Michelle Thomas
Can a wealthy Republican politician find happiness with a chambermaid from the Bronx? One man is about to find out, though he hardly realizes it at first, in this romantic comedy from director Wayne Wang. Marisa Ventura (Jennifer Lopez) is a single mother who is raising her gifted but under-confident son Ty (Tyler Garcia Posey) on her own, with some help from her mother Veronica (Priscilla Lopez), after divorcing her husband. Marisa works as a housekeeper at the exclusive Beresford Hotel in Manhattan, where her boss Paula Burns (Frances Conroy) and chief butler Lionel Bloch (Bob Hoskins) urge Marisa and her best friend and fellow maid Stephanie (Marissa Matrone) to be as efficient and inconspicuous as possible. One day, while cleaning the room of noted socialite Caroline Lane (Natasha Richardson), Stephanie spies a beautiful designer gown and dares Marisa to try it on; against her better judgment, she does, and while all dolled up, she bumps into Christopher Marshall (Ralph Fiennes), a wealthy and well-bred bachelor who is running for the Senate. Immediately charmed, Chris asks Marisa to join him for a walk in Central Park, assuming she's the blue-blooded Caroline. Marisa manages to join Chris for the afternoon, with Ty in tow, and Chris finds himself quite taken with Marisa's beauty and down-to-earth personality, as well as Ty's precocious interest in politics. Chris later calls Caroline's room to set up a lunch date, but soon discovers the stuffy Ms. Lane is not the woman he met before. Marisa is also attracted to Chris, but while her friends encourage her to pursue a romance, Veronica believes her daughter is asking for trouble by trying to win a man so far out of her social strata. The supporting cast also includes Stanley Tucci and Amy Sedaris. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jennifer Lopez, Frances Conroy, (more)
The "National Lampoon" franchise is resurrected for another politically incorrect collegiate romp with this R-rated gross-out sex comedy. National Lampoon's Van Wilder revolves around the exploits of its title character (Ryan Reynolds), a seventh-year senior who's made it his goal in life to help each and every Coolidge College undergrad succeed in life -- or at least in bed. Van's charmed life seems to have an expiration date, however; his father (Tim Matheson) has cut off his presumably vast allowance. Financial insecurity doesn't phase the big man on campus, and he soon starts up a lucrative cottage industry as a planner of high-priced campus blowouts. When an enterprising reporter from the college paper gets wind of Van's liberal interpretation of the school's code of conduct, it seems his gig is up -- unless, of course, he can charm the hard-edged Gwen (Tara Reid) into accepting his uniquely skewed world view. In addition to Matheson, Van Wilder features cameos from a number of '80s teen movie stalwarts, including Edie McClurg, Paul Gleason, and Erik Estrada. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ryan Reynolds, Tara Reid, (more)
