Tripplehorn, Jeanne

The Firm

By far the best adaptation of a John Grisham bestseller, this smart, fast-paced 1993 film--directed by Sydney Pollack (Out of Africa)--offers up the dilemma of a young lawyer whose life is turned upside down when he takes a job at a Southern law firm owned by the mob. Mitch McDeere (Tom Cruise), having just graduated from Harvard Law, is besieged with offers but takes a job, too good to be true, with a small Memphis firm. He and his wife, Abby (Jeanne Tripplehorn), are sucked in by the seemingly close-knit, collegial nature of the firm's partners and the expensive perks that come with the job. His mentor, Avery (Gene Hackman), teaches him the ropes, but Mitch and Abby begin to sense there's something wrong with this idyllic life. When a couple of associates turn up dead, Mitch begins to investigate the history of the firm; and when the FBI asks him to spy on the firm for them, Mitch realizes his life will never be the same and that, if discovered, he, his wife, and his long-lost brother will be in mortal danger. Mitch must use all his talents as a lawyer to outsmart the firm, the FBI, and the mob in order to reclaim control over his life. A very entertaining thriller that engages the audience at a breakneck pace while not taking itself too seriously. It also features some fine writing and strong performances from a large cast of exceptional actors. --Robert Lane

Sliding Doors

A London young woman's love life and career both hinge, unkown to her, on whether or not she catches a morning train back to her apartment.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 7-JAN-2003
Media Type: DVD

Nice concept, shaky execution--that about sums up the mixed blessings of British actor Peter Howitt's intelligent but forgivably flawed debut as a writer-director. It's got more emotional depth than most frothy romantic comedies, and its central idea--the parallel tracking of two possible destinies for a young London professional played by Gwyneth Paltrow--is full of involving possibilities. It's essentially a what-if scenario with Helen (Paltrow) at the center of two slightly but significantly different romantic trajectories, one involving her two-timing boyfriend (John Lynch) and the other with an amiable chap (John Hannah) who represents a happier outcome. That's the film's basic problem, however: The two scenarios are so romantically imbalanced (one guy's a total cad, the other charmingly sincere) that Helen inadvertently comes off looking foolish and needlessly confused. Still, this remains a pleasant experiment, and Howitt's dialogue is witty enough to keep things entertaining. It's also a treat for Paltrow fans; not only does the svelte actress handle a British accent without embarrassing herself, but she gets to play two subtle variations of the same character, sporting different wardrobes and hairstyles in a role that plays into her glamorous off-screen persona. --Jeff Shannon

Basic Instinct - Director's Cut (Ultimate Edition)

The take-no-prisoners sex thriller from 1992 now stands as a milestone in the career of screenwriter Joe Eszterhas, but in the hands of director Paul Verhoeven Basic Instinct is an undeniably stylish and provocative study of obsession. In the role that made her a star (and showed the audience a little more skin than she intended), Sharon Stone plays the cleverly manipulative novelist Catherine Tramell who snares San Francisco detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) with her insatiable sexual appetite during the investigation of her boyfriend's murder. Tramell is the prime suspect, but the plot twists and turns until Curran is trapped in a dangerous cycle of dead ends and unsolved murders, never sure if Tramell is committing the crimes or if it is some other, unknown suspect. With a plot that keeps viewers guessing, Basic Instinct is the work of a director who is clearly in his element. --Jeff Shannon

This steamy thriller to end all steamy thrillers stars Michael Douglas as Nick a boozy San Francisco police detective who finds himself drawn to the prime suspect in a murder case--manipulative sexually uninhibited novelist Catherine Trammell (Sharon Stone). Catherine's latest book features a murder uncannily similar to the one Nick is investigating and as the pair engage in a mating dance of dangerous one-upmanship more murders occur all described in her current work about a boozy cop in love with a killer. Nick's psychiatrist (Jeanne Tripplehorn) and cop partner (George Dzundza) are both worried about him and Catherine s jealous lesbian lover (Leilani Sarelle) may be trying to kill him but Nick is just too turned on to care.Director Paul Verhoeven shows an admirable lack of restraint in this ludicrously enjoyable thriller a sort of postmodern noir with Joe Eszterhas s script coming off like Mamet by way of Penthouse. Stone and Douglas exhibit fine chemistry (and most of their bodies) and there's some lovely Bay Area scenery courtesy of cinematographer Jan de Bont (who went on to direct films such as SPEED and TWISTER). Wayne Knight (Newman from SEINFELD) and Mitch Pileggi (Skinner from THE X-FILES) are precinct heads who question Catherine in the infamous leg-crossing scene.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLERS UPC: 012236188483 Manufacturer No: 19688

Waterworld

Let's be honest: this 1995 epic isn't nearly as bad as its negative publicity led us to expect. At the time it was the most expensive Hollywood production in history (it had a Titanic-sized $200 million budget), and the film arrived in theaters with so much controversy and negative gossip that it was an easy target for ridicule. The movie itself, a flawed but enjoyable post-apocalypse thriller, deserves better. Waterworld stars Kevin Costner as the Mariner, a lone maverick with gills and webbed feet who navigates the endless seas of Earth after the complete melting of the polar ice caps. The Mariner has been caged like a criminal when he's freed by Helen (Jeanne Tripplehorn) and enlisted to help her and a young girl (Tina Majorino) escape from the Smokers, a group of renegade terrorists led by Dennis Hopper in yet another memorably villainous role. It is too bad the predictable script isn't more intelligent, but as a companion piece to The Road Warrior, this seafaring stunt-fest is adequately impressive. --Jeff Shannon

Mickey Blue Eyes

Mickey Blue Eyes was crafted as a vehicle for the stammering British charm of Hugh Grant (star of Four Weddings and a Funeral and Nine Months), so whether or not you like the movie will depend heavily on your affection for Grant. He plays an art auctioneer who falls in love with schoolteacher Jeanne Tripplehorn (Basic Instinct, Very Bad Things), who just happens to be the daughter of mobster James Caan (The Godfather, Misery). To protect Grant, Tripplehorn tries to fend off his proposal of marriage, but some miscommunications lead to Grant being embraced by the "family." After the mob decides to launder money through Grant's auction house, an accidental killing results in Grant pretending to be Mickey Blue Eyes out of Kansas City (the sight and sound of Grant trying to say "fuggedaboudit" was undoubtedly what sold the movie in the first place). The plot isn't as well executed as it could be, but the leads are all well cast and there are some excellent supporting performances, particularly Burt Young (Rocky) as a myopic mob boss and Scott Thompson (from the comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall) as a sprightly FBI agent. --Bret Fetzer

Very Bad Things

Peter Berg's dark comedy about a bachelor party gone horribly awry is highly ambitious in its attempts to satirize suburbia, male bonding, and self-help philosophy, and for the most part it does succeed in hitting its targets with a malicious, misanthropic glee. When five buddies arrive in Las Vegas for some pre-wedding shenanigans, things quickly spiral out of control when the requisite prostitute falls victim to a grisly accident, igniting a spark in an already unstable powder keg of personalities. Following the lead of real estate agent and self-help guy Robert (Christian Slater), the men warily agree on a cover-up and covert desert burial. A couple hours and another corpse later, however, they're already at each other's throats, and their escalating breakdowns threaten to disrupt the highly prized wedding of hard-as-nails bride Laura (a stunning Cameron Diaz). Berg, like most actor-turned-directors (this is The Last Seduction star's filmmaking debut) helms the film with a wildly sliding tone and tends to weigh its strengths heavily on its performers. Slater's psycho turn is by far his most inventive yet (he's more in control than ever before), Diaz effectively mixes sunshine with poison, and Jon Favreau is effective and understated as the hapless bridegroom; the rest of the cast, however, tends to play up the histrionics. Be warned, though: Those expecting a sunny-style There's Something About Mary gross-out comedy will probably be shocked by Berg's take-no-prisoners agenda; this is comedy at its absolute blackest, and no one is spared. --Mark Englehart

Basic Instinct

The take-no-prisoners sex thriller from 1992 now stands as a milestone in the career of screenwriter Joe Eszterhas, but in the hands of director Paul Verhoeven Basic Instinct is an undeniably stylish and provocative study of obsession. In the role that made her a star (and showed the audience a little more skin than she intended), Sharon Stone plays the cleverly manipulative novelist Catherine Tramell who snares San Francisco detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) with her insatiable sexual appetite during the investigation of her boyfriend's murder. Tramell is the prime suspect, but the plot twists and turns until Curran is trapped in a dangerous cycle of dead ends and unsolved murders, never sure if Tramell is committing the crimes or if it is some other, unknown suspect. With a plot that keeps viewers guessing, Basic Instinct is the work of a director who is clearly in his element. --Jeff Shannon

Michael Douglas stars as Nick Curran a tough but vulnerable detective. Sharon Stone costars as Catherine Tramell a cold calculating and beautiful novelist with an insatiable sexual appetite. Catherine becomes a prime suspect when her boyfriend is brutally murdered - a crime she had described in her latest novel. Obsessed with cracking the case Nick descends into San Francisco's forbidden underground where suspicions mount bodies fall and he finds within himself an instinct more basic than survival.Special Features*:16.9 Newly remastered Widescreen5.1 Newly remastered English Dolby Surround2.0 English Dolby Digital Audio"Blonde Poison" - Documentary on the making of the film"Cleaning up Basic Instinct" - A montage comparing the TV version to the theatrical versionCommentary with feminist critic Camille PagliaPhoto GalleryDigitally MasteredStoryboard ComparisonsTheatrical TrailerInteractive MenusScene AccessProduction NotesCast and Crew InformationEnglish French and Spanish subtitlesSystem Requirements:Starring: Micael Douglas Sharon Stone George Dzundza and Jeanne Tripplehorn Directed By: Paul Verhoeven Running Length: 127 minutes color This film is presented in "Widescreen" formatFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: MYSTERY/SUSPENSE Rating: R UPC: 012236124726 Manufacturer No: 12472

Swept Away

Madonna gives her most believable performance as Amber, a rich woman on a sea cruise who expects the world to obey her every whim. She and a high-spirited crew member (Adriano Giannini) are marooned on a small deserted island; the feud that sprang up between the two on the ship becomes an all-out war, then transforms into lustful desire as Amber finds that losing status opens up a new side to herself. Some people will want to see Swept Away for the simple pleasure of seeing Madonna be slapped; more demanding filmgoers will, sadly, be left wanting. Though the movie purports to be a satirical examination of capitalism (as was the original 1974 version), its vague discussion of money and power adds up to very little. The love story is surprisingly sincere, making Swept Away a standard romantic potboiler with gorgeous tropical backdrops. --Bret Fetzer

Steal This Movie!

Vincent D'Onofrio is one of our most aggressively commanding actors, and he makes a good choice to impersonate Yippie activist Abbie Hoffman. All loping, shambly charm and occasional frenzied explosiveness, D'Onofrio's Hoffman is close enough to the real thing that, just like the Yippies themselves, he appears magnetic and forceful to the already converted, but a fraudulent, egomaniacal hambone to everyone else. (Even those unimpressed by D'Onofrio's indulgences can only admire the simmering commitment Janeane Garofalo brings to the role of his wife Anita.) Which is more than you can say for Robert Greenwald's unfocused hagiography, which should manage to pull off the rare feat of displeasing anyone no matter what their opinions of Hoffman. Racing through the years with the greatest-hits flippancy toward a life unfortunately all too familiar from movie bios (see Abbie try to levitate the Pentagon! Nominate a pig for President! Battle loneliness and depression while on the run from the cops!), Steal this Movie plays more like a lecture than a happening. Even the most obvious points are hammered home with the type of bone-headed didacticism that does more to grate on an audience than win it over. Lest we miss a thing, there are occasional voice-overs by a badly impersonated Nixon and J. Edgar Hoover to explain exactly what's going on. The film plays with all manner of actual footage and FBI surveillance photography, but the mix of styles is more chaos than anarchy; the boxy, amateurish camera work drains all possible giddiness from even the most rapturously absurd of Hoffman's pranks. Straining with clumsy urgency to capture the tenor of its subject, Steal This Movie gets the self-righteousness down but misses out on the passion, and the liberating spark of play. --Bruce Reid

Relative Values

A comedy of discriminating taste and dirty little secrets. When a movie star and Hollywood diva Miranda Frayle break up, a playboy prince with a stiff upper lip sweeps her off her feet and boldly takes her home to meet his high-class, society-minded mother, who is none-too-pleased at the thought of having a "starlet" in the family. But when the former boyfriend hears about the wedding, he jumps back in the spotlight--and with the help of Miranda's meddling mother-in-law to be, he may just win her back.