Tom Rosenberg Movies
Mega-influential Hollywood player Tom Rosenberg boasts a production resumé that outstrips those of the most accomplished Tinseltown suits. With a multitude of A-list features to his credit, untold profit margins under his belt, and ten or 20 projects in the works at any one time, Rosenberg offers no indication of slowing down.The curtain rose on Rosenberg's showbiz career when he founded the Beverly Hills-based Beacon Entertainment in 1989 and became its chairman. At Beacon, Rosenberg developed and produced such efforts as The Commitments (1991) A Midnight Clear (1992), The Road to Wellville (1994), and Princess Caraboo (1994). In 1994, Comsat Corporation bought Beacon; Rosenberg left and founded Lakeshore Entertainment, serving as its chairman as well.
Rosenberg and former Paramount head Gary Lucchesi joined forces at Lakeshore, to oversee the output of several dozen first-run blockbusters including The Real Blonde (1997), Polish Wedding (1998), Runaway Bride (1999), Arlington Road (1999), Passion of Mind (2000), The Mothman Prophecies (2002), Underworld (2003), and Aeon Flux (2005). During this period, Rosenberg devoted much of his attention to nurturing unestablished talent and masterminding multi-picture contracts with the new directors, as evidenced by his succession of projects with such "previous unknowns" as Mark Pellington (Arlington, Mothman), Tom DiCillo (The Real Blonde, Box of Moonlight), and others. Of this, Rosenberg commented, "One of the things we at Lakeshore are most proud of is that we've given a number of first-time feature directors a chance. We had a very successful relationship with...Pellington...and have gone on to make three films with him; we have also recently worked with Paul McGuigan on Obsessed, so [Len Wiseman] was a perfect fit (for Underworld)."
The crown jewel of Rosenberg's career arrived at the tail end of his first Lakeshore decade; though it received little prerelease publicity, Clint Eastwood's boxing picture Million Dollar Baby (starring Eastwood, Hilary Swank, and Morgan Freeman) walked away as the sleeper hit of 2004, grossed many times its budget, drew critical raves, and swept the coveted Best Picture Oscar for Rosenberg and Lucchesi. In 2006, Rosenberg produced Underworld: Evolution -- a sequel to the goth sci-fi thriller Underworld (which, like its predecessor, also stars siren Kate Beckinsale), and Crank, a testosterone-infused thriller co-directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, with Jason Statham as a poison victim who will die if he lets his pulse drop to normal levels. Tony Goldwyn's The Last Kiss reworks an Italian romantic comedy by Gabriele Muccino, with Zach Braff as an eminently successful 30-year-old torn between a permanent commitment to a woman who loves him and a risk-filled turn with a much younger (and sexier) co-ed. That same year, Rosenberg also announced a myriad of plans for forthcoming projects throughout 2007, including the Philip Noyce-directed American Pastoral, an adaptation of the Philip Roth novel about Seymour Levov and his attempts to grapple with the turbulence of the '60s, and Midnight Train, a thriller adapted from a Clive Barker story about a photographer who attempts to track down the notorious "Subway Butcher." ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
Based on a novel by William Wharton, A Midnight Clear is set in the Adriennes Forest in December of 1944. A group of American GIs, all of whom have been together a bit too long, cling to the vestiges of their peacetime interests to remain sane. None are brilliant soldiers, though Will Knot Ethan Hawke is the one who exhibits the strongest leadership qualities. Billeted at a chateau, the soldiers begin hearing strange noises emanating from a graveyard, the handiwork of a group of mischievous German soldiers. The two enemy camps draw closer to one another as Christmas approaches, due in great part to the influence of GI Vince "Mother" Wilkins Gary Sinise. A sudden, impulsive hostile act results in the wholesale -- and unnecessary -- slaughter of the German soldiers. Though the exteriors are convincingly mid-European, the film was actually lensed in Utah. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Berg, Kevin Dillon, (more)
"The Irish are the blacks of Europe, Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland, and the North Siders are the blacks of Dublin ... so say it loud -- I'm black and I'm proud!" Or so Jimmy Rabbitte (Robert Arkins) tells his slightly puzzled friends as he tries to assemble a rhythm & blues show band in a working class community in Dublin in Alan Parker's film The Commitments. Jimmy is a would-be music business wheeler and dealer, and he's decided what Dublin needs is a top-shelf soul band. However, top-shelf soul musicians are hard to find in Dublin, so he has to make do with what he can find. However, after a long round of auditions, Jimmy makes two inspired discoveries: Deco (Andrew Strong), an abrasive and alcoholic streetcar conductor who nevertheless has a voice like the risen ghost of Otis Redding, and Joey "The Lips" Fagan (Johnny Murphy), a horn player who knows soul music backwards and forwards and claims to have played with everyone from Wilson Pickett to Elvis Presley. Before long, the band -- called the Commitments -- is packing them in at local clubs. But do they have what it takes to make the big time? Based on the novel by Roddy Doyle, who also co-wrote the screenplay, The Commitments is sparked by fine performances by its young cast and enthusiastic performances of a number of '60s soul classics; the cast, who play their own instruments, reassembled the band for a concert tour after the film became a hit. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Arkins, Michael Aherne, (more)
