Celia Weston

An advocate faces many obstacles to fight against corrupt senior government functionaries, rampant tax evasion and god-men who sexually exploit their disciples

A space shuttle crashes in Washington DC and there is something alien in the wreckage. Soon, the city is being swept by a strange epidemic. People are slowly becoming totally unfeeling and inhuman. Psychiatrist Carol Bennel and her friend, Dr Ben Driscoll, find out that people are infected when they are asleep only. Carol does her best to stay awake long enough to find her young son, who probably holds the answer to the whole mess.

When scientist Bruce Banner is transformed into a giant, super-human mutant, he will have to fight the forces of evil - while fighting the evil within himself.

Near the end of the 1960s, scientist David Banner (Nick Nolte) is conducting genetics research and is attempting to mutate human DNA to boost the immune systems of soldiers to help them heal quickly in battle. After he is denied permission to conduct human trials, Banner experiments on himself. As time passes, David realizes his mutant DNA has been passed on to his son and attempts to find a cure. The military, led by Thunderbolt Ross, shuts down Banner's research after discovering his unauthorized and dangerous experiments. In a fit of rage, Banner triggers a massive gamma explosion, releasing tons of radioactive material and speeds back home to kill his son with a cook's knife in order to prevent him from turning into a monster, but accidentally fatally stabs his wife when she tries to stop him. David is arrested and imprisoned at a mental hospital for 26 years while young Bruce is adopted into a foster home, growing up to believe his parents are both dead. A few years later after the explosion, Bruce's hometown is abandoned and evacuated. In 2003, Bruce Banner (Eric Bana) is now a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. The military takes an interest in Banner's research into Nanomeds and sends Major Talbot (Josh Lucas) to investigate it. Meanwhile, David Banner reappears and begins to infiltrate Bruce's life, taking a job as a janitor at the lab and secretly keeping an eye on Bruce. Thunderbolt Ross (Sam Elliott) is informed of the research and becomes concerned for his daughter Betty (Jennifer Connelly), who works at the lab with Bruce. Ross meets with Betty and informs her of his concerns, but she becomes angry that he came there for business and not to reconcile with her. In a lab computer glitch, Bruce is accidentally exposed to gamma radiation and the Nanomeds, which combine with his already mutated DNA and protect him from being killed by the radiation. After the accident, Bruce awakens in a hospital bed and Betty informs him that he should be dead, but instead, he is better than he was before. That night, David finally confronts Bruce and reveals himself as Bruce's father. He tells Bruce to watch his temper, and quietly steals some of Bruce's hair to conduct his own tests on. David begins using Bruce's altered DNA in animal testing, producing a pack of mutated dogs. The combined frustration and stress around Bruce begin to overwhelm him and he transforms into the Hulk, destroying the lab and rampaging around, ripping all the equipment and furniture to pieces. The next day, Betty finds Bruce passed out at home. As he is trying to piece together what happened, General Ross arrives and places him under house arrest. Betty tracks down David and confronts him, prompting David to call Bruce and tell him that he has unleashed three enormous mutant dogs to track down and kill Betty. Bruce is further provoked by Major Talbot and transforms into Hulk. seriously injuring Major Talbot by breaking his neck, arm, and right leg before rushing to save Betty and ripping the dogs apart. The next morning, Bruce is tranquilized by Ross and taken to a deep underground Arizona desert base where Major Talbot is in charge of research. Betty wants to help Bruce control his transformations, but General Ross believes that Bruce is a danger who is doomed to follow in his father's footsteps. Major Talbot sees an opportunity to profit from the Hulk's strength and regenerative capability. Then he tortures Bruce trying to get a sample off him, but he refuses. He puts Bruce in a sensory deprivation tank and triggers a transformation into the Hulk, who escapes from the research facility, damaging some of the equipment and destroying the control center in the process. Talbot is killed when a gun he fires at the Hulk ricochets back on him. The escaped Hulk flees into the desert, battling the army forces sent after him. He discovers that he can cover great distances by leaping with his powerful legs and uses this ability to quickly make his way to San Francisco to find Betty. While on his journey, General Ross sends 4 helicopters and 4 tanks to track and restrain him, but they all get destroyed. Betty defies her father and confronts the Hulk, who is soothed by her appearance and transforms back into Bruce Banner. Meanwhile, David breaks into the lab and uses Bruce's Nanomed technology on himself, gaining the ability to meld with and absorb the properties of any substance he touches. He goes to Betty's house and offers to turn himself in, with the condition that he can see Bruce one more time. General Ross agrees and allows David to talk to Bruce. David tells Bruce that he wants to see his real son, the Hulk. Bruce refuses to transform and David grabs a nearby power wire, mutating into a large power-absorbing monster. Bruce becomes the Hulk and the two fly to a forest and battle. The two fight each other to a lake, where David freezes the Hulk in the water and taunts him, trying to get Bruce to release his power. Finally, Bruce unleashes the full power of the Hulk, which overwhelms his father and causes him to swell into a huge, unstable mushroom-shaped form. At the same time, General Ross detonates a gamma bomb on them. David is destroyed, but Bruce (who is unconscious at the bottom of the lake) survives and remembers David tucking him into bed as a child saying sweet dreams which probably means his father still might have loved him. One year later, Bruce is shown working as a doctor in a rainforest. Some soldiers try to steal some medical supplies from the camp, and Bruce confronts them, telling them "Don't make me angry! You wouldn't like me when I'm angry!". Banner's eyes turn green as the camera zooms out and the loud roar of the Hulk can be heard as the screen fades to green.

Middle-aged photographer and businessman Robert "Bobby" Garfield (Anton Yelchin) returns to his old hometown upon learning that his best friend, decorated soldier John "Sully" Sullivan (Will Rothhaar) has died in a traffic accident and begins recollecting his past when he visits an abandoned house where he used to live. Bobby finds that his other friend Carol also died a few years ago. During a summer in the 1960s, an eleven-year-old Bobby lives with his widowed mother, self-centered Liz Garfield (Hope Davis) (she is a bitter and vain woman), and has two friends, Carol Gerbe (Mika Boorem) and Sully. They experienced many things together, the most mysterious of which was meeting an older gentleman named Ted Brautigan (Sir Anthony Hopkins), whom Liz takes in as a boarder. Liz does not trust Ted at all (as he has all his belongings in a paper bag) but needs the money. Liz is having an affair with her boss Don Biderman (Adam LeFevre). Carol & Bobby have a special affection for one another including sharing a kiss "by which all others will be measured". Mrs. Gerber (Deirdre O'Connell) is Carol's mother. Ted takes the lonely Bobby under his wing, while his mother is busy with her job. The two form a paternal father-son bond, and it slowly becomes evident that Ted has some psychic and telekinetic powers. After reading Bobby's mind and realizing that the boy dreams of owning a bicycle; Ted kindly offers Bobby $1 a week in exchange for his reading a newspaper out loud. Bobby quickly figures out that Ted has some other purpose in mind. These same powers are the reason that Brautigan has come to this sleepy town. In due course Ted entrusts Bobby with the knowledge that he has escaped the grasp of the "Low Men", strange people who would stop at nothing to get him back in their control. dark clothes and dark hats, moving in packs in flashy cars. Ted says they want him back under their control. Ted reads Bobby's mind and tells him tales about how Ted and Bobby's father were at the same football game. He tells how an aging footballer was playing that day. His team was losing. He kept fighting and kept crawling 5 - 10 yards at each pass. Eventually, it was a miracle, and the aging footballer won the game for his team. Mysteriously, Ted asks Bobby to keep an eye on the neighborhood looking for any signs of announcements about missing pets (which could allude to the presence of "low men"). Ted can sense that Bobby also has mind reading abilities and is almost training him for it. Bobby attends the carnival and is able to play the card guessing game really well. He wins every time. He has the gift, and he scares himself with it. Bobby sees "low men" in town, but does not tell Ted, afraid to lose his new friend (Ted had told him that he would have to leave, in case the "low men" came to town). Bobby, Carol and John have frequent conflicts with the local town bully, Harry Doolin (Timmy Reifsnyder), whom Ted is able to scare away by looking into his mind and finding out that his violence is used to cover up the fact that he is secretly a cross-dresser. Liz leaves Bobby in Ted's care when she goes with her boss for the weekend for a seminar. She was reluctant, but there was no other babysitter available, who would do it for free. Ted and Bobby have a close shave with the "low men", when they pass by in their car. Ted asks Bobby to think about happy memories to confuse them. Ted prepares to leave town. However, at one point, Harry harasses and injures Carol, and when Ted manipulates her dislocated shoulder into place. Liz arrives, after being sexually assaulted by her boss, and mistakenly believes that Ted is a child molester. She is confronted by Ted's ability to tell her the truth about what she has been through, and how her behavior is affecting her relationship with her son, providing another reason that Ted must leave. That and the "low men" are closing in on him. Ted is eventually captured with the help of a tip from Liz. As some form of closure, Ted yells to Bobby as he is being driven away that he wouldn't have missed a moment "not for all the world", and later Bobby mirrors the same feelings. Bobby is later confronted by Harry, but Bobby grabs the latter's baseball bat and beats him with it. Liz later finds a new job in Boston and moves the family there. Before he leaves, Bobby and Carol say their goodbyes and share a final kiss. Returning to the present, Bobby turns to leave his old home wherein he meets a young girl named Molly. The two strike up a conversation wherein Molly reveals that she is Carol's daughter and that Carol died in recent years. Bobby gives Molly a photograph of a young Carol and the two become friends.

A person appears "out of no where" at the NY Central station. He helps a woman being mugged and is arrested by the police, when he gives weird answers to their questions. After claiming he is an extraterrestrial from the planet 'K-PAX', 1,000 light years away in the Lyra constellation, Prot (Kevin Spacey) (not capitalized and pronounced with a long O, rhyming with boat) is committed to the Psychiatric Institute of Manhattan. There, psychiatrist Dr. Mark Powell (Jeff Bridges) attempts to cure him of his apparent delusions. However, Prot is unwavering in his ability to provide cogent answers to questions about himself, K-PAX, and its civilizations. His medical examination only reinforces his story, as Prot can see ultraviolet light and he is completely resistant to the effects of Thorazine. Powell introduces him to a group of astrophysicists (Dr. Chakraborty (Ajay Naidu), Dr. Steven Becker (Brian Howe) & Dr. Claudia Villars (Alfre Woodard)) who are befuddled when Prot displays a level of knowledge about his claimed star system that was unknown to them. Prot claims to be 337 yrs old, arrived on Earth 4 yrs and 9 months ago and aged by 7 yrs while travelling to Earth at 6 times the speed of light. There are no families on K-PAX and reproduction is very unpleasant. No laws, no lawyers and no punishments for crimes. Mark is married to Rachel Powell (Mary McCormack), who feels that Mark is neglecting the family. Mark is divorced from his first wife and has a son Michael Powell (Aaron Paul), who is in college, but wont speak to Mark. Prot also wins over the other patients at the Institute (Ernie (Saul Williams) who is bacteria phobic, Doris Archer (Celia Weston) who went mad after she her partner abandoned her and she has been waiting for 11 yrs, Sal (Peter Gerety) & Howie (David Patrick Kelly)), each of whom believes unquestioningly that he is indeed from K-PAX. Prot, who claims to have journeyed to Earth by means of "light-travel" (and his beings can travel at several times faster than the speed of light) (He says Earth is an early stage evolution planet with an uncertain future), explains that he can take one person with him when he returns. Thereafter, most of the patients at the Institute ask Prot to take them with him. Prot tells Howie to complete 3 tasks in order to be cured. The first task is to find a blue bird and Howie gets very excited when he finally views one through the window (an extremely rare occurrence). The 2nd task was to almost strangle Ernie to death. Ernie realizes that death is something that he has no control over, and is cured of his germ-phobia. Last task was to stay on Earth and be prepared for anything. Upon learning that many of his patients expect to leave Earth on July 27 (at 5 51 am eastern time, as entries and exits from K-Pax have to be coordinated, just like an ATC), Powell confronts Prot, who explains that it is a predetermined date. However, Powell believes this to be a significant date in Prot's life, a day on which he suffered a severe psychological trauma. Prot demonstrates that he can speak to animals as well. Powell decides to subject Prot to regression hypnosis (mark invites Prot to his home for 4th of July. Everything was going well until Mark's kids turned on the sprinkler and ran into it, and that's when Prot lost his cool and tries to stop Mark's daughter from running into the sprinkler and has to be subdued), which works well. Using information gained from these sessions, Powell figures out that Prot may simply be an alter ego of Robert Porter, a man from New Mexico who attempted suicide in 1996 after his wife and child were murdered. Prot claims that Robert could contact him, and had done so several times in the past. and that day, when his wife and child was murdered, Robert called Prot to Earth to help him. The local sheriff tells Mark that Robert came home from work and found his wife and daughter murdered and proceeded to kill the murderer by snapping his neck like a twig. Powell tries to confront Prot with this knowledge, but Prot's reaction is one of bemusement, and he cryptically tells Powell that he hopes he will take good care of Robert now that he has found him. Prot also tells Mark to spend more time with his family and to reconnect with Michael. On July 27 as the hospital staff watch, the camera in Prot's room cuts to static at the precise time Prot said he would leave Earth. Powell finds Porter lying on the floor in his room, catatonic, Prot having apparently left Porter's body for the light travel back to K-PAX. The other patients do not recognize Robert, as he is being wheeled out of the room. In addition, one of them is missing: Bess (Melanee Murray), a woman who had remained mute since her home was destroyed in a fire and who had been among the patients that asked to go to K-PAX with Prot. She is never found. Powell continues to take care of the catatonic Porter and tells him about how the patients he helped have gone on to live normal lives again (Howie got a job at the public library, Ernie is a crisis counselor), but Robert does not respond. Powell is left with no absolute answer as to whether Prot was in fact an alien entity or just a coping mechanism of the traumatized Porter, but seems far from convinced that Porter's behavior was a delusion. In a final voiceover, Prot explains to Powell that the people of K-PAX have discovered that our universe will repeat its events again and again, so the mistakes we make will be repeated forever. Prot encourages Powell to make this time count, as it is the only chance we have. Inspired, Powell begins a new, better life by reconciling with his estranged son.

Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) is a young man struggling to make a living in late 1950s New York City using his "talents"; forgery, lying and impersonation. One day, while working as a restroom attendant at a fancy Manhattan hotel, he meets a Princeton graduate who bribes him to work at an alumni party at playing the piano because the Princeton guy just broke his hand and cannot play. Ripley accepts. While playing piano at a cocktail party, Ripley is approached by wealthy shipbuilder Herbert Greenleaf (James Rebhorn), who mistakenly believes that Ripley went to Princeton with his son, Dickie, because Ripley is wearing the borrowed Princeton blazer. Greenleaf recruits Ripley to travel to Italy and persuade Dickie to return to the United States, for which he will pay Ripley $1,000. Ripley accepts the proposal, even though he did not attend Princeton and has never met Dickie. Ripley's personal life is soon revealed after the party where he lives in a small, two-room apartment in a rundown part of the city. His home town and origins are unknown. It is implied that several years earlier, Ripley came out as a homosexual to his parents who reacted by throwing him out of their house and severing all ties with him. Now alone, Ripley struggles to get by without family support as well as search for his one true love as an outlet for his loneliness. Upon arriving by ship in Europe, Ripley meets a young and wealthy textile heiress named Meredith Logue (Cate Blanchett). During their brief conversation he impulsively pretends to be Dickie, later commenting in voice-over that "it is better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody." Shortly after his arrival in Italy, Ripley fakes a chance encounter on the beach with Dickie (Jude Law) and his fiancee, Marge Sherwood (Gwyneth Paltrow), and attempts to convince Dickie that the two met at Princeton. Ripley later visits Dickie and Marge and discloses that Dickie's father paid him to travel to Europe and persuade Dickie to return home. This revelation infuriates Dickie; he declines the invitation and suggests Ripley go back to America and inform his father that he has no intention of ever returning. Ripley instead insinuates himself into Dickie's life under the pretext of being a fellow jazz lover. The two concoct a scheme for Ripley to wring additional funds from Herbert Greenleaf by regularly mailing letters suggesting Dickie is wavering and will likely return to America if Ripley can remain in Italy and continue applying pressure. On a jaunt to Rome, Ripley meets Dickie's friend Freddie Miles (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who treats Ripley with barely concealed contempt. A local girl, whom Dickie had impregnated, drowns herself after he refuses to help her financially; this sends Dickie into a downward spiral. He begins getting tired of Ripley, resenting his constant presence and suffocating dependence. Ripley's own feelings are complicated by his desire to maintain the opulent lifestyle Dickie has afforded him, and his growing sexual obsession with his new friend. As a good-will gesture before Ripley returns to America, Dickie invites Ripley to sail with him for a last trip to San Remo, where Dickie is shopping for a new residence. While at sea, Ripley suggests he return to Italy the following year and the two become housemates. Dickie dismisses Ripley's plan, informs him that he intends to marry Marge and admits he has grown weary of Tom. Upset by this news, Ripley confronts Dickie about his behavior and lashes out in rage, repeatedly hitting Dickie with an oar, killing him. Ripley holds Dickie's dead body as the boat slowly drifts to shore. To conceal the murder, Ripley scuttles the boat with Dickie's body aboard before swimming ashore. When the hotel concierge mistakes him for Dickie, Ripley realizes he can assume Dickie's identity. He forges Dickie's signature, modifies his passport and begins living off Dickie's trust fund. He uses Dickie's typewriter to communicate with Marge, making her believe that Dickie has left her and has decided to stay in Rome. He checks into two separate hotels as himself and as Dickie, passing messages via the hotel staff to create the illusion that Dickie is still alive. His situation is complicated by the reappearance of Meredith, who still believes that he is Dickie. Ripley rents a large apartment and spends a lonely Christmas buying himself expensive presents. Freddie tracks Ripley to his apartment in Rome through the American Express office, expecting to find Dickie. Freddie is immediately suspicious of Ripley as the apartment is not furnished in Dickie's style, while Ripley appears to have adopted Dickie's hair-style and mannerisms. On his way out, Freddie encounters the building's landlady who refers to Ripley as "Signor Dickie" and remarks on the piano music constantly emanating from the apartment. Freddie notes that Dickie does not play piano and goes back to confront Ripley who attacks Freddie, hitting him over the head with a heavy statue, murdering him. Ripley carries the heavy body to Freddie's car, drives to the woods, abandoning the vehicle and leaving Freddie's corpse lying on the ground in a creek, where it is quickly discovered. Ripley's existence then becomes a cat-and-mouse game with the Italian police and Dickie's friends. Ripley eludes imminent capture and clears himself by forging a suicide note addressed to Ripley in Dickie's name. He then moves to Venice and rents an apartment under his real name. Though trusted by Dickie's father, Ripley is disquieted when Mr. Greenleaf hires American private detective Alvin MacCarron to investigate Dickie's disappearance. Marge suspects Ripley's involvement in Dickie's death and confronts him after finding Dickie's rings in Ripley's bathroom. Ripley appears poised to murder Marge but is interrupted when Peter Smith-Kingsley (Jack Davenport), a mutual friend, enters the apartment with a key Ripley had given him. At the climax, Marge, Dickie's father, and MacCarron all confront Ripley at his apartment in Venice, but luck seems to stay with Ripley; MacCarron, after uncovering certain sordid details about Dickie's past, reveals to Ripley that Mr. Greenleaf has requested the investigation be dropped. MacCarron will not share his revelations with the Italian police and asks Ripley to promise to do the same. In exchange for his candor, and implications made in Dickie's suicide note, Herbert Greenleaf intends to transfer a substantial portion of Dickie's trust fund income to Ripley. Marge is dismayed at the resolution, furiously accusing Ripley of involvement in Dickie's disappearance before Greenleaf and MacCarron drag her away. Alienated with them and Ripley, Marge leaves to return to America. Now lovers, Ripley and Peter go on a cruise together, only to discover that Meredith is also on board. Ripley realizes that he cannot prevent Peter from communicating with Meredith and discovering that he has been passing himself off as Dickie. Peter and Meredith know each other and would certainly meet at some point on the voyage. He cannot solve this dilemma by murdering Meredith, because she is accompanied by her family. Ripley enters Peter's room and suggests the two remain below deck for the duration of the cruise, but quickly dismisses this idea as he cannot offer Peter a legitimate reason for doing so. Ripley sobs as he strangles Peter to death, throws his body overboard, then returns to his own cabin, where he sits alone. Although Tom Ripley knows that he has gotten away with his crimes and will never be brought to justice, he has sadly resigned himself to a solitary life without love or acceptance.

Mel Coplin (Ben Stiller) and his wife, Nancy (Patricia Arquette), live in New York, near Mel's neurotic, Hebrew, adoptive parents, Ed (George Segal) and Pearl Coplin (Mary Tyler Moore). Mel and Nancy have just had their first child, and they refuse to name their son until Mel can discover the identity of his biological parents. He assures her that once he knows who he really is, the right name for their boy will be a snap. Meanwhile Mel and Nancy's sex life has taken a brutal hit since the birth of their son. After an adoption agency employee locates his biological mother's name in a database, Mel decides to meet her personally. Tina (Tea Leoni), the sexy but highly incompetent adoption agency employee, decides to accompany Mel, Nancy, and the newborn on a trip to San Diego to meet Mel's biological mother. Tina is in the middle of a divorce; she is 30 years old and wants a baby of her own. Tina is finishing her dissertation (on the emotional and psychological impacts of the reunions) and will film the happy reunion of mother and child as part of her research. For this privilege, she's footing the bill. Mel's adoptive parents are left behind feeling abandoned by an ungrateful son. Ed says that his 60th birthday is coming up and he doesn't want Mel to miss it. Pearl cannot understand Mel's need to connect with his "roots", feeling that perhaps he feels that they were not good enough parents to him. The trip, of course, does not go as planned, and ends up becoming a tour of the United States. First, Mel is introduced to Valerie (Celia Weston), a blond Scandinavian woman with Confederate roots whose twin daughters are at least six inches taller than Mel. Valerie comes from an athletic family with Finnish and Scottish roots. They quickly realize that Valerie is not Mel's biological mother (as her son was born 2 years before Mel was born), and Tina scrambles to get the correct information from the agency database. Meanwhile, Nancy becomes jealous as Tina and Mel begin to flirt. Tina used to be an exotic dancer and that raises Nancy's anxiety further still. Tina and Mel playfully wrestle each other as Tina is into Indian wrestling as well. Next, the group heads to rural Michigan with the hope of meeting the man whose name appears as the person who delivered infant Mel to the adoption agency. The man, Fritz Boudreau (David Patrick Kelly), turns out to be a trucker with a violent streak. However, when he discovers that Mel might be his son, he becomes instantly friendly and lets Mel drive his semi-trailer truck, which Mel immediately crashes into a Post Office building. This leads to a run-in with two ATF agents, Tony (Josh Brolin) and Paul (Richard Jenkins), who are gay and in a relationship with each other. It is discovered that Tony and Nancy went to high school together. Charges are dismissed, and Fritz Boudreau tells Mel that he is not Mel's father, but only handled Mel's adoption because Mel's biological parents were incapacitated. Tina locates the current address of Mel's biological parents, which turns out to be in rural New Mexico. Tony and Paul surprise everyone by deciding to tag along on the trip. While Mel and Tina become close, Nancy finds herself flirting with Tony, who returns the compliment, causing friction. The trip through rural New Mexico is fraught with more problems. At last, the whole crowd descends on the front porch of Mel's true biological parents, Richard (Alan Alda) and Mary Schlichting (Lily Tomlin). They are asked to stay the night. While Richard and Mary are more than welcoming, Mel's biological brother Lonnie (Glenn Fitzgerald) is overly rude and jealous. It is during dinner that Mel discovers that Richard and Mary had to let Mel be adopted because they were in jail for making and distributing LSD in the late 1960s. Not only that, but Richard and Mary continue to manufacture LSD, as becomes apparent when Lonnie, in an attempt to dose Mel with acid at dinner, accidentally doses Paul, the ATF agent. In his drugged state Paul tries to arrest Richard and Mary but Lonnie knocks him out with a frying pan. They attempt to escape and decide to take Mel's car, hiding their supply of acid in the trunk. Mel's adoptive parents arrive but then change their minds and decide to leave, taking the wrong car. When they change their minds again and make a blind U-turn, the two families crash. Mel's adoptive parents are arrested while his biological parents escape to Mexico. Not realizing what has happened Mel recounts the stories from dinner to Nancy and they agree to name the baby Garcia. Called to the Sheriff's office to bail out Ed and Pearl, Mel refers to them as his parents, which they are surprised and happy to hear. The next day Paul explains the situation and is able to get Mel's parents released. A montage of each family's personal relationships - Mel and Nancy, Paul and Tony and their Tina-arranged adopted baby, Ed and Pearl, the three Schlichtings, and a very pregnant Tina - continues over the credits. Each family still have their troubles, but Mel and Nancy are happy together.

Matthew Poncelet (Sean Penn), who was sentenced to death for the murder of a teenage couple, has been on death row at the Louisiana State Penitentiary for six years. He committed his crimes with Carl Vitello (Michael Cullen), who was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. As his scheduled execution date approaches, Poncelet asks Sister Helen Prejean (Susan Sarandon), with whom he has corresponded, to help him with a final appeal. Poncelet had written several letters to Helen, and finally Helen agrees to respond to him, and they start a correspondence. Poncelet claims that Jesus visited in his cell. Sister Helen decides to visit Poncelet, who is arrogant, sexist (calls the mother of his own child a bitch) and racist (hates niggers) and does not even pretend to feel remorse. Chaplain Farlely (Scott Wilson) is the prison priest & very orthodox. He does not support Helen's visits to Poncelet as he thinks Poncelet is guilty and is only trying to take advantage of Helen. Poncelet protests his innocence and insists Vitello killed the two teenagers and that he was only doing what he was told under the influence of booze and drugs. Poncelet also shows Helen the pic of his baby girl, whom he has only met once. He says that in 6 yrs, he has learned the law and has even written his own motion of appeal, he just needs a lawyer to file it with the court. Poncelet is convicted for the kidnapping, sexual assault and murder of Walter Delacroix (Peter Sarsgaard) & Hope Percy (Missy Yager). Helen argues that both Vitello and Poncelet were there and yet Vitello got life, and Poncelet got death. Poncelet is scheduled for execution by the state's new lethal injection machine (1st shot paralyzes you, the 2nd shot explodes the lungs and the 3rd shot stops the heart). Convincing an experienced attorney Hilton Barber (Robert Prosky) to take on Poncelet's case pro Bono, Sister Helen tries to have his sentence commuted to life imprisonment. Hilton coaches Poncelet for the upcoming pardon board hearing. He says if Poncelet appears to be "human", it will be difficult to kill him. He argues for Poncelet's mother Lucille & his brother Craig Poncelet (Jack Black) to be at the hearing. At the pardon hearing, Hilton argues that Poncelet didn't have money to hire a proper lawyer and was assigned one by the state. He was a tax attorney, who never tried a capital case ever. The Trial lasted 5 days, and the jury took 4 hours to decide. The lawyer raised one objection during the entire trial. The Prosecution argues that Poncelet killed 2 people and their families are suffering too. Poncelet is proven guilty in court in trial, appeals and so on. He is not a good boy. Sister Helen's application for commutation is refused. The board rules to deny clemency and execution is on for 1 week later. After many visits, she establishes a relationship with him. At the same time, she gets to know Poncelet's mother, Lucille (Roberta Maxwell), and the families of the two victims. The victims' families (Earl Delacroix (Raymond J. Barry), Clyde Percy (R. Lee Ermey), Mary Beth Percy (Celia Weston)) do not understand Sister Helen's efforts to help Poncelet and claim that she is "taking his side". They desire "absolute justice" i.e. his life for those of their children. IN course of her support, Helen attracts vilification from her own family, and the wider society, who condemn her actions. Poncelet asks Sister Helen to be his spiritual adviser through his execution, and she agrees. Helen meets Earl who tells him about his memories of his son. Mary tells Helen about how Hope was going to join the air force within a week before she was sexually assaulted and killed. She wanted to serve overseas. That day, she had a date with Walter. Hope didn't return that night and the Percy's called the Delacroixs and learn that Walter didn't return home either. They thought the kids ran away and got married. The bodies were found 6 days later. Hope was nude, and her vagina was torn up. She was stabbed 17 times with the class pin she was wearing. Clyde remembers Poncelet being snug, arrogant and unrepentant at the trial. He even mocked Clyde. Helen starts spending more time with Poncelet as his time nears. She gets him to realize that even white people can be lazy and not just niggers. Poncelet gives interviews on TV praising Hitler and his Aryan supremacy work. He also says that he would like to come back as a terrorist and bomb govt buildings. Helen is livid and tells Poncelet that he is making it very easy for people to kill him. Meanwhile she tries to get Poncelet to realize that parents of the kids who died are also hurting for their loss. Earl's wife files for divorce as she blames Earl for not doing enough. Poncelet is moved to an isolated facility in prep for the execution. Helen is now able to visit him for longer hours in a day. Poncelet is also taken away for measurement (weight, height etc), as part of the official procedures. Helen meets guards and medical staff who will be part of the execution process. Helen encourages him to read the bible as seek redemption in the truth. Poncelet offers to take a lie detector test, but the results are inconclusive as he was feeling stressed about the execution. Governor Benedict (Kevin Cooney) rejects the clemency request as Poncelet is already publicly vilified. Poncelet meets his family the day before the execution. It was a normal meeting, with family exchanging stories about what's going on. Eventually, the family is asked to leave. Helen gets to spend the whole night with Poncelet, the night before the morning of the execution. Helen tells Poncelet to stop blaming, niggers, govt, the world for what happening to him and to start taking some responsibility. Sister Helen tells Poncelet that his redemption is possible only if he takes responsibility for what he did. Just before he is taken from his cell, Poncelet tearfully admits to Sister Helen that he had killed the boy and sexually assaulted the girl, before Vitello killed her. Helen tells Poncelet that the truth has set him free. As he is prepared for execution, he appeals to the boy's father for forgiveness and tells the girl's parents that he hopes his death brings them peace. Poncelet is executed by lethal injection and given a proper burial. The murdered boy's father attends the funeral ceremony; although he is still filled with hate, he soon begins to pray with Sister Helen.

A single mother raises a child prodigy on her own, struggling to give him every opportunity he needs to express his gift. Dede is a sole parent trying to bring up her son Fred. When it is discovered that Fred is a genius, she is determined to ensure that Fred has all the opportunities that he needs, and that he is not taken advantage of by people who forget that his extremely powerful intellect is harboured in the body and emotions of a child. —Murray Chapman <muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au> Uneducated working class Dede Tate is the loving single mom to now seven year old Fred Tate, the two who live in a small inner city apartment. Dede has known since Fred was an infant that he is gifted, even more so than the most exceptional of children. His gifts, which are in the sciences and creative arts, are largely intuitive. Because so, he is a sensitive human, who internalizes many of his feelings, and who has ulcers in part because he worries about the world's problems. But more than anything, Fred wants to have friends, which he doesn't have at his inner city public school because he is considered different. Dede understands this, and although she does indulge some of his intellectual pursuits, she wants him to be like a "normal" kid. Their lives change when Fred comes to the attention of Jane Grierson of the Grierson Institute, a school for exceptional children. Jane was considered an exceptional child herself. Jane wants Fred to enroll in the Institute and after she gets to know him better wants to take him under her personal wing. But taking Fred to the other extreme may not be what Fred needs to flourish either. In addition, people who do truly become Fred's first ever close friends as he sees them may not truly understand what literal Fred needs in his friend virginity. A battle of sorts ensues between the two women as they do what they believe is best for Fred, who brings out maternal instincts for the first time ever in Jane. —Huggo The story of the intellectually-gifted eight-year-old Fred Tate, his mother Dede and the director of a program for gifted children, Dr Jane Grierson. It explores the tension between Fred's emotional and intellectual needs and between his mother and Dr Grierson. —Mike McBain <mike@calcite.apana.org.au>