Foley, James

Glengarry Glen Ross

Like moths to a flame, great actors gravitate to the singular genius of playwright-screenwriter David Mamet, who updated his Pulitzer Prize-winning play for this all-star screen adaptation. The material is not inherently cinematic, so the movie's greatest asset is Mamet's peerless dialogue and the assembly of a once-in-a-lifetime cast led by Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, and Alec Baldwin (the last in a role Mamet created especially for the film). Often regarded as a critique of the Reagan administration's impact on the American economy, the play and film focus on a competitive group of real estate salesmen who've gone from feast to famine in a market gone cold. When an executive "motivator" (Alec Baldwin) demands a sales contest among the agents in the cramped office, the stakes are critically high: any agent who fails to meet his quota of sales "leads" (i.e., potential buyers) will lose his job. This intense ultimatum is a boon for the office superstar (Pacino), but a once-successful salesman (Lemmon) now finds himself clinging nervously to faded glory. Political and personal rivalries erupt under pressure when the other agents (Alan Arkin, Ed Harris) suspect the office manager (Kevin Spacey) of foul play. This cauldron of anxiety, tension, and sheer desperation provides fertile soil for Mamet's scathingly rich dialogue, which is like rocket fuel for some of the greatest actors of our time. Pacino won an Oscar nomination for his volatile performance, but it's Lemmon who's the standout, doing some of the best work of his distinguished career. Director James Foley shapes Mamet's play into a stylish, intensely focused film that will stand for decades as a testament to its brilliant writer and cast. --Jeff Shannon

A group of sleazy real estate men face a high-pressure stress as they are put in danger of getting the ax by their hard-driving bosses.System Requirements:Starring: Al Pacino Alan Arkin Alec Baldwin Ed Harris Jack Lemmon and Kevin Spacey. Directed By: James Foley. Running Time: 100 Min. Color. This film is presented in both "Widescreen" and "Standard" formats. Copyright 2002 Artisan Entertainment.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 012236114505 Manufacturer No: 13286

Fear

Two years before he let it all hang out in Boogie Nights, former rapper and Calvin Klein underwear model Mark Wahlberg played the psychotic boyfriend in this derivative but surprisingly effective thriller, aptly described by producer Brian Grazer as "Fatal Attraction for teens." Reese Witherspoon plays Nicole Walker, the unwitting teenager who gets the hots for David McCall (Wahlberg). David only seems like a nice guy until he gets upset by the girl's overly protective father. That's when hell breaks loose and the love-struck Romeo turns into a deadly threat who just won't go away. You'd think this kind of material would be beneath the talents of a fine director like James Foley (whose credits include At Close Range and Glengarry Glen Ross), but Foley gives the film just the right blend of style and tension to match Wahlberg's breakthrough role as an all-too-believable teenage maniac. You might feel silly afterwards, but don't be surprised if you find yourself getting caught up in the expertly manipulative suspense. --Jeff Shannon

Perfect Stranger (Widescreen Edition)

When her friend s affair with married ad exec Harrison Hill (Bruce Willis) ends in the woman s murder investigative reporter Rowena Price (Academy Award® winner Halle Berry; Best Actress Monster s Ball 2001) vows to bring the killer to justice. Suspecting Hill of the crime she goes undercover by posing as two highly alluring women: Katherine a sexy temp who works within his agency and Veronica a seductive temptress he chats up online. Engaging in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse both Rowena and Hill begin to realize things may not be what they seem. For some people will go to great lengths to protect their secrets even if it means risking everything.System Requirements:Running Time: 109 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 043396183841 Manufacturer No: 18384

Perfect Stranger is saved from conventional starlet-in-distress mediocrity by a certain refreshing unwholesomeness, a tawdry strain that runs all the way through its climactic series of kickers. Halle Berry plays a "gotcha" reporter, currently undercover to nail a famous advertising tycoon (Bruce Willis)--not for a story, but because Berry thinks he might be involved in a friend's murder. The distasteful nature of Berry trying to seduce the married exec adds some spice, and so does her pervy assistant (Giovanni Ribisi), whose voyeuristic tendencies indicate more than customary comic relief--at the least, he's a hefty red herring. There are other red herrings, mostly beginning to smell, in the rather ramshackle script. Director James Foley, who has a talent for hothouse intensity (Glengarry Glen Ross, At Close Range) gives this material more edge than it probably deserves, although he can't make Berry convincing, and she and Ribisi are completely wrong as simpatico best friends. Willis looks good by comparison, turning a one-note role into a subtle act of professionalism. --Robert Horton

At Close Range

One of the overlooked films of the 1980s, perhaps because it is such a downbeat tale of an amoral family. Sean Penn plays a kid whose small-time criminal impulses are stoked to a new level when he falls in with his father (Christopher Walken), a vicious career criminal for whom no problem is so large that it can't be solved by a murder. At first exhilarated by the attention from his father (and the jobs he gives him to do), he gradually catches on to just what a bad guy Dad really is. But when he tries to extricate himself, he discovers that Dad now has him squarely in his sights. Penn is terrific in a role of emotional complexity, while Walken, king of the creeps, is positively frightening as this soft-spoken but highly lethal patriarch. --Marshall Fine

A teenage farm boy looking for excitement finds himself on a collision course with his smooth-talking gang leader father in this "powerfully disturbing" (Newsweek) tale based on the story of real-life killer Bruce Johnston. Oscar nominee Sean Penn (Dead Man Walking) and Oscar winner Christopher Walken (Pulp Fiction) star in this "hot horrifying saga of an American criminal family" (Los Angeles Times)!Juvenile delinquent Brad Whitewood Jr. (Penn) knows about petty theft but he wants big money - enough to blow the lid off his boring life enough to get out of town and to find his ol' man (Walken). He wants to be like his dad a big-time thief who knows "the business." Seductive and sinister Brad's father is full of toxic wisdom that makes his illicit life appear eerily sexy. But when Brad witnesses his father deliberately killing someone he realizes he may not only be in over his head but he may also lose it for good.System Requirements:Starring: Sean Penn Christopher Walken Crispin Glover Mary Stuart Masterson Christopher Penn and Tracey Walter. Directed By: James Foley. Running Time: 115 Min. Color. This film is presented in both "Widescreen" and "Standard" formats. Copyright 2002 MGM Studios.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 027616855510 Manufacturer No: 1001271

Who's That Girl?

After Desperately Seeking Susan, Madonna was proclaimed a promising screen presence, but the one-two punch of Shanghai Surprise and Who's That Girl put a dent in her ascent. Directed by James Foley, who worked with Sean Penn in At Close Range (and shot the video for "Papa Don't Preach"), it's an aggressively 1980s gloss on the screwball comedies of the 1930s. Jonathan Demme pulled off the gambit in Something Wild, but lightning did not strike twice. As the proceedings begin, platinum blonde bubblehead Nikki Finn (Madonna in Judy Holliday-gone-punk mode) has just been released from prison for a crime she didn't commit. Loudon Trott (Griffin Dunne, After Hours), a fastidious tax attorney, is assigned by future father-in-law Mr. Worthington to make sure she gets on the bus to Philly. (Turns out Worthington was involved with Nikki's bid in the pokey.) Loudon is also charged with delivering a rare cougar to eccentric superior Montgomery Bell (Sir John Mills)--on the day before his nuptials. In short order, the cat escapes and Nikki drags Loudon away from his wedding preparations to clear her name. Along the way, these two diametrically opposed entities fall improbably in love. The movie may have bombed, but the soundtrack, featuring four Madonna tracks, was a hit. Co-written by Ken Finkleman (The Newsroom) and lensed by Jan DeBont (Speed), Who's That Girl is manna for Madonna-philes. All others are advised to proceed with caution--or head straight for Howard Hawks' timeless Bringing Up Baby instead. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Four years unjustly jailed haven't dampened the spirits or determination of Nikki Finn. The spunky parolee sets out to clear her name - and sets the Big Apple spinning in deliriously funny ways. "Madonna is sexy and funny - a very engaging comedian" Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote of her work in Who's That Girl. The music/movie superstar displays kicky comic flair and sings four terrific soundtrack tunes (Causing a Commotion The Look of Love Can't Stop and the title song). Griffin Dunne co-stars as an uptight soon-to-wed attorney whose mild lifestyle swerves into the path of uproarious oncoming traffic courtesy of Nikki. This frisky caper proves screwball comedy is alive and swell.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 012569734050 Manufacturer No: 73405

Madonna - The Immaculate Collection

The Chamber

A top cast consisting of veteran aces Gene Hackman and Faye Dunaway can't rescue this way-too-long, dreadfully earnest version of John Grisham's equally gimpy novel. There are several problems in this story of an intertwined Southern family who must disentangle themselves from the past and the dark shadow of a 1967 bombing. That terrorist attack led to the deaths of two Jewish children and was pinned on the black-sheep patriarch of the family, a racist, card-carrying Klansman named Sam Cayhall (Hackman), who is now serving time on death row for the hate crime. Years later, the savior grandson cometh. Young-buck lawyer Adam Hall--played with righteous determination and limited range by Chris O'Donnell--pulls out all the stops to save his client from the Mississippi gas chamber. As is usual in Grisham country, the poor lawyer becomes embroiled in a plan more diabolical, corrupt, and layered than he could guess and the truth spirals out of control, endangering lives, and opening old wounds. The Chamber attempts to twist and turn through its plodding story, but there is no gray area in which to force the viewer to weigh his or her conscience against the skewed facts. Everything that occurs in The Chamber is black or white, good or bad, and there is no crisis of conflict to make us question the morality and stance of the two sides in play. The bad guys are awful, the politicians are bought off, the cops are either corrupt or apathetic, and only one puny guy is left to bring down a house of cards that's been standing solidly for decades. O'Donnell is quickly put to shame by Hackman, who even manages to suffer through a sadistically long, melodramatic stroll down death row with his dignity intact. --Paula Nechak

Perfect Stranger (Full Screen Edition)

Perfect Stranger is saved from conventional starlet-in-distress mediocrity by a certain refreshing unwholesomeness, a tawdry strain that runs all the way through its climactic series of kickers. Halle Berry plays a "gotcha" reporter, currently undercover to nail a famous advertising tycoon (Bruce Willis)--not for a story, but because Berry thinks he might be involved in a friend's murder. The distasteful nature of Berry trying to seduce the married exec adds some spice, and so does her pervy assistant (Giovanni Ribisi), whose voyeuristic tendencies indicate more than customary comic relief--at the least, he's a hefty red herring. There are other red herrings, mostly beginning to smell, in the rather ramshackle script. Director James Foley, who has a talent for hothouse intensity (Glengarry Glen Ross, At Close Range) gives this material more edge than it probably deserves, although he can't make Berry convincing, and she and Ribisi are completely wrong as simpatico best friends. Willis looks good by comparison, turning a one-note role into a subtle act of professionalism. --Robert Horton

When her friend s affair with married ad exec Harrison Hill (Bruce Willis) ends in the woman s murder investigative reporter Rowena Price (Academy Award® winner Halle Berry; Best Actress Monster s Ball 2001) vows to bring the killer to justice. Suspecting Hill of the crime she goes undercover by posing as two highly alluring women: Katherine a sexy temp who works within his agency and Veronica a seductive temptress he chats up online. Engaging in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse both Rowena and Hill begin to realize things may not be what they seem. For some people will go to great lengths to protect their secrets even if it means risking everything.System Requirements:Running Time: 109 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 043396194786 Manufacturer No: 19478

Confidence

When professional grifter Jake Vig (Edward Burns) chooses the wrong mark in The King (Dustin Hoffman) he is given two choices: pull off a near impossible heist or lose his life. Needing all the help he can get Jake brings in beautiful con artist Lily (Rachel Weisz) and a mixed group of "professionals." Nonetheless with The King riding him and a pesky Special Agent (Andy Garcia) on his tail Jake and his team look to have the odds stacked against them.System Requirements:Running Time: 97 MinutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 031398710967 Manufacturer No: 20316

The Corruptor (New Line Platinum Series)

Nick Chen (Chow Yun-Fat) is not your average New York cop. Working in Chinatown has its multifarious cultural nuances and its fair share of ubiquitous enticement, both of which are reflected in detective Chen's weary face. He had to get into bed with the highest echleons of the Chinese Mafia as a way of augmenting his own career, while maintaining a semblance of control over the dime-a-dozen hoods who proliferate on this turf. To make matters worse, he now has to break in rookie detective Danny Wallace (Mark Wahlberg), who has asked to be assigned to the Chinatown division. Apparently Wallace is infatuated with all things Chinese, or is suffering from "Yellow Fever," as his fellow colleagues would have us believe. Chen, not one to suffer fools gladly, takes young Wallace under his protective wing, oft-warning the shady powers of the neighborhood not to sink Danny into their sordid pool of corruption. But before he knows it, both he and Wallace are caught in a deadly ring of double-crosses, shady-dealings, murders, and car chases. And all of this under the suspicious eye of Internal Affairs.

Part Serpico and part Hard Boiled, this film seems at first to be a major departure from director James Foley's previous work. However, Foley has frequently revealed a keen eye and understanding for emotionally complex relationships, especially between teacher and pupil (Glengarry Glen Ross) or father and son (At Close Range). This movie is no different. In fact, Foley's meticulous attention to the relationship between the wise, morally burdened Chen, and the naïve, innocent Wallace morphs this otherwise tedious plot into a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Hats off to Chow Yun-Fat and Mark Wahlberg, whose sympathetic chemistry creates an authentic and deeply personal connection, a factor that proves crucial to the film's poignant, disturbing finale. --Jeremy Storey