Adam Shankman Movies
An inventive dance and physical comedy choreographer who turned his knack for planning out a scene into a successful directorial career, filmmaker Adam Shankman rose through the ranks as one of the best music video dance choreographers in the business before stepping behind the camera to helm such high-profile mainstream comedies as The Wedding Planner, Bringing Down the House, and The Pacifier. A true fan of all things theater from his childhood years, Los Angeles native Shankman moved to the East Coast to enroll in Juilliard dance program after graduating high school, and spent the next five years as a dancer and actor in and around New York. After returning to sunny entertainment capitol Los Angeles, Shankman performed frequently in music videos for such artists as Janet Jackson and Paula Abdul, with his impressive moves eventually culminating in a role as a featured dancer at the 1989 Academy Awards ceremony. Subsequently establishing a partnership with music video director Julian Temple, the then-24-year-old Shankman entered into a tirelessly productive period which found him choreographing music videos for a variety of popular artists including Whitney Houston, the B-52's, and Stevie Wonder. Film work was quick to follow, and Shankman racked up choreography credits on such popular features as Addams Family Values, Don Juan DeMarco, Boogie Nights, and Scream 2. In 1998, it was time to venture into the realm of directing with the acclaimed short film Cosmo's Tale.As adept behind the camera as he was in front of the lens, Shankman quickly made the leap to features with the 2001 Jennifer Lopez comedy The Wedding Planner. Though he would still serve as choreographer on occasion, it seemed as if Shankman had finally found his calling as a director with such features as the teen romance A Walk to Remember, Bringing Down the House, and Cheaper by the Dozen 2, the latter two of which found him forming a successful working relationship with longtime comic Steve Martin. In 2005, Shankman expanded his credits to include the role of executive producer for the suburban comedy The Pacifier, a role that he continued to develop with producer credits on such features as Cheaper by the Dozen 2 and the 2006 dance drama Step Up. After turning toward television to helm the pilot episode of Worst Week of My Life, Shankman next began preparations to bring the hit Broadway musical Hairspray back to the big screen. Through it all, Shankman never shied away from his performance-based past, with occasional acting roles in both his own films as well as Rockula, Scream 2, and Stuck on You allowing the lifelong dancer the occasional pleasure of simply cutting loose in front of the camera. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
A former high school basketball star gets a second shot at life when he's miraculously transformed into a teenager and offered the opportunity to redefine his future. Back in 1989, Mike O' Donnell (Matthew Perry) had it all; not only was the 17-year-old senior the king of the basketball court, but college scouts were circling as well. But just as Mike's future began to glow brighter than ever before, he sacrificed everything in order to stay by his expectant girlfriend, Scarlet, and be a good father. Nearly 20 years later, Mike has just been passed over for a big promotion at work, his marriage is failing, and his teenage kids can't stand him. His dreams long gone and his family falling apart, Mike takes to staying with his best friend, Ned (Thomas Lennon), a former high school geek-turned-techno billionaire. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Mike is transported back into his teenage body and given the given the unique opportunity to relive his salad days. But while Mike may look 17 again, his thirtysomething outlook at life puts him hopelessly at odds with the class of 2009. When Mike discovers that by attempting to recapture his best years he could risk losing all the best things he ever experienced in life, the time comes to make a decision that could have a drastic impact on both his past and his future. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zac Efron, Leslie Mann, (more)
The acclaimed Trainspotting trio (director Danny Boyle, producer Andrew Macdonald, scripter John Hodge) reunited for this update of '30s screwball comedies and '40s fantasies, such as Here Comes Mr. Jordan(1941), Angel on My Shoulder(1946), Down to Earth(1947), and the 1946 Stairway to Heaven (co-directed by Macdonald's grandfather, Emeric Pressburger). Tossed together for $12 million, the result is a combination salad, a surreal salmagundi with an added animated sequence for lagniappe. In Heaven, Gabriel (Dan Hedaya) sends angels O'Reilly (Holly Hunter) and Jackson (Delroy Lindo) down to Earth to make two people fall in love. If the angels fail, they must remain on Earth. The target couple: well-to-do Celine (Cameron Diaz) and impoverished, aspiring novelist Robert (Ewan McGregor), a janitor at the corporation owned by her wealthy father, Naville (Ian Holm). Robert loses his job, kidnaps Celine, and the two retreat to a mountain hideout where they discuss splitting the ransom. O'Reilly and Jackson plan to make Robert and Celine love each other by putting them in jeopardy, so the two angels get hired on by Naville as bounty hunters. Although Robert and Celine argue, they also sing and dance together at a local karaoke bar, a scene evocative of both Dennis Potter's Karaoke and the memorable karaoke performance by Cameron Diaz in My Best Friend's Wedding. The angels make few gains, but when Jackson is on the brink of killing Robert, Celine comes to his rescue. Naville cancels Celine's credit card, so she robs a bank. Robert is shot during the robbery, and Celine has dentist Elliot (Stanley Tucci) remove the bullet. Robert awakens, finds the two together, and knocks out Elliot, prompting an argument that leads Celine and Robert to separate. Plagued by their own problems, the angels kidnap Celine themselves, and as complications mount, Gabriel eventually has God intervene. Filmed in Utah, although Hodge originally planned the story to take place in France and England. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ewan McGregor, Cameron Diaz, (more)
The best-seller by sentimental novelist Nicholas Sparks becomes this teen melodrama set in a coastal North Carolina port. Cocky, popular high school student Landon Carter (Shane West) is the big man on campus at Beaufort High School until a hazing incident leaves a fellow student paralyzed. Sentenced to community service and membership in his school's drama club, Landon is forced to seek help from Jamie Sullivan (pop singer Mandy Moore), the conservative, religious, plain-Jane daughter of the town's Baptist minister (Peter Coyote). When the two students begin to fall in love, Landon struggles with the drop in popularity that his new friendship brings, while Jamie is forced to deal with her strict father and a secret that she's keeping from her schoolmates. A Walk to Remember, which co-stars Daryl Hannah, is the second of Sparks's novels to make it to the big screen after Message in a Bottle (1999). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mandy Moore, Shane West, (more)
The ghoulish cartoon family created by Charles Addams returns for a second big-screen outing darker and nastier than the first. When Morticia Addams (Anjelica Huston) gives birth to new baby boy Pubert, the other Addams children, Pugsley (Jimmy Workman) and Wednesday (Christina Ricci), devise any number of ways to kill off their new sibling. This leads Morticia and her husband, Gomez Raul Julia, to hire a nanny (Joan Cusack) to oversee all three children. But the nanny has an agenda of her own, packing the Addams children off to a horrid parody of summer camp and setting out to seduce Uncle Fester (Christopher Lloyd), all with the goal of getting her hands on the Addams family fortune. Of course, the Addams eventually triumph, with this blacker-than-most satire extolling the virtues of eccentricity and non-conformity above all. It was followed by 1999's direct-to-video Addams Family Reunion, with Darryl Hannah and Tim Curry replacing Huston and the late Julia. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, (more)
- 2008
Singer-turned-actress Queen Latifah stars as an outspoken politician who is suddenly removed from her physical being and forced to share a body with a stanch conservative in producer Adam Shankman's remake of the 1984 Steve Martin/Lily Tomlin comedy. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Queen Latifah
The Pacifier director Adam Shankman helms this children's fantasy concerning a hotel handyman who gradually begins to realize that the imaginative bedtime stories he tells his niece and nephew are somehow beginning to manifest themselves in the real world. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adam Sandler, Keri Russell, (more)
A man looking for a woman just like himself ends up with someone quite different in this farcical comedy. Peter Sanderson (Steve Martin) is a lawyer who is having trouble getting his life back on track after his wife, Kate (Jean Smart), divorces him; he's also adjusting to his new status as a single father. Looking for companionship, Peter tries an internet dating site and virtually meets "lawyer-girl," an attractive and single fellow attorney. Peter makes a date with her, but the woman who arrives at his door turns out to be Charlene Morton (Queen Latifah), who not only isn't a lawyer, she turns out to be an escaped convict. Charlene is also a brash and brassy African-American, while Peter is perhaps the most tightly wound white guy in L.A. Charlene explains to Peter that she's strung him along because she's innocent of the crime for which she was convicted, and she needs a top-notch attorney to help prove her case. Peter isn't the least bit interested at first, but Charlene isn't the sort of woman to take "no" for an answer, and in time she wears him down and agrees to help. As Charlene moves into Peter's home, she helps him to loosen up and unleash his inner groove, which quite surprises Kate, and her down-to-earth advice comes in handy for Peter's son and daughter. But Charlene may end up going too far when Peter is asked to entertain Mrs. Arness (Joan Plowright), a wealthy woman looking for a new law firm. Bringing Down the House also features Eugene Levy as Howie, one of Peter's friends who takes a keen interest in Charlene, and Betty White as one of Peter's neighbors. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Martin, Queen Latifah, (more)
The jumbo-sized Baker family are back in this sequel to the 2003 box-office hit Cheaper by the Dozen. College football coach Tom Baker (Steve Martin) and his wife, author Kate Baker (Bonnie Hunt), have decided its time they took their sizable brood of 12 children on a summer vacation, and so they pack up the cars and take the kids to Lake Winnetka for some camping. Not all the kids are happy about this, but the one who is really annoyed turns out to be Tom, who discovers his old rival Jimmy Murtaugh (Eugene Levy) is also staying near the lake. Jimmy and his trophy wife, Sarina (Carmen Electra), also have a large family of eight children, and Jimmy and Tom seem intent upon one-upping each other at every opportunity. As the tensions mount, the Baker family and the Murtaugh clan face off in a not-so-good-natured series of family games to determine which of the parents have the greater bragging rights. In addition to Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt, the actors playing the 12 Baker children from the 2003 film return for Cheaper by the Dozen 2, including Hilary Duff, Piper Perabo, Tom Welling, and Kevin Schmidt. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Martin, Eugene Levy, (more)
Yet another Saturday Night Live alumnus makes his bid for big-screen success as Rob Schneider, best remembered as the "Making copies!" guy, tackles his first leading role in this broad comedy. Deuce (Rob Schneider) earns a meager living as a professional fish tank cleaner until he's asked to housesit for a gigolo. Deuce mistakenly answers the gigolo's business phone and finds himself having sex with a woman he's never met and getting paid for it (not a bad deal, since women generally avoid Deuce like the Ebola virus). It's not long before Deuce learns that there's more to selling your body than one might expect: for example, being re-styled by your pimp or having to explain your new source of income when the owner of the house gets home. Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo was the first feature film produced by Adam Sandler's production company, Happy Madison; Sandler himself makes a cameo appearance, while Oded Fehr, William Forsythe, Eddie Griffin, and Marlo Thomas highlight the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rob Schneider, William Forsythe, (more)
After giving George of the Jungle human form, Brendan Fraser returns to cartoon-land with another live-action update of an animated TV classic. Set in the peaceful village of Semi-Happy Valley high in the Canadian Rockies, our story focuses on Dudley Do-Right (Fraser), a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who never lets his lack of intelligence get in the way of his dedication and determination to get his man. Dudley's superior, Inspector Fenwick (Robert Prosky), displays a bemused tolerance towards Dudley's enthusiastic ineptitude, and Dudley is beguiled by the Inspector's daughter, Nell (Sarah Jessica Parker), who has made a home in Seattle after traveling the world, but is now paying her father an extended visit. Before Dudley can make much of a (positive) impression on Nell, the evil Snidely Whiplash (Alfred Molina) enters the picture. Determined to take Semi-Happy Valley for everything it's worth, Snidely sends Dudley in search of vampires hiding in the woods, and, while he's away, plants gold nuggets in a nearby stream. When a prospector (Eric Idle) happens upon them, word gets out that Semi-Happy Valley is gold country. Quickly opening a string of businesses to cater to the flood of would-be gold miners, Snidely becomes the town's richest citizen, and Semi-Happy Valley is even renamed Whiplash City. Snidely's fame and wealth gain Nell's attention, while Dudley's search for vampires causes the Inspector to fire him. However, in time, Dudley realizes that something is afoot, and he is determined to expose Snidely Whiplash and bring him to justice. Director Hugh Wilson wrote and directed the first film in the Police Academy series; Dudley Do-Right was his second directorial credit of 1999 with Brendan Fraser, after they worked together on Blast From the Past. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brendan Fraser, Sarah Jessica Parker, (more)
Drew Barrymore and Justin Long star as a couple who find their long-distance relationship wearing thin in this romantic comedy from director Nanette Burnstein. Geoff LaTulippe provides the screenplay for the New Line production. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
Adam Shankman's adaptation of the stage musical Hairspray, itself an adaptation of the non-musical John Waters film of the same name, stars Nikki Blonsky as Tracy Turnblad, an overweight high-school student whose only dream is to be on a local Baltimore teen dance program. While her father (Christopher Walken) tells her to follow her dreams, her mother Edna (John Travolta in drag) reminds her that she doesn't look like the girls on that show. After impressing the show's host (James Marsden), Tracy earns a coveted spot on the program, but when she becomes a popular addition to the cast, she earns the wrath of the prettiest girl in school -- a girl whose mother (Michelle Pfeiffer) just happens to operate the local television station. Tracy's visit to detention hall opens her eyes to the racial tension on the show, as does the budding relationship between her best friend (Amanda Bynes) and an African-American boy named Seaweed (Elijah Kelley). Thus empowered, Tracy attempts to integrate the races on her favorite program. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, (more)
- 2010
John Waters returns to familiar territory with this follow-up to the blockbuster 2007 musical with this New Line Cinema production. The veteran Baltimore filmmaker provides the story for the film, which also sees the return of director/choreographer Adam Shankman, along with songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
Director Ron Underwood follows up his crowd-pleasing hit City Slickers (1991) with this likable, feel-good comedy drama about a selfish businessman who discovers that he's permanently being followed by a group of ghosts. In 1959, a bus accident links the spirits of four fatally injured passengers to a newborn baby whose birth is caused by the crash. For 25 years, Milo (Tom Sizemore), Harrison (Charles Grodin), Penny (Alfre Woodard) and Julia (Kyra Sedgwick) remain bound to Thomas Reilly (Robert Downey Jr.), who believes the quartet to be imaginary childhood friends that have long since disappeared. When the four spooks suddenly realize that they are meant to use Thomas as a conduit to bring closure to their unfinished corporeal lives, they reemerge, causing Thomas to think that he's gone insane. As he becomes reattached to his supernatural companions, however, Thomas' innate decency asserts itself and he begins helping them to right the wrongs in their lives, allowing them to possess his body to achieve their goal of settling accounts and moving on into the afterlife. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Downey, Jr., Charles Grodin, (more)
Matthew Broderick stars in this live-action adaptation of the popular animated series. When a well-meaning but overly trusting security guard is wounded in an explosion created by the evil Dr. Claw, a beautiful scientist named Brenda (Joely Fisher) takes him under her wing and turns him into a crime-fighting dynamo by replacing his limbs with a wealth of gadgets and gimmicks. Now dubbed Inspector Gadget, the once-naïve guard can fulfill his dream of becoming a crime-fighting detective, and as he investigates his first case - namely, who blew him up -- he finds out that the man responsible also killed Brenda's father. Now it's up to the Inspector to find the fiend's identity and bring him to justice, using his homegrown bionic powers to crack the case. Inspector Gadget co-stars Rupert Everett, Dabney Coleman, Andy Dick, and Cheri Oteri. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matthew Broderick, Rupert Everett, (more)
The discovery of marital troubles in her family causes a young woman to question her own upcoming nuptials in this clever romantic comedy. Sarah Jessica Parker stars as Gwyn, a bright, slightly neurotic advertising copywriter who is initially thrilled when her boyfriend Matt (Gil Bellows) finally proposes. Soon afterwards, however, she learns that her mother Nina (Mia Farrow) is indulging in an extra-marital affair with a handsome Latin stud (Antonio Banderas). This is only the first of several shocking revelations, as Gwyn soon learns of infidelity by her father (Paul Mazursky), brother (Kevin Pollack), and even newlywed sister (Carla Gugino). These indiscretions make Gwyn question the validity of the entire institution of marriage and doubt her own future. Director David Frankel, who also penned the screenplay, follows in the footsteps of Woody Allen in using introspective dialogue to detail the romantic troubles of a wealthy, neurotic Jewish family; practiced performances and a colorful use of Miami locations give the film its own personality. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sarah Jessica Parker, Gil Bellows, (more)
- 1990
- R
A horror film set in a New York nightclub, Midnight Cabaret is the story of an actress (Laura Herrington) suspected of killing several of her cast-mates. The police investigator assigned to the case (Bruce Wright) finds that the truth involves a Satanic cult trying to bear the Anti-Christ. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 2009
Produced by Adam Shankman and Jennifer Gibgot, from a screenplay by scribe Flint Wainess, the teen-oriented fantasy comedy Monday Monday concerns an adolescent boy who experiences an utterly catastrophic day at his new high school. The next morning, however, he wakes up to discover that the day has begun all over again -- with his memories of the first experience intact. He has unwittingly entered some sort of time-warp scenario, and must survive the same day ad infinitum until everything works out perfectly for him. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- 2002
A minor Bay Area earthquake yields only one fatality: San Francisco philanthropist Henry Rutherford (Ross Petty), who was apparently killed by a falling object. A longtime friend of the Rutherford family, Sharona (Bitty Schram) brings Monk (Tony Shalhoub) along to pay a condolence call to Henry's young widow Christina (Janine Theriault). But as a result of this "friendly" drop-in, Monk begins obsessively dogging Christina's trail, certain that she has committed murder. Amy Sedaris of Strangers with Candy fame makes her first series appearance as Sharona's sister Gail. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2009
Hairspray's Adam Shankman takes the field in this adaptation of John Grisham's novel surrounding a former NFL player's second life as a quarterback in an Italian pro league. J. Mills Goodloe adapts the script for the big screen in this Phoenix Pictures/Offspring Entertainment co-production. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
Devastated upon receiving the news that her husband has been killed in a tragic car accident, a woman wakes up to find him still very much alive as she begins to slip into a confusing world where the past and the future become increasingly difficult to distinguish. Linda Hanson (Sandra Bullock) was an average housewife with a loving family, but when a policeman comes knocking on her door with news that her husband, Jim (Julian McMahon), was involved in a fatal car accident, Linda's world slowly begins to unravel. While her grief is at first overwhelming, Linda assumes that the whole thing was nothing more than a vivid dream when she wakes to find her family still very much intact. With each passing day, however, Linda's reality shifts and her circumstances grow increasingly surreal; one day Jim is dead and the next he is right there by her side. As her investigation leaves her convinced that her husband's death wasn't a dream and that her picture-perfect life may not have been quite as flawless as she thought, Linda embarks on a mind-bending journey to prevent her grim premonition from becoming a reality. Now, in order to save the man she loves, Linda will have to piece together a perplexing mystery that seems to span two separate planes of reality. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sandra Bullock, Julian McMahon, (more)
- 2011
Two love-struck dreamers fall in love during the height of the hair-metal scene as they navigate the seedy world of drugs, mullets, and stripping while at a club on the Sunset Strip in this adaptation of the hit off-Broadway musical. Chris D'Arienzo adapts his own stage book, with Hairspray's Adam Shankman handling direction and choreography duties for the New Line production. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- 1990
- PG13
This teen-age vampire suffers from an ancient curse preventing him from losing his virginity. The film features music from Bo Diddley who adds the rock to Rockula. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dean Cameron, Toni Basil, (more)
An aspiring ballerina from a wealthy family learns some lessons about both dancing and life from a roughneck with soul in this teen drama. Tyler Gage (Channing Tatum) grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in a rough section of Baltimore, and has been in and out of trouble with the law most of his life. Finding himself before the judge yet again, Tyler is sentenced to 200 hours of community service, and he ends up mopping floors at the Maryland School of the Arts. Tyler catches the eye of Nora (Jenna Dewan), a gifted ballet student who is trying to incorporate hip-hop moves into her classical routines. None of Nora's fellow students seem to be on the same page as her, but Tyler is a talented street dancer with strength, moves, and enthusiasm. Despite the misgivings of the school's administrators, Nora persuades Tyler to team up with her for a major class project. Tyler gains a new self-respect as he gives in to the discipline of the dance academy, but he wonders if this new opportunity means turning his back on who he really is. Matters become all the more complicated when Tyler and Nora realize they're falling in love. Step Up was the first directorial credit for choreographer Anne Fletcher, who designed dance routines for the films Bring It On, She's All That, and Boogie Nights. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Channing Tatum, Jenna Dewan, (more)
Director Jon M. Chu takes the helm for this Step Up sequel set at the Maryland School for the Arts and following the journey of a rebellious street dancer who struggles to fit in at the prestigious school. Andie (Briana Evigan) may show great promise as a dancer, but she just can't seem to let go of her old life and get a fresh start. With Baltimore's hottest underground dance contest looming on the horizon, Andie joins forces with top dancer Chase (Robert Hoffman) while simultaneously helping to sharpen the skills of her outcast classmates. Perhaps if Andie, Chase, and their talented team of misfit dancers can earn the top slot at The Streets, the troubled new arrival can finally make her dreams a reality while also letting go of the past, and bounding confidently forward into the future. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Briana Evigan, Robert Hoffman, (more)
