Paul Sarossy Movies

An untrusting wife attempts to prove that her husband is cheating by hiring an escort to seduce him, inadvertently endangering her entire family in the process. Catherine (Julianne Moore) is a respected doctor, and her husband, David (Liam Neeson), is a dedicated music professor. They've been married for years and have a teenage son together, but lately the passion has faded from their romance. The morning after David misses his flight home -- and the elaborate surprise birthday party Catherine had planned to celebrate his return -- Catherine finds a text message on his phone that leads her to believe her husband is sleeping with a female student. Her suspicions grow over the following weeks, and when Catherine has a run-in with an escort named Chloe (Amanda Seyfried), she hires the ravishing blonde to test her husband's fidelity. After each encounter with David, Chloe reports back to Catherine with all the sordid details. But the further the experiment goes, the less clear Chloe's motivations for taking part in it become, and the more the untrusting wife begins to fear that the situation has spiraled out of control. Directed by Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter, Ararat), this erotic thriller is a remake of Anne Fontaine's French film Nathalie..., and was adapted by Erin Cressida Wilson. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

His career in an uncontrollable downward spiral, a hapless Hollywood producer cons a major studio into financing a $100 million action film following the adventures of 19th century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, only to find his swindle taking a sudden turn for the worse when his star is kidnapped and the production is shut down. Now left with few other options for resuscitating his flat-lining career, the producer aligns himself with a well-connected Hollywood studio executive in a clandestine attempt to finance another, wholly different film by utilizing the blocked studio funds. William H. Macy and Meg Ryan star in The Wool Cap director Steven Schachter's comic look at the twisted side of Hollywood politics. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Longtime film editor Jon Poll (Meet the Fockers and Austin Powers in Goldmember) makes his directorial debut with this coming-of-age comedy about a wealthy public school system newcomer (Anton Yelchin) who wins over his skeptical classmates by serving as a surrogate psychiatrist to the troubled student body. Robert Downey Jr., Hope Davis, and Kat Dennings co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A young child has gone missing and it's up to a haunted but determined policeman to travel to the remote island community where she was last seen and solve the lingering mystery of her disappearance in director Neil LaBute's updated reworking of Anthony Shaffer's 1973 cult horror classic. Upon receiving a letter from his one-time fiancée, Willow (Kate Beahan), imploring him to search for her missing daughter on the secluded island of Summersisle, Policeman Edward Malus (Nicolas Cage) quickly makes his way to the island to locate the girl and seek an answer as to why Willow suddenly and inexplicably disappeared shortly before their wedding date. Once there, Malus is troubled to discover that although there are traces of the child to be found in such locations as the local schoolhouse, the residents of Summersisle seem reluctant to offer any specific details as to the girl's apparent death. His investigation effectively stalled by the highly secretive Wiccan community, Sheriff Malus soon discovers that there are still some cultures that have their own unique beliefs about humankind's relationship with Mother Earth, and refuse to adapt to the rules of modern society. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A reporter unexpectedly gets a personal perspective on a legendary show-business story in this adaptation of Rupert Holmes' novel, scripted and directed by noted Canadian independent filmmaker Atom Egoyan. In the mid-'50s, Lanny Morris (Kevin Bacon) and Vince Collins (Colin Firth) were a wildly popular comedy team who suddenly and unexpectedly broke up at the peak of their popularity. Fifteen years after Morris and Collins called it quits, journalist Karen O'Connor (Alison Lohman), who has earned a reputation for her celebrity exposés, wants to write about the true story of what happened with Morris and Collins -- and to her surprise, her publisher tells her Collins has agreed to co-author the book for a cool million dollars. The only catch is that Collins has to tell the full truth about a very large skeleton in the team's closet -- a beautiful naked woman was found drowned in the bathtub of Morris and Collins' hotel suite shortly before they broke up the act, and while the comics were cleared of any wrongdoing, rumors about the incident followed them for years. As O'Connor and Collins complete their book, they learn to their surprise that Morris has opted to write a book of his own about the team's career; eager to learn what Morris has to say, O'Connor meets him posing as a schoolteacher, and soon falls into an unexpected romantic relationship with him. O'Connor soon finds herself playing two sides against one another as she tried to learn the truth about two men with dark and scandalous pasts. Where the Truth Lies became the subject of unexpected controversy when the MPAA gave the film an NC-17 rating due to a brief scene involving a ménage à trois; the film earned significantly more lenient rating in other countries. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Australian filmmaker John Duigan directs the romantic war drama Head in the Clouds. Charlize Theron stars as ambitious photographer Gilda Bessé, who lives in France during the 1930s. She shares her stylish luxury apartment in Paris with Cambridge student Guy (Stuart Townsend) from Ireland and refugee Mia (Penélope Cruz) from Spain. When WWII starts, the three close friends are torn apart by different priorities. Thomas Kretschmann also stars as Major Thomas Bietrich. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

The body of a prep school student has been discovered in a nearby river, and though the death was originally listed as a suicide one detective believes that it may have actually been the result of a fraternity hazing gone awry in director Nick Willing's snowbound mystery. Detective Abel Grey (Edward Burns) isn't willing to write off the case as a suicide just yet, and with a little help from sympathetic teacher Betsy Chase (Jennifer Ehle) he hopes to uncover the truth behind the mysterious and untimely death. As a series of elusive clues lead Detective Grey ever closer to the truth, he is forced to confront not only the increasingly complex facts in the case of the student death, but his own repressed emotions related to the suicide of his older brother years earlier as well. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A group of soldiers in the deep South take vengeance against one of their own when word circulates that he's become involved with a transgendered nightclub performer in this drama based on a true story. Barry Winchell (Troy Garity) was a young man with an educational disability who volunteered for the United States Army and found himself stationed in Tennessee, where he soon struck up a friendship with Justin Fisher (Shawn Hatosy), a high-strung fellow GI with a drug problem. One night with nothing to do, Winchell and Fisher tagged along with a group of soldiers who ended up taking in a drag show at a bar in Nashville. One of the performers on the bill that night was Calpernia Addams (Lee Pace), a transsexual and former combat medic in the Navy who was a veteran of the Gulf War before taking the first steps towards sexual reassignment. While Winchell, who was straight, was aware that Addams was at least partially still male, he found himself attracted to her for her intelligence and sensitivity, while she found herself similarly drawn to him. As Winchell and Addams' mutual attraction grew into a romance, the unstable Fisher found himself increasingly confused and angry with Winchell, and he struck back by spreading rumors that one of the men in their company was gay, with fingers soon pointing towards Winchell. Despite the Army's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, the company's drill sergeant (Barclay Hope) took it upon himself to find and remove the gay soldier in his ranks, while the increasingly vicious Fisher aligned himself with Calvin Glover (Philip Eddolls), a young and narrow minded recruit eager to strike out with violence against those different from himself. Directed by veteran filmmaker Frank Pierson, Soldier's Girl premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Paid in Full marks the feature debut of director Charles Stone III, who rose to fame after creating Budweiser's "Wassup" commercials. The urban gangster drama is loosely based on the true story of 1980s Harlem drug kingpins AZ, Rich Porter, and Alpo. (This story was also the basis for a documentary, Game Over (Part 1).) Ace (Wood Harris) works at a laundromat, struggling to get by, while his friend Mitch (Mekhi Phifer) lives the high life selling heroin. His sister's boyfriend, Calvin (Kevin Carroll) also sells drugs, and looks down on Ace for struggling to earn a living. Out delivering laundry one day, Ace meets Lulu (Esai Morales), a big time coke dealer, who lives better than anyone Ace has ever known. When Lulu leaves some coke in the pocket of a coat he's having cleaned, Ace returns it to him, and Lulu rewards him for his honesty by letting him keep the drugs. When Calvin gets busted, Ace hesitantly takes his place in the neighborhood, and starts working for Lulu. As the crack business takes off, Ace finds himself making more money than he knows what to do with. Mitch goes to jail for a short time, where another inmate, Rico (rapper Cam'ron in his acting debut), defends him in a fight. By the time Mitch gets out of prison, Ace is running the neighborhood. Ace makes Mitch his right-hand man, and when Rico gets out of jail, he joins the crew. The drugs and money flow, and Ace tries to keep everyone happy, but there are some who want what's his, and will stop at nothing to get it. Paid in Full was shown at the 2002 Urbanworld Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Jason Alexander stars as fabled toy manufacturer, A.C. Gilbert in this Capraesque TV movie. An overachiever since his school days, Gilbert surprises his stern father (Ed Asner) by forsaking a career in medicine to pursue an entirely different business. Creating the now legendary Erector Set, A.C. sets up his own toy company in 1913, an enterprise which is raking in millions within two years. But with America's entry into WWI, the U.S. government prevails upon Gilbert to convert his factory into a munitions plant. Though at heart a pacifist, Gilbert agrees to do so, secure in the belief that he will be able to return to toys once the hostilities have ceased. Alas, the Government has other plans. At their behest, Gilbert reluctantly mounts a "Buy Bonds, Not Toys" campaign designed to divert the money normally spent on Christmas gifts to the war effort. Is this the end of Christmastime as millions of children know it, or will Gilbert be able to salvage both the holiday and the spirit of giving? The Man Who Saved Christmas debuted December 15, 2002, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When a deadly assassin lets his emotions get in the way of his work, he is forced into a deadly confrontation with the very man who trained him in the debut feature from cinematographer-turned-director Paul Sarossy. Thanks in large part to the training of his tattooed mentor, Jon has quickly become one of the most efficient and effective assassins in the underworld. When Jon takes a particularly demanding mission to heart and fails to follow through, his betrayal ignites the rage of the only man with the skill to take Jon down. Now locked into a vicious struggle for survival, Jon must outsmart the very man who trained him or die trying. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Director Bruce Paltrow teams with his Oscar-winning daughter Gwyneth Paltrow for this road comedy with music. Paltrow plays Liv, a struggling professional singer whose meets her father, Ricky Dean (Huey Lewis), for the first time at the funeral of her mother. As it turns out, both Liv and Ricky supplement the income from few-and-far-between gigs by singing in karaoke contests, and soon father and daughter are competing on the same circuit. Meanwhile, Todd Woods (Paul Giamatti), a salesman who has grown disenchanted with his job, his family, and his life, picks up a hitch-hiker named Reggie Kane (Andre Braugher), and during a stop at a tavern, they discover they make a good duet team while belting out a version of "Try A Little Tenderness." And waitress Suzi Loomis (Maria Bello) sweet talks Billy (Scott Speedman), a cabbie, into driving her to Omaha, where the national karaoke finals will determine who does the best job of singing along with the records, as the lives of these six characters begin to intersect. Duets also features Angie Dickinson as Blair, Liv's grandmother who was once a showgirl in Frank Sinatra's Las Vegas floorshow; Brad Pitt was originally cast in Speedman's role but withdrew after he and Paltrow announced the end of their off-camera relationship. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Renowned character actor Joe Mantegna makes his directorial debut with this film adaptation of one of David Mamet's first plays, boasting such onscreen talent as Peter Falk, Charles Durning, and Robert Forster. Based on Mamet's experiences of working on Great Lake freighters while a grad student, the film centers on Dale (Tony Mamet, David's brother), an Ivy League college kid working on the Seaway Queen on an internship one summer. Though his romantic vision of life on the sea is soon dashed, he befriends a half-dozen members of the world-weary crew and learns about the unexpectedly rich -- and occasionally tragic -- lives they lead. This film premiered at the 2000 Los Angeles Independent Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide