Shannon Woodward Movies

A guy thinks that money can get him the girl of his dreams, though the characters set this familiar scenario apart in this independent drama. Evan (Evan Sneider) is a man in his mid-twenties who has a steady job at a restaurant and lives with his mother, Celeste (Amanda Plummer). Evan also has Down's syndrome, and while he's high-functioning and can look after himself, he has a close bond with his mother and Celeste is fiercely protective of her son. Evan's life takes a dramatic turn when Celeste dies unexpectedly, and as part of the insurance settlement, Evan is handed 15,000 dollars in cash. Ever since he was a teenager, Evan has been deeply infatuated with Candy (Shannon Woodward), whose life has been difficult since high school -- she's been stuck in an abusive relationship with her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Russ (Jackson Rathbone), who is powerfully jealous even though he can't be bothered to help support their young son, and Candy has trouble holding down a job. When Candy is about to be evicted from her home, Evan gives her a thousand dollars to pay off the bills. Candy is well aware of Evan's feelings for her, and out of confused gratitude she ends up sleeping with him, which adds to the considerable tension between her and Russ, while Russ tries to win Evan's trust in hopes of finding out how many other lovers are in Candy's life. Girlfriend was the first feature film from writer and director Justin Lerner, and received its world premiere at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The first release from Scary Madison - the genre division of Adam Sandler's Happy Madison production house - director Nicholas Goossen's small town frightener serves as a shocking wake-up call to teenage trespassers everywhere. High school senior Derek (Drew Seeley) was adjusting to life in a new town when he discovered an overgrown path leading into the woods. According to his classmates, the local kids used to use it as a shortcut before a malevolent farmer began chasing them away with a shovel. Eventually, a few of the local kids went missing under mysterious circumstances. Rumor has it that the old man got them. Now years have passed, and no one dares go near the path. The townspeople have simply accepted the fact that it's off limits. But Derek suspects that the old man is hiding something, and he's determined to find out what it is. Once he uncovers the sinister secret that lies just beyond the trees, however, he may not live to reveal the awful truth. Dave Franco, Katrina Bowden, and Shannon Woodward co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

This typically iconoclastic FX network comedy-drama series was dedicated to the proposition of "Stealing the American Dream." The Malloys were a family of "travellers," roving con artists who lived perpetually on the fringes of society and just outside the reach of the law. After years of running scams and fleecing the unsuspecting, Wayne Malloy (Eddie Izzard) began to wonder if it was all worth the effort. At the same time, Wayne's drug-addict wife Dahlia (Minnie Driver) had been released from prison after a two-year stretch, and was raring to go back on the road with her husband and her equally disreputable children Sam (Aidan Mitchell), Cael (Noel Fisher) and Dehliah (Shannon Marie Woodward). While barreling through the Southland in their RV, the Malloys were involved in a traffic accident (not their fault, for a change!) in which the other drivers, a married couple, were killed. Rifling through the dead motorists' belongings, Wayne and Dahlia discovered that the victims were Doug and Cherein Rich, an upper-middle-class couple who'd just purchase a mansion in a gated community somewhere in Louisiana. Thus handed an opportunity to start life anew, the Malloys "became" the Riches and moved into that selfsame mansion, using their conning-and-hustling skills to convince their new neighbors that they were whom they claimed to be. Carrying the charade to the ultimate, Wayne, alias Mr. Rich, sweettalked his way into a job with family lawyer Hugh Panetta (Gregg Henry), while Dahlia found work as a dental hygienist and the kids tried to fit in at the local high school. Of course, there was always the possibility (or rather the likelihood) that the Malloys would revert to their old dishonest ways, especially whenever the former crooked associates would breeze into town. Forever playing fast and loose with manners, morals and audience expectations, the weekly, 60-minute The Riches made its cable-TV bow on March 12, 2007. Hal Erickson