Jonathan Richman Movies

Three young people try to make their way through a world in crisis in this independent drama. Hope (Mackenzie Firgens) is a twenty-something woman trying to find an outlet for her political idealism and desire to change the world in the midst of the political crisis of the war in Iraq. Hope also wants to find like-minded people, as her best friend Francine (Lauren Fox) spends much of her time trying to distance herself from reality with sex, drugs and decadence. Hope thinks she may have found a soul mate when she meets Frankie (Samuel Child), a political activist who wants to take an active role in changing the world around him. Hope joins Frankie in his bid to upend the status quo through direct action, but his plans soon take her deeper into the underground than she expected. Featuring an original score by acclaimed singer and songwriter Jonathan Richman, Revolution Summer received its world premiere at the 2007 San Francisco International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Actor, artist, and filmmaker Caveh Zahedi decided to keep a video diary for the year 1999, recording one minute of his life each day from January 1st through December 31st; eventually, he edited his record of the year down to a tidy 79 minutes, and In the Bathtub of the World is the result. Zahedi shares his inner thoughts (and a number of private moments), as well as glimpses of his work and his encounters with a number of other creative people, including musicians Jonathan Richman and David Byrne, writers John Ashbery and Czeslaw Milosz, and filmmaker Jay Rosenblatt. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The Farrelly Brothers set this romantic comedy in their home state of Rhode Island. In 1985, when teen-nerd Ted Stroehmann (Ben Stiller) challenges a high-schooler who's bullying retarded Warren Jenson (W. Earl Brown), his concern prompts Warren's sister, the dazzling and desirable Mary Jenson (Cameron Diaz) to choose Ted as her senior prom date, a fact Ted's pals find hard to believe. However, on prom night, Ted gets his penis caught in his zipper, so the much-desired date never happens. Living in Providence and waxing nostalgic 13 years later, Ted hires Pat Healy (Matt Dillon) to locate Mary, and the creepy private investigator finds her in Miami, where she lives with her tan-shriveled roommate Magda (Lin Shaye). After Pat develops a stalker-style fixation on the lovely, unattached Mary, he lies to Ted, telling him that she's now an overweight mother confined to a wheelchair. Employing professional eavesdropping equipment, Pat gathers a dossier on Mary's life and future plans, information that forms the basis for more lies when Pat begins dating her. Sure enough, Mary falls for Pat, although her friend Tucker (Lee Evans) is very suspicious of Pat's claim to be a Harvard-educated architect. Meanwhile, Ted learns the truth but continues to encounter offbeat obstacles as he accelerates to Miami in hopes of finding happiness with his true love. Former Modern Lovers singer Jonathan Richman vocalizes a narrative ballad of onscreen commentary in the Cat Ballou (1965) tradition. Most of the cast sings and frolics to Build Me Up, Buttercup by The Foundations during the closing credits. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide