Janni Brenn Movies
When a pair of bright-but sociopathic teens conspires to commit the perfect murder, a troubled cop teams with her eager new partner to solve the case that left the community in fear and the police without a clue. High school ladies' man Richard Haywood (Ryan Gosling) and outcast Justin Pendleton (Michael Pitt) have no motive to commit murder, but they soon conspire to choose a random victim and pin the crime on local pot dealer Ray (Chris Penn), under the guise that the police will never suspect them of such a brutal act. Determined Det. Cassie Merriweather (Sandra Bullock) is assigned to the case, and quickly becomes suspicious of the elusive teens despite the doubts expressed by her superiors and her lack of solid evidence. Soon entering into a dangerous test of wills with the increasingly desperate and dangerous teens, her investigation leads her down a disturbing path that will test her skills as a detective and her will to survive. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sandra Bullock, Ryan Gosling, (more)
- 1999
The hospital's future funding is jeopardized when Ross (George Clooney) bucks procedure, giving a sample of a new pain medication to young ALD patient Ricky Abbott (Kyle Chambers), the subject of government-backed "double blind" study. Elsewhere, Greene (Anthony Edwards) weighs an opportunity to go to work for NASA. Doyle (Jorja Fox) levels a charge of harassment against Romano (Paul McCrane). And Benton (Eriq La Salle) and Lucy's (Kellie Martin) patient Charley Barnes (Bill Henderson) claims that he is 140 years old -- and immortal. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1998
Greene (Anthony Edwards) has a severe panic attack when he is hazed by a group of fun-loving paramedics. While going through a grueling 36-hour shift, Corday (Alex Kingston) commits a fatal error. Anspaugh (John Aylward) thinks he has found a perfect candidate for ER chief in the form of one Dr. Amanda Lee (Mare Winningham). And Carter (Noah Wyle) is upset to learn that Lucy (Kellie Martin) is as contemptuous of him as he is of her. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Comic actor Rowan Atkinson brought his bumbling character Mr. Bean from television to the big screen with this British comedy. Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson) is a well-meaning but not especially bright fellow with a gift for making the worst of any situation. Bean is about to be fired from his job as a guard at the Royal Nation Art Gallery for sleeping on the job, but the Chairman (John Mills) intervenes at the last moment. To insure that his incompetence will manifest itself so completely that there will be no choice but to get rid of him, Bean's superiors come up with a plan -- they'll send him to America to speak at a posh private gallery owned by George Grierson (Harris Yulin), where General Newton (Burt Reynolds) will display the most recent addition to his art collection, "Whistler's Mother." It's even money whether or not the museum will still be standing before Bean is done; as if this weren't enough, while in L.A. Bean is mistaken for a surgeon and forced to operate on an injured police officer. Richard Curtis, one of the film's producers, said after viewing the final product, "It's an unpleasant family movie. I'm very pleased." ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rowan Atkinson, Peter MacNicol, (more)
Neil Simon forgoes his typical urban East Coast kvetchers and replaces them with sunny Californian kvetchers in The Marrying Man, a film which became a beacon of gossip in 1991 due to the alleged shenanigans of stars Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger), who fell in love during production. Simon based his script on a true story concerning the love affair between shoe tycoon Harry Karl and actress Marie (The Body) McDonald during the 1950s. Married to each other four times, McDonald still managed to carry on an affair with mobster Bugsy Siegel. In this Simon-ized version, Baldwin plays Charley Pearl, a sharp and handsome Hollywood millionaire, engaged to Adele Horner (Elisabeth Shue), the daughter of dyspeptic movie studio executive Lew Horner (Robert Loggia). The day before their wedding, Charley heads off to Las Vegas for a bachelor party, and in a sleazy casino on the outskirts of town, he sets his eyes on sexy singer Vicki Anderson (Basinger) and falls for her hard. He wants her immediately and even though she warns him she's the property of Bugsy Siegel (Armand Assante), he crawls into her bedroom window to be with her. Caught with his pants down by Siegel, Bugsy, instead of killing him, forces him to marry Vicki ("I was about to dump her anyway," he says). But after their marriage, Charley and Vicki discover they're more attracted to the danger of their relationship than in each other. Charley's friends -- Phil (Paul Reiser), Sammy (Fisher Stevens), Tony (Peter Dobson), and George (Steve Hytner) -- form a Greek chorus commenting on the crazed love affair and are reportedly inspired by Phil Silvers, Sammy Cahn, Tony Martin, and Leo Durocher. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kim Basinger, Alec Baldwin, (more)
- 1989
- PG
In this enjoyable, lighthearted "he's fallen for her" situational, a music professor finds a science department faculty member too deeply engrossed in her inter-species communication studies (she talks to chimps) to even notice him. Since he can't get her mind off her studies, he decides to work part-time for her in the university laboratory. In this way he becomes aware of her dilemma: she's found that her research funds are set to be axed. He's there to help her figure out a way to prove their worth, and maybe spike her interest in him at the same time. There's plenty of clean fun and a satisfying outcome to be had here. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Karen Allen, Armand Assante, (more)
