Stanley Tucci Movies
Like many another contemporary movie and TV favorite, Stanley Tucci is a graduate of the drama department at SUNY-Purchase. Tucci made his film bow in 1985's Prizzi's Honor, after which he specialized in playing lowlifes and scuzzbags, despite his offscreen credentials as a loyal friend and loving family man. Some of his more memorable appearances were as Rick Pinzolo in TV's Wiseguy (1987-1989), a minor-league thug named Vernon in Beethoven (1992), and a Middle-Eastern assassin in The Pelican Brief (1993). Tucci acquired a fan following of sorts for his slimy year-long role of Richard Cross on the weekly TV series Murder One (1995).In 1996, Tucci broke loose from his established screen persona by playing an ambitious Italian-American restaurateur in Big Night, the most delightfully "gastronomic" film since Like Water for Chocolate. The art-house favorite was a sheer labor of love for Tucci, who served as its producer, co-wrote its script with his cousin Joe Tropiano, and shared directorial duties with his friend Campbell Scott. Tucci again directed two years later with The Impostors, a farcical comedy that cast him and longtime friend Oliver Platt as two stowaways on an ocean liner. Unlike Big Night, however, the film did not do well with audiences or critics. After starring in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1998) as Puck and In Too Deep (1999) as a police supervisor, Tucci again stepped behind the camera, this time to direct Joe Gould's Secret (2000). A historical drama about an eccentric man (Ian Holm) living on the streets of Greenwich Village, it received a very enthusiastic reception at the 2000 Sundance Festival, where it premiered. The early 2000s seemed to be a winning period for the versatile actor, with Tucci also taking home the Best Supporting Actor in a television movie award for his role in Conspiracy (2001). That same year he appeared in America's Sweethearts as an intense movie mogul. He continued doing solid work even when the finished films were sometimes lacking. He played in the Jennifer Lopez hit Maid in Manhattan, Sam Mendes' Road to Perdition, the American remake of Shall We Dance?, and landed his largest role in a major Hollywood production when Steven Spielberg cast him as the ambitious, officious manager of The Terminal. Tucci lent his voice to the animated film The Robots in 2005, and the next year earned solid notices for his work opposite as a fashion magazine editor loyal to the diva editor in chief Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1994
- R
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Jennifer Jason Leigh offers an acclaimed performance as humorist Dorothy Parker, who together with such 1920s luminaries as Robert Benchley, Alexander Woollcott and George S. Kaufman, was a charter member of the legendary Algonquin Round Table. The story is related in flashback form, as Mrs. Parker, in Hollywood to cowrite the 1937 feature A Star is Born with her second husband Alan Campbell (Peter Gallagher), recalls her glory days as an Algonquinite. A great deal of attention is afforded Parker's vituperative bon mots, her alcoholism, her self-destructiveness, her suicide attempts, and her affairs with such literary contemporaries as Charles MacArthur (an uncharacteristically unsympathetic Matthew Broderick) and Robert E. Sherwood (Nick Cassavetes). The one person Parker truly seems to care about is humorist Robert Benchley (Campbell Scott), who prefers to keep their friendship platonic. Director Alan Rudolph attempts to convey the ambience of the 1920s by having dozens of that decade's luminaries appear in fleeting cameos, from Will Rogers (Keith Carradine) to Harpo Marx. Also featured in Mrs. Parker are Tom McGowan as the waspish Alexander Woollcott and Andrew McCarthy as Dorothy's near-invisible first husband, Eddie Parker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jennifer Jason Leigh, Matthew Broderick, (more)
Loosely based on a true story, this uneven romantic comedy depicts the unexpected way in which a winning lottery ticket unites a pair of strangers. Waitress Yvonne (Bridget Fonda) first meets police officer Charlie (Nicolas Cage) when he eats in her restaurant. Realizing that he doesn't have enough money to give her a tip, Charlie promises Yvonne to split any winnings from the lottery ticket he just bought. The skeptical Yvonne dismisses Charlie as just another cheapskate until he wins four million dollars and, much to Yvonne's surprise, decides to honor the agreement. His action becomes front page news and wins public acclaim, but it doesn't go over nearly so well with Charlie's wife Muriel (Rosie Perez), who has her own plans for the money. Muriel's shallow, greedy behavior disgusts Charlie, who finds himself spending more and more time with Yvonne, developing a friendship that threatens to blossom into something more. Jane Anderson's screenplay stresses the relationship between Charlie and Yvonne's characters over the situation's comic potential; this earnest tone will please romance fans but may disappoint viewers expecting the farcical comedy of writer/director Andrew Bergman's and Cage's previous effort, Honeymoon in Vegas. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicolas Cage, Bridget Fonda, (more)
Embroiled in an affair with Thomas Callahan (Sam Shephard), her alcoholic professor, precocious 24-year-old Tulane University law student Darby Shaw (Julia Roberts) writes up an insightful theory about the recent murder of two Supreme Court justices, one of whom, Abraham Rosenberg (Hume Cronyn), served as Callahan's mentor. When Callahan shares this so-called "Pelican Brief" with buddy Gavin Verheek (John Heard), an FBI lawyer, the document makes its way to White House flack Fletcher Coal (Tony Goldwyn), who believes it could topple the current administration. When Callahan is murdered and the President (Robert Culp) convinces the FBI to hold off on investigating Darby's theory, the resourceful student must go into hiding, stalked by relentless assassin Khamel (Stanley Tucci). Her only hope of escaping Callahan's fate and proving her theory lies in Washington investigative reporter Gray Grantham (Denzel Washington), who's already had one confidential source back out of sharing information about the assassinations. This John Grisham adaptation is fairly faithful to the best-selling novel, but the book's interracial romance between Shaw and Grantham was left out of the script (or at least the finished product), leaving many progressive viewers annoyed at Hollywood's conservatism. Fans of HBO's Sex and the City will notice one of its future stars, Cynthia Nixon, in a small role as one of Darby's New Orleans classmates. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, (more)
Nick and Nora Charles are updated to a touchy-feely couple of the 1990s who take a break from the action to raise their eleven-month-old child. Kathleen Turner and Dennis Quaid star as Jane and Jeff Blue, two CIA super-agents who have abandoned the daily grind to devote quality time to their baby but find trouble on vacation in New Orleans. First a group of muggers try to take advantage of Jeff as he walks down the street with his baby in tow. Jeff teaches the boys a humiliating lesson, but one of the creepy bad guys, Muerte (Stanley Tucci), vows revenge, and he spends the rest of the movie dogging Jeff and Jane and getting kicked in the teeth in the process. But Muerte is small potatoes compared to Novacek (Fiona Shaw), a former Czech agent. Convinced to return to work by their superiors, Jeff and Jane have to catch Novacek red-handed buying illegal explosives from a New Orleans traitor so that the government can send her back to the Czech republic. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathleen Turner, Dennis Quaid, (more)
Alexandre Rockwell's quirky autobiographical comedy stars Steve Buscemi as Adolpho Rollo, a would-be screenwriter who is obsessed with getting his 500-page script "Unconditional Surrender" produced. Desperate for money, he places an ad for financial backing, which is answered by con man Joe (Seymour Cassel). The film was shot in color, but was released theatrically in black & white. Both verisions eventually made their way to home video release. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Buscemi, Seymour Cassel, (more)
Feeling that something is lacking in their lives, the family of suburbanite Charles Grodin adopts a stray St. Bernard puppy. The cute lite beast grows up to be the less-than-cute Beethoven, a sloppy, slobbery, oversized and extremely destructive animal. Beethoven also brings with him a lot of hidden baggage in the form of evil veterinarian Dean Jones, who'll stop at nothing to steal Beethoven for the purposes of his insidious lab experiment. Several sequels followed, beginning with 1993 Beethoven's Second. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Grodin, Bonnie Hunt, (more)
- 1992
- R
Howard Franklin wrote and directed this film noir character study based on the famed New York Daily News photographer Weegee. Joe Pesci plays a character named Bernstein, a freelance photographer for the New York City tabloids of the 1940s. His life is dedicated to his work; with a police radio under the dashboard of his car and a darkroom in his trunk, he quickly and efficiently races to the scene of crimes, accidents and murders to snap photographs of gangsters, politicians, cops, and prostitutes, which he promptly delivers to the newspapers. His knack for arriving at a crime scene before the police earns him the nickname the Great Bernzini. The trouble begins for Bernstein when he agrees to look up a gangster for Kay (Barbara Hershey), the sexy owner of a fancy Manhattan nightclub. After making inquiries, Bernstein traces the man Kay is looking for, but he turns up dead. When he informs the police, he becomes a suspect in the murder; it also turns out that the FBI is interested the case. Bernstein then uncovers an elaborate conspiracy concerning gas rationing, the mob, and the government. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Pesci, Barbara Hershey, (more)
In this quirky romantic comedy about soul transference, Alec Baldwin plays Peter Hoskins, the straight-laced head of the microfiche department at a company that publishes scientific journals. When he meets a free-spirited, sleep-deprived bartender named Rita (Meg Ryan), the opposites attract and launch into a round-the-clock romance characterized by private jokes and an intense connection that defies description. When the two decide to marry, however, an unforeseeable cosmic occurrence entirely alters the nature of their relationship. Those who claim that marriage changes a person couldn't be more right in this case, as a confused old man (Sydney Walker) wanders into the wedding reception and plants a single kiss on the lips of the new bride. Longing for the youthfulness he sees in the happy couple, the man inadvertently causes the two to switch bodies during the smooch. Thinking no one will believe the story, Rita (now hidden inside a cancer-ridden octogenarian) leaves the premises before causing any more of a stir, while the old man in Rita's body is whisked off with Peter on their honeymoon before anyone is the wiser. Soon, Peter begins noticing that his new bride is an entirely different person, but can't figure out why -- and wonders if it's just a natural dose of cold feet. When he can no longer ignore the total dissimilarity, Peter begins suspecting that something supernatural has occurred, and wondering how he can restore his wife to her former self, especially when her body's new occupant resists the effort and goes on the lam. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alec Baldwin, Meg Ryan, (more)
Shakespeare's Macbeth is transplanted to a '90s New York gangland in this 1991 film. A hit man (John Turturro) is convinced to murder his boss (Rod Steiger) after his future as the head of the organization is ensured by three fortune-tellers. With the help of his domineering wife (Kathie Borowitz), the hit man murders his way to the top, but then faces the consequences. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Turturro, Katherine Borowitz, (more)
In this film version of E. L. Doctorow's Billy Bathgate, Loren Dean plays the title character, a street-smart kid who inveigles his way into the confidence of 1930s gangster Dutch Schultz (Dustin Hoffman). Billy is ordered to look after Schultz' new moll, Drew Preston (Nicole Kidman), while Dutch fends off tax evasion charges and such up-and-coming rivals as Lucky Luciano (Stanley Tucci). Even though they know they're playing with dynamite, Billy and Drew fall in love. In attempting to escape Schultz' wrath, Billy succeeds only in putting himself in the thick of a gun battle between his boss and Luciano. When "Charley Lucky" emerges triumphant, Billy is forced once again to rely on his wits to escape being sent to the bottom of the briny in a cement overcoat. Bruce Willis shows up in an extended cameo as Dutch Schultz' former business associate. Billy Bathgate was adapted for the screen by British playwright Tom Stoppard. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dustin Hoffman, Nicole Kidman, (more)
Bill Murray co-directed (along with Howard Franklin) this mixture of The Out-of-Towners and After Hours, concerning Grimm (Bill Murray), a frustrated city planner who is fed up with the corruption and venality of New York City. Getting together a couple of accomplices -- Phyllis (Geena Davis), who admires Grimm for his audacity, and Loomis (Randy Quaid), a follower to Grimm's leader since grade school -- Grimm decides to rob a bank, pocket the money, get out of town and take off to tropical splendor. Dressing in a clown suit, Grimm devises a unique way to rob a bank -- taking a group of hostages at the bank and inviting the police to surround the bank. Amazingly, although pursued by a police chief (Jason Robards), the trio manage to pull off the robbery. However, the problems really start when they try to get from the bank to the airport -- which proves to be more difficult than the robbery. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Murray, Geena Davis, (more)
- 1990
In this romantic drama set on the Hawaiian Islands, a police detective pursues both some ruthless criminal and a comely prosecuting attorney. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1989
- R
Based on a novel by Thomas Berger, The Feud is a lampoonish look at 1950s manners and mores. There is no love lost between the neighboring communities of Milville and Hornbeck. This is largely due to the animosity between two large and demonstrative families: the Bullards and the Bealers. In the tradition of the Hatfields and McCoys (and also Laurel and Hardy), minor irritations slowly escalate into all-out warfare. The humor is very dark at times, sometimes bordering on the "sick": this is Norman Rockwel as filtered by Hieronymus Bosch. Because the actors play their roles in a broad, slapsticky manner, The Feud is liable to turn off as many viewers as it attracts, but that's the peril of being a "cult film." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- René Auberjonois, Ron McLarty, (more)
Based on the stories by Tama Janowitz, this film follows the relationships and problems of a group of artists struggling to survive in New York City. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bernadette Peters, Nick Corri, (more)
- 1989
- R
This film focuses on the trials and tribulations of Ira (Todd Solondz), who is an unsuccessful playwright trying to find himself in New York City. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Todd Solondz, Max Cantor, (more)
A quadriplegic former athlete finds his darkest urges being acted out by an animal familiar in this psychological horror film. When Allan Mann (Jason Beghe) loses the use of his legs and arms in an accident, he becomes bitter -- no surprise given that his girlfriend dumps him for his surgeon, his new nurse (Christine Forrest) is a shrew, and his smothering mother (Joyce Van Patten) keeps threatening to move in and take care of him. Enter Kate McNeil (Melanie Parker), a scientist who is working to provide handicapped people with highly trained animal helpers. Soon Allan is bonding with Ella, an adorable Capuchin monkey, who, unbeknownst to him, has been injected with human brain tissue by drug-addicted scientist Geoffrey Fisher (John Pankow). At first Allan loves little Ella, but the monkey seems to grow jealous as Allan slowly develops a romance with the beautiful Kate. Meanwhile, Allan begins having strange dreams in which he experiences the world from a monkey's-eye point of view. These visions culminate in a fiery nightmare -- the same night Allan's ex-girlfriend and her new lover die in a house fire. Realizing the growing link between his own inner demons and the violence occurring around him, Allan tries to sever the connection with Ella. But the limitations of even his high-tech wheelchair give the psychic primate the upper hand. Written and directed by horror veteran George Romero, Monkey Shines re-teams the filmmaker with his frequent collaborator, Christine Forrest. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Beghe, John Pankow, (more)
A year after appearing in the box-office sleeper Shanghai Surprise, pop superstar Madonna starred in the screwball comedy Who's That Girl? She plays Nikki Finn, who is being released from prison after serving a four-year sentence for a murder she didn't commit. Meanwhile, wealthy lawyer Loudon (Griffin Dunne) is about to get married that afternoon to the snobby Wendy (Haviland Morris), the daughter of Simon Worthington (John McMartin). Worthington does not approve of the wedding and he wants Nikki out of town as soon as possible, so he sends Loudon to collect Nikki and take her to the bus station. Instead, the flamboyant Nikki seeks her revenge while trying to find out what happened to her friend Johnny, which causes Loudon a lot of trouble. Naturally, wild action ensues -- some of it involving an escaped Cougar belonging to Loudon's boss, the millionaire animal collector Montgomery Bell (John Mills) -- and Loudon having to choose between the prim Wendy and the unpredictable Nikki. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Madonna, Griffin Dunne, (more)
Richard Condon's delicious black comedy was lovingly translated to the screen by legendary director John Huston in one of his last movies. The Prizzis are a powerful family of mobsters, as devoted to their code of honor as they are to bending laws and breaking skulls. Charley Partanna (Jack Nicholson), a Prizzi hit man, is not quite so honorable, at least where affairs of the heart are concerned. While attending a mob wedding, he throws over his longtime sweetheart Maerose Prizzi (Anjelica Huston) in favor of gorgeous Irene Walker (Kathleen Turner). Supposedly a tax consultant, Irene is actually a paid killer like Charley--and this endears her to him all the more. But when it turns out that Irene has betrayed the Prizzis, Charley finds himself on the horns of a dilemma: does he kill Irene or marry her? Fortuitously, Irene helps Charley make up his mind by attempting to kill him. The film's strongest suit is its matter-of-fact approach to Charley and Irene's profession; in the movie's most memorable scene, the two lovers calmly discuss their dinner plans while disposing of the corpse of their latest victim. Nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, Prizzi's Honor won Best Supporting Actress for Huston's daughter Anjelica, playing the "art imitates life" role of Nicholson's cast-off girl friend. The win made Anjelica, John, and Walter Huston the only three generations of one family all to win Oscars. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Nicholson, Kathleen Turner, (more)
