Mary Catherine Wright
Directed by Jonathan Glazer, Birth takes place in New York's Upper East Side, where Anna (Nicole Kidman), a 35-year-old widow, resides. Just as Anna has shaken off what she thought were the final remnants of her old life -- she has even found love with a new man, Joseph (Danny Huston), whom she plans on marrying -- Sean (Cameron Bright), a ten-year-old boy, comes into her life insisting that he is the reincarnation of her late husband. Though she initially brushes off the boy's claims as the result of a crush on her, his grave demeanor and uncanny knowledge of her life leads Anna through a self-reevaluation that not only threatens her marital plans with Joseph (Huston), but also strains her relationship with her mother, Eleanor (Lauren Bacall). ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicole Kidman, Cameron Bright, (more)
Vin Diesel opted to not appear in the sequel to the film the shot him to stardom in the first place, The Fast and the Furious. With the character of Dominic Toretto out of the picture, 2 Fast 2 Furious concentrates exclusively on the latest exploits of undercover agent Brian O'Connor, played by Paul Walker. In addition, with director Rob Cohen passing, producers have added a dash of credibility to the sequel by hiring John Singleton to helm. What does completely remain from the first film is the presence of fast-living underground street-racing gangs. Moving from Los Angeles to Miami, O'Connor is looking to redeem himself after the events of the first movie, so he again goes undercover to infiltrate another group of thuggish car enthusiasts. This time around he's enlisted the help of ex-con Roman Pierce (Tyrese) and fellow agent Monica Celemente (Eva Mendes) to bring down Carter Verone (Cole Hauser), an importer/exporter who heads up a massive drug trafficking operation. Heading up the supporting cast are hip-hop stars Ludacris and Fabolous. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Walker, Tyrese Gibson, (more)
Jack Moony (Bob Hoskins) is a vice detective, but he is also an intense and crazed, racist lout. Jack has had a brief fling with a hooker named Crystal (Chloe Webb), but Crystal left him for Napoleon Stone (Denzel Washington), a suave, handsome, cosmopolitan lawyer, who becomes the object of Jack's rage, not simply because he has stolen his girl but also because he is black. Jack, who lives on cheeseburgers, beer, and whiskey, has a heart attack. This occurs the same night that Stone is killed in an un-accidental car crash. Thanks to a quick organ transplant, Jake ends up with Stone's heart. But to Jack's horror, he discovers the ghost of the lawyer has returned to earth to follow Jack around -- offering Jack nutritional advise, giving him tips on solving his murder, and suggestions on how to get back together with Crystal. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Hoskins, Denzel Washington, (more)
Based on a true story as related by neurologist Oliver Sacks, Awakenings stars Robin Williams as the Sacks counterpart, here named Dr. Malcolm Sayer. Something of a klutz and naif, Dr. Sayer takes a job at a Bronx psychiatric hospital in 1969. Here he's put in charge of several seemingly catatonic patients who, under Sayer's painstaking guidance, begin responding to certain stimulati. Apprised of the efficacy of a new drug called L-DOPA in treating degenerative-disease victims, Sayer is given permission to test the drug on one of his patients: Leonard Lowe (Robert De Niro), who has not communicated with anyone since lapsing into catatonia as a child. Gradually, Lowe comes out of his shell, encouraging Sayers to administer L-DOPA to the other patients under his care. Julie Kavner and John Heard also star. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robin Williams, Robert De Niro, (more)
- 1989
Murphy's tough and relentless interview technique has a somewhat negative effect on a corrupt judge (John Capodice), who drops dead right in mid-telecast. Traumatized by this tragedy, Murphy is terrified to conduct any more interviews, meaning that her usefulness to "FYI" may be at an end. To overcome her fear, she begins attending a group therapy session conducted by Dr. Paula Hayes (Janet MacLachlan)--a tough cookie in her own right. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Released at the height of his popularity on Family Ties and in the wake of Back to the Future and Teen Wolf, Michael J. Fox stars in this "country boy in the big city" comedy, directed by Herbert Ross. After making the move from Kansas to New York City, Brantley Foster (Fox) secures a job in the mailroom at his uncle's large corporation. Doffing any plans of working his way up the corporate ladder the old fashioned way, Brantley begins impersonating an executive to impress a high-ranking female co-worker, played by Helen Slater. Once his oversexed aunt enters the mix, Brantley finds himself juggling two identities, two jobs, and two women. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael J. Fox, Helen Slater, (more)
- 1982
This anthology is set at the title motor inn and looks at the shenanigans going on within three of its rooms. The first tale "Conduit" centers on a socially isolated man who increasingly favors his self-created world to the real one outside his rooms. There is little reason for him to leave as there he can find food and sex for money, and he can always rely on his disfigured buddy to keep him abreast of what goes on outside of his sequestered little room. The second story, "Kathleen" centers on a severely depressed woman who is persuaded not to kill herself by the man in the next room, a nightclub comedian. In the final vignette, "The Advantage," an outspoken, philosophical nightclub singer performs her songs, nearly gets raped, and later entices a young boy into bed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Catherine Wright
A notorious artistic and financial failure, Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate was blamed for critically wounding the movie Western and definitively ushering out the 1970s Hollywood New Wave of young, brash, independent filmmakers. Taking a revisionist, post-Vietnam view of American imperialism, Cimino used the historical Johnson County War incident in Wyoming to create an impressionistic tapestry of Western conflict between poor immigrant settlers and rich cattle barons led by Canton (Sam Waterston) and his hired gun Nate Champion (Christopher Walken). Attempting to mediate is idealistic Harvard graduate and county marshal Averill (Kris Kristofferson), who is both Nate's friend and his romantic rival for the affections of Ella Watson (Isabelle Huppert). However, war erupts, at great cost to all involved. Flush from his success with the Oscar-winning The Deer Hunter (1978), Cimino demanded creative control, and his insistence on shooting on location and building historically accurate sets and props multiplied the film's original budget to a then-astronomical $36 million. When United Artists premiered the original 219-minute version (sight unseen), they discovered that Cimino had produced an elliptical epic, compounding the box-office difficulties of making a Western without any major stars. Critics howled about Cimino's incomprehensible self-indulgence, and United Artists pulled the film after several days. Re-released five months later, 70 minutes shorter, Heaven's Gate bombed again, and MGM bought out the financially crippled United Artists. The ailing Western genre virtually vanished during the 1980s, Cimino's career never recovered, and Hollywood studios had had enough of bankrolling financially risky ventures by "auteur" directors. Heaven's Gate's reputation recovered somewhat after its video release, as it garnered praise from some viewers for such visually remarkable sequences as the Harvard dance and the final battle, as well as for David Mansfield's haunting score. Steven Bach's book Final Cut provides a full production history. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, (more)
