Nic Ratner Movies

A crooked cop (Michael Shannon) pursues a New York City bike messenger (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) carrying a mysterious package in this urban thriller from director/co-writer David Koepp. Every day, fearless courier Wilee (Gordon-Levitt) dodges death while weaving through traffic on his custom fixie -- a featherweight bike with one gear and no brakes. He always delivers his packages on time, but today's rush delivery could well be his last. With a mysterious envelope clutched close and a mad killer chasing him through the streets of Manhattan, Wilee must pedal for his life, and never look back. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The budding romance between a rising U.S. congressman and a gifted ballet dancer is unexpectedly complicated by otherworldly forces seeking to drive them apart by altering the very fabric of reality in this high-concept sci-fi thriller based on a story by famed author Philip K. Dick. David Norris (Matt Damon) is a rising New York congressmen whose everyman charisma has earned him a loyal following among locals. One night, after suffering a crushing political defeat, David is rehearsing his concession speech in a hotel bathroom when out of a stall wanders Elise (Emily Blunt), who was hiding out from security guards after crashing a wedding. The chemistry between David and Elise is instant and electric. But as fast as she appeared, Elise has vanished, leaving David to wonder if he will ever see her again. A few days later, as if by chance, David is boarding a bus for work when he spots Elise in a window seat. Though he manages to get her number this time, David is terrified when he arrives at his new job and discovers a mysterious group of men performing an unusual procedure on his paralyzed co-workers. Informed by the imposing and sharp-dressed Richardson (John Slattery) that he has just seen behind a curtain that few will ever know even exists, David agrees never to tell anyone of their encounter or talk to Elise again lest his entire memory be completely erased. But three years later, when David spots Elise walking down the street from the window of a city bus, he can't resist the urge to rekindle their romance. Unfortunately for the two young lovers, the mysterious agents at the Adjustment Bureau are determined to keep them apart at all costs in order to ensure there is no deviation from the master plan drawn up by "The Chairman" for the future of all humankind. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Michael Clayton (George Clooney) handles all of the dirty work for a major New York law firm, arranging top-flight legal services and skirting through loopholes for ethically questionable clients. But when a fellow "fixer" decides to turn on the very firm they were hired to clean up for, Clayton finds himself at the center of a conspiratorial maelstrom. Once an ambitious D.A., Clayton is now a shell of his former dynamic self, thanks to a divorce, an unfortunate business venture, and astronomical debt. Though he longs to leave the cutthroat, ethically dubious world of corporate law behind, Clayton's poor financial situation and devotion to firm head Marty Bach (Sydney Pollack) leave him little choice but to remain on the job and tough it out. Meanwhile, litigator Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton) finds her entire company's future hinging on the outcome of a multi-billion-dollar settlement overseen by Clayton's friend, star lawyer Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson). When Edens snaps and decides to blow the whistle on the questionable case, sabotaging the defense, Clayton must decide between his loyalty and his conscience. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The war on drugs has been lost, and when a reluctant undercover cop is ordered to spy on those he is closest to, the toll that the mission takes on his sanity is too great to comprehend in director Richard Linklater's rotoscoped take on Philip K. Dick's classic novel. With stratospheric concern over national security prompting paranoid government officials to begin spying on citizens, trust is a luxury and everyone is a suspected criminal until proven otherwise. Bob Arctor (Keanu Reeves) is a narcotics officer who is issued an order to spy on his friends and report back to headquarters. In addition to being a cop, though, Arctor is also an addict. His drug of choice is a ubiquitous street drug called Substance D, a drug known well for producing split personalities in its users. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Drawn into a menacing underground world of the New Orleans elite while searching for her missing sister, Muriel (Shalom Harlow), Amelia (Liane Balaban) is aided in her investigation by ex-CIA agent Bill (Clarence Williams III) in this effort from Nadja director Michael Almereyda. Soon discovering mysterious webcam footage on Muriel's laptop computer that will seemingly aid them in finding Amelia's sister, the duo is confronted with shifting identities in a scene where no one is quite who they appear to be on the surface. An obscure and disturbing study in the nature of avatars in the age of technological isolation, Almereyda's haunting drama soon leads Amelia and Bill into a complex web buried deep in the underground of a mysterious and sometimes menacing city. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

In this short independent feature, an ordinary-looking guy proves to be an unusually successful womanizer, and his East Village apartment begins to assume aspects of Grand Central Station. He is so attractive to one of the women he seduces that he has to let her know in a forceful way that he's not available for long-term romance. In addition to his other good qualities, he's a bit of a jerk. This is why, by the end of the film, his rejection by a woman he has come to care for comes as such a pleasant surprise. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi