John Patrick Shanley Movies

When the principal (Meryl Streep) of a Bronx Catholic High School accuses a popular priest (Philip Seymour Hoffman) of pedophilia, a young nun caught in between the feuding pair becomes hopelessly swept up in the ensuing controversy. 1964, St. Nicholas, the Bronx: The winds of change are sweeping through this tight-knit religious community, and charismatic priest Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is doing his best to adapt by revisiting the school's notoriously strict disciplinary practices. Unfortunately Father Flynn's progressive ideas stand in stark contrast to the longstanding beliefs of Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Meryl Streep), the iron-willed principal, who believes that an oppressive environment of punishment and fear is the only way to keep the student body in line. Suddenly into this tempestuous environment appears young Donald Miller, St. Nicholas' first black student. When hopeful innocent Sister James (Amy Adams) reluctantly reveals to Sister Beauvier that Father Flynn and Donald have been spending an unusual amount of time together in the church rectory, the unrelentingly righteous headmistress begins a merciless crusade to reveal the beloved clergyman as a lecherous child molester and have him permanently expunged from the school. Yet despite her moral certainty that Father Flynn has committed such an unspeakable transgression, Sister Beauvier has not a shred of actual evidence to back up her audacious claim. Now, as Sister Beauvier and Father Flynn enter into an epic battle of wills, the shock waves set into motion by their explosive confrontation threaten to destroy one man's reputation and tear apart the entire surrounding community. John Patrick Shanley adapted his own play for the screen under the guidance of producer Scott Rudin (The Queen, Notes on a Scandal). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Good gorillas meet bad gorillas while human beings search for treasure in this jungle advnture saga. R.B. Travis (Joe Don Baker) is the ruthless head of Travi-Com, a telecommunications firm on the cusp of a major breakthrough in laser communications technology. However, Travis needs diamonds to finish the project, so he sends a group of men to Zaire, where he's told that a large supply of the gems can be easily found. When the men go missing, Travis sends his trusted assistant Karen Ross (Laura Linney), a one-time CIA associate, into the jungle to find both his staff and the jewels. Hoping to keep her mission a secret, Karen travels to Zaire in the company of Peter (Dylan Walsh), a researcher on primate development who is hoping to return Amy, a gorilla who has been taught sign language and can "speak" English with the help of a glove-controlled computer device. Also travelling with them is Herkermer (Tim Curry), a Romanian with a secret agenda: he's convinced that Amy can guide him to the Lost City of Zinj, where he believes that King Solomon's Mines are located. Upon arrival, the group is met by Monroe Kelly (Ernie Hudson), a self-described "great white hunter who happens to be black," and they discover that the jungle holds a menace that they weren't counting on: a tribe of bloodthirsty gray gorillas. Congo was based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This is the first mainstream film to deal with the harrowing true story of a Uruguayan rugby team whose plane crashed in the Andes mountains in October of 1972 and who were forced to resort to cannibalism to survive more than two months of isolation. (The only other film to tackle the subject, Rene Cardona's Survive! was a seedy little mess that delighted in exploiting the cannibalism aspect.) The events depicted are primarily based on the novel of the same name by Piers Paul Read. The interview-style prologue features an uncredited John Malkovich as one of the survivors, whose spiritual ruminations on the disaster kick off the film's main action. We are briefly introduced to the characters before disaster strikes, in the film's most horrifying set-piece -- the depiction of the crash in grueling detail. The handful of survivors who manage to extricate themselves from the twisted wreckage seem incapable of working through their panic as they hope against all odds that a rescue party will locate them. One of the survivors, Nando (Ethan Hawke), awakens from a coma and makes a remarkable recovery -- enough to demonstrate level-headed leadership after team captain Antonio (Vincent Spano) begins to lose his nerve. As the weeks wear on and rations are depleted, the survivors are forced into a moral dilemma: the only remaining source of food seems to be the bodies of the dead. Those who choose for religious reasons not to consume their former companions must face the realization that they will soon starve or freeze to death. In the end, three men who choose survival above all else find the strength to set out on a treacherous mission to a ridge, where hopefully one of them will make it to civilization. Director Frank Marshall infuses the proceedings with sufficient intensity to keep the story moving, but the film fails to fully explore the often-recounted spiritual aspects of the ordeal as established in the opening monologue. Ironically, the writers' apparent attempts to remain true to Read's account of events -- resulting in some rather odd stretches of dialogue -- impede the drama even more than the Hollywood glamorization of the story's nominal "heroes," who remain rugged and handsome despite months of malnutrition and severe frostbite. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

This offbeat police thriller with heavy doses of humor was written by John Patrick Shanley, the former playwright who wrote Cher's hit romantic comedy Moonstruck. Kevin Kline stars as Nick Starkey, a brilliant former New York City police detective who has been exiled to the fire department because of his unorthodox ways. He's called back to service by his police commissioner brother Frank (Harvey Keitel) in the hopes that he can find a bizarre serial killer who's been murdering one woman a month. Nick's condition to agreeing to help is that he gets to cook dinner for Frank and his snooty wife Christine (Susan Sarandon), a former girlfriend of his. Ultimately, Nick uses his Zen-like intuition and some high-tech computer hardware (with prominent product placement plugs) to find the killer, pausing to have an affair with the mayor's beautiful daughter Bernadette (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. In the improbable conclusion, Nick figures out the exact day the killer will strike and the exact apartment! January Man is too tongue-in-cheek to be taken seriously as a thriller. In addition to Keitel and Sarandon the stellar supporting cast includes Rod Steiger as the mayor and Danny Aiello as a tough police captain who rails against Nick's "beatnik" ways. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

When there's a full moon over Brooklyn, anything can happen, and everything happens in the neighborhood where widowed bookkeeper Loretta Castorini (Cher) lives. First, Loretta agrees to marry a man she does not love, Johnny Cammareri (Danny Aiello), simply because he knows how to propose properly. Before the wedding can take place, Cammareri must visit his dying mother in Sicily. In his absence, Loretta is supposed to try to patch up the differences between Johnny and his brother, bakery operator Ronny Cammareri (Nicolas Cage). Having never forgiven Johnny for indirectly causing the accident that crippled him, Ronny flies into a rage whenever his brother's name is mentioned. He does, however, fall for Loretta like a ton of bricks. After a torrid affair, Loretta tries to avoid Ronny out of respect to Johnny, but he's just too fascinating to resist. Meanwhile, Loretta's father (Vincent Gardenia) is fooling around with his mistress Mona (Anita Gillette), while Loretta's mother (Olympia Dukakis) is wooed by a college professor (John Mahoney). These brief flings are forgiven and forgotten, but there's still the delicate situation of Loretta being in love with her future brother-in-law. A now-classic romantic comedy, Moonstruck won Oscars for Cher, Olympia Dukakis, and screenwriter John Patrick Shanley. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi