Hutton, Timothy

French Kiss

Meg Ryan emerges bloodied but unbowed from this botched comedy by Lawrence Kasdan (The Big Chill). Ryan plays a woman whose fiancé (Timothy Hutton) leaves her for a Parisian beauty. She jets over to the City of Lights to fight for her man, but an incapacitating fear of flying forces her to seek help from a fellow passenger, a French thief played by Kevin Kline, who then tutors her in the ways of getting her beau back. Kasdan seems incapable of pacing the story, let alone getting a firm grip on its comic tone and intentions. The production sputters and regroups and stalls repeatedly, forcing Ryan, particularly, to find the boundaries of her own screwball performance. --Tom Keogh

Kate flies to Paris to keep her fiance from running off with a French woman, but becomes involved with a sexy French thief who assures her he will help.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 11-JAN-2005
Media Type: DVD

Ordinary People

Robert Redford made his Oscar-winning directorial debut with this highly acclaimed, poignantly observant drama (based on the novel by Judith Guest) about a well-to-do family's painful adjustment to tragedy. Mary Tyler Moore and Donald Sutherland play a seemingly happy couple who lose the older of their two sons to a boating accident; Timothy Hutton plays the surviving teenage son, who blames himself for his brother's death and has attempted suicide to end his pain. They live in a meticulously kept home in an affluent Chicago suburb, never allowing themselves to speak openly of the grief that threatens to tear them apart. Only when the son begins to see a psychiatrist (Judd Hirsch) does the veneer of denial begin to crack, and Ordinary People thenceforth directly examines the broken family ties and the complexity of repressed emotions that have festered under the pretense of coping. Superior performances and an Oscar-winning script by Alvin Sargent make this one of the most uncompromising dramas ever made about the psychology of dysfunctional families. There are moments--particularly related to Mary Tyler Moore's anguished performance as a woman incapable of expressing her deepest emotions--when this film is both intensely involving and heartbreakingly real. No matter how happy and healthy your upbringing was, there's something in this excellent film that everyone can relate to. --Jeff Shannon

Last Holiday (Widescreen Edition)

Queen Latifah demonstrates her loose, easy charm in Last Holiday, a remake of the 1950 comedy with Alec Guinness. Though at first glance it's hard to imagine anyone less like Alec Guinness than Queen Latifah, they both communicate a world of inner thought with nothing more than a sly sideways glance. Georgia Byrd (Latifah), a department store employee, leads a life of frustrated desires--particularly for a bashful salesman from the outdoor furnishings department (LL Cool J, Deep Blue Sea). But when she learns she only has a few weeks left to live, Georgia gathers her money, quits her job, and flies to a swank European resort she's always dreamed of visiting. Naturally, her new carelessness with money and fearless candor lead everyone around her--including her senator (Giancarlo Esposito, Do The Right Thing) and her former boss (Timothy Hutton, Ordinary People)--to think she's a mover and shaker. Last Holiday unfolds the way you expect it to (dozens of movies and TV shows have similar plots), but Latifah and the capable cast keep it alive. Also featuring Alicia Witt (The Upside of Anger), Jane Adams (Happiness), and the ever-dependable Gerard Depardieu (Cyrano de Bergerac) as a passionate chef. --Bret Fetzer

After a woman is diagnosed with a terminal illness, she decides to spend her last few weeks having fun and spending her life savings.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 2-AUG-2007
Media Type: DVD

Beautiful Girls

This town drama from Ted Demme centers on former classmates coming together for their 10-year reunion. Scott Rosenberg's (Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead) script thoughtfully passes over the usual grumblings of young adults who can't believe they still live in the same snowbound town. They accept--even welcome--their blue-collar jobs, whether plowing snow or cutting hair. Willie (Timothy Hutton), the lone wanderer, returns to his listless house in a state of flux, the piano-bar circuit wearing thin as is his relationship with Tracy, a well-off attorney (Annabeth Gish). He isn't the only one with problems. Tommy (Matt Dillon) occasionally sleeps with his now-married high school sweetheart Darian (Lauren Holly) while the earnest Sharon (Mira Sorvino) is left to wait. Paul (another thickheaded role for Michael Rapaport) refuses to commit to Jan (Martha Plimpton) until it's too late. Paul is enamored with the idea of the supermodel (the title's "beautiful girls") that, he believes, can make life perfect. It's a very satisfying comedy, with some forced poignancy (Willie's description of Tracy as a "seven and a half" comes off as a death sentence). Rosie O'Donnell's dissertation on why Playboy and Penthouse have ruined males' expectations is much like Meg Ryan's orgasm scene in When Harry Met Sally...: it's hilarious, even memorable, never wholly believable.

The two wild cards thrown into Beautiful Girls give the film its kick. Uma Thurman enters as the local barkeep's (Pruitt Taylor Vince) radiant cousin. From the big city, she can flirt with the awestruck guys and still keep her head. Willie's real emotional tug is from Marty, the precocious 13-year-old neighbor. If you didn't see Natalie Portman's sophisticated work in the The Professional, her performance here will come as a revelation. You deeply believe that Willie and Marty are connected despite their age difference. Their courtship will never come to be, but the way the two talk (and talk some more) about their lives is the most insightful part of Rosenberg's script. Everyone's so comfortable in his or her roles that you may truly feel sad when the film ends. --Doug Thomas

An all-star cast sparks this captivating comedy about a group of old friends whose 10-year high school reunion creates some hilariously unexpected surprises. Willie (Timothy Hutton -- FRENCH KISS), Tommy (Matt Dillon -- TO DIE FOR), and Paul (Michael Rapaport -- MIGHTY APHRODITE) may have lost a bit of their youth, but they're still ready to party with Uma Thurman (PULP FICTION), Rosie O'Donnell (TV's THE ROSIE O'DONNELL SHOW), Lauren Holly (DUMB AND DUMBER), and Mira Sorvino (AT FIRST SIGHT) -- the "beautiful girls" who've turned their lives upside down! Also featuring a hot soundtrack, BEAUTIFUL GIRLS is a must-see comic delight that's sure to entertain you!

Nero Wolfe - The Complete Classic Whodunit Series

Twenty episodes from the A&E series NERO WOLFE are collected on this release. Nero Wolfe (Maury Chaykin) and Archie Goodwin (Timothy Hutton) are a crime-fighting team whose methods differ wildly. But when they are together Wolfe and Goodwin always get results with the dynamic duo bringing a variety of miscreants to justice.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/CLASSICS Rating: NR UPC: 733961748260 Manufacturer No: AAE-74826

The Last Mimzy (Widescreen Infinifilm Edition)

Comparisons with E.T. are inevitable, but the more modest The Last Mimzy is based on the classic short story "Mimzy Were the Borogoves," by Lewis Padgett (a pseudonym for husband-and-wife writing team Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore), that anticipated Steven Spielberg's extraterrestrial fantasy by nearly four decades. Chris O'Neil and Rhiannon Leigh Wryn give winning, naturalistic performances as siblings Noah and Emma, whose lives are transformed by a box of mysterious objects they find on the beach outside the family's Seattle vacation home. Among its contents is a stuffed rabbit that Emma names Mimzy and becomes quite attached. Noah and Emma are your typical outsiders. He is not good at sports, and she is interested in astronomy and plays the violin. But the objects work wonders on them. Their brainpower increases exponentially, Noah is able to drive a golf ball hundreds of yards, and Emma begins to communicate telepathically with Mimzy, who reveals his true identity and purpose. Rainn Wilson of The Office displays an off-center charm as Mr. White, Noah's New Age-y science teacher, who discovers similarities between Noah's intricate notebook doodlings and ancient renderings of the universe ("This is so out of my league," he marvels at one point), and becomes involved in Mimzy's back-to-the-future quest. Timothy Hutton and Joely Richardson are solid as the understandably confounded and increasingly concerned parents. Michael Clarke Duncan is a menacing FBI agent who, invoking the Patriot Act, arrests the family after Noah inadvertently causes a citywide blackout with one of the futuristic objects. The Last Mimzy may not reach E.T.'s spectacular heights, but as thoughtfully adapted for the screen by Bruce Joel Rubin (Ghost) and Toby Emmerich (Frequency), it is a transporting, idea-rich family film that is free of gratuitous coarse language (save for Mr. White's offhand classroom use of the word "screw") or bathroom humor. --Donald Liebenson

When Noah and Emma Wilder discover a special box on the beach they open it and unlock an exciting adventure beyond imagination. Inside they find Mimzy a magical stuffed rabbit along with other mystical toys which give the children exceptional powers of their own. Able to move objects with their minds and to solve complex equations these new wonder kids begin to attract the attention of their parents teachers... and even the FBI. Surrounding the phenomenon of Mimzy is an awesome secret ? one that holds the key to saving the future of all mankind.Running Time: 90 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY UPC: 794043109164 Manufacturer No: N10916

5ive Days to Midnight

Kidnapped - The Complete Series

Full of drama, suspense, and action, Kidnapped has all the makings of a taut whodunit. When the teenage son of a wealthy family is kidnapped, Conrad (Timothy Hutton, Ordinary People) and Ellie (Dana Delaney, China Beach) Cain hire a renegade investigator named Knapp (Jeremy Sisto, Six Feet Under) to get their child back. Knapp is abrasive and not at all concerned with breaking the law as long as he is able to save the victim. Still, he could work on his people skills. As one old woman asks, as he bullies his way into her house, "What kind of name is Knapp?" She's got a point. Unless you're famous, announcing yourself simply by your last name is pretty pretentious. All 13 episodes of this NBC series--which aired during the 2006-2007 season--are included on this three-disc DVD set. And unlike many shows that are canceled within a year, Kidnapped offers viewers closure and a finite ending.

While the first few episodes dealing with the kidnapping are gripping, the show layers on some subplots that fail. Is Ellie having an affair with a prominent politician? Did Conrad kill his ex-mistress? Neither character is particularly likeable, so the viewer doesn't really care. Hutton, who is superb in so many other projects, never rings true here. Speaking in a tough guy accent (when he remembers), his character is never convincing as a boy from the wrong side of the tracks who made good. And Delaney is never quite believable as an uptown girl who doesn't get particularly flustered when she has to protect herself from an assailant. (Explaining her ease handling weapons, Ellie says, "I know how to shoot a gun. My father's a Republican.")Other characters get to delivery clunky lines as well. When FBI agent Latimer King (Delroy Lindo, Get Shorty) is asked if he thinks there's a leak in the office, he knowingly says, "If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck..." Like ABC's Murder One, Kidnapped asks a lot of its viewers to have patience and watch a drama unfold over a series of several months. The problem is that unlike Murder One--which was also low rated--the plot here isn't nearly convincing enough to be warrant the wait. --Jae-Ha Kim

Nailbiting star-packed thriller! When a wealthy family s son is kidnapped all hell breaks loose. A private investigator works outside the law while keeping the family s secrets behind closed doors and an FBI agent with an eye for detail gets pulled into the case. Anything can happen in this suspense-driven star-packed thriller where behind every closed door lies another secret!Runtime: 100 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 043396185920 Manufacturer No: 18592

The Good Shepherd (Widescreen Edition)

A complicated movie about the Central Intelligence Agency and its agents, The Good Shepherd isn't your typical spy movie. Though it stars Matt Damon (The Bourne Identity films) and Angelina Jolie (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Lara Croft franchise)--actors with considerable experience in the action-espionage genre--The Good Shepherd requires that they play more subdued and (much less interesting) characters here. The movie focuses on the career or Edward Wilson (Damon), a privileged Yale graduate who goes on to help found the CIA. He is a quiet, serious, and guarded man, even in the most intimate moments with his civilian wife (Jolie, in a role that wastes her talent). Set against a backdrop of real-life events such as the Bay of Pigs, The Good Shepherd is meticulous in creating a realistic timeframe. The film gets a jolt of excitement when Robert DeNiro (in his first directing role since 1993's A Bronx Tale) peppers the screen with appearances by Joe Pesci, Alec Baldwin, and William Hurt. But those moments are too infrequent. At 157 minutes long, the film is crammed with many factual details, but the characters are shortchanged when it comes to development. Viewers have to wonder why anyone, much less someone like Wilson who has everything going for him, would devote his life to a thankless job that brings so little happiness to himself and his family. The Good Shepherd is an ambitious but flawed film. The actors do a formidable job with a well-intentioned but meandering script. However, we meet so many characters and learn so little about each that it's difficult to drum up much empathy for any of them. --Jae-Ha Kim

Matt Damon Angelina Jolie and Robert De Niro star in this powerful thriller about the birth of the CIA. Edward Wilson (Damon) believes in America and will sacrifice everything he loves to protect it. But as one of the covert founders of the CIA Edward s youthful idealism is slowly eroded by his growing suspicion of the people around him. Everybody has secrets...but will Edward s destroy him? With an all-star cast including Alec Baldwin Billy Crudup William Hurt Timothy Hutton and John Turturro it s the gripping story David Ansen of Newsweek hails as "spellbinding."System Requirements:Runtime: 168 mins Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: MYSTERY/SUSPENSE Rating: R UPC: 025192867125 Manufacturer No: 61028671

Secret Window

Academy Award® nominee Johnny Depp (2003 Best Actor Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl) gives his most riveting performance in this action/suspense thriller featuring a top-notch cast including John Turturro Maria Bello Academy Award® winner Timothy Hutton (1981 Best Supporting Actor Ordinary People) and Charles S. Dutton. Following a bitter separation from his wife (Bello) famed mystery writer Mort Rainey (Depp) is unexpectedly confronted at his remote lake house by a dangerous stranger named John Shooter (Turturro). Claiming Rainey has plagiarized his short story the psychotic Shooter demands justice. When Shooter's demands turn to threats - and then murder - Rainey turns to a private detective (Dutton) for help. But when nothing stops the horror from spiraling out of control Rainey soon discovers he can't trust anyone or anything. A shocking psychological thriller from the writer of Panic Room David Koepp.System Requirements:Running Time: 104 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: MYSTERY/SUSPENSE Rating: PG-13 UPC: 043396036635 Manufacturer No: 03663

Johnny Depp gets high off another acting challenge in this tricky adaptation of a Stephen King yarn. Although the mood is too sinister to allow for the mischief of his Pirates of the Caribbean turn, Depp still manages to embroider his role here with plenty of quirky business. He plays a writer, depressed and nearly divorced, who's stuck in an isolated cabin (shades of The Shining) when a stranger (John Turturro) arrives, accusing him of plagiarism. Writer-director David Koepp (Stir of Echoes) does his best to make the rickety material compelling--he gets the maximum out of the cabin set, for instance--but the problems inherent in the King story eventually win out. The climactic scenes are particularly unpleasant, especially in contrast to the cleverness of Depp's performance. A Philip Glass score adds class, but this one ultimately feels like a disappointment. --Robert Horton