Eric Alan Edwards Movies
- 2001
Executive produced by Oprah Winfrey, the made-for-TV Oprah Winfrey Presents: Amy & Isabelle was based on the bestselling 1999 novel by Elizabeth Strout. The scene is the mining town of Shirley Falls, ME; the year is 1971. Seeking escape from the iron rule of her domineering, social-climbing single mother, Isabelle (Elisabeth Shue), shy teenager Amy (Hanna R. Hall) falls under the seductive spell of her new math teacher, Mr. Robertson (Martin Donovan). Meanwhile, Isabelle, who may not be as straight-laced as she appears, develops a yearning for her married boss, Avery Clark (James Rebhorn), who barely acknowledges the woman's existence. The tensions between Amy and Isabelle, already heightened by their separate romantic travails, is exacerbated when the two women find themselves working together in the same accounting office. While the rest of the town buzzes with vicious gossip concerning the two heroines, the story takes on a disturbing new tangent when the body of a young girl is found stuffed into the trunk of an abandoned car. Also known as Amy & Isabelle, this film was first aired by ABC on March 4, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Elisabeth Shue, Hanna R. Hall, (more)
Three women seek their fortune in a small border town in this drama from acclaimed, Ariel-winning Mexican director Maria Novaro. In the shadow of the 15-mile-long steel wall that stands on the edge of Tijuana, Serena, Jane, and Elizabeth each take shelter in search of a better life. Serena is a widowed mother of three, Jane is an American searching for her long lost brother, and Elizabeth is a Mexican-American artist who has come to the border town in search of her roots. In the town that is prison to some and refuge to others, all three women will experience something new as they discover that even in the stark heat of the desert, a garden can bloom. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Renee Coleman, Bruno Bichir, (more)
- 1986
The German/Swiss The Journey (originally Die Reiss) is an objective look at neo-Fascist terrorism. Markus Boysen plays a member of a terrorist gang who breaks away from the movement. He also "kidnaps" his son from the gang's commune, rather than have the boy raised to be a terrorist himself. In flashback, we see that Boysen was the son of a celebrated Nazi author, whose mansion was confiscated by the occupying American troops. It is to this same mansion, now boarded up and in disrepair, that Boysen escapes to with his son. The Journey ends with the suggestion that the child will be traumatically motivated to follow in the bloody footsteps of his father and grandfather. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Markus Boysen, Corinna Kirchhoff, (more)
- 1984
In this student film about lust and repression, a dour, unsympathetic man in his early 30s or so (Jay Horenstein) works as a photographer's assistant, though he aspires to be a professional photographer himself. He shows no interest in the models that go through the studio, or in the photographer's wife who is interested in him. Instead, he spends his time surreptitiously snapping photos of a young teenage girl who lives next door. Eventually, the young girl cajoles him into going to the seashore with her -- and in a graphic later sequence, their relationship becomes brutally sexual. Given that the identity of the girl is never fully clarified (is she related to the man?), the scene is all the more disturbing. Criss-crossed with failings that are common to amateur productions -- such as sequences that go on too long, slow and/or uneven pacing, and flaws in the acting -- this low-budget film still faces up to the issue of sexual taboos and attempts a story that is more than skin deep. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- 1983
The Alamo is a seedy Houston bar, slated for demolition. The bar's habitues gather for one last binge before the wrecker's ball descends. In the course of a long evening (boiled down to 80 minutes' worth of film), the patrons laugh, cry, ruminate over the past and pontificate on the future. One of the more ambitious barflies (Sonny Carl Davis) stages an eleventh-hour effort to save the bar by touching bases with his old college roommate, who is now an important politician. Last Night of the Alamo is charmingly effective in its own crude, slapdash manner. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sonny Carl Davis, Lou Perry, (more)
- 1978
This semi-improvisational film, set in Portland,Oregon, is based on a real event and features many of the actual participants for the cast. It tells the story of a group of people who endeavor to buy a neighborhood slated for demolition so they can establish their own community in the 1960s. Among them are a poet, a midget who aspires to be a stand-up comic, and a con man and his young girl friend and their child. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
In the aftermath of a gruesome restaurant murder, the survivors of the attack are left to ponder their own mortality and how it relates to their connection to society. Forest Whitaker, Guy Pearce, Kate Beckinsale, and Dakota Fanning headline Little Fish director Rowan Woods' adaptation of Roy Freirich's debut novel. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Forest Whitaker, Kate Beckinsale, (more)
After a one-night fling, a motel manager (Steve Zahn) impulsively follows a small-time art dealer (Jennifer Aniston) across the country in this romantic comedy from playwright-turned-director Stephen Belber. Woody Harrelson co-stars as Aniston's wealthy boyfriend in the MGM production. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jennifer Aniston, Steve Zahn, (more)
A man desperately tries to keep a strange prediction from coming true in this independent psychological thriller. Jimmy Starks (Guy Pearce) is a traveling salesmen who is in New Mexico on business when he crosses paths with a psychic. The psychic offers to read Jimmy's fortune, and quickly informs him that he will die before the first snow of the winter. Jimmy's girlfriend, Deirdre (Piper Perabo), doesn't think much of this prediction, but with the winter months on the horizon, this notion makes Jimmy a bit nervous. Jimmy's anxieties grow as the weather suddenly conspires against him and his fate begins taking a number of turns for the worst. Can Jimmy somehow escape his fate, or has he been doomed by the fortune teller's words? The first feature film from director Mark Fergus, First Snow received its North American premiere at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Guy Pearce, Piper Perabo, (more)
When a one-night stand that should have stayed that way has unexpected consequences, the reluctant odd couple attempts to transform their tentative relationship into a lasting love in this conception comedy. Twenty-four-year-old entertainment journalist Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl) is on the fast track to the big time, but an alcohol-fueled hookup with responsibility-shirking slacker Ben Stone (Seth Rogen) finds her professional priorities taking a back seat to having a baby. Now, as overgrown kid Ben attempts to assume the responsibilities of fatherhood, he makes the brave decision to stand by Alison. In order to make things work between the pair, however, there's going to have to be some compromise, and when Alison and Ben decide to take a shot at love, they quickly find that building a relationship from scratch isn't nearly as easy as making a baby. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, (more)
- 2004
- R
- Add The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things to Queue Add The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things to top of Queue
Actress and filmmaker Asia Argento directed this faithful screen adaptation of the fictional J.T. Leroy's fictional memoir, which documents a boy's truly harrowing road to adulthood. Jeremiah (Jimmy Bennett) is the seven-year-old son of Sarah (Asia Argento), an unstable and unwed mother who abandoned her son and left him to be raised by foster parents. Jeremiah has come to love his guardians, and is devastated when Sarah arrives at their doorstep, demanding her child back. Threatening Jeremiah with torture if he tries to run away, Sarah introduces her young son to drugs and encourages her one-night-stand paramours to help "discipline" her son when she feels his behavior is inappropriate. Sarah marries a man named Emerson (Jeremy Renner), but abandons him shortly afterward; Emerson responds by molesting Jeremiah, and soon the child is left in the care of his grandparents (Peter Fonda and Ornella Muti), members of a fundamentalist Christian sect which emphasizes child discipline that's strict to the point of abuse. After three years, Sarah returns with a new husband, Kenny (Matt Schulze), and takes Jeremiah (now played by Dylan Sprouse and Cole Sprouse) with her; Kenny spends most of his time on the road as a trucker, and Sarah supports the family at home as a stripper and a prostitute. Sarah also begins dressing her son is girl's clothing, which excites the perverse appetites of Sarah's latest boyfriend, Jackson (Marilyn Manson); she soon leaves Jackson and pairs off with Chester (Jeremy Sisto), a biker with a dangerous way of making a living. The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things premiered at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, where it was screened as part of the "Directors Fortnight" series. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Asia Argento, Jimmy Bennett, (more)
A teenager at a personal crossroads finds himself questioning the things that have given his life meaning in this independent coming-of-age drama. Roy Chutney (Ryan Gosling) is a high school senior in a small Montana town. Roy doesn't have an especially close relationship with his mother Evangelline (Kelly Lynch), and he hasn't seen his father in years. That doesn't prevent Roy from feeling emotionally devastated when he learns that his father has killed himself, and Roy's self-esteem takes a beating when he's cut from the high school football team shortly afterward. Roy wiles away his time swilling beer with his best friend, Tracy Two Dogs (Eddie Spears), and falling into a romance with Skyla (Clea Duvall), a barmaid at a local tavern, but it seems Roy's short time on the high school gridiron impressed Gideon Ferguson (David Morse), a local character who coaches a semi-pro six-man football team when he isn't delivering newspapers or trying to score a gig singing country songs at nearby honky-tonks. Gid thinks Roy has potential, and asks him to join his team; encouraged by Gid's belief in him, Roy agrees, and he persuades Tracy to tag along. While playing hardscrabble six-man football helps restore Roy's self-confidence, he finds it doesn't answer his questions about his future or his relationship with Skyla, and when Gid's overwhelming interest in Roy begins to lend credence to the rumors that Gid is gay, Roy starts to wonder just why he was asked to join the team. Jay Farrar, founder of the acclaimed alternative country bands Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt, composed the film's musical score. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ryan Gosling, David Morse, (more)
David Dobkin made his feature directorial debut with this comedy thriller about an ordinary guy mistakenly viewed as a serial killer by the FBI. In small-town Mercer, Montana (population 1,536), easy-going gas station attendant Clay Bidwell (Joaquin Phoenix) endures a comical nightmare that gets underway when Clay's best buddy Earl (Gregory Sporleder) learns Clay slept with Earl's wife Amanda (Georgina Cates). Earl commits suicide as a horrified Clay watches. Amanda would rather see Clay in prison than have the local gossipers chatting about their affair, so to cover-up, Clay puts Earl's body into a faked auto accident. Clay then finds comfort with waitress Gloria (Nikki Arlyn), but Amanda kills Gloria, leaving Clay to dispose of another body. At the local bar, Clay is befriended by trucker Lester Long (Vince Vaughn), and they go fishing, hooking a corpse. Lester asks Clay to tell the cops he found it alone. The next victim is Amanda, stabbed 40 times. Clay tries to explain what's going on to the law -- Sheriff Mooney (Scott Wilson) and FBI agents Dale Shelby (Janeane Garofalo) and Reynard (Phil Morris) -- but he becomes the main suspect and is arrested, while serial killer Lester is on the loose. Clay manages an escape from jail and goes in search of Lester. David Dobkin, a Ridley Scott protégé, is an award-winning director of music videos (including the Coolio clips that won MTV's "Best Dance Video of 1996") and commercials, many helmed under the auspices of Ridley and Tony Scott's production companies. Shown at the 1998 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vince Vaughn, Janeane Garofalo, (more)
Following the acclaim for his 1995 Kids debut, Larry Clark directed this drug-crime drama, set in the Midwest of the '70s. Teen junkie Bobbie (Vincent Kartheiser) shares an apartment with his girlfriend Rosie (Natasha Gregson Wagner) and pal Danny (Branden Williams). Bobbie is injured during an encounter with a security guard but regains his health under the supervision of his dynamic drug-dealer uncle Mel (James Woods). After a successful robbery of speed from an out-of-town doctor's clinic, Bobby, Rosie, Mel, and Mel's melancholy gal Sid (Melanie Griffith) encounter gunplay in a drug deal gone sour. With Mel and Bobby both wounded, they retreat to the headquarters of a gun merchant known as the Reverend (James Otis). When Rosie loses her baby, she slips into a depression and more drug use. Mel recovers and begins planning another heist, but the group is beginning to unravel. Shown at 1998 film fests (Venice, Toronto). ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- James Woods, Melanie Griffith, (more)
The second film from writer/director James Mangold, the corruption drama Cop Land stars Sylvester Stallone as Freddy Heflin, the much-denigrated sheriff of tiny Garrison, NJ, a community which -- thanks to a technicality -- is populated almost entirely by members of the New York City Police Department. When young cop Murray "Superboy" Babitch (Michael Rapaport) becomes embroiled in a controversial shoot-out which leaves two black youths dead, he apparently commits suicide rather than face the wrath of an official investigation. In reality, however, he flees to safety back home in Garrison. In the wake of the controversial events, NYPD Internal Affairs lieutenant Moe Tilden (Robert De Niro) arrives in Garrison to uncover the truth, attempting to enlist Freddy to help watch the watchmen, including Superboy's uncle, veteran cop Ray Donlan (Harvey Keitel); coked-out Gary Figgis (Ray Liotta); and Joey Randone (Peter Berg), the husband of the woman (Annabella Sciorra) Freddy loved and lost. A rich, complex film about redemption, Cop Land's portrayal of Freddy's struggles to prove his worth mirrors Stallone's own return to thoughtful, character-driven drama after years of vacuous action roles. Like Freddy, he faces an uphill battle, fighting for respectability in the face of a superb cast including Janeane Garofalo, Cathy Moriarty, and Paul Calderon. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, (more)
In this satirical comedy, Mel Coplin (Ben Stiller) has a beautiful wife, Nancy (Patricia Arquette), and a four-month old son, and on the surface his life is good. But something's been troubling him: Mel knows he was adopted, and he can't resolve his issues with the mother who gave him away years ago, much to the annoyance of his adoptive parents (George Segal and Mary Tyler Moore). Mel decides it's time he met his birth parents and resolved his feelings once and for all, and Tina (Tea Leoni), a psychology student, has offered to tag along to capture the event on video for a research project. But after a few minutes with Mel's "real" mother, they discover that a mistake has been made and they've been directed to the wrong person. A second meeting, this time with Mel's supposed dad, also turns out to be a mistake, and it's quite some time before Mel, Nancy, and Tina are finally face to face with Mel's biological parents -- a pair of burned-out hippies (played by Alan Alda and Lily Tomlin) who support themselves by dealing blotter acid daubed onto pictures of Ronald Reagan. It doesn't help that Mel finds himself attracted to the very leggy Tina, or that Nancy's head is turned by a bisexual ATF agent (Josh Brolin). Writer/director David O. Russell previously made a splash with his independent debut feature, 1994's Spanking the Monkey. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ben Stiller, Patricia Arquette, (more)
The price of fame is murder -- or at least it is in the mind of one woman in New Hampshire. Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) has spent most of her life wanting to be famous; she's attractive, speaks well, and imagines herself to be intelligent ("imagines" is the key word here), so she has set her sights on becoming a TV anchorwoman. However, opportunities for female broadcasters are hard to come by in Little Hope, New Hampshire, and she's convinced that her husband, the once handsome but now flabby restaurant manager Larry Maretto (Matt Dillon), is just getting in her way. Suzanne gets herself a spot hosting a weather report on a local public access station, and is preparing a documentary called "Teens Speak Out," which puts her in touch with a trio of high school students -- Jimmy (Joaquin Phoenix), Russell (Casey Affleck), and Lydia (Alison Folland) -- who are even more desperate for attention than she is. When Suzanne hatches a plot to get Larry out of her life once and for all, she uses Jimmy, who has developed a serious crush on her, to do her dirty work, but Larry's sister Janice (Illeana Douglas), who has long believed there was something fishy about Suzanne, eventually begins to realize what happened to her brother. Nicole Kidman won a Golden Globe award for her work in this film, which represented something of a comeback for director Gus Van Sant after the commercial and critical disaster of Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. Screenwriter Buck Henry plays a small role as a high school teacher. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicole Kidman, Matt Dillon, (more)
Writer/director Gus Van Sant's early bid for big-time commercial success -- a success he didn't manage to achieve until Good Will Hunting -- is based on Tom Robbins' 1976 feminist bestseller. Uma Thurman plays Sissy Hankshaw, a woman born with very large thumbs. After her parents (Grace Zabriskie and Ken Kesey) take her to a doctor (Buck Henry), who offers her parents no remedy for their daughter's condition, the film races ahead to the 1970s. Sissy is now a popular feminine hygiene spray model for a product called Yoni Yum, the product of a company owned by The Countess (John Hurt in drag). Sissy travels to the Rubber Rose beauty ranch, also owned by The Countess, to shoot a Yoni Yum commercial. At the ranch, she makes the acquaintance of the inscrutable Chink (Pat Morita) and Bonanza Jellybean (Rain Phoenix). But under the nose of The Countess, the cowgirls on the ranch are talking mutiny, with the women trying to liberate the Rubber Rose Ranch from the chains of patriarchal oppression. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Uma Thurman, John Hurt, (more)
Gus Van Sant's dreamtime riff on Shakespeare's "Henry IV, Parts I and II" features River Phoenix as Mike Waters, a narcoleptic male hustler who is first seen drifting on a stretch of highway in Idaho. Mike shifts from Seattle to Portland, where he has taken up with Scott Favor (Keanu Reeves), who is also a hustler. The difference between them is Mike's sleepy state betrays an uncertain future, while Scott is ready to inherit a fortune from his father within a week. Mike feels a real affection for Scott, but Scott does not believe men can really love each other. Besides, Scott is mostly hustling as a means of slumming and killing time before he inherits his money. Mike, however, delusionally thinks Scott will continue with his life as a drifter after receiving his inheritance. Mike's belief is shared by the dregs of Portland, who live out of an abandoned hotel with their spiritual leader Bob (film director William Richert). They're convinced Scott's fortune will benefit them all, when in reality Scott has other plans. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- River Phoenix, Keanu Reeves, (more)
A once-loving Chicago couple whose happily-ever-after quickly turned into a never-again finds their crumbling romance complicated when both parties refuse to move out of the pair's recently purchased condo. The Break-Up is a romantic comedy that starts where all the others end. The future once looked promising for thirtysomething couple Brooke (Jennifer Aniston) and Gary (Vince Vaughn), but lately it seems like a series of increasingly petty and intolerable squabbles have snuffed any semblance of romance in their relationship. Their confrontation endlessly fueled by mean-spirited suggestions of revenge tactics from friends and family and their stubborn refusal to budge resulting in an excruciating stalemate, Brooke and Gary ultimately decide to spitefully stick it out as hostile roommates until the weaker party eventually admits defeat. As the competition to drive one another out grows increasingly intense and outrageous, however, Brooke eventually comes to the realization that she's not fighting for possession of the condominium as much as she is fighting to salvage her relationship with the man she once viewed as the love of her life. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Aniston, (more)
Teen pop star Mandy Moore stars in the romantic comedy How to Deal. Directed by British filmmaker Clare Kilner, the script is based on two of author Sarah Dessen's popular teen novels: Someone Like You and That Summer. Halley (Moore) is a teenager trying to make sense of the faltering romantic relationships within her immediate social sphere. Her mother, Lydia (Allison Janney), can't seem get a date, while her father (Peter Gallagher) is getting remarried to a woman that nobody seems to like. Halley's wedding-obsessed sister, Ashley (Mary Catherine Garrison), is engaged to Lewis (MacKenzie Astin), a guy that is completely wrong for her. Meanwhile, bad boy Macon Forrester (Trent Ford) won't leave Halley alone. Just when she decides to become cynical about love because of all the romantic disappointments around her, a troubled situation involving her best friend Scarlett (Alexandra Holden) changes her outlook. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mandy Moore, Allison Janney, (more)
Multimillion-selling recording artist Britney Spears makes the transition to the big screen with this teen road trip romantic comedy, co-produced by the film branch of the entity that first brought her pop stardom, MTV. Crossroads casts Spears as Lucy, the shy valedictorian of her high school graduating class. On the night of their prom, Lucy and her once-close childhood friends -- the prim and proper Kit (Zoe Saldana) and the tomboyish, five-months-pregnant Mimi (Taryn Manning) -- reunite to dig up a time capsule they buried together as little girls. Mimi's about to make good on her childhood dreams; she's leaving their small Southern town for hopes of fame and fortune in Los Angeles. Though Lucy and Kit are reluctant to join her, they decide to tag along at the last minute, agreeing to be chauffeured by Mimi's just-out-of-jail friend, Ben (Anson Mount). As they trek across the country, plagued by car problems, unsanitary motels, and petty bickering, the three friends reveal meaningful secrets to each other, and Lucy begins to realize that the handsome, reticent Ben might just be the guy for her. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
- Starring:
- Britney Spears, Zoe Saldana, (more)
Kids offers a bleak, unblinking view of a group of vacuous, thoughtless New York City teens in their ceaseless quest for sex, drugs, and trouble. The film primarily follows Telly (Leo Fitzpatrick), who, having just realized the conquest of his latest virgin, brags that by day's end he will claim one more. While he and his friends brag to each other about their sexual exploits, Jenny (Chloë Sevigny) describes her own less-than-romantic encounter with Telly. Soon after the conversation, she learns that Telly, the only boy with whom she has slept, has infected her with the AIDS virus. Devastated, she sets out to find him and share the news. Meanwhile, Telly has set his sights on Darcy (Yakira Peguero), a lovely young girl whom he invites for a skinny dip at the local pool. Together with his friends, Telly drags Darcy along, and the entire crew jump the fence after hours. There he presents his now-familiar spiel which Darcy naïvely accepts, and the scene is set for disaster as the group heads back to a vacant apartment for an evening of sex, booze, drugs, and debauchery. Jenny finally locates Telly at the impromptu party and rushes to confront him, although she may be too late to save the next virgin in line from sharing her fate. ~ Jeremy Beday, Rovi
- Starring:
- Leo Fitzpatrick, Justin Pierce, (more)
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