Bovie Movie

New Zealand screenwriter Andrew Niccol (The Truman Show) made his feature directorial debut with this science fiction drama, set in a future when one’s life is determined by genetic engineering rather than education or experience. The wealthy can choose the genetic makeup of their descendants. People are designed to fit into whatever role is decided before birth. But what happens when someone desires another way of life? Citizens in this impersonal future-world are fashioned as perfect specimens, so those in the natural-born minority are viewed as inferior to the pre-planned perfect specimens (aka “Valids”) who dominate. One of the natural-borns (aka “In-Valids”), Vincent Freeman (Ethan Hawke), has several defects (poor vision, emotional problems, and short 30-year life expectancy), but he also develops a different outlook on his pre-ordained fate. He yearns to break free from society’s constraints, and he dreams of a journey into space as a Gattaca Corp. navigator. To accomplish his goal, he enlists the aid of DNA broker German (Tony Shalhoub) and makes contact with Jerome Morrow (Jude Law), who was paralyzed in an accident and is willing to sell his superior genetic materials. Vincent assumes Jerome’s identity and is scheduled for a flying mission. However, a week before his flight, a Gattaca mission director is murdered, and all members of the program are the suspects. Meanwhile, he develops a romantic interest in a beautiful Valid, Irene (Uma Thurman), prevented from going into space because of her heart defect. Tracked by a relentless investigator who is methodically jigsawing all the pieces together, Jerome finds his aspirations dissolving into stardust.

Two men cut off from the world in different ways become unlikely friends and protectors in this offbeat action drama. Danny (Jet Li) is a physically powerful but emotionally stunted man; never given any sort of proper education, Danny has learned little in his lifetime but how to fight, and his minder, Bart (Bob Hoskins), treats him more like a guard dog than anything else, using him in illegal no-holds-barred brawls that earn Bart plenty of money but only reinforce Danny’s violent alienation. When Bart is injured in an auto accident, Danny is left to fend for himself, and stumbles upon Sam (Morgan Freeman), an elderly piano tuner who has lost his sight. Sam is the first person to treat Danny with kindness, and the music he plays soothes the troubled soul of the fighter. However, Danny’s fighting skills soon come in handy when Sam runs afoul of a pack of small-time crooks who believe he knows too much about their operations.

A moment of temptation leads to a high body count and untold regrets for a high-school swimming star in this thriller starring Bring It On’s Jesse Bradford and Traffic’s Erika Christensen. Despite a shady past involving drugs and the juvenile justice system, Ben Cronin (Bradford) seems to have it all: a loving mother, a devoted girlfriend (Shiri Appleby), and a shot at a college scholarship in California. But the same week that athletic scouts will be deciding his future, Ben finds himself embroiled in a flirtation with Madison Bell (Christensen), a bewitching transfer student who seduces him into supposedly strings-free sex during an impromptu swim lesson after hours in the school pool. When Ben takes Madison at her word and goes about his business as if nothing had happened, she insinuates herself into his life with sinister glee. Showing up at Ben’s house, befriending his girlfriend, and sending him naked pictures — none of her strategies wins his heart. So Madison turns to other, more devious forms of courtship. Soon, Ben finds himself kicked off the swim team for supposed steroid use, suspected of murdering a rival (Clayne Crawford), and rejected by his girlfriend for his sexual indiscretions. Eventually, though, he receives help in uncovering the genesis of Madison’s uncanny fixation from an unexpected source. Originally titled “Swimfan85″ (after Madison’s Internet screen name), the retitled Swimfan hit the top spot at the back-to-school box office when it was released September 6, 2002. Dan Hedaya co-stars as Ben’s stern but loving mentor, Coach Simkins. Actor-turned-director John Polson previously helmed Siam Sunset.

The documentary directing team of Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman makes their narrative feature debut with the biographical comedy drama American Splendor. Harvey Pekar (Paul Giamatti) is a comic book writer inspired by the work of his friend Robert Crumb (James Urbaniak). Pekar writes his comics about the sad monotony of everyday life, based on his own life in Cleveland, OH, working as a file clerk at a veteran’s hospital and spending his time reading books and listening to jazz. He meets up with Joyce Brabner (Hope Davis) and they enjoy a depressive relationship together. The filmmakers employ a combination of live-action film, video, and animation, including narration and commentary from the real-life Harvey Pekar. The screenplay was based on Pekar’s comic book series American Splendor, which he has been writing since 1976 on Dark Horse Comics, and the 1994 book-length comic Our Cancer Year, written by Pekar and Brabner. American Splendor won the Grand Jury Prize in the Dramatic Competition at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival.