Paulina Porizkova

Writer Eric Weber (author of the infamous paperback How to Pick Up Girls) directs his screenplay Second Best. Set in New Jersey, the story concerns a group of fiftysomething men dealing with their feelings of inadequacy. Struggling writer Elliot (Joe Pantoliano) is the most desperate of the bunch, having failed in the publishing business and trying to finish writing a screenplay. The group prepares for a visit from their old childhood friend who is now a big-time Hollywood producer. Elliot hopes this visit will lead to bigger things in his own life. Also starring Boyd Gaines, Jennifer Tilly, and Bronson Pinchot, Second Best was shown at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004 as part of the American Spectrum competition. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

A powerful behind-the-scenes man in politics and show business finds himself skidding into a very public scandal in this taut drama. Eli Wurman (Al Pacino) was raised in the deep South, attended Harvard Law School, and has devoted his spare time to progressive political causes since working alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s. However, Wurman now makes his living as a press agent and PR man, and while he's near the top of his profession, years of overwork, constant smoking and drinking, and ceaseless tension are taking their toll, leaving him on the verge of collapse, with only the prescriptions of his friend Dr. Napier (Robert Klein) keeping him on his feet. One of Wurman's biggest clients is Cary Launer (Ryan O'Neal), a fading film star with political aspirations who, after attending a disastrous Broadway opening, asks Wurman to do him a big favor -- bail Launer's girlfriend, Jilli (Téa Leoni), out of jail and keep an eye on her. Wurman manages to get Jilli out of the stir, but she insists upon being escorted to an exclusive sex and opium den for a night of heavy drinking and drugging, and then reveals to Wurman that she owns a device which she's used to record footage of the most public figures who attend the club, including Elliott Sharansky, a billionaire Jewish civic leader (Richard Schiff). That night, a half out-of-it Eli accompanies Jilli back to her hotel room when an intruder barges in and forces an overdose on her, killing her instantly. The next morning, Wurman has only fuzzy memories of what transpired. He decides to focus on his attempts to set up a political fundraiser, but has a hard time getting the right A-list celebs to appear, just as many of New York's power brokers aren't especially interesting in working with Wurman or Launer. In the midst of this chaos, Victoria (Kim Basinger), who was married to Wurman's late brother, arrives in New York and urges him to leave the city and his career behind while he still can. People I Know was screened in competition at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this action drama, Rutger Hauer plays Gene Reardon, a detective working in a small town who is put on the case when a major kidnapping erupts. The FBI is brought in, and Reardon finds himself working under a top federal agent, Wallis Longsworth (Paulina Porizkova) -- who used to be his wife. Evidence begins to suggest that Reardon may be involved in the crime himself, which he adamantly denies. When the kidnapping turns into a murder, Longsworth teams up with Reardon to help him prove his innocence and track down the real culprit. Partners in Crime also stars Andrew Dolin and Frank Gerrish; Jennifer Warren directed. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Skip Woods made his directorial debut with this film, caught in a crossfire between thriller and comedy. After violence is unleashed in the opening sequence, the story settles on former L.A. drug dealer Casey Wells (Thomas Jane), now a Houston architect living with his attractive wife Christine (Paula Marshall). When past partner Nick (Aaron Eckhart) arrives out of the blue on a Thursday, asking for a place to stay for a few days, Casey invites him in but later gets curious about Nick's briefcase. After he opens it to find a huge helping of heroin, panic sets in, and he flushes it all away -- setting the stage for a variety of hoods and hitmen to turn up on Casey's suburban doorstep. Shown at the 1998 Toronto World Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Three women who share a house are all about to turn 30. Tentative, mousy Micki (Julie Warner) has just had her fiancée, Jeff (Joseph Urla), break off their wedding plans because she's not passionate enough for him. Beautiful Tanya (Paulina Porizkova) is pregnant and has lost her job as a sales clerk, but her boyfriend Tom (Richard Edson) isn't ready to marry and raise a child. Jasmine (Illeana Douglas), who loves being single and dating bad boys, is tired of her family's pressure to marry. She proposes that all three get married, notify their families, then divorce. They go to Las Vegas to pursue the scheme. Micki hooks up with a dreamy cowboy, Cary (John Corbett), who instructs her in the art of passion. Tanya lures an older fellow, divorced businessman Oliver (Charles Martin Smith), planning to trick him into thinking that he's responsible for her pregnancy. Jasmine falls for Oliver's younger friend Matt (Jonathan Penner), who turns her on despite being a nice guy. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

A frustrated writer helps save a woman being railroaded by the law -- or is she? -- in this comic mystery with romantic overtones. Phil Blackwood (Tom Selleck) is a best-selling mystery novelist who has run into a bad case of writer's block. Hoping to find inspiration for his next book, Phil goes to the city courthouse and witnesses the arraignment of Nina Ionescu (Paulina Porizkova), a beautiful Romanian immigrant who is accused of killing a man with a pair of scissors. For Phil, it's love at first sight, and after sneaking into jail disguised as a priest, he makes her an offer. Phil offers to let her stay at his house, and he provides her with an alibi -- she can claim that she couldn't have committed the crime, because she was with him at the time of the attack. Nina agrees, but after Phil encounters a handful of dangerous foreign agents, Nina's acrobatic parents, and a highly suspicious district attorney, he begins to wonder if Nina might have committed the murder after all. Her Alibi also features William Daniels as Sam, and James Farentino as Frank Polito; the song "Falling In Love" was written and recorded for the film by Randy Newman. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Famed fashion models share the various ways in which they clawed their way to the top of their field in this docudrama. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide