Brett Rice Movies

Hustle & Flow director Craig Brewer takes the helm for this remake of the popular 1984 musical romance about a big-city teen who moves to a town that has outlawed dancing. Uprooted from Boston and reluctantly transplanted to the small Bible Belt town of Bomont, Ren MacCormack (Kenny Wormald) finds himself in a repressed community still reeling from a devastating loss. Shortly before he arrived in Bomont, five local teens perished in a tragic car accident following a local dance. As a result, the upstanding Reverend Shaw Moore (Dennis Quaid) and the local councilmen passed a strict ordinance outlawing both dancing and excessively loud music. Convinced that the new law is hopelessly misguided, rebellious Ren puts on his dancing shoes and wins the heart of Reverend Moore's distraught daughter, Ariel (Julianne Hough), while showing his fellow classmates that it's perfectly normal to blow off a little steam with some loud music and good friends. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Writer/director J.J. Abrams teams with producer Steven Spielberg for this period sci-fi thriller set in the late '70s, and centering on a mysterious train crash in a small Ohio town. Summer, 1979: a group of young friends are filming a Super-8 movie when a pickup truck derails a speeding train. When the locals start to disappear and even the inquisitive deputy can't come up with answers, suspicions emerge that the incident was anything but an accident. As the truth finally begins emerge, no one is prepared to learn what now stalks the unsuspecting citizens of this once quiet community. Kyle Chandler and Elle Fanning star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director Lasse Hallström and screenwriter Jamie Linden collaborate to adapt author Nicholas Sparks' novel about a young soldier who falls for an idealistic college girl. Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried) was on spring break when she first met John Tyree (Channing Tatum), who was home on temporary leave. For the smitten soldier it was practically love at first sight. Over the course of the next seven years, when each deployment seemed more treacherous than the last, the love letters that Savannah sent to John were one of the only things that kept him going. However, those loving and heartfelt correspondences would ultimately yield consequences that neither the brave soldier nor his one true love could have ever foreseen. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

This family drama follows the true story of a young boy whose life is put on the line when he is diagnosed with cancer. Through his letters to God about the confusion and faith that come with his situation, he soon becomes a surprising source of hope and inspiration for those in his neighborhood -- including a substitute mailman, whose life becomes surprisingly mixed up in the ordeal. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi

Filmmaker Michael O. Sajbel explores the relationship between wealth and happiness with this spiritual-minded tale about a privileged young man who receives a most unexpected inheritance. Adapted from the best-selling book by author Jim Stovall, The Ultimate Gift opens as trust-fund baby Jason Stevens (Drew Fuller) prepares to receive a sizable inheritance from his late grandfather Red (James Garner). Though Jason is convinced that the money is about to come flowing in, he receives a sudden shock upon discovering that Red has instead decided to offer him something much more valuable than simple cash. Realizing that his spoiled grandson has lived a sheltered life in which he has always been handed the very best of everything, Red has devised a crash course in living comprised of 12 gifts that will challenge the arrogant young man in ways that he could never have imagined nor anticipated. In the weeks that follow, Jason will befriend a terminally ill child (Abigail Breslin) and her grief-stricken mother (Ali Hillis) while attempting to determine whether it is money or happiness that truly matters in life. Brian Dennehy and Lee Meriwether co-star in an uplifting drama from the director of The Ride and One Night with the King. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Model-turned-actress Charlize Theron leaves her glamorous image behind for this gritty drama, in which she plays a disturbed prostitute who becomes a serial killer. Aileen Wuornos (Theron) was a woman who survived a brutal and abusive childhood in Michigan to become a thick-skinned but emotionally damaged adult. Homeless most of her life, Wuornos subsisted by working as a street prostitute; later, when she was in Florida, down to her last five dollars and pondering suicide, she stopped into a bar for a beer. There, Aileen met Selby Wall (Christina Ricci), a woman in her early twenties who had been sent to live with relatives after her Christian parents became aware of her lesbian lifestyle. Selby is immediately attracted to Aileen, and while Aileen tells Selby she's never been in a lesbian relationship, she soon finds herself equally infatuated with her. Selby runs away from her family and moves into a cheap hotel with Aileen, who initially pays the bills by hooking. However, as their money runs low and Aileen finds herself unable to land a regular job, tensions mount between the two. One night, after a john attacks her, Aileen pulls a gun and kills the man. Although her first murder can be categorized as self-defense, Aileen's loathing for the men who pay her for sex becomes so extreme that she begins killing her customers regardless of their behavior. Meanwhile, Selby slowly becomes aware of the full extent of her lover's instability and the bloody consequences of her actions. Monster was inspired by the true story of Aileen Wuornos, whose life and death was chronicled in two documentaries by filmmaker Nick Broomfield, Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer, and Aileen: The Life and Death of a Serial Killer. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Inspired by actual events, The Price of a Broken Heart tells the tale of a marriage shattered, and a wife who refuses to play the victim. Joe (Timothy Carhart) and Dot (Park Overall) have been married for nineteen years: They've got three sons, a lovely home, and Joe's career is on the upswing. But Joe's office assistant Lynne (Laura Innes) has always wanted a perfect family of her own, and now she's convinced that her dream is finally within reach. With cool calculation, Lynne lures Joe into an extramarital affair that spans a passion-fueled three years. Eventually, Joe breaks down and reveals the affair to Dot. Enraged at the betrayal and determined to strike back at the women who tried to break up her family, Dot sues her husband's mistress for $1 million under an archaic North Carolina law known as "alienation of affection." The law was designed to protect husbands and wives from predatory home wreckers, but can it still be enforced in an era where fifty percent of marriages fail anyway? As the trial gets underway, Dot endures humiliation and the media frenzy in a noble bid to show Lynne just how strong true family ties can be. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

"Stupid is as stupid does," says Forrest Gump (played by Tom Hanks in an Oscar-winning performance) as he discusses his relative level of intelligence with a stranger while waiting for a bus. Despite his sub-normal IQ, Gump leads a truly charmed life, with a ringside seat for many of the most memorable events of the second half of the 20th century. Entirely without trying, Forrest teaches Elvis Presley to dance, becomes a football star, meets John F. Kennedy, serves with honor in Vietnam, meets Lyndon Johnson, speaks at an anti-war rally at the Washington Monument, hangs out with the Yippies, defeats the Chinese national team in table tennis, meets Richard Nixon, discovers the break-in at the Watergate, opens a profitable shrimping business, becomes an original investor in Apple Computers, and decides to run back and forth across the country for several years. Meanwhile, as the remarkable parade of his life goes by, Forrest never forgets Jenny (Robin Wright Penn), the girl he loved as a boy, who makes her own journey through the turbulence of the 1960s and 1970s that is far more troubled than the path Forrest happens upon. Featured alongside Tom Hanks are Sally Field as Forrest's mother; Gary Sinise as his commanding officer in Vietnam; Mykelti Williamson as his ill-fated Army buddy who is familiar with every recipe that involves shrimp; and the special effects artists whose digital magic place Forrest amidst a remarkable array of historical events and people. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In this brooding drama, the lives of four sisters are nearly destroyed by the machinations of their overbearing father. He singles out one daughter in particular to take part in a deadly insurance scam. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

John Goodman's full-throttle performance as a William Castle-inspired schlockmeister propels Joe Dante's delightful and charming comedy Matinee. The film takes place during the fall 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, a time when America's innocence began to crumble. Goodman plays film producer Lawrence Woolsey, who is in Key West to premiere his latest horror epic, "Mant," the story of a man who turns into a giant insect ("Half Man! ... Half Ant! ... All Terror!"). He's busy rigging the local movie theater with all manner of gimmicks, such as Atomo-Vision and Rumble-Rama, and stationing a buxom nurse -- played by Woolsey's girlfriend and leading lady Ruth (Cathy Moriarty) -- in the lobby to assist potential heart attack victims. Amidst all the hubbub, a quartet of local teenagers gear up for the big premiere: Gene (Simon Fenton), a Navy brat whose father is on alert for the duration of the crisis; Stan (Omri Katz), Gene's friend who has a furious crush on Sherry (Kellie Martin); and Sandra (Lisa Jakub), the daughter of two beatnik free-thinkers. As the premiere of "Mant" gets closer and Soviet-U.S. tensions increase, the four teenagers' problems and desires also mount to the boiling point. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the adoption agency, along comes this sequel to the 1990 comedy hit Problem Child. Ben Healy (John Ritter) and his sociopathically unruly son Junior (Michael Oliver) move out of town after Ben and his wife split up. Ben discovers that his new city is overrun with divorced women looking for husbands, and Lawanda Dumore (Laraine Newman) soon sets her predatory sights on Ben. However, Lawanda doesn't care for Junior (not difficult to understand) and intends to ship him off to boarding school as soon as she and Ben tie the knot. Junior gets wind of her plans and does all in his power to scuttle them. Meanwhile, Junior finds a new playmate -- Trixie (Ivyann Schwan), a girl even more obnoxious than himself, who is the daughter of Annie (Amy Yasbeck), the school's nurse, who also has her eye on Ben. Oddly enough, Amy Yasbeck also appeared in the original Problem Child as Flo, the wife that Ben divorced in this picture. Yasbeck and Ritter married in real life in 1999. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

When an unscrupulous law officer's underhanded activities are uncovered by a movie film crew, people begin to disappear. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi

Aimed primarily at American football fans, this dramatized biography of Paul Bryant, a celebrated football coach nicknamed the "Bear," focuses on the man's early career as a player and his later work as a coach in the locker rooms and on the field with his own players -- in Kentucky, Texas, and Alabama. While the Bear's personality is clearly brought forward in Gary Busey's interpretation -- he is alternately caring and verbally abusive, depending on the situation at hand -- the people who must have meant a lot to him in his life outside of football are underwritten here, and a sense of unfolding drama -- outside of his career and the football field -- is missing. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi