Elizabeth Perkins Movies

In this romantic comedy, a journalist who's become too much the life of the party finds a new lease on life in a drug and alcohol treatment center. New York newspaper columnist Gwen Cummings (Sandra Bullock) has a fondness for liquor, a boyfriend (Dominic West) with a similar taste for the bottle, and a party girl image that camouflages plenty of emotional baggage. At the wedding of her sister (Elizabeth Perkins), Gwen's pursuit of a good time goes a bit too far when she topples the wedding cake and steals the bridal party's limousine. The result is a court-ordered, 28-day stay in a rehabilitation facility for drug and alcohol abusers. Gwen's failure to get with the program causes her to butt heads with the clinic's director (Steve Buscemi), but her attitude begins to change when she meets Eddie Boone (Viggo Mortensen), a baseball player trying to deal with his substance abuse problems. Diane Ladd, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, and Azura Skye play Gwen's fellow rehab inmates, and legendary roots rock band NRBQ performs at the wedding reception. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The romantic comedy Try Seventeen is a coming-of-age tale directed by Jeffrey Porter. Jones Dillon (Elijah Wood) is a young writer who is living on his own for the first time. Jones continually writes letters to the father he has never met, while his mother Blanche (Elizabeth Perkins) resides in Texas. Enrolled in college, he quickly abandons the stifling dormitory setting and eventually his classes as well. He finds an apartment in an old building in the city and befriends his neighbors. The place is filled with colorful artists and other nonconformist types. Jones gets romantically involved with struggling actress Lisa (Mandy Moore) and photographer Jane (Franka Potente). He buys furniture from Ma Mabley (Debbie Harry) and proceeds to try and lose his virginity while searching for his absent father. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

In the tradition of Police Squad and Barney Miller comes this ensemble comedy about New York's wackiest police station. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

This talking-animal action comedy from Lawrence Guterman, the co-director of Antz (1998), follows on the heels of the Babe and Dr. Dolittle films. Unknown to humans, a secret war has been raging between cats and dogs for eons, but a fragile truce has long held the order of the animal kingdom in place. Now the balance of power has tipped, as a researcher, Professor Brody (Jeff Goldblum), is about to invent a vaccine that will erase all human allergies to dogs. This is too much for the autocratic Mr. Tinkles (Sean Hayes), a white Persian kitty bent on world domination. The Brody home becomes ground zero for the renewed conflict between feline and canine, with a young Beagle puppy named Lou (Tobey Maguire) caught in the middle as the new point man for his species' cause. Cats and Dogs co-stars Elizabeth Perkins and Alexander Pollock, as well as the vocal talents of Susan Sarandon, Alec Baldwin, Jon Lovitz, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Joe Pantoliano. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Comedy and drama take turns in this period piece based on a novel by Mark Childress. Peejoe (Lucas Black), short for Peter Joseph, lives in a small Alabama town in 1965, at the height of the Civil Rights movement. He becomes involved with a group of black students protesting the town's racially segregated municipal swimming pool, leading to a protest that explodes into deadly violence. But Peejoe has gotten a crash course in standing your ground and following your own path from his free-spirited Aunt Lucille (Melanie Griffith), who has killed her abusive husband and is headed for Hollywood, where she's convinced that television stardom awaits her. Crazy in Alabama marked the directorial debut of actor Antonio Banderas; his supporting cast includes Cathy Moriarty, Elizabeth Perkins, Rod Steiger, Fannie Flagg, and Meat Loaf Aday. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Actor-turned-director and producer Griffin Dunne (Practical Magic, Addicted to Love) teams up with scenarist Dirk Wittenborn for the slice-of-life ensemble drama Fierce People. As summer encroaches, 16-year-old Manhattanite Finn Earl (Anton Yelchin) would love nothing more than to trek off to South America and spend the year's sun-drenched months near the equator, embarking on thrilling adventures with his estranged archaeologist father, whom he's never met. Alas, the bonds of family rein in tight when Finn's booze- and coke-addled mother, the masseuse Liz (Diane Lane), cries out for help -- and, in the process, unwittingly gets Finn arrested. In a dramatic attempt to reverse circumstances and sort out the complications in both of their lives, Liz insists on taking custody of Finn for the summer. Both, she insists, will live in the home of one of her former massage clients, the aging billionaire Ogden C. Osborne (Donald Sutherland) -- with whom she may be amorously involved. Though Finn agrees begrudgingly at first, in time he finds the environment welcoming -- as he develops a crush on Ogden's gorgeous granddaughter (Kristen Stewart) and befriends Ogden's grandson. But when an unforeseen and shocking act of violence erupts, it estranges Finn and Liz from their posh surroundings and provides a sobering, harrowing reminder of the socioeconomic differences between the Earls and their new friends. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Corporate women launch a bitter courtroom battle when their avaricious employer tells them that they will lose their jobs if they do not get sterilized. The fight takes the women through a disillusioning jungle of government red tape. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Director Bob Clark, whose previous cinematic endeavors ran the gamut from Porky's to A Christmas Story, called the shots on From the Hip. Fresh out of law school, Robin Weathers (Judd Nelson) is hired by a law firm not known for its ethics. Weathers' first client is a man who, up to trial time, was perfectly willing to cop a plea. Instead, the novice lawyer sharkishly secures a "not guilty" verdict--not to mention a public reputation as a live wire. His jealous older colleagues decide to get even with Weathers by assigning him a case that cannot possibly be won. Thus it is that Weathers is assigned to defend insufferable murder suspect Douglas Benoit (John Hurt), who refuses to cooperate with his attorney even though he's facing a death sentence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Advertised as telling the tale of "The Man Behind the Myth," the expensive-looking but economically produced NBC miniseries Hercules stars Paul Telfer as the musclebound protagonist. The issue of a romantic fling between Alcmene (Elizabeth Perkins), the Princess of Thebes, and God of the Underworld Zeus, Hercules is banished by his mother and scorned by his envious half brother Iphicles (Luke Ford). In fact, for a while it seems as though poor Herc has nothing but enemies. In addition to his own mother and brother, our hero is hated by Zeus' wife, Hera -- so much so that a war breaks out between the two gods -- and by covetous Grecian monarchs Eurystheus (Kristian Schmid) and Anateus (Tyler Mane). Worse still, Hercules has managed to get on the bad side of the Delphic Oracle Tiresias (Kim Coates) by killing that worthy's three sons. As a means to destroy Hercules and prevent him from taking his rightful place beside the throne of Zeus, all manner of deadly tasks and challenges are thrown at the poor guy, enabling the producers to trot out innumerable CGI battle sequences. Fortunately, Hercules can rely upon the help and support of Alcmene's husband, Amphytron (Timothy Dalton), not to mention Herc's sidekick, the troubadour Linus (Sean Astin, going through his familiar Lord of the Rings paces in a different setting!); his sweetheart, the statuesque Goddess of Nature Deianeira (Leelee Sobieski); and, at least for a little while, Herc's wife, the Priestess Megara (Leeanna Walsman). By the time Hercules made it to the small screen, it had been pared down from a multipart miniseries to a single, 150-minute feature film, leaving several plot points unresolved and removing a number of key characters -- including the all-important Zeus and Hera, who never appear! Evidently NBC didn't have much faith in this Hallmark production, as witness the network's decision to telecast the film on May 16, 2005, directly opposite the series finale of Everybody Loves Raymond. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This three-part drama, produced for HBO, examines the changing tides of the lives of lesbians in America, both politically and personally, as we eavesdrop on three stories taking place in the same house over a span of five decades. In 1961, the house is home to Edith (Vanessa Redgrave) and Abby (Marian Seldes), an elderly lesbian couple whose lifestyle is not accepted or acknowledged by their families. When Abby suffers a serious stroke and is on the verge of death, her family rallies to her side, but not understanding the nature of her relationship with Edith, she is not included as her loved ones say their final good-byes. After Abby's death, her nephew (Paul Giamatti) and his wife (Elizabeth Perkins) arrive from out of state with plans to sell the house, without consulting Edith. In 1972, the house is now home to four college students, Michelle (Amy Carlson), Linda (Michelle Williams), Karen (Nia Long), and Jeanne (Natasha Lyonne), all of whom are actively involved in the women's movement and also happen to be lesbians. The four find themselves at odds with the campus women's group when they try to promote an all-women's dance, while the other members of the group feel that feminism, not lesbianism, should be the focus of the group. Similarly, Linda faces hostility from her friends when she becomes involved with Amy (Chloe Sevigny), a very butch townie; Linda's friends see Amy's masculine attire and attitude as a form of self-loathing against being a woman, and while Linda cares deeply for Amy, she's not always comfortable with her and isn't sure that she wants to be public with their relationship. In 2000, Fran (Sharon Stone) and Kal (Ellen DeGeneres), a happy and firmly committed couple, are sharing the house, and after much discussion, they decide that they want to take their relationship to the next level and have a baby. However, deciding that they want a child and dealing with the practicalities of getting pregnant are two different things; Fran and Kal first debate about going to a sperm bank as opposed to asking one of their male friends to help out, and later, either going to a doctor to perform the procedure or trying it at home. DeGeneres' significant other, Anne Heche, wrote and directed the final segment; the 1972 story was directed by Martha Coolidge, and the 1961 episode was directed by Jane Anderson. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The world's most obnoxious celebrity talk-show host demonstrates how he rose to mediocrity in this pungent show business satire. Jiminy Glick (Martin Short) is a corpulent entertainment reporter who is looking to kick his career into high gear. Hoping to snag some celebrity interviews, Jiminy and his wife, Dixie (Jan Hooks), head north of the border to Canada, where Jiminy will attend the Toronto Film Festival. At first, Glick's attempts to ingratiate himself with stars and semi-stars are little short of disastrous, but after the easily star-struck reporter allows egocentric filmmaker Ben DiCarlo (Corey Pearson) to shamelessly self-promote his latest project on air, word gets around that Glick is an "easy interview," and his star begins to rise. However, Jiminy's good fortune is tempered by his unwitting involvement in a murder plot centered around booze-addled actress Miranda Coolidge (Elizabeth Perkins) and her wildly pretentious husband, Andre Devine (John Michael Higgins). Somewhere along the way, filmmaker David Lynch (played by Short) happens along, offering his theories on the controversial murder of Lana Turner's paramour Johnny Stompanato. A large number of Hollywood celebrities make cameo appearances in Jiminy Glick in La La Wood, including Steve Martin, Kevin Kline, Susan Sarandon, Whoopi Goldberg, Forest Whitaker, Kiefer Sutherland, and Sharon Stone. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The 1947 holiday classic Miracle on 34th Street is transplanted to the 1990s with few changes in this family-oriented remake. The screenplay by the prolific John Hughes sticks close to the original outline, centering on Macy's executive Dorey Walker (Elizabeth Perkins) and her young daughter Susan (Mara Wilson), neither of whom much believes in the spirit of Christmas. Dorey is in charge of hiring Macy's Santas, including an old man named Kriss Kringle (Richard Attenborough). He does a remarkably convincing job, and he soon reveals that he actually believes himself to be Santa Claus. The authorities threaten to place the old man in an insane asylum, but a young lawyer comes to his defense. Meanwhile, Dorey and Susan find their own defenses melting and become reacquainted with the power of faith. Hughes and director Les Mayfield add a few modern touches, making Susan slightly more cynical and adding the requisite soulless corporate villains. Viewers familiar with the original may still prefer Edmund Gwenn's original Kris Kringle and consider the remake unnecessary, although the newer version reflects enough of the earlier film's spirit to prove entertaining to modern family audiences. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide