Bovie Movie

Can a new marriage survive meddling friends, disapproving families, and some of the worst accommodations in Europe? That’s the question posed in this broad comedy. Tom Leezak (Ashton Kutcher) is a regular guy who likes sports and beer and tries to make ends meet working as a nighttime radio traffic reporter. Sarah McNerney (Brittany Murphy) is a beautiful young woman from a wealthy and privileged family who is trying to make a name for herself as a writer. Tom and Sarah have seemingly nothing in common, but that doesn’t stop them from falling in love. Sarah’s family doesn’t much care for Tom’s boorish ways, and Tom’s buddies think Sarah is too highbrow for him, but, if anything, this makes the couple all the more determined to be together, and they decide to get married and head off to Italy for a month-long honeymoon despite the pleas of those closest to them. However, even after the knot is tied, Sarah’s former beau, Peter Prentiss (Christian Kane), is dead set upon breaking up the happy couple, though as it turns out, a seemingly endless stream of bad luck and post-marital jitters may do the job for him. Just Married was written by Sam Harper, who claims to have loosely based the script on his own experiences on an ill-starred European honeymoon with his wife; fortunately, the couple’s marriage survived the experience.

Two friends wonder if there might be more between them when their lives both take a left turn in this romantic comedy. Terry (Joan Allen) is a middle-aged housewife and mother of four teenaged daughters and gets the shock of her life when her husband, without a word of warning, leaves them behind, presumably to move to Sweden with his secretary. Going through a bender of depression and alcohol, Terry finds herself commiserating with Denny (Kevin Costner), a former baseball star turned unenthusiastic radio personality who was her husband’s colleague and friend and an occasional presence at the house. With both Terry and Denny feeling down in the dumps about recent events in their lives, the two find themselves drawn to one another, and while Terry fights the notion of a new romance, her daughters — Andy (Erika Christensen), Hadley (Alicia Witt), Emily (Keri Russell), and Lavender (Evan Rachel Wood) — each have different ideas about their futures. The Upside of Anger was written and directed by Mike Binder, who also plays a supporting role as the producer of Denny’s radio show.

Controversial rap star Eminem makes his acting debut in this hard-edged urban drama, inspired in part by incidents from the musician’s own life. Jimmy Smith (Eminem), known to his friends as Rabbit, is a young man trying to make his way out of the burned-out shell of inner-city Detroit. Rabbit’s entire life has been a hard climb, and it certainly hasn’t gotten any easier lately; Rabbit has just been dumped by his girlfriend, forcing him to move back in with his emotionally unstable mother, Stephanie (Kim Basinger), and he’s getting along especially poorly with Stephanie’s new boyfriend. Rabbit has a factory job that’s tough, demeaning, and doesn’t pay especially well, and he’s convinced his skills as a rapper are his only real hope at a better life. Rabbit makes music with a crew of DJ’s and MC’s who call themselves Three One Third, among them his close friend Future (Mekhi Phifer), but his status as a white kid making music in a predominantly African-American community and culture is extremely intimidating, and after Rabbit freezes up in the midst of an MC battle, he’s convinced he’s missed his chance and that he’s doomed to lead a marginal life as a factory rat for the rest of his days. With the help of his friends, and his new girlfriend Alex (Brittany Murphy), Rabbit struggles to work up the courage and the confidence to take one more shot at making his dream a reality. 8 Mile was shot on location in Detroit; the name refers to 8 Mile Road, a thoroughfare along the city’s perimeter which effectively separates the middle-class suburban neighborhoods from the lower-class inner-city.