Ben Ratner Movies
Death lurks in the form of dairy delivery in this independent black comedy. Charlie Silvercloud III (Robert A. Guthrie) is a young man of Native American ancestry who has the sneaking suspicion a certain family tradition will soon catch up with him. It seems Charlie's father and grandfather both died on their 25th birthdays, and both died from the same circumstances, after being struck by runaway milk trucks. Charlie's 25th birthday is only a few weeks away, and he's starting to feel his certain fate is lurking around the corner. Charlie's mother, Lucille (Dee Wallace Stone), has been tracing the routes of the local milk delivery men and discover they all converge in their neighborhood, so Charlie starts putting his affairs in order -- picking out a cemetery plot, planning his funeral, and ending his relationship with his girlfriend. However, with his birthday not long away, Charlie meets Bessie Anderson (Sascha Knopf), an eccentric but beautiful girl who isn't about to let him die. Expiration Date also stars David Keith, Richard Sanders, and Ned Romero. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert A. Guthrie, Sascha Knopf, (more)
- 2006
In a Vancouver neighborhood where the middle class share the streets with small-time criminals, prostitutes, and drug-dealers, the lives of three radically different couples interconnect in ways which can only be defined by looking at the big picture. Shortly after Doug (Ben Ratner) and Sarah (Camille Sullivan) move into their Mount Pleasant home with their six-year old daughter, the curious youngster pricks herself with a used hypodermic needle found in the backyard. Meanwhile, four blocks away, heroic-addicted teenage prostitute Nadia (Katie Boland) shares a ramshackle house with her drug dealing boyfriend and pimp Nick (Tygh Runyan). One of Nadia's best customers is affluent john Stephen Burrows (Shawn Doyle, whose high-class wife Anne (Kelly Rowan) works as a full time social coordinator and thirteen year-old daughter is maturing so fast that her preoccupied mother and father barely have time to notice. Their lives on an unexpected collision course, these Mount Pleasant residents are all about to find out that just how drastically their lives can be affected by people they would never even known existed if not for the intervention of fate. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Ratner, Camille Sullivan, (more)
- 2002
A mockumentary based on the concept that love has an expiration date, 19 Months follows a fictional documentary crew as they trace the relationship of Rob (Benjamin Ratner) and Melanie (Angela Vint), a couple who have agreed to break off their relationship after the eponymous period has passed. Drawn together by the theory that if the relationship is ended before jealousy and boredom set in then the relationship has been a success, Rob and Melanie plan to express all of their passion and emotion for one another in a brief but precious period of time. As the final week of their relationship draws to its mutually agreed upon conclusion and the couple's planned separation draws nearer, this situation gradually becomes more complex than either may have initially anticipated. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Ratner, Angela Vint, (more)
- 2001
- R
Canadian indie auteur Bruce Sweeney spins this wry look at the relationship of three Vancouver couples. After dating for a mere six months, Noah (Benjamin Ratner) and Zipporah (Frida Betrani) shock family and friends by announcing that they are getting married. No one is particularly thrilled about the impending nuptials and soon Noah starts to figure out why. Noah, a waterproofing expert, is maddened first by Zipporah's condo's leaking roof and then by his wife, who has illusions of fame and fortune as a country singer but has precious little talent. Noah's buddies Peter (Tom Scholte) and Shane (Vincent Gale) -- both of whom gave halfhearted congratulations at the wedding -- have romantic issues of their own. Shane grows increasing jealous when his girlfriend and fellow architect (Molly Parker) gets a big career break while he languishes behind. Meanwhile, Peter, a literature professor, cheats on his wife, Leslie (Nancy Sivak), with a shapely student (Marya Delver), who offers him favors while he discusses the work of Margaret Laurence. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Ratner, Frida Betrani, (more)
- 1998
Much of the action in this Canadian psychological comedy-drama takes place at the Vancouver residence of middle-aged drug dealer Angie (Babz Chula), where near-bankrupt Nancy (Nancy Sivak) lives in the basement, while Angie's son Ethan (Vincent Gale) and her mother Abbie (Abby J. Arnold) look for life beyond their loneliness. Exploring the sexual fixations of various Vancouver residents, director Bruce Sweeney was reportedly influenced by a 1991 master class with British director Mike Leigh (Career Girls). Shown at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Scholte, Babs Chula, (more)
This Chris Soth screenplay is directed by Dean Semler, the Oscar-winning Dances With Wolves cinematographer who also did cinematography for Waterworld and Last Action Hero. The film's action hero is Howie Long (Broken Arrow), Fox Sports commentator and former NFL star. Wyoming firefighter Jesse Graves (Long) leads a team of smoke-jumpers who parachute into forest fires. Inside a penitentiary, killer Earl Shaye (William Forsythe) devises an escape plan in order to recover a hidden $37 million. He murders a fellow inmate and takes his place in a group of convicts headed out to fight a forest fire. They make an escape, pose as visiting Canadian firefighters, and are ready to look for the loot when retired firefighter Wynt (Scott Glenn) discovers the escape. Shaye's group rescues trapped ornithologist Jennifer (Suzy Amis, Titanic's Lizzy Calvert). Jesse parachutes in, but time is running out, since the original fire and the backfire will soon combine to create a firestorm. Filmed on location in British Columbia with fire-enhancement special effects by Chris Corbould. Not to be confused with Firestorm: 2024 A.D. (1996) or Firestorm: 72 Hours in Oakland (1993). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Howie Long, Scott Glenn, (more)
Pat Proft directed this satire on The Fugitive with a plot parody of the 1993 Harrison Ford movie, which in turn was inspired by the 1963-67 ABC television series with David Janssen. Violinist Ryan Harrison (Leslie Nielsen) romances the wife (Kelly Le Brock) of his benefactor (Michael York), a man murdered by mercenaries. Naturally, Ryan gets blamed. Headed for Death Row, he's on a bus involved in a train accident and escapes in order to locate the real killer -- a one-armed, one-legged, one-eyed man. Tracking Ryan is Lt. Fergus Falls (Richard Crenna). Other movies lampooned here include Titanic, Clear and Present Danger, Chinatown, Mission Impossible, and North by Northwest. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Nielsen, Richard Crenna, (more)
- 1998
Michael Rohl made his directorial debut with this Canadian comedy-drama in which Brian (Benjamin Ratner) loses his San Francisco garage job and talks pal Michael (Colin Cunningham) into joining him on a fishing trip. At an unmarked gravesite, they find a key inscribed "PUMZACH." This prompts them to cross the border into Nevada in search of a shaman who can translate the enigmatic inscription. After meeting medicine-man Martin Yellowcrow (Willie John Hanna), owner of flatulent canine Zacharia, they are joined by winsome waitress Corey (Madison Graie) and nerdy numismatist Wayne Newton (C. Ernst Harth). The group arrives in a small town where the locksmith finds a match for the key with lonely Jean (Betty Linde), mother of a missing son. Minus Wayne, they head back to California. Shot in Vancouver, this film was shown at the 1998 Vancouver Film Festival and the 1998 AFI Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colin Cunningham, Ben Ratner, (more)
- 1996
This crime story juggles comedy and action as a rag-tag collection of professional and amateur thieves and murderers find themselves after the same thing, with confusing consequences. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Ratner, John Cassini, (more)
- 1995
- R
In this actioner, a petty crook attempts to deliver a computer disk to his boss. Unfortunately, the information upon that disk is of particular interest to corrupt G-men and the ruthless members of a drug cartel. Finding himself in the midst of this deadly struggle, the crook receives help from a plucky lady detective. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Biehn, Matt Craven, (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)
