubs organization, he was diagnosed with diabetes, but refused to tell his fellow players or the team's physicians for fear of being bumped from the team. In 1971, as the Cubs celebrated Ron Santo Day at Wrigley Field, the baseball great finally went public with his condition, becoming a leading Midwest spokesman and fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. In 1990, Santo renewed his association with the Chicago Cubs as a commentator for the team's home games on radio station WGN, and in 2003, he became one of only three Cubs players to have their number officially retired. This Old Cub is a documentary about Ron Santo's remarkable life and career, not only examining his years as a player and broadcaster, but his longtime struggle with the disease that has cost him a leg but has failed to break his spirit, and the crusade by fans and admirers to see Santo inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Noted Cubs enthusiasts Bill Murray, Dennis Franz, and Gary Sinese, and baseball legends Ernie Banks, Johnny Bench, Willie Mays, and Tommy Lasorda are interviewed onscreen; actor Joe Mantegna narrates. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Filmmaker Rodrigo García takes an unusual look into the lives of nine different women in this episodic drama. Each of the film's nine sequences has been staged as a single shot, using the Steadicam system to allow the camera to follow the action fluidly and without cuts. In these short episodes (lasting between ten and 14 minutes), Holly (Lisa Gay Hamilton) has a brief moment of reverie while confronting the specters of her past in her old neighborhood. Maggie (Glenn Close) escorts her young daughter Maria (Dakota Fanning) to a cemetery as they visit the graves of their family members. Ruth (Sissy Spacek) is a married woman contemplating an affair while visiting Henry (Aidan Quinn) in his hotel room. Diana (Robin Wright Penn) unexpectedly runs into an old boyfriend, Damian (Jason Isaacs), while shopping for groceries. Camilla (Kathy Baker) is a hospital patient awaiting surgery for cancer. Samantha (Amanda Seyfried) is a teenage girl who helps look after her handicapped father Larry (Ian McShane). Sandra (Elpidia Carrillo) is a female prison inmate who is expecting a visit from her children. Sonia (Holly Hunter) lashes out at her boyfriend Martin (Stephen Dillane) when she finds out he's been cheating on her. And Lorna (Amy Brenneman) has an unexpectedly moving encounter with her ex-husband Andrew (William Fichtner) as she pays her respects to his second wife, who has just passed away. Nine Lives premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Being "the chosen one" isn't exactly a barrel of laughs for teenager Joan Girardi (Amber Tamblyn) during the first season of the critically acclaimed CBS drama series Joan of Arcadia. For one thing, poor Joan never knows when God will choose to have one of his many conversations with her -- nor is she ever quite certain in what guise God will appear (a little boy, a street person, the school lunch lady, etc.). Also, the things God asks Joan to do don't always make sense; sure, she understands his motives when he persuades her to volunteer to work with underprivileged, but why in his name does he want her to join the school debate team? Finally, Joan has a tough time keeping her celestial chit-chats a secret from her police-detective dad, Will (Joe Mantegna); her art-teacher mom, Helen (Mary Steenburgen); her nerdy brother Luke (Mike Welch); her paraplegic older brother Kevin (Jason Ritter); and her somewhat befuddled artist boyfriend, Adam (Christopher Marquette). In the course of season one, Joan tries to help her dad Will capture a serial killer; she is shamed by God into enrolling in an advanced-placement chem class; she learns to play chess, a move that is linked with her dad's investigation of a missing child case; her brother Kevin ever so gradually adjusts to life in a wheelchair, though mom Helen never gives up hope of a miracle (the one issue that God hasn't entirely broached yet!); Will later lands a newspaper job, possibly via divine intervention, possibly not; God sees to it that Joan comes out of her shell by prodding her to try out for the pom-pom squad; Joan becomes mighty uncomfortable (one might say hot under the collar) when certain parties draw comparisons between her and another Joan of "Arc" fame; an acquaintance of Joan's dies, leading to some very pointed queries during her next conversation with the almighty; a cryptic request leads Joan to believe that God wants "something more" from their relationship; and in the season finale, Joan's mood swings lead her parents to wonder just where she goes and whom she's with when she's not at home -- and in so doing, realign their own attitudes toward faith in a greater power. ~ All Movie Guide