Mary Steenburgen Movies

Two social misfits hit the road in search of some answers in this broad comedy set in 1987. Danielle (Juno Temple) is a girl with a certain reputation at the small-town Oklahoma high school she attends -- her fashion statements suggests she's either a streetwalker or auditioning for a Mötley Crüe video, and her list of sexual conquests is quite remarkable for her age. But Danielle's disinterest in academics and her sleazy reputation land her in a remedial education program, where she finds herself partnered in a parenting class project with Clarke (Jeremy Dozier), a chubby outcast with zero cool. As they get to know one another, though, Danielle and Clarke discover they have something in common -- they both like boys and that makes problems for them with their peers -- and they become close friends, with Danielle even pretending Clarke is her new boy-toy in front of his homophobic parents (Dwight Yoakam and Mary Steenburgen). However, while both of them dream of getting out of Oklahoma someday, Danielle has a specific destination in mind -- finding the father who abandoned her mom (Milla Jovovich) years ago -- and so she and Clarke hop in a car and hit the road in search of their destiny. Also starring William H. Macy, Dirty Girl was the first feature film from director Abe Sylvia. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Sandra Bullock stars in the romantic comedy The Proposal, as a Canadian immigrant who creates a demanding and difficult work environment for her subordinates at the office. When the news arrives that she's about to be deported to the Great White North, she rushes into a marriage of convenience with her young assistant (played by Ryan Reynolds) to prevent such a catastrophe from occurring. 27 Dresses' Anne Fletcher directs from a script by Peter Chiarelli for Touchstone Pictures. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

A detective tracking a serial killer who preys on young women finds his investigation complicated by a glamorous Hollywood starlet and a ruthless crime kingpin in director Bertrand Tavernier's adaptation of the James Lee Burke novel In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead. Jerzy Kromolowski, Mary Olson-Kromolowski, and Tommy Lee Jones collaborate on the screenplay for the film, which stars Jones, John Goodman, Peter Sarsgaard, Ned Beatty, and Tom Sizemore. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A crafty couple run the Christmas Day gauntlet by racing to visit their divorced parents' four separate households in this Vince Vaughn/Reese Witherspoon comedy that proves the holidays are no time for relaxing. Brad (Vaughn) and Kate (Witherspoon) have made something of an art form out of avoiding their families during the holidays, but this year their foolproof plan is about go bust -- big time. Stuck at the city airport after all departing flights are canceled, the couple is embarrassed to see their ruse exposed to the world by an overzealous television reporter. Now, Brad and Kate are left with precious little choice other than to swallow their pride and suffer the rounds. Along the way, they perform in a church nativity play at the behest of Kate's mother's (Mary Steenburgen) pushy pastor Phil (Dwight Yoakam), contend with Brad's gruff father, Howard (Robert Duvall), and bullying brothers, Dallas (Jon Favreau) and Denver (Tim McGraw) -- a pair of trained UFC fighters -- and pay a visit to Brad's spacy, New Age mother, Paula (Sissy Spacek), who recently made waves in the family circle by marrying her son's childhood friend. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A young man's moment of triumph is spoiled when he gets kidnapped before he can impress his father in this black comedy. Eli Michaelson (Alan Rickman), a well-respected scientist, has learned that he's won the Nobel Prize in chemistry, which is a mixed blessing for his friends and family; while Eli's ego is a bit strong under the best of circumstances, this affirmation of his talent and intelligence has made him insufferable. Eli's wife, Sarah (Mary Steenburgen), a talented forensic psychiatrist, is more than annoyed by Eli's fondness for extramarital affairs (and lack of concern about hiding them), while his son, Barkley (Bryan Greenberg), has spent much of his life struggling to live up to his dad's expectations, with little success. Barkley is about to receive his Ph.D, just in time for his father's prize ceremony, when he's abducted by a pair of hapless crooks. The kidnappers demand Eli's two-million-dollar Nobel honorarium in exchange for Barkley's safe return. Also starring Bill Pullman, Danny DeVito, Eliza Dushku, and Shawn Hatosy, Nobel Son received its world premiere at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Tyrone (Danny Glover) is the proprietor of the Honeydripper juke joint. When business at the once-popular club begins to trail off and Tyrone hires unpredictable electric guitarist Sonny (Gary Clark Jr.) against his better judgment, Tyrone's last-ditch bid to draw in crowds during harvest time has surprising results that neither desperate Tyrone nor the ambitious Sonny could have ever anticipated. Blues guitarist Keb' Mo' co-stars in the film, which was written and directed by John Sayles. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A small-town beauty queen and an unlicensed mortician set out across the Texas plains on a journey of self-discovery in director Will Geiger's meditative road movie. Annabelle has never known what life is like outside the fiercely competitive world of beauty pageants; her mother's constant demands of physical perfection a never-ending stream of acute, soul-crushing criticism. Elvis doesn't have his mortician's license, but that doesn't stop his eccentric father from putting him to work in the family mortuary. When the sting of her mother's words becomes too painful to endure, Annabelle flees to the town mortuary knowing that is the last place her mother would come looking for her. When Elvis discovers the beautiful Annabelle cowering among the corpses, he sweeps her away on an impromptu road trip so that the pair may free themselves from their daily drudgery long enough to discover their own identities and realize what they really want out of life. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Karen Moncrieff, the Independent Spirit Award-nominated director of Blue Car, assembles a stellar cast comprised of Toni Collette, James Franco, Giovanni Ribisi, and Mary Beth Hurt to tell the tale of one girl's mysterious death, and how the tragic actions of the people who surround her eventually led to her savage murder. When the brutalized and lifeless body of a once-vital young girl (Brittany Murphy) is discovered, a community is scarred by the unspeakable horror of seeing one of their own so viciously desecrated. But the discovery of the body is just the beginning of the story, and now as a wife uncovers her husband's dark secret, a mother searches frantically for her missing daughter, and a series of other, seemingly unrelated occurrences slowly begin to converge, the heartbreaking truth behind a tragic act of violence will shake the very foundation of a once close-knit community. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

An average 16-year-old, Joan is going through the growing pains typical of any teenager. But after she and her family (Joe Mantegna, Mary Steenburgen, Jason Ritter, Michael Welch) relocate to Arcadia, her life gets especially interesting when God starts paying her visits.

Being "the chosen one" isn't exactly a barrel of laughs for teenager Joan Girardi (Amber Tamblyn) during the first season of the critically acclaimed CBS drama series Joan of Arcadia. For one thing, poor Joan never knows when God will choose to have one of his many conversations with her -- nor is she ever quite certain in what guise God will appear (a little boy, a street person, the school lunch lady, etc.). Also, the things God asks Joan to do don't always make sense; sure, she understands his motives when he persuades her to volunteer to work with underprivileged, but why in his name does he want her to join the school debate team? Finally, Joan has a tough time keeping her celestial chit-chats a secret from her police-detective dad, Will (Joe Mantegna); her art-teacher mom, Helen (Mary Steenburgen); her nerdy brother Luke (Mike Welch); her paraplegic older brother Kevin (Jason Ritter); and her somewhat befuddled artist boyfriend, Adam (Christopher Marquette). In the course of season one, Joan tries to help her dad Will capture a serial killer; she is shamed by God into enrolling in an advanced-placement chem class; she learns to play chess, a move that is linked with her dad's investigation of a missing child case; her brother Kevin ever so gradually adjusts to life in a wheelchair, though mom Helen never gives up hope of a miracle (the one issue that God hasn't entirely broached yet!); Will later lands a newspaper job, possibly via divine intervention, possibly not; God sees to it that Joan comes out of her shell by prodding her to try out for the pom-pom squad; Joan becomes mighty uncomfortable (one might say hot under the collar) when certain parties draw comparisons between her and another Joan of "Arc" fame; an acquaintance of Joan's dies, leading to some very pointed queries during her next conversation with the almighty; a cryptic request leads Joan to believe that God wants "something more" from their relationship; and in the season finale, Joan's mood swings lead her parents to wonder just where she goes and whom she's with when she's not at home -- and in so doing, realign their own attitudes toward faith in a greater power. ~ Rovi

Not a sequel to 1998's Hope Floats, Hope Springs is a romantic comedy based on the 2001 novel New Cardiff, the first new book in over 20 years by Charles Webb, author of The Graduate. Directed and written for the screen by Mark Herman (Brassed Off), the film stars Colin Firth as lovelorn British artist Colin Ware. After being left by his fiancée Vera (Minnie Driver), Colin takes to sulking about in a small Vermont hotel run by Joanie Fisher (Mary Steenburgen). When Joanie becomes aware of Colin's broken heart, she decides to match him up with a local woman named Mandy (Heather Graham). But just as romance begins to ensue between Colin and Mandy, Vera suddenly pops back into the picture with intentions of rekindling her relationship with Colin. Oliver Platt heads up the supporting cast that also includes Frank Collison and Chad Faust. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

Small-town insurance adjustor Macbeth (Cary Elwes) is swindled into signing over a one-million-dollar policy to trailer park harlot Sally (Mary Steenburgen), who then hires a seductive hit woman, Jupiter (Elaine Hendrix), to kill him. But the ruthless Jupiter, who specializes in slaying cheating husbands, falls for hapless, poetry-reciting Macbeth, so Sally goes to Plan B. Before long, the entire town of deeply disturbed eccentrics is involved. ~ Buzz McClain, Rovi