Joseph M. Caracciolo, Jr. Movies

Two strangers (Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher) find themselves hitched after a wild night of Las Vegas shenanigans in this 20th Century Fox comedy. Jack Fuller (Kutcher) is a single Manhattanite who can never quite commit to a permanent, long-term relationship and repeatedly hears from his lovers that he "isn't serious boyfriend material." Employed by his father (Treat Williams) at a local furniture business, Jack spends his workdays goofing off by watching sporting events behind dad's back. Joy McNally (Diaz) is faring slightly better; a young, polished urbanite, she juggles a demanding job as a trader on the NYSE with a marital engagement to the impressive Mason (Jason Sudeikis), but has modified her entire life and all of her interests to please her intended.

Coincident with Mr. Fuller's decision to fire his son, Mason severs his engagement to Joy; as a result, both Jack and Joy hit the skids at around the same time and decide to cut their losses by heading out to Vegas. The two accidentally bump into one another when a computer mix-up at the hotel puts them in adjoining rooms; though they begin their acquaintanceship by bickering endlessly, they end up spending a long, drunken night on the town together, and when the sun rises and Joy comes to, she discovers that she unwittingly married Jack in the middle of the night. Alas, just when the two are about to call it quits by filing for divorce after the shortest marriage in history, Jack tosses a coin into a Vegas slot machine and hits a three-million-dollar jackpot -- which naturally pits the newlyweds against one another in an attempt to claim the full share of the money. A conservative local judge, R.D. Whopper (Dennis Miller), then adds the final twist by refusing to grant a divorce until Joy and Jack have given married life a fair shake. In time, the marrieds may just discover that this union isn't as far off the mark as they initially thought. Dennis Farina, Queen Latifah, and Zach Galifianakis round out the supporting cast. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

Lauren Weisberger's best-selling novel about a young woman who stumbles into the hectic worlds of high fashion and publishing comes to the big screen in this comedy. Andrea "Andy" Sachs (Anne Hathaway) is a bright young woman from the Midwest who has just graduated from college and wants to work as a magazine writer. Andy has applied for a job at "Runway," America's most prestigious fashion journal; though Andy has little to no interest in the garment trade, they are one of the only magazines in New York with a job opening -- second assistant to editor Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep). As Andy quickly learns, Miranda is a diva with plenty of power within the magazine business and she isn't afraid to use it, and though Andy lands the job (primarily by being in the right place at the right time), she soon learns that working for Miranda could test the patience of a saint thanks to her endless demands and refusal to acknowledge the end of a work day. Andy struggles to hold on to the job and her sanity, knowing that a recommendation from Miranda can open nearly any door at any magazine, but can she handle the pressure without losing her mind along the way? The Devil Wears Prada also stars Stanley Tucci, Emily Blunt, and Adrian Grenier. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A man gets a very big surprise when he meets his prospective son-in-law in this comedy. Percy Jones (Bernie Mac) is the understandably proud father of Theresa (Zoe Saldana), a beautiful and intelligent young woman living in New York City. When Percy learns that his daughter is dating someone and things are getting serious, he decides to do some research, and learns that her beau is a solid businessman. Percy arranges to meet the young man, but is a bit taken aback when he comes face to face with Simon Green (Ashton Kutcher) -- Percy and his wife are African-American, and Simon is very, but very Caucasian. When it becomes clear that Simon and Theresa's relationship is likely altar-bound, Percy finds himself suddenly full of misgivings about the young man, especially since Simon tends to get rather clumsy when he's nervous. Guess Who was loosely adapted from the 1967 hit Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, though the race of the prospective father and son have been swapped, and the original film's comic undercurrent has been pushed to the forefront. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

One of Frank Capra's best-loved stories gets a modernized and wildly slapstick reinterpretation in this romantic comedy starring Adam Sandler. When Preston Blake (Harve Presnell), a remarkably wealthy media magnate, dies with neither a wife nor children, the question on the lips of most of his associates is who will inherit the estate. The surprising answer turns out to be Longfellow Deeds (Adam Sandler), a cheerful but half-bright proprietor of a small-town pizzeria, as well as part-time greeting card poet, who was a distant relative of Blake. In order to claim his 40-billion-dollar inheritance, Deeds heads to New York City, where Blake's former associates, Chuck Cedar (Peter Gallagher) and Cecil Anderson (Erick Avari), introduce him to the city while trying to figure out how to get their hands on his new fortune. Meanwhile, Mac McGrath (Jared Harris), the producer of a sleazy tabloid television show, wants to get the inside scoop on Deeds, and comes up with perfect way to get it: he sends beautiful but unscrupulous reporter Babe Bennett (Winona Ryder) to sweep Deeds off his feet while she's wired for sound. Convincing Deeds that she's from a small town just like himself, Bennett quickly wins his heart, but while his affection is sincere, hers is not. He also displays a curious eagerness to defend her good name with his fists which quickly gets him in trouble. Meanwhile, as Deeds becomes the new laughing stock of New York thanks to Bennett's stories, Deeds decides it's time he did something big with his money, while Cedar and Anderson think they've finally found a way to take control of Deeds' holdings. Mr. Deeds also features supporting performances from John Turturro, Steve Buscemi, and Conchata Ferrell. John McEnroe and Rev. Al Sharpton make cameo appearances as themselves. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

They're beautiful, they're brilliant, and they can kick your butt -- the most glamorous private eyes in the world are back in action in this big-screen adaptation of the popular '70s television series. Natalie (Cameron Diaz) is the smart but silly one, Dylan (Drew Barrymore) is the tough but fun-loving one, and Alex (Lucy Liu) is the classy but hard-as-nails one, and they work for a man named Charlie (voice of John Forsythe), who never meets his employees face to face. Along with their helper Bosley (Bill Murray), the Angels are sent into action when electronics genius Eric Knox (Sam Rockwell) is kidnapped, with the nefarious Roger Corwin (Tim Curry) as the prime suspect. But they soon learn even bigger danger is afoot -- the kidnappers have gotten their hands on Knox's latest invention, a system that can monitor voice communication from anywhere in the world, virtually ending the notion of private conversation. Charlie's Angels also stars Crispin Glover, Luke Wilson, Kelly Lynch, and Tom Green. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

An airy romance in the tradition of classic Hollywood comedies of the Depression Era, Simply Irresistible (1999) also presses into service the food-obsessed magical realism of Like Water for Chocolate (1992). Sarah Michelle Gellar stars as Amanda Shelton, the chef at Southern Cross, a trendy Tribeca restaurant she inherited from her legendary mother. Not the most inspired of culinary artists, Amanda is running the establishment into the ground, until a cab-driving, Cupid-like guardian angel (playwright Christopher Durang) intervenes with a magical crab that puts Amanda in the path of slick spin master Tom Bartlett (Sean Patrick Flanery). Tom is opening a restaurant for his boss Jonathan Bendel (Dylan Baker), who wants to assure the eatery is no less than a four-star affair, but the temperamental French chef is giving fits to Bartlett and his secretary Lois (Patricia Clarkson). Enter Amanda, who falls head over heels for Tom, love suddenly bestowing upon her the gift of infusing her dishes with powerful amorous emotions that overwhelm diners with a rapturous ecstasy. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

John Waters wrote and directed this $6.5 million satire on the Manhattan art world, a rags-to-riches comedy about 18-year-old amateur photographer Pecker (so named because he pecks at his food). Pecker (Edward Furlong) is a blue-collar kid who works in a Baltimore sandwich shop and takes snapshots of family, friends, and customers. His mom, Joyce (Mary Kay Place) runs a thrift shop where she offers fashion advice to the homeless, while sis Tina (Martha Plimpton) recruits go-go boys to dance at the local Fudge Palace. Pecker's younger sister, Little Chrissy (Lauren Hulsey), has a sugar addiction, and his grandmother, Memama (Jean Schertler), the "pit beef" queen of Baltimore, conducts prayer meetings with her talking statue of Mary. After hip Manhattan art dealer Rorey Wheeler (Lili Taylor) becomes fascinated with Pecker's photos, a big exhibition is in the offing, followed by overnight fame as the young man becomes the new darling of the New York art scene. Soon Pecker discovers that fame has its price. Shown at the 1998 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

A serial killer stalks the streets of San Francisco; unlike his many predecessors does not choose a distinctive, identifying pattern. No, this killer prides himself on his unoriginality: he is a copycat, recreating the violent murders of some of the country's most notorious serial killers, his heroes. On the case, is criminal psychologist Helen Hudson who is the reigning expert on serial killers; she has also become agoraphobic after having too close of a brush with killer, Daryll Lee Cullum. Though he has finally been locked up, she is unable to function outside her apartment. It is homicide detective M.J. Monahan and her partner Ruben who involve Hudson after they begin suspecting that the recent rash of bizarre murders they investigate is the work of a new mass murderer. Using her career and her vast knowledge, she figures out the killer's game. She knows he is well-versed in history and that the killings are tributes to the old masters. Unfortunately, she cannot predict his next style of killing, who he will kill, or when. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Based on a novel by William Boyd (who also wrote the film's screenplay), this darkly witty drama explores the political, social, and sexual gamesmanship of a group of British and African politicians. Morgan Leafy (Colin Friels) is a British diplomat who, for the past three years, has been assigned to the British High Commission of Ninjana, an African nation slowly divesting itself of colonial rule. Leafy is an arrogant and frequently confused alcoholic romantically involved with an African woman named Hazel (Jackie Mofokeng). Arthur Fanshawe (John Lithgow), a new High Commission appointee who wants nothing more than to be promoted and moved out of Africa, brings some interesting news to Leafy: massive reserves of oil have been discovered in Ninjana, and if the British want to reap the full profits of this windfall, they will want to stay on the good side of Sam Adekunle (Louis Gossett Jr.), who in all likelihood will be the next president of Ninjana. However, something of a diplomatic crisis has come up; a native woman was struck by lightning in the courtyard of the High Commission's compound, and the locals insist that she cannot be moved until certain time-honored rituals have been performed. At a loss for advice, Leafy turns to Dr. Alex Murray (Sean Connery), a Scottish doctor who has been in Africa for 23 years and is one of the few people equally at ease with both the British colonials and the natives. However, Leafy doesn't seem so eager to seek out assistance in his romantic problems; while he's involved with Hazel, Leafy also finds himself dallying with Adekunle's wife Celia (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer) and Fanshawe's wife Chloe (Diana Rigg). By the way, don't bother looking for Ninjana on a map -- it doesn't really exist. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Beverly Sutphin (Kathleen Turner) is the perfect suburban housewife and mother. She likes to cook, her home is immaculately clean, she's always well-groomed and cheerful, and she loves her husband Eugene (Sam Waterston) and her two children, Misty (Ricki Lake) and Chip (Matthew Lillard). There's just one problem with Beverly -- if you do anything to make someone in her family feel bad, you're dead meat on a stick. While she does a great job of hiding it, Beverly has a vicious and vengeful streak, and when she's not making obscene prank calls to the neighbors or bribing her garbagemen to save embarrassing items from her neighbors' trash, she's mowing down whoever would be so rude as to make her husband go into his office on a Saturday, break up with her daughter, or suggest that her son watches too many horror movies. Taking John Waters back to R-rated territory after the relatively sedate Hairspray and Cry Baby, Serial Mom captures a comfortable middle ground between Hollywood professionalism and Waters' subversive sense of humor, and Kathleen Turner has a field day as the sweet-on-the-outside, evil-on-the-inside Beverly. The supporting cast includes such Waters favorites as Patty Hearst, Traci Lords, Mink Stole, and Susan Lowe; Joan Rivers and Suzanne Somers appear as themselves, and all-female grunge-metal band L7 plays the all-female grunge-metal band Camel Toe. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

An adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning, semi-autobiographical stage play by popular dramatist Neil Simon, this comedy-drama focuses on the difficulties faced by two young brothers forced to live with a group of eccentric relatives. Arty (Mike Damus) and Jay (Brad Stoll) are young teenagers when their their widower father heads South to seek work, leaving the boys with their stern, intimidating grandmother (Irene Worth). Also part of the household is the more likable Aunt Bella (Mercedes Ruehl), an odd duck with a scattered personality and childlike enthusiasm that make her seem more like a fellow kid than an adult. Bella is kept under close watch by Grandma, who reacts strongly when she attempts to show her independence, leaving Arty and Jay as witnesses to a conflict that could tear the family apart. Lost in Yonkers offers much of Simon's trademark humor with a more bittersweet feel than in most of the playwright's other work, thanks in large part to the performance by Ruehl, who reprises her Tony Award-winning role as the troubled but cheerful Bella. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

An emotionally distraught cop is traumatized by memories of an abusive childhood in which he was forced to kill the uncle who was abusing him. Fired by his corrupt boss, he is recruited to infiltrate a ring of murderous, gun-running bikers, who would kill him in a second if they found out who he was -- which his friends begin to suspect was why he took the job in the first place. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide