Michael Nozik Movies

Russell Crowe teams up with Academy Award-winning writer/director Paul Haggis (Crash) and co-star Elizabeth Banks for this Lionsgate thriller concerning a man willing to break his wife out of prison in order to get her out of a murder conviction. Liam Neeson heads up the supporting cast, which includes Brian Dennehy, Olivia Wilde, and RZA. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

Based on Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel García Márquez's novel of the same name, director Mike Newell's Love in the Time of Cholera details a passionate love triangle that unfolds in turn-of-the-century South America. Oscar-winning Pianist scribe Ronald Harwood adapts the story of two young lovers who bide their time for years while anxiously awaiting the day they can finally be together. Through marriages, affairs, careers, and deaths, the couple never loses hope that destiny will unite them in the end. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A writer runs an obstacle course of neuroses as he prepares to debut an important new work in this comedy drama. Nicky Rogan (Michael Keaton) is a successful playwright who, after a series of hit comedies, is about to debut a deeply personal drama, and is more than a little nervous about how it will be received. Rogan has learned that notoriously tough critic Steven Schwimmer (Robert Downey Jr.) will be reviewing the opening night performance; a bad notice from Schwimmer sent Nicky's good friend and fellow writer Elliott (Griffin Dunne) into an emotional tailspin from which he's yet to recover. Rogan also has reason to believe that Peter Redmond (Harris Yulin), the play's leading man, may have a serious health problem that could sideline the show. Rogan is being dogged by personal anxieties as well -- his wife, Lillian (Catherine O'Hara), is leaving him, he's having an affair with Joanne (Bebe Neuwirth), who is bankrolling the show, his father (Tom Aldredge) is in failing health, and the life-long Boston Red Sox fan is panicking as his heroes are being trounced by the New York Mets in game six of the World Series. Game Six was the first original screenplay from noted novelist and playwright Don DeLillo; the film premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A trio of troubled suburbanites attempts to come to grips with the personal issues that surface following the tragic death of one of their own in this introspective adolescent drama from L.I.E. screenwriter/director (Michael Cuesta). In the months following the death of Jacob's (Conor Donovan) likeable, athletic twin brother, Rudy (also Donovan), Jacob and friends Malee (Zoe Weizenbaum) and Leonard (Jesse Camacho) struggle to make sense of the unfortunate youth's fiery demise at the hands of local bullies. As Jacob quickly loses himself to revenge fantasies and sets into motion a series of destructive plans designed to destroy the kids responsible for his brother's death, Malee focuses her attention on a dejected patient of her psychotherapist mother, and obese Leonard struggles about weight and health issues with his equally obese mother. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Like La Ronde, Peter Mattei's debut film Love in the Time of Money consists of a series of conversational duets that ultimately returns to the person who started the entire chain of events. Starting with prostitute Greta (Vera Farmiga) and disgruntled trick Eddie (Domenick Lombardozzi), the story soon includes a housewife on the look for an affair (Jill Hennessy), her husband (Malcolm Gets), an artist (Steve Buscemi), a gallery worker (Rosario Dawson), and a salesman (The Sopranos' Michael Imperioli). This film was screened at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival after being developed in the Sundance labs. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

A powerful behind-the-scenes man in politics and show business finds himself skidding into a very public scandal in this taut drama. Eli Wurman (Al Pacino) was raised in the deep South, attended Harvard Law School, and has devoted his spare time to progressive political causes since working alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s. However, Wurman now makes his living as a press agent and PR man, and while he's near the top of his profession, years of overwork, constant smoking and drinking, and ceaseless tension are taking their toll, leaving him on the verge of collapse, with only the prescriptions of his friend Dr. Napier (Robert Klein) keeping him on his feet. One of Wurman's biggest clients is Cary Launer (Ryan O'Neal), a fading film star with political aspirations who, after attending a disastrous Broadway opening, asks Wurman to do him a big favor -- bail Launer's girlfriend, Jilli (Téa Leoni), out of jail and keep an eye on her. Wurman manages to get Jilli out of the stir, but she insists upon being escorted to an exclusive sex and opium den for a night of heavy drinking and drugging, and then reveals to Wurman that she owns a device which she's used to record footage of the most public figures who attend the club, including Elliott Sharansky, a billionaire Jewish civic leader (Richard Schiff). That night, a half out-of-it Eli accompanies Jilli back to her hotel room when an intruder barges in and forces an overdose on her, killing her instantly. The next morning, Wurman has only fuzzy memories of what transpired. He decides to focus on his attempts to set up a political fundraiser, but has a hard time getting the right A-list celebs to appear, just as many of New York's power brokers aren't especially interesting in working with Wurman or Launer. In the midst of this chaos, Victoria (Kim Basinger), who was married to Wurman's late brother, arrives in New York and urges him to leave the city and his career behind while he still can. People I Know was screened in competition at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Somewhere in L.A., Peter (Kenneth Branagh), a washed-up British playwright, struggles to duplicate his past glory as he surfs a foul-smelling tide of disenchantment. His wife, Melanie (Robin Wright Penn), manages to maintain an optimistic outlook even as she longs for the baby that her husband is hesitant to help her conceive. When Peter befriends Amy (Suzi Hofrichter), a neighborhood girl who has mild cerebral palsy, their friendship softens him to the idea of fatherhood and propels Melanie's maternal yearnings into hyperdrive. As if baby fever weren't enough, Peter is plagued by a seemingly benevolent stalker (Jared Harris), his neighbors' incessantly noisy dog, and the flighty cast and crew of his latest play. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

Writer-director-actor Edward Burns (The Brothers McMullen, She's the One) looks at small-town ex-lovers in this low-key, blue-collar drama with atmospheric, muted-color cinematography by Emmy-winner Frank Prinzi (Northern Exposure). To the tune of Sheryl Crow's "Home", Charlie (Burns) returns to his quiet seaboard hometown to win back his ex-girlfriend Claudia (Lauren Holly), whom he abandoned three years earlier. He quickly learns that she's now engaged to Michael (Jon Bon Jovi), his best buddy since elementary school. Claudia has a dull job as a waitress at a slow-paced diner, while Michael repairs autos at a local garage. Michael loves her, but Charlie's return forces her to re-examine her life. Burns commented, "I wanted to do a drama about a working-class community, about the kind of people I grew up with, and take a look at what their lives are like as they hit their 30s and start to put their adolescent dreams aside. Their old hopes and dreams get rekindled, so they try and go for it one more time. And in the end they discover that you can't relive your past." Songs relate literally to the onscreen action, with tunes by Lynryd Skynryd, Glen Campbell, Pete Yorn, Georges Gasguy & Saveur Mallia, Macy Gray, Patti Scialfa, Bruce Springsteen, Local H, Sponge, and the Allman Brothers. Filmed on location during the off-season at Rockaway Beach, Queens, not far from New York's JFK Airport. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Old and new loves are turned upside down through a complex case of mistaken identities in this romantic comedy-drama. In 1980, Juan Raul Perez (Alfred Molina) is released from a Cuban prison after spending 20 years behind bars and is allowed to join a mass emigration to the U.S. While Juan was incarcerated, his wife Carmela Perez (Anjelica Huston) escaped to Florida with their daughter, and Juan lives for the day when they can be reunited. En route to Miami, Juan meets Dottie Perez (Marisa Tomei), a fiery young woman who wants to leave behind her career as a prostitute. Juan and Carmela miss finding each other when his boat reaches Miami, and immigration personnel mistakenly assume that Juan and Dottie Perez are husband and wife; when they learn that families tend to find American sponsors much faster than individuals, they play along with the mistake, even convincing other Perezes to pose as their child and grandfather. Juan discovers that trying to renew an old relationship isn't easy as one tries to start a new life, especially since Carmela has attracted the attentions of police lieutenant John Pirelli (Chazz Palminteri). Cuban jazz legend Arturo Sandoval contributed to the soundtrack. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Actor Robert De Niro started a production company to make films just like this one: stories which were unpopular with the establishment and which are unlikely to make a big splash at the box-office. Even so, this is a first-class production, and the filmmakers were the first to receive permission to film on the Pine Ridge (Sioux) Reservation in South Dakota, likely due to director Michael Apted's having previously made an accurate and sensitive documentary about Indian political prisoner Leonard Peltier's case, Incident at Oglala. The film did exactly as well as expected at the box-office but has since assumed greater importance as one of the tiny number of "mainstream" movies which faithfully and respectfully illuminate Native American issues. In the story, loosely based on the earlier documentary, Ray Levoi (Val Kilmer) is an ambitious up-and-coming FBI agent in the 1970s with great career prospects. The one thing he will not tolerate is any reference to his half-Indian heritage. As far as he is concerned, his loyalties and culture identify him with the government and his white mother. He is extremely touchy about anything to do with his father, who was an alcoholic full-blooded Sioux. However, the FBI wants to take advantage of his half-Indian blood to mend fences in a politically sensitive murder investigation, and it sends him exactly where he doesn't want to go. Further, he is widely advertised as being Indian, though he knows virtually nothing about his heritage and has renounced it to the best of his ability. Once on the reservation, he becomes deeply involved in a truly messy state of affairs and is drawn into situations where he is forced to confront his background, native spirituality, and the duplicity of the government and its allies within the tribe. Despite his consistent prickliness about his heritage, his heart is in the right place, and the reservation's sheriff (Graham Greene) and a wise spiritual elder (Chief Ted Thin Elk) patiently lead their unwilling FBI pupil on a soul-wrenching wild goose chase which paradoxically takes him straight to the heart of the matter. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Most of this provocative made-for-cable television drama, takes place in the courtroom where a young white, female attorney tries to prosecute an African American ex-con for the assault of a prostitute. He is not only the prime suspect, he is also the only witness. Unfortunately, he may not get a fair trial, for the prosecutor may be using the case to settle a personal score. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Can an independent, contemporary woman find happiness with a guy who sells pickles? Isabelle Grossman (Amy Irving) is an attractive, intelligent Jewish woman in her early 30s. She has a good job and a nice apartment on the Upper West Side, and she values her independence; she often visits her grandmother Bubbie (Reiz Bozyk), who lives on the Lower East Side and wants Isabelle to meet a nice Jewish man and settle down. Bubbie goes so far as to obtain the services of Hannah Mandelbaum (Sylvia Miles), a matchmaker who finds the "perfect" man for Isabelle: a pickle salesman named Sam Posner (Peter Riegert). Isabelle thinks Sam is a nice enough guy, but she has a hard time imagining herself spending her life with the pickle man, and she isn't sure if she wants to pursue the relationship. However, Sam is taken with Isabelle and goes out of his way to change her mind. Crossing Delancy was directed by Joan Micklin Silver, whose breakthrough film Hester Street also examined Jewish culture on the Lower East Side, albeit from the vantage point of the 1890s. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Martin Scorsese's After Hours is a dark, tragi-comic tale of a fish out of water, centering on an uptight, white-bread computer consultant from uptown Manhattan who finds himself in the nightmarish and incomprehensible (to him) world of Soho after dark. The ordeal begins when Paul Hackett (Griffin Dunne) gets lonely and decides to leave the posh East Side and search the Soho streets for some loving from Marcy (Rosanna Arquette), the pretty young woman he met in a downtown cafe. He has her phone number and works up the nerve to call. She wants to see him, and so Paul grabs $20, hails a taxi and sets out. The weirdness begins when he loses his money during the high-speed cab ride. His visit to Marcy's loft, where he meets her crazed artist roommate Kiki (Linda Fiorentino), is a disaster, as is his encounter with the beehive-wearing retro waitress Julie (Teri Garr). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide