DCSIMG
 
 

Celia Weston Movies

Born and raised in South Carolina, character actress Celia Weston has played many a tough Southern gal despite her theater training in both London and New York. Working both on and off Broadway in the '70s, she moved over to television as the snappy Mel's Diner waitress Jolene Hunnicut on the CBS sitcom Alice. After that, she appeared in Southern-tinged feature films like Honky Tonk Freeway and Stars and Bars. Also adept at playing matronly types, she played the mother of Beastie Boy Adam Horowitz in Lost Angels, the mother of one of the victims in Dead Man Walking, and the supposed mother of Ben Stiller in Flirting With Disaster. Back on the stage in 1997, she earned a Tony nomination for her role as Southern Jew Reba Freitag in Alfred Uhry's Last Night at Ballyhoo and returned to Broadway in 2000 as Mom in the revival of Sam Shepard's True West. She made a comeback to films as well with supporting roles in Ride With the Devil, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and Snow Falling on Cedars. In 2001, she played a Southern belle mental patient in K-PAX followed by the gossip-hound Mona in Far From Heaven, the Fowler's family friend in In the Bedroom, and the guardian of teenaged Bruce Banner in The Hulk. In 2003 she was back to the small screen as a cast member on the Showtime original series Out of Order. Her career continued to gain momentum throughout the decade thanks to roles in films like The Village, Observe & Report, The Box, and Knight and Day, then in 2010 Weston beat out Delta Burke, Dianne Wiest and Kathy Bates to secure the role of Cameron's mother on the ABC sitcom Modern Family. That same year Weston joined the cast of TNT's Memphis Beat, though the series was cancelled after just two seasons.
~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
2010  
R  
Add The Extra Man to Queue Add The Extra Man to top of Queue  
A lonely writer quits his job at a Princeton prep school and sets his sights on New York, where he forges an unlikely bond with an eccentric playwright who now earns his living as an escort for wealthy Manhattan widows. Upon arriving in New York City, Louis Ives (Paul Dano) quickly lands a job at an environmental magazine and leases a room from Henry Harrison (Kevin Kline), a celebrated playwright without a penny to his name. Later, as Louis attempts to strike up a relationship with his environmentally conscious co-worker Mary (Katie Holmes), his urban education gets a sizable jump-start thanks to Henry, who spends his evenings with high-society widows hanging off both arms. As the bond between Henry and Louis strengthens, the young protégé realizes he isn't the only one gaining something from their unusual friendship. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Paul DanoKevin Kline, (more)
 
2010  
PG13  
Add Knight and Day to Queue Add Knight and Day to top of Queue  
A single girl en route to a family wedding gets swept up in a fight between a rogue government agent and the FBI in this globe-trotting action comedy from director James Mangold (Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma). June Havens (Cameron Diaz) is preparing to board a flight back home for her sister's wedding when she literally bumps into Roy Miller (Tom Cruise) in the middle of a busy airport. A few minutes later, they're making small talk on the plane when June excuses herself to the bathroom, and all hell breaks loose in the fuselage. By the time June emerges Roy has killed everybody on board, including the pilots. After crash-landing the plane in a darkened cornfield, Roy tells June that she should expect a visit from government agents, but warns her that by cooperating with them she risks almost certain death. The following day, Roy's prediction comes true when June is confronted by an imposing gang of government spooks who come under heavy fire while bombarding her with questions about her mysterious traveling companion. Suddenly, Roy is back, and he's once again whisking June away to safety. But what do the agents want, and why do they insist that Roy is the one to be feared, and not them? Before long the girl who never traveled far from home is off on a wild adventure that will take her from the tropics to Austria, France, and Spain. Somewhere amidst all of the confusion and gunfire, June begins to forge a bond with Roy. Unfortunately, it's never quite clear whether her unpredictable protector is one of the good guys or the bad guys, and by the time Roy reveals that he's attempting to protect a valuable new energy source, there's no time for questions. Paul Dano, Viola Davis, Peter Sarsgaard, Maggie Grace, and Marc Blucas co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Tom CruiseCameron Diaz, (more)
 
2009  
R  
Add Happy Tears to Queue Add Happy Tears to top of Queue  
Teeth director Michael Lichtenstein takes a sharp turn from teen-oriented satire to mature family drama with this semi-autobiographical story concerning a pair of grown-up sisters who return to their family home in order to care for their ailing father. Jayne (Parker Posey) and Laura (Demi Moore) have long since moved out of their family home when they discover that their father's (Rip Torn) health has taken a turn for the worse. Returning to Pittsburgh in order to care for their slowly degenerating dad, the sisters quickly realize that their father is in total denial about his condition. Jayne has been shielded from the harsher side of life since she was just a little girl, and now as Laura begins pushing her sister to accept their bleak reality, their father takes a seedy lover (Ellen Barkin), who immediately rubs the girls the wrong way. But dealing with the father becomes the least of Jayne's and Laura's worries when the drama in their personal lives drags the demons of their past up to the surface and out into the open. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Demi MooreParker Posey, (more)
 
2009  
R  
Add Observe and Report to Queue Add Observe and Report to top of Queue  
The Foot Fist Way director Jody Hill takes the helm for this Seth Rogen comedy concerning an ambitious mall cop who competes with a seasoned detective to bust an elusive flasher. Make a wrong move at Forest Ridge Mall, and you'll have to answer to no-nonsense security head Ronnie Barnhardt (Rogen). Ronnie sees skateboarders as the blight of society, and any shoplifter unfortunate enough to summon his wrath will be promptly busted and booked. Sure, Ronnie may suffer delusions of grandeur when it comes to his job, but perhaps with a little effort he'll eventually get to trade in his flashlight and patch for a gun and a badge. When a flasher begins tormenting the shoppers at Forest Ridge Mall, Ronnie seizes the opportunity to showcase his detective skills and impress gorgeous makeup counter girl Brandi (Anna Faris), who can't be bothered to give him a second glance. Perhaps by catching the culprit, Ronnie will finally earn himself a prized position over at the police academy. But the one thing Ronnie hadn't counted on was competition, and when Detective Harrison (Ray Liotta) of the Conway Police makes it his personal mission to nab the flasher, the two rivals begin working around the clock to crack the case before their counterpart. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Seth RogenRay Liotta, (more)
 
2009  
PG13  
Add The Box to Queue Add The Box to top of Queue  
Screen siren Cameron Diaz and former X-Man James Marsden star in the supernatural horror picture The Box (2008), directed by Donnie Darko cult fave Richard Kelly. The film's premise involves a strange and ominous box granted to a young couple by a mysterious stranger (Frank Langella). They are informed that pressing various buttons on the box will grant them riches while killing a person unknown to them in the process. Executive produced by Ted Hamm, the film was adapted by Kelly from Richard Matheson's 1970 short story Button, Button. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Cameron DiazJames Marsden, (more)
 
2007  
PG13  
Add The Invasion to Queue Add The Invasion to top of Queue  
A mysterious, mind-altering epidemic has infected humankind, and when a Washington, D.C. psychiatrist discovers that the outbreak seems to be extraterrestrial in origin, she struggles to save her son from infection in this sci-fi thriller starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, and directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel (Das Experiment). The space shuttle has crashed, and investigators assigned to explore the wreckage have found something unimaginable in the debris -- something from the deepest reaches of outer space. Everyone who comes into contact with it soon begins to transform in ways that can't be explained by modern science. While their physical appearance remains completely unaltered, their emotions seem to be drained and their actions become strangely inhuman. The only people who know the truth about this extraterrestrial epidemic are Washington, D.C. psychiatrist Carol Bennell (Kidman) and her longtime friend Dr. Ben Driscoll (Craig). It seems that the alien virus attacks people in their sleep, and by the time they awaken, the transformation has already taken place. The contagion is spreading rapidly, and as more people fall victim to its eerie effects by the hour, it becomes impossible to differentiate the infected from those who can still be trusted. When Carol realizes that her young son may hold the only hope for saving the human race, she struggles to remain awake long enough to find the boy and prevent planet Earth from becoming host to a terrifying new breed of extraterrestrials. Based on the book The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney, The Invasion was written by David Kajganich and co-stars Jeffrey Wright and Jeremy Northam. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Nicole KidmanDaniel Craig, (more)
 
2007  
R  
Add Joshua to Queue Add Joshua to top of Queue  
Sam Rockwell and Vera Farmiga star in director George Ratliff's uncomfortable psychological thriller Joshua, as Brad and Abby Cairn, an affluent young stockbroker and his wife, raising children in New York City. Their firstborn, the nine-year-old Joshua (Jacob Kogan), is a frighteningly intelligent child -- to such a degree that he thinks and acts decades ahead of his age. Nearly always clad in formal wear and demonstrating limitless brilliance as a pianist -- with a marked predilection for "dissonant" classical pieces -- Joshua gravitates toward his gay aesthete uncle (Dallas Roberts) as a close friend, but distances himself from his immediate kin -- particularly when Abby brings a newborn baby sister home from the hospital and unwisely alienates the young tyke. As the days pass, one at a time, the mood at the house regresses from healthy and happy to strange, unsettled, and disorienting; meanwhile, bizarre events transpire. As the baby's whines drive an already strained Abby to the point of a nervous breakdown, Joshua devolves from eccentric to downright sociopathic behavior, discarding all of his toys, disemboweling a stuffed animal, and killing off pets. One at a time, family members also begin to suffer tragic fates -- but are they Joshua's fevered and psychotic doings or merely the result of happenstance? ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Sam RockwellVera Farmiga, (more)
 
2007  
PG  
Add No Reservations to Queue Add No Reservations to top of Queue  
Carol Fuchs adapts writer/director Sandra Nettelbeck's screenplay for the 2001 romantic drama Mostly Martha for this Scott Hicks directed remake starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart, and Patricia Clarkson. Kate Armstrong (Jones) is the master chef who is equally intense both in and out of the kitchen. Though Kate's "Type A" personality serves her well when whipping up meals in the trendy Manhattan eatery where she has made a name for herself, it threatens to sink her when she is named as the guardian of her nine-year-old niece Zoe (Little Miss Sunshine's Abigail Breslin). To complicate matters, an impetuous new sous chef named Nick Palmer (Eckhart) has recently joined the kitchen staff and his freewheeling personality seems to stand in direct opposition to Kate's unwavering perfectionism. Yet, despite the fact that they couldn't be more different on the surface, there's no denying the strong attraction between Kate and Nick. As the rivalry between the competitive cooks gradually gives way to romance, the lessons learned by compromising in the kitchen reveal to Kate the importance of learning to openly express herself in order to truly connect with Zoe and find romance with the good-natured Nick. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Catherine Zeta-JonesAaron Eckhart, (more)
 
2005  
R  
Add Junebug to Queue Add Junebug to top of Queue  
Phil Morrison, who collaborated with screenwriter Angus MacLachlan for his acclaimed 1990 short, Tater Tomater, joins forces with MacLachlan again for his feature-film debut, Junebug. Junebug takes place in rural North Carolina. Madeleine (Embeth Davidtz), a sophisticated Chicagoan who owns a gallery devoted to "outsider art," goes south in an effort to woo an eccentric painter (Frank Hoyt Taylor) to her gallery. She brings along her husband, George (Alessandro Nivola), a native of the area, and the couple stays with his family. Peg (Celia Weston), George's mother, gives Madeleine a rather chilly greeting, and seems to think she's a poor match for her eldest son, while his father, Eugene (Scott Wilson), is a bit more welcoming, in his quiet way. George's younger brother, Johnny (Ben McKenzie), is still living at home with his very pregnant wife, Ashley (Amy Adams), and seems to feel nothing but resentment for George. For her part, Ashley is a gregarious young woman, and she's immediately smitten with her "new sister." Junebug was selected by the Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center for inclusion in the 2005 edition of New Directors/New Films. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Amy AdamsEmbeth Davidtz, (more)
 
2004  
 
The daughter of a philandering father (whose own father likewise "played the field"), successful New Orleans therapist Danielle Montet (Kim Delaney) is nonetheless secure in her happy marriage to her husband Jim (Kyle Secor). In fact, she is so content in her matrimonial state that she can't help but feel pity for the troubled husbands and wives who come in to her office for help and advice. But circumstances are radically altered when, after meeting a handsome younger man named Miguel (Cristian De La Fuente), she enters into a torrid affair with the man. Now Danielle finds herself in the same predicament as her cheating father: No matter what decision she makes vis-à-vis her love life, someone is going to be irreparably hurt--and she has absolutely no control over her own libido. Made for cable, Infidelity originally aired April 19, 2004 on the Lifetime channel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

 Read More

 
2004  
PG13  
Add The Village to Queue Add The Village to top of Queue  
M. Night Shyamalan, the creative mind behind The Sixth Sense and Signs, wrote and directed this characteristically atmospheric thriller. The rustic village of Covington is a small town in rural Pennsylvania that is home to 60 souls. The citizens of Covington lead a quiet and peaceful life, but not without an unusual caveat -- terrible creatures lurk just outside the borders of the village, and the people of Covington have reached an agreement of sorts with the beasts, in which they are allowed to go about their business as long as they never cross the village's boundaries. However, this precarious balance is upset when a headstrong young man, Lucius Hunt (Joaquin Phoenix), decides to find out what lies outside Covington, and unwittingly invites the wrath of the creatures upon the town. The Village also stars Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt, Adrien Brody, Judy Greer, and Bryce Dallas Howard; both Kirsten Dunst and Ashton Kutcher were at one time attached to the project, but both left the cast before filming began. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Joaquin PhoenixBryce Dallas Howard, (more)
 
2003  
 
Add Undermind to Queue Add Undermind to top of Queue  
A young lawyer becomes trapped in an eerie alternate reality in this haunting psychological thriller from first-time filmmaker Nevil Dwek. Derek (Sam Trammell) seems to have the perfect life. A 27-year-old lawyer with an impressive career and remarkable talent in the courtroom, he's on the fast track to success when he awakens in a strange apartment next to an unknown woman who inexplicably refers to him as "Zane." Though everything in this altered reality seems familiar, nothing seems right, and Derek soon discovers that he and Zane have somehow traded identities. Forced to see life from the other side of the spectrum, Derek and Zane must now reevaluate their entire lives to find out who they truly are on the inside, and what they aspire to become in a world where nothing is certain. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Sam Trammell
 
2003  
PG13  
Add How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days to Queue Add How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days to top of Queue  
Two New Yorkers fight the battle of the sexes to a standstill (without entirely realizing it) in this romantic comedy. Andie (Kate Hudson) is a young journalist who longs to cover political stories, but in the meantime she finds herself writing for a women's magazine called Composure, where her editor Lana Jong (Bebe Neuwirth) has her writing a fluffy advice column. After hearing of the latest dating laments of her relationship-challenged friend Michelle (Kathryn Hahn), Andie sells Lana on the idea of writing a piece on the things women do to alienate the men they love, which she'll demonstrate by winning and then driving away a man in a mere ten days. Meanwhile, Ben (Matthew McConaughey) is an advertising man who wants to land a prestige diamond account at his firm. Ben is competing with his pals, Spears (Michael Michele) and Green (Shalom Harlow), for the assignment, so Ben tells his boss Phillip Warren (Robert Klein) that he's the man for the job because he understands the fair sex so well he can make any woman fall for him in less than two weeks. As fate would have it, Andie and Ben end up choosing one another for their mutual assignments, with neither knowing about each other's secret agenda as Ben strives to hold on to Andie while she does everything in her power to annoy him. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days was loosely based on the self-help book of the same name (subtitled The Universal Don't of Dating) written by Michele Alexander and Jeannie Long. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Kate HudsonMatthew McConaughey, (more)
 
2003  
 
This limited-run cable series starred Eric Stoltz as screenwriter Mark Colms and Felicity Huffman as his wife and writing partner, Lorna. While working on an inconsequential movie project, Mark began entertaining notions of cheating on his spouse for the first time in their 16-year marriage and dallying with either his next-door neighbor Annie (Justine Bateman) or sexy soccer mom Danni (Kim Dickens). Meanwhile, Lorna, who suffered from chemical depression, did her best to keep working though beclouded by booze and medication. The fine line between reality and fantasy was constantly blurred as Mark, who saw his life as a never-ending movie, addressed the audience (whom he referred to as his "jury") and went off on flights of illusion and delusion, much of it R-rated in nature. William H. Macy, husband of series co-star Huffman, played Lorna's erstwhile drinking partner, washed-up Hollywood producer Steven, while director Peter Bogdanovich was seen as Mark and Danni's obnoxious boss. Created by the genuine husband-and-wife writing team of Wayne and Donna Powers, the weekly, 60-minute Out of Order was launched with a two-hour premiere on June 1, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Eric StoltzFelicity Huffman, (more)
 
2003  
PG13  
Add Hulk to Queue Add Hulk to top of Queue  
Ang Lee directs the live-action feature film The Hulk, based on the Marvel comic book created by Stan Lee and illustrated by Jack Kirby. Emotionally stunted Dr. Bruce Banner (Eric Bana) is part of a research team at the University of California at Berkeley. Corporate hustler Glenn Talbot (Josh Lucas) takes notice of the lab and makes plans to take it over. Then Bruce accidentally gets hit by an experimental ray and grows into a huge beast, destroying the lab in the process. A creepy janitor who claims to be his real father, Dr. David Banner (Nick Nolte), starts to secretly use the experimental ray on himself. He creates some mutant dogs and sends them after Bruce's lab mate and ex-girlfriend Betty Ross (Jennifer Connelly). After Bruce saves her life in the form of the Hulk, she lets her distant father, General Ross (Sam Elliott), take him to an abandoned army base in the desert. However, Glenn Talbot takes over the operation and wants to patent the creature's superpowers for his own profit, so he holds Bruce unconscious in an isolation tank. When provoked, Bruce turns into the Hulk and makes a break for San Francisco, leading to a desert chase sequence involving military aircraft, tanks, and bombs. Only the sight of Betty can make him turn back to his human form. When he is eventually captured, Dr. David Banner shows up for a final confrontation with his son and his old adversary, General Ross. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Eric BanaJennifer Connelly, (more)
 
2002  
R  
Add Igby Goes Down to Queue Add Igby Goes Down to top of Queue  
The cynical son of an upper-class New York family bedeviled by booze, pills and mental illness strikes out on his own in this caustic, darkly comic drama. Igby Slocomb (Kieran Culkin) and his older brother, Oliver (Ryan Phillippe), are are in the process of killing their mother, Mimi (Susan Sarandon). Flashbacks delineate Igby's troubled childhood: Speed-freak Mimi and her depressed husband, Jason (Bill Pullman), snipe at each other endlessly until Jason attempts suicide before Igby's very eyes and takes up residence in a mental hospital. Igby grows into a rebellious youth, gets kicked out of several boarding schools and ends up in a hellish military academy. After one failed escape attempt, he heads to New York City and hides out in the apartment of Rachel (Amanda Peet), the heroin-addled mistress of his godfather, D.H. (Jeff Goldblum). Oliver locates the young scoundrel and informs him that Mimi is suffering from cancer. Unperturbed, Igby continues his slacker existence -- and his romance with Sookie (Claire Danes), a hipper-than-thou undergraduate who finds herself torn between Igby and Oliver. As Igby gets drawn further into the mind games and hypocrisy of the adult world, his already jaded outlook grows even darker. He takes to dealing smack and hanging out with a cross-dressing performance "artist" (Jared Harris). Ultimately, though, Mimi's impending death draws him back into the family fold for unexpected revelations and realizations. Written and directed by first-time filmmaker Burr Steers, Igby Goes Down features Rory Culkin, Kieran's brother, as the young Igby. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Kieran CulkinSusan Sarandon, (more)
 
2002  
PG13  
Add Far From Heaven to Queue Add Far From Heaven to top of Queue  
Maverick director Todd Haynes embraces the look and feel of classic Hollywood melodramas of the 1950s in this period drama. Cathy Whitaker (Julianne Moore) and her husband, Frank (Dennis Quaid), are a seemingly perfect couple; living in a handsome suburban neighborhood in Hartford, CT, in 1957, Cathy and Frank have a beautiful home and two happy, healthy children, while Frank pursues a successful career in sales and Cathy cares for the home. But Cathy has begun to sense something isn't quite right in her marriage, as Frank begins working late, spending less time with her, and seems cold and distant. One day, Cathy visits Frank's work and discovers something she never expected -- her husband is kissing a man. At Cathy's urging, Frank undergoes psychotherapy, but as she tries to keep up a brave face, the emotional trauma takes a great toll on her, and she finds there are very few people she can talk with. Cathy strikes up a friendship with Raymond Deagan (Dennis Haysbert), an African-American gardener who works for the Whitakers, and as she discovers how intelligent and compassionate Raymond is, she finds herself drawn to him. However, Hartford is in many ways still a small town, and when Mona (Celia Weston) sees Cathy and Raymond alone together, it sets off a wave of vicious gossip that threatens to make the Whitakers' many secrets public knowledge. Far from Heaven premiered at the 2002 Venice Film Festival, where Julianne Moore's performance won the prize for Best Actress. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Julianne MooreDennis Quaid, (more)
 
2001  
PG13  
Add Hearts in Atlantis to Queue Add Hearts in Atlantis to top of Queue  
One of the short stories in a best-selling collection by author Stephen King becomes this mystery adapted for director Scott Hicks by screenwriter William Goldman, who previously transformed a King story into a box-office hit (Misery, 1990). In the summer of 1960, young Bobby Garfield (Anton Yelchin) is sharing adventures with his best friends Carol (Mika Boorem) and Sully (Will Rothhaar) when an enigmatic lodger named Ted Brautigan (Anthony Hopkins) rents a room in his family's boarding house. Bobby's self-absorbed, widowed mother Liz (Hope Davis) couldn't care less about her son, so Bobby, who is being tormented by local bullies, quickly befriends the otherworldly Ted, becoming his confidante, and reading the paper to him to save the aging man's failing eyesight. Soon, Bobby learns that Ted possesses supernatural gifts, has a haunted past, and is being pursued by sinister men whose intentions are unclear. Hearts in Atlantis co-stars David Morse, who appeared in the previous King adaptation The Green Mile (1999), as the adult Bobby. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Anthony HopkinsAnton Yelchin, (more)
 
2001  
PG13  
Add K-PAX to Queue Add K-PAX to top of Queue  
The 1995 novel by Dr. Gene Brewer becomes this drama from director Iain Softley. After a mugging incident at New York's Grand Central Station, Prot (Kevin Spacey), a man who claims to be an alien from the planet K-PAX, is turned over to a public mental hospital and the care of Dr. Mark Powell (Jeff Bridges). When medication fails to alter Prot's insistence that he is visiting from another world on a fact-finding mission, Powell gets more involved with his patient, who seems to have a calming effect on the other residents of his ward. At first convinced that Prot is a delusional who can be treated, Powell begins to wonder if his bizarre patient's story is true, particularly after the hospital's doctors find that Prot possesses the baffling ability to see ultraviolet light. As the date grows nearer when Prot claims he must leave Earth (a "class BA-III planet"), Powell becomes increasingly concerned that a psychiatric breakthrough must occur by then. K-PAX (2001) co-stars Alfre Woodard and Mary McCormack. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Kevin SpaceyJeff Bridges, (more)
 
2001  
R  
Add In the Bedroom to Queue Add In the Bedroom to top of Queue  
Character actor and noted photographer Todd Field made his directorial debut with this emotionally powerful drama, which earned enthusiastic reviews at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. Frank Fowler (Nick Stahl) is a handsome and amiable young man who has recently graduated from high school and is spending the summer working as a lobster fisherman before heading off to college in the fall. Frank is also involved with Natalie (Marisa Tomei), an attractive woman ten years his senior who is separated from her husband Richard (William Mapother), though their divorce has not yet been finalized. Frank's parents, Matt (Tom Wilkinson) and Ruth (Sissy Spacek) wonder if it's wise for their son to be pursuing a romance that he won't be able to continue in a few months; Matt trusts Frank and leaves him to make his own decisions, while Ruth quietly but firmly registers her objections. One day, Richard snaps, and breaks into Natalie's home; when he discovers Frank is there, he viciously kills him. The wheels of justice turn in an unexpected direction, and Richard is released on bail, free to go his own way as he awaits his trial. Matt and Ruth are both deeply traumatized by the event; while Matt tries to deal with his hurt by retreating into his work and avoiding his feelings, Ruth instead becomes increasingly withdrawn, losing interest in her job as a music teacher and spending her nights chain smoking in front of the television. In the Bedroom was adapted from the short story Killings by Andre Dubus. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Sissy SpacekTom Wilkinson, (more)
 
2000  
R  
This historical comedy-drama is based on the true story of Joe Gould, a bohemian eccentric who was a fixture in New York's Greenwich Village from his arrival in 1916 to his death in 1964. Gould, who claimed to be a graduate of Harvard, would cadge drinks and subsist on catsup as he regaled patrons of neighborhood saloons with stories, poems, opinions, and his imitation of a seagull. In a 1942 New Yorker profile by journalist Joseph Mitchell, Gould spoke of his life's work, a book entitled An Oral History of Our Times, which he claimed would be eleven times longer than the Bible, contain a variety of overheard conversations from throughout the years, and document the decline of 20th century culture. Mitchell kept tabs on Gould, and tried to introduce him to publishers who might put his work into print, but nothing ever came of it, and it wasn't until Gould's death that Mitchell discovered the surprising truth about his friend. Directed by Stanley Tucci, Joe Gould's Secret stars Tucci as Mitchell and Ian Holm as Gould; Hope Davis, Steve Martin, Susan Sarandon, and Patricia Clarkson highlight the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Marc Alan AustenIan Holm, (more)
 
1999  
PG13  
Add Snow Falling on Cedars to Queue Add Snow Falling on Cedars to top of Queue  
Nine years after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, a small town in the Pacific Northwest still struggles with the troubling legacy of U.S. policies against Asian-Americans. In December 1950, just off the shores of San Piedro Island in Washington, a Japanese-American man named Kazuo Miyamoto (Rick Yune) stands accused of murder after his close friend Carl Heine (Eric Thal) is found drowned in icy waters. As the trial gets under way, with Alvin Hooks (James Rebhorn) prosecuting Kazuo and Nels Gudmundsson (Max Von Sydow) defending him, reporter Ishmael Chambers (Ethan Hawke) covers the proceedings for the local newspaper. It's difficult for Ishmael to view the trial objectively, as his first love was a Japanese-American girl named Hatsue (Youki Kudoh), who later married Kazuo. Now, Ishmael has discovered that, when the Japanese-American residents of San Piedro Island were sent to internment camps during World War II, Carl's mother used their incarceration to scuttle a land purchase by Kazuo's family. This could suggest a motive for murder, but Ishmael is reluctant to step forward with the story. Snow Falling on Cedars was based on the best-selling novel by David Guterson, adapted for the screen by Ron Bass and writer/director Scott Hicks. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Ethan HawkeJames Cromwell, (more)
 
1999  
 
In a departure from the usual ER format, a financially strapped Benton (Eriq La Salle) accepts a temporary assignment at a small clinic in Minnesota -- but a last-minute scheduling change finds him showing up at an even smaller hospital in rural Mississippi. Almost immediately clashing with the no-nonsense nurse in charge, Benton goes on to confront a myriad of challenges, most of them related to racism, ignorance, and lack of facilities. When all is said and done, Benton's big-city methods come in handy so far as saving lives is concerned -- but he is obliged to adopt a more benign bedside manner in order to get through to his new patients. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

 Read More

 
1999  
R  
Add Ride With the Devil to Queue Add Ride With the Devil to top of Queue  
A complex tale of uneasy alliances and hostilities along the Kansas/Missouri border during the Civil War, Ride with the Devil opens in 1862. The story concerns Jack Bull Chiles (Skeet Ulrich), a proud son of the South ready to fight for the Confederate cause after his father is killed by Yankee troops. Chiles's friend, Jake Roedel (Tobey Maguire), joins the Bushwhackers, a group of renegade Southerners aligned with the Confederate Army, even though his family supports the Union cause - which sets him head-to-head with his father. The two young men, used to the slow pace and gracious lifestyle of the South's privileged class, become guerilla fighters and wander through the countryside together, encountering sudden, shocking and extreme acts of violence. Their comrades include valiant leader Black John (James Caviezel), paranoid madman Pitt (Jonathan Rhys Myers), gentleman George (Simon Baker), and Daniel (Jeffrey Wright), a laconic former slave who unexpectedly fighs for the south despite his race out of sheer loyalty to George - though the others regard him with suspicion. The Bushwhackers hide out in a shed near the home of Sue Lee Shelley (singer/songwriter/poet Jewel), a pregnant widow whose husband was killed three weeks after their marriage. Later, following a shocking and unexpected act of violence, a number of the men team up with the crazed Quantrill (John Ales) to stage an attack on an abolitionist stronghold, but Jake finds his moral conscience growing more acute, and takes the first steps toward romancing and starting a family with Sue Lee in what looks to be a very different post-Civil War future. Adapted from the novel Woe to Live On by Daniel Woodrell, Ride with the Devil was directed by Ang Lee, whose previous project was a very different look at America's past, the 1970s domestic drama The Ice Storm (1997). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Skeet UlrichTobey Maguire, (more)
 
1999  
R  
Add The Talented Mr. Ripley to Queue Add The Talented Mr. Ripley to top of Queue  
After the Oscar-winning The English Patient, writer/director Anthony Minghella attempted another tricky literary adaptation with The Talented Mr. Ripley, which features heartthrob Matt Damon cast against type as a psychopathic bisexual murderer. Tom Ripley (Damon) is a bright and charismatic sociopath who makes his way in mid-'50s New York City as a men's room attendant and sometimes pianist, though his real skill is in impersonating other people, forging handwriting, and running second-rate scams. After being mistaken for a Princeton student, Tom meets the shipping tycoon father of Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law), who has traveled to the coast of Italy, where he's living a carefree life with his father's money and his beautiful girlfriend, Marge (Gwyneth Paltrow). Dickie's father will pay Ripley 1,000 dollars plus his expenses if he can persuade Dickie to return to America. As Ripley and Dickie become friends, Tom finds himself both attracted to Dickie and envious of his life of pleasure. In time, he decides that he would rather be Dickie Greenleaf than Tom Ripley, so rather than go back to his life of poverty, Ripley impulsively murders Dickie and assumes his identity. The Talented Mr. Ripley was based on the first of a series of novels featuring Tom Ripley written by Patricia Highsmith; the story was previously filmed in 1960 as Purple Noon, with Alain Delon as Ripley. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Matt DamonGwyneth Paltrow, (more)