Deirdre O'Connell Movies
A singer, a wannabe starlet, a trust fund baby, and a documentary producer all try to maintain their dignity while struggling to get by in the ultra-commercialized reality that is early-21st Century Los Angeles. Sultry singer Julie longs to land a boyfriend with the perfect "Greek-Roman profile" and find a singer whose talent she deems to be on the same level as her own. Micah is fully confident that she is about to become the next single-name megastar, yet despite having achieved any level of success she's already got the expensive tastes to prove her credibility. Scott may have been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but the pressure of carrying on the family business has left him unable to form his own opinions. Lastly, Rhonda doesn't really fit into any category, though she longs to document her strange journey for hopes that she might transcend her own limitations. In a town where dreams can either drive you or destroy you (sometimes both at the same time), these four creative souls will soon discover precisely what it takes to remain afloat in a town where the waters can be particularly rough. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2001
Following up on her crowd pleasing 1998 film Finding North, Tanya Wexler directs this tweaked coming-of-age drama about a troubled teen and his even more troubled family. Having just come out of detox for drugs and alcohol, JJ (Jonathan Tucker) returns home hoping for a little comfort and solace, but he finds little of both. Though his mother continues to dote on him, everyone else is out to get him -- his brutish step-father Bull who is still furious over the vintage car JJ wrecked while hopped up; his vampish step-aunt Dot (Jennifer Tilly); his effete uncle Ernie. Even his former dealer Bobby, his girlfriend, who dumped him for Bobby, and his high school guidance counselor Dr. Charlie (David Strathairn) has something against JJ. While JJ struggles to straighten out his life, he remembers fondly his stay in detox. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jonathan Tucker, Jennifer Tilly, (more)
- 2001
A prep school student is murdered, apparently without motive. Further investigation reveals that the boy's wealthy father, Peter Wilder (Henry Woronicz), was being blackmailed over a sordid incident in his past. The key to solving this case is in the hands of a "mystery woman" -- if only the detectives and the D.A.'s office can find her. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1998
This TV medical drama examines egos and ethics as a trio of doctors enter private practice. Doctors Roger Cattan (Ken Olin), Tim Lonner (Matt Craven), and Evan Newman (Rick Roberts) recruit Dr. Sarah Church (Sheryl Lee) to join their team, and they're in business -- occupying a posh office with dubious decor, and ready to display their bedside manners while building bank accounts. Will workaholic Sarah and sensitive, single-dad Newman become a twosome? Filmed in L.A., this series premiered September 21, 1998 on CBS. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ken Olin, Matt Craven, (more)
- 1997
A pre-Sex and the City Kristen Davis stars in this made-for-TV thriller as waitress Babette Watson, who has the uneviable talent of being able to "envision" murders before the happen. Naturally, no one believes Babette when she tells about her sixth-sense powers--and then the bodies start piling up in town. Police detective Max Seagle (Matthew Settle) approaches Babette and asks her to help him trap the serial killer responsible for the carnage. As the days wear on, Max and Babette grow quite fond of one another, much to the disgust of her religious-zealot mother Yvette (Ellen Burstyn). But the wrath of her mom is the last thing on Babette's mind when the maniacal killer catches up with her! Adapted by Dan Greenburg from his own novel Love Kills, A Deadly Vision made its ABC network bow on April 21, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kristin Davis, Matthew Settle, (more)
- 1994
A private adoption racket is exposed when a woman claims that she fainted in a taxi and awoke to find baby missing. In the course of their investigation, detective Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Logan (Chris Noth) encounter all manner of human anguish and desperation. Particularly compelling are Debra Elkins (Angie Phillips), the woman who insists that her child was stolen, and Dorothy Baxter (Ann Dowd), who wants a baby at any price -- and never mind the consequences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this chilling made-for-cable-television outing, the population of the United States is nearly wiped out by a sexually transmitted disease. In order to stop its spread, those infected are sequestered in special camps. To make sure no infected person is allowed to go free, a group of vigilantes begins terrorizing city streets in search of carriers. The story is based on an off-Broadway play by Alan Browne. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1991
This drama is set in 1981, and chronicles the experiences of a 17-year-old Polish immigrant trying to adjust and survive in his new American environment. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Cameron Mitchell, Viveca Lindfors, (more)
Synecdoche, New York marked the directorial debut of iconoclastic, cerebral screenwriter Charlie Kaufman. Philip Seymour Hoffman stars as Caden Cotard, an eccentric playwright who lives with artist Adele Lack (Catherine Keener) and their daughter Olive in Schenectady, upstate New York. Prone to neuroses, misgivings and enormous self-doubt, Caden also begins suffering from accelerated physical deterioration - from blood in his stools to disfigured skin. Upon receiving a prestigious MacArthur grant, Caden decides to use the money to concoct one gigantic play as an analogue of his own life; he builds massive sets amid a New York City warehouse, casts others as his friends, family and acquaintances, and casts others to play the ones he’s casting. After Adele whisks Olive off to Europe but demonstrates no sign of returning soon, Caden drifts into a series of relationships with lovers - first with box office employee Hazel (Samantha Morton), who purchases and moves into a house that is perpetually on fire; then with Tammy (Emily Watson), an actress assigned to play Hazel in the theatrical project; and subsequently with others. Unfortunately, the play itself grows so big and unwieldy - and rehearsals go on for so long, taking literally decades - that it becomes unclear if the production itself will ever launch.
~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, (more)
- 2007
- R
A man attempts to deal with a truly remarkable variety of personal and emotional problems in this comedy drama based on the real-life experiences of comedian and author Jeff Nichols. Jeff (Seann William Scott) is a man edging into his thirties who has a serious drinking problem along with Attention Deficit Disorder, Dyslexia and Tourette's Syndrome; to say Jeff has a hard time dealing with others stretches the boundaries of understatement, and he devotes a fair share of his day to support meetings, even ones dealing with conditions which don't involve his problems. Jeff prefers to blame his wealthy parents (Dierdre O'Connell) and (Denis O'Hare) for his problems, even though they haven't done much besides stand aside as he's burned down their home. Unable to hold down a job, Jeff has been evicted from the garage he was renting from Bert (Kevin Conway), who can no longer handle his many eccentricities, but with nowhere else to go, he somehow charms his way into the heart and home of Lynn (Gretchen Mol), a woman he met at a support group for people with relationship problems. While Lynn is a walking mass of phobias regarding men and romance, she discovers something in the damaged Jeff that encourages her to take a chance on him. Adapted from Nichols's autobiography The Little Yellow Bus, Trainwreck: My Life As An Idiot was the first theatrical feature from director Tod Harrison Williams. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Seann William Scott, Gretchen Mol, (more)
A frightened and irresponsible girl and an emotionally conflicted woman are brought together under tragic circumstances in this independent drama. Stephanie Daley (Amber Tamblyn) is a 16-year-old girl who while on a school-sponsored ski trip collapses in a puddle of blood; a medical examination reveals that Stephanie has recently given birth, and in a nearby bathroom a newborn child is found dead, flushed down a toilet with its mouth stuffed with toilet paper. While Stephanie insists the child was stillborn and she had no idea she was pregnant, she is charged with killing the infant, and court-appointed psychologist Lydie Crane (Tilda Swinton) is assigned to interview the teenager. Lydie has her own issues with possible parenthood; she's been struggling to have a child after a recent stillbirth, and the matter is taking a toll on her marriage, with her husband, Paul (Timothy Hutton), seeking solace in the arms of another woman. As Stephanie shares with Lydie her feelings about her relationship with her parents, how she lost her virginity, and her growing conviction that God gave her a child as a form of punishment, Lydie finds herself dealing with her own feelings about the child she lost. Meanwhile, Right to Life and Pro-Choice groups threaten to turn Stephanie's trial into a media circus. Stephanie Daley premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tilda Swinton, Amber Tamblyn, (more)
A shocking and tragic event causes the members of a quietly dysfunctional family to reexamine themselves and their lives in this drama. Ben and Sandy Travis (Jeff Daniels and Sigourney Weaver) are a couple whose troubled family begins to crumble when their eldest son, star college athlete Matt (Kip Pardue) commits suicide. Sandy's naturally cynical nature becomes all the more prickly, and while she tries to bond with her surviving teenaged son, Tim (Emile Hirsch), they seem closest when they discover a shared fondness for marijuana. Ben also tries to reach out to Tim, but the young man is never able to shake the feeling that he's never quite been the son his father wanted. Tim has a girlfriend, Steph (Suzanne Santo), but their relationship has been going through a rocky patch, and Tim finds himself questioning his feelings about women and men when his friendship with next-door neighbor Kyle (Ryan Donowho) evolves into something more intimate. Imaginary Heroes was written and directed by Dan Harris, best known for his work as a screenwriter on the blockbuster comic-book adaptation X-Men and projected remakes of Superman and Logan's Run. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sigourney Weaver, Emile Hirsch, (more)
Money and emotions lead to a difficult reunion between a father and daughter in this drama. Reese Holden (Zooey Deschanel) is a struggling stage actress in New York City whose life has become an uphill struggle -- her career isn't giving her satisfaction, her relationship with would-be rock star Ray (Dallas Roberts) is stuck in neutral, an affair with her friend Rob (Robert Beitzel) brings no excitement, and her colleague Deirdre (Deirdre O'Connell) simply doesn't understand her problems. Reese is also short on money, which is why she's willing to listen to a proposal from a publisher who wants to release a series of love letters that her mother, a well-known author who died years ago, wrote to her father, Don (Ed Harris), another respected novelist who has fallen out of the limelight but is said to be working on a final major work. Having accepted an advance for the collection, Reese pays a visit to Don in Michigan to get his OK for the project and collect the letters, but discovers two strangers have moved in with Don -- Shelly (Amelia Warner), who studied under Don and has installed herself as his business manager, and Corbit (Will Ferrell), a neighborhood sad sack who helps with the housekeeping and runs errands for the reclusive writer. As Reese vies with Shelly for her father's attention, she struggles to come to terms with issues from her childhood and the dissatisfaction with her life. Winter Passing was written and directed by noted playwright Adam Rapp; it was his first feature film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ed Harris, Zooey Deschanel, (more)
- 2004
- R
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The second feature from director Michel Gondry (Human Nature) finds the filmmaker reteaming with screenwriter Charlie Kaufman for this off-the-wall romantic comedy. Jim Carrey stars as Joel Barish, a man who is informed that his ex-girlfriend Clementine (Kate Winslet) has had her memories of their relationship erased from her brain via an experimental procedure performed by Dr. Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson). Not to be outdone, Joel decides to have the same procedure done to himself. As Mierzwiak's bumbling underlings Stan (Mark Ruffalo) and Patrick (Elijah Wood) perform the operation on Joel -- over the course of an evening, in his apartment -- Joel struggles in his own mind to save the memories of Clementine from being deleted. Kirsten Dunst, David Cross, and Jane Adams also star. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, (more)
- 1996
- R
The jubilation experienced when a Martian probe finally returns from its mission is short-lived when it is discovered that one of the finds is very much alive and is only a small part of a huge invasive force planning to take over the earth. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cotter Smith, Deirdre O'Connell, (more)
A Brooklyn cigar shop is the setting for this drama from director Wayne Wang that interweaves the stories of several characters that have fractured family relationships in common. Harvey Keitel is Auggie Wren, poetic owner of the Brooklyn Cigar Company, a store that he considers the center of the world -- a place where all of humanity eventually parades through. One of his regular customers is Paul Benjamin (William Hurt), a writer and a broken shell of a man whose pregnant wife was shot and killed near the store. When Paul's life is saved one day by a young black man named Rashid (Harold Perrineau, Jr., the writer and his rescuer strike up a friendship and begin searching for Rashid's long-lost father (Forest Whitaker). At the store, Auggie is surprised by the appearance of Ruby (Stockard Channing), an ex-girlfriend who informs him that her pregnant, drug-addicted daughter Felicity (Ashley Judd) may also be his -- and is in dire need of help. Screenwriter Paul Auster based the script for Smoke on a 1990 short story he wrote for "The New York Times." He also wrote and directed the film's sequel (of sorts), Blue in the Face (1995). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Hurt, Harvey Keitel, (more)
Adapted by screenwriter Rafael Yglesias from his own novel, Fearless explores the complex struggle back to mental health of post-traumatic stress disorder victim Max Klein (Jeff Bridges). One of few survivors of a fatal plane crash, Klein remains calm and assists other survivors out of the burning debris, earning praise as a hero by the media. After stoically departing the tragedy without a word to emergency officials, Max returns home with detached feelings towards his wife (Isabella Rossellini) and son, along with a bizarre, seemingly authentic belief that he is now impervious to harm. Bill Perlman (John Turturro), a psychiatrist for the airline, fails to reach Max about his newfound fearlessness, but asks for his help in aiding Carla (Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee Rosie Perez), a fellow crash survivor filled with grief and guilt over the loss of her baby. In one of his earlier roles, Benicio del Toro plays a small part as Carla's boyfriend. ~ Lisa Kropiewnicki, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Bridges, Rosie Perez, (more)
- 1992
- R
Meg Tilly and Christine Lahti star in this female buddy story that recalls the earlier Thelma and Louise. Marianne (Meg Tilly) is a quiet waif who has just walked out on her abusive husband. Darly (Christine Lahti) is a brassy waitress who was a ballsy stripper using the stage name Pillow Talk. Darly is on her way to Alaska to claim a home being built for her and return to the family she abandoned eighteen years earlier. The two women run into each other and Darly allows Marianne to tag along as they journey to Alaska. On the way, they met a collection of colorful characters, including a strange-talking waitress named 66 (Patrika Darbo), and Walt (James Gammon), a road guy who recognizes Darly as the former Pillow Talk and wants to pay her big money for sex. The women finally make it to Alaska, where Darly finds that the house she was expecting to find has never been built. The two set up in a house trailer and, with the Alaskian wilderness as a backdrop, they begin to reevaluate their lives. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christine Lahti, Meg Tilly, (more)
Goldie Hawn makes a change of pace in this downbeat drama about a mother' sacrifice for her family, and her son's attempts to save her from herself. When John Cross (Keith Carradine) returns home to Key West, Florida in 1969 after a tour of duty as a fighter pilot in Viet Nam, he's an emotionally shattered man; he begins drinking heavily and, in an desperate effort to find himself, abandons his wife Tracy (Goldie Hawn) and their 12-year-old son Chris (David Arnott) to live in a monastery, where he takes a vow of silence. Left with no means of support for herself or her son, Tracy takes a job as a bartender at a sleazy strip joint, but when she finds out how much more money the dancers are making, she reluctantly moves on to a career as a go-go girl. When Chris finds out about his mother's new job, he wants to rescue her from a shameful and humiliating (if profitable) career and stars taking odd jobs, including running fresh catch from a local fisherman to the restaurant in a resort hotel. However, Chris soon discovers that's he's actually being making cocaine drops, with the drugs hidden inside the fish; Chris makes the dangerous decision to steal the drugs and sell them himself. The supporting cast features Arliss Howard and Steve Buscemi. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Goldie Hawn, Arliss Howard, (more)
This directorial effort from Phil Joanou stars Sean Penn as an Irish-American undercover cop working the Hell's Kitchen beat. Penn is ostensibly on a sentimental journey to his old neighborhood. Actually he's been assigned to infiltrate a criminal gang led by Ed Harris, the brother of Sean's best friend Gary Oldman. Penn suffers the requisite honor vs. duty anguish when he renews his childhood romance with Harris' sister Robin Wright. State of Grace would have had more clout had it been more clear as to time and place: it's supposedly set in the 1990s, but the attitudes and behavior are pure 1970s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Brain Dead was based on a script by Charles Beaumont, leading some obtuse fans to hail the "return" of that frequent Twilight Zone contributor. Actually Beaumont has been dead since 1967, so this cookie spent a long time in the oven. Stalwart supporting actor Bill Pullman is given star billing as a brilliant brain surgeon who agrees to perform an operation on a psychotic mathematician. This surgery, ostensibly, is to "adjust" the patient's attitude--and, incidentally, to unlock the corporate secrets secreted within the patient's brain. But as Pullman probes about, he begins experiencing first-hand the psycho's fevered, paranoic dreams. Pullman drifts farther and farther from reality, and the audience is implicitly invited to do the same. Bill Paxton also stars in this Roger Corman-style thriller, produced by Corman's daughter Julie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Pullman, Bill Paxton, (more)
- 1988
- R
Though a fine cast was assembled for this comedy, none can save this embarrassingly humorless satire. Henderson Dores (Daniel-Day Lewis) is a very proper British art expert sent to rural Georgia by his boss to purchase a painting by Renoir. The present owner, hillbilly Loomis Gage (Harry Dean Stanton), claims he bought the painting for $500 in France in 1946. Dores offers $10 million, but Gage's scheming son Freeborn (Maury Chaykin) has made a deal with a rival art dealer for $15 million. Steven Wright plays Dores' business rival Pruitt with his typical deadpan charm, and Joan Cusack and Laurie Metcalf provide romantic interest. Tea and crumpets collide with moonshine and cornbread in this feature, but the results are unpalatable. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Day-Lewis, Harry Dean Stanton, (more)
The second of director Barry Levinson's Baltimore Trilogy (the first was Diner, the third Avalon), Tin Men seems at first glance to be much ado about nothing. Set in 1963, the story begins when two aluminum siding salesmen, played by Richard Dreyfuss and Danny DeVito, are involved in a traffic accident. Fueled by their own individual frustrations--Dreyfuss dislikes the phonier aspects of his profession, while DeVito is unhappily married to Barbara Hershey--the two men begin an all-out war of harassment against one another. DeVito goes on a destructive rampage against Dreyfuss' material possessions, while Dreyfuss contrives to steal away DeVito's wife. An ironic twist of fate ironically, brings the two men to common ground at the finale. As with the earlier Diner, Levinson spends a great deal of screen time showing small minds obsessed with small things: counterpointing the snow-balling hostilities between Dreyfuss and DeVito is Jackie Gayle as DeVito's partner, who can talk of nothing but the TV series Bonanza. Michael Tucker, who like Barry Levinson was Baltimore born and bred, repeats his Diner role as "Bagel." Listen for director Levinson's voice as a baseball stadium announcer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dreyfuss, Danny DeVito, (more)
Two strangers (Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher) find themselves hitched after a wild night of Las Vegas shenanigans in this 20th Century Fox comedy. Jack Fuller (Kutcher) is a single Manhattanite who can never quite commit to a permanent, long-term relationship and repeatedly hears from his lovers that he "isn't serious boyfriend material." Employed by his father (Treat Williams) at a local furniture business, Jack spends his workdays goofing off by watching sporting events behind dad's back. Joy McNally (Diaz) is faring slightly better; a young, polished urbanite, she juggles a demanding job as a trader on the NYSE with a marital engagement to the impressive Mason (Jason Sudeikis), but has modified her entire life and all of her interests to please her intended.
Coincident with Mr. Fuller's decision to fire his son, Mason severs his engagement to Joy; as a result, both Jack and Joy hit the skids at around the same time and decide to cut their losses by heading out to Vegas. The two accidentally bump into one another when a computer mix-up at the hotel puts them in adjoining rooms; though they begin their acquaintanceship by bickering endlessly, they end up spending a long, drunken night on the town together, and when the sun rises and Joy comes to, she discovers that she unwittingly married Jack in the middle of the night. Alas, just when the two are about to call it quits by filing for divorce after the shortest marriage in history, Jack tosses a coin into a Vegas slot machine and hits a three-million-dollar jackpot -- which naturally pits the newlyweds against one another in an attempt to claim the full share of the money. A conservative local judge, R.D. Whopper (Dennis Miller), then adds the final twist by refusing to grant a divorce until Joy and Jack have given married life a fair shake. In time, the marrieds may just discover that this union isn't as far off the mark as they initially thought. Dennis Farina, Queen Latifah, and Zach Galifianakis round out the supporting cast. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
Coincident with Mr. Fuller's decision to fire his son, Mason severs his engagement to Joy; as a result, both Jack and Joy hit the skids at around the same time and decide to cut their losses by heading out to Vegas. The two accidentally bump into one another when a computer mix-up at the hotel puts them in adjoining rooms; though they begin their acquaintanceship by bickering endlessly, they end up spending a long, drunken night on the town together, and when the sun rises and Joy comes to, she discovers that she unwittingly married Jack in the middle of the night. Alas, just when the two are about to call it quits by filing for divorce after the shortest marriage in history, Jack tosses a coin into a Vegas slot machine and hits a three-million-dollar jackpot -- which naturally pits the newlyweds against one another in an attempt to claim the full share of the money. A conservative local judge, R.D. Whopper (Dennis Miller), then adds the final twist by refusing to grant a divorce until Joy and Jack have given married life a fair shake. In time, the marrieds may just discover that this union isn't as far off the mark as they initially thought. Dennis Farina, Queen Latifah, and Zach Galifianakis round out the supporting cast. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cameron Diaz, Ashton Kutcher, (more)
One of the short stories in a best-selling collection by author Stephen King becomes this mystery adapted for director Scott Hicks by screenwriter William Goldman, who previously transformed a King story into a box-office hit (Misery, 1990). In the summer of 1960, young Bobby Garfield (Anton Yelchin) is sharing adventures with his best friends Carol (Mika Boorem) and Sully (Will Rothhaar) when an enigmatic lodger named Ted Brautigan (Anthony Hopkins) rents a room in his family's boarding house. Bobby's self-absorbed, widowed mother Liz (Hope Davis) couldn't care less about her son, so Bobby, who is being tormented by local bullies, quickly befriends the otherworldly Ted, becoming his confidante, and reading the paper to him to save the aging man's failing eyesight. Soon, Bobby learns that Ted possesses supernatural gifts, has a haunted past, and is being pursued by sinister men whose intentions are unclear. Hearts in Atlantis co-stars David Morse, who appeared in the previous King adaptation The Green Mile (1999), as the adult Bobby. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Hopkins, Anton Yelchin, (more)
