Frederick Weller Movies

Andy Warhol was a phenomenon who warrants a lot of explaining: a completely colorless mega-star celebrity, and a kind of LaBrea Tarpit for a vivid and talented collection of oddballs in the New York scene. He fostered their continued degeneration into weird lifestyles and heavy drug use; and at the same time acted as their mentor, agent, and sponsor. One artist who came to be part of Warhol's "scene" was Jean Michel Basquiat, an antisocial street-bum who went from writing graffiti on alley walls to being the toast of New York City's art world. This film biography chronicles the progression of Basquiat (Jeffrey Wright) and his progression from living in cardboard boxes to penthouses, his romances, his drug use, and his death in 1988 at age 27. Along the way, he never stopped detesting the rich, including art agent Bruno Bischofberger (Dennis Hopper), and he never lost his naivete. Warhol (David Bowie) picks up some of the pieces as Basquiat lurches through the art scene. Cameo appearances by Tatum O'Neal and Courtney Love add spice to this interesting film. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

The talented but aimless son of a famous writer embarks on an existential road trip with his best friend in the heartfelt feature debut from writer/director Dylan McCormick. Sean (Frederick Weller) lives in the college town where his father used to teach, and divides most of his time between construction work, bartending jobs, and senseless one night stands. One day, fearing the worst for his future, Sean decides to take fate into his own hands by gassing up the car and heading for New York in search of Molly (Greer Goodman) - a former girlfriend whom he met while bartending. On the road, Sean and his hard-drinking best friend Lyle (Reg Rogers) gradually begin to discover that life is precisely what one makes it out to be. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Kip Koenig wrote and directed this comedy, set in a small college town, about neurotic Bell Bryant (Clea DuVall) who explains her problems directly to the camera: her older sister Sarah (Jorja Fox) has a happy marriage plus a baby on the way. Her other sister, beautiful Dot (Amy Smart), is involved in an affair with Bell's ex, Leonard (Gabriel Mann). In a remote location, Bell makes love to Leonard and then departs, abandoning the nude Leonard who makes his way to the house of a married couple (Dennis Haysbert, Marianne Jean-Baptiste). Wondering if she's a lesbian, the confused Bell dates a woman and then dashes around from one place to another, dropping in on her mom (Mary Kay Place), her uncle, John David Souther), and various eccentrics. Shown at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

A young female doctor is found murdered. While seeking out evidence, the detectives come across the woman's diary. The book paints a sordid picture indeed, suggesting that the woman's death may have been the outgrowth of a romantic triangle involving her fiancé, Danny Garrett (Frederick Weller), and Garrett's domineering psychiatrist, Diane Meade (Lindsay Crouse). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Laff-fest sensation and parody queen Anna Faris (of the Scary Movie series) appears vis-à-vis Laura Breckenridge and Justin Chambers in Southern Belles, written and directed by Paul S. Myers and Brennan Shroff. Faris and Breckenridge play Belle and Bell, two trailer-trash Georgian zeroes. Desperate for adventure, and craving a move to urban Atlanta sprawl, the women hatch a nutty get-rich-quick scheme. Their plans appear poised to succeed -- until one of the girls threatens to upturn everything by falling for a policeman named Rhett Butler. Frederick Weller and Heather Goldenhersh co-star in this guffaw-a-minute farce, an official selection at the 2005 Atlanta Film Festival. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Though not the first TV dramatization of the lives and careers of the popular 1960s singing group the Beach Boys, this two-part miniseries was the first that did not concentrate exclusively on Brian Wilson, arguably the most brilliant and troubled member of the quintet. Instead, the production details the triumph and heartbreaks of all five Beach Boys: Brian (here played by Frederick Weller), his brothers Carl and Dennis Wilson, and non-related members Mike Love and Al Jardine. Played by Kevin Dunn, the Wilson brothers' father Murray Wilson is cast as a complete monster, shown to be both verbally and physically abusive to his grown sons, as well as a money-grubbing dictator while managing The Beach Boys during their most prolific period. The miniseries also delves into the darker side of the singers themselves, especially when Dennis Wilson (played by Nick Stabile) begins carousing with a would-be tunesmith named Charles Manson (Erik Passoja). Producer John Stamos had originally wanted to appear in the production as Dennis (who died in a surfing mishap in 1983), but the ABC network decided that Stamos was too old for the part. Many (including, reportedly, Brian Wilson himself) complained loudly about the gross liberties taken with actual events in this picture. The Beach Boys: An American Family was originally telecast on February 27 and 28, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After a detour into lighter and more compassionate fare with Nurse Betty and Possession, Neil LaBute returns to the themes of his earlier films with this dark and corrosive look at male-female relationships. Adam (Paul Rudd) is a chubby, bespectacled nebbish of a college student who makes money in his spare time as a security guard at the university's art museum. One evening at work, Adam spies another student preparing to deface a statue -- Evelyn (Rachel Weisz), a beautiful art major who is offended by a fig leaf that's been used to "censor" a statue of a nude male, and is prepared to replace the disguised member with spray paint. Adam can't quite bring himself to kick Evelyn out of the museum, and she responds by giving him her phone number. Adam and Evelyn begin dating, and as she challenges his ideas about art and morality, she begins remaking Adam into the sort of boyfriend she'd prefer. Under her influence, Adam loses weight, gets contact lenses, changes his hairstyle, starts dressing better, and assumes a cooler and more confident personality. Adam's pal Philip (Frederick Weller) notices the changes in his friend and isn't happy with the way Evelyn has been molding Adam to her specifications. Adam and Evelyn have dinner one night with Philip and his fiancée, Jenny (Gretchen Mol), and before long Philip and Evelyn are at each other's throats as Adam and Jenny cower along the sidelines. The tensions between Philip and Evelyn exacerbate uneasiness between Jenny and her husband to be, while at the same time, Jenny and Adam begin to recognize a mutual attraction that's long lurked beneath the surface. The Shape of Things was adapted by LaBute from his stage drama of the same name; a selection of songs by Elvis Costello comprise the soundtrack. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi