Dan Hedaya

The opening scene is a traffic accident. Two young people lie on the road, the girl barely moving, the boy, motionless. Tessa wakes up in the hospital. In a flashback set 182 days before, Tessa spends the morning taking photos in the coastal town, wandering into the local theater to watch a classic French film. Skylar, the other person at the movie, offers to translate. He is a true romantic, he and Tessa have very different views. In a flashback set 102 days before, Tessa is encouraged to apply to the RISD for her photography skills. Later, while shooting a rowing meet, she finally finds Skylar again. They both obviously had been searching for each other. They spend the day together, and she shows him the world through her eyes. At the Empyrean, an abandoned honeymooners hotel he teaches her to waltz and they kiss. He tells her he'll be back at the end of the month to stay for the summer. In the present, Tessa is back at school, and is reminded of the RISD deadline. Later, going home, she throws out her developing materials. Her adoptive dad reminds her that her mother never stuck to anything. Dreaming of Skylar, she wakes up to see her Robert Doisneau print of Le baiser de l'hôtel de ville. Flashback: July 4. After the fireworks, she shows him her darkroom, portfolio and opens up about her mother flaking out, forcing her into the foster care system. They go out on a boat during the day, he shows her how to row, he declares his love and they make love on the shore. Tessa tells her friend Shannon about The In Between, the concept of a window of time in which someone recently deceased needs to have a final contact before moving on. Sitting the SAT, weirdly Skylar moves her hand on her answer sheet to draw what seems to be a non-sensical scribble. Then their song, 'Never tear us apart' comes up simultaneously on everyone's silenced mobiles. Flashback: 11 days before the accident. Skylar angers Tessa when he puts a photo she gifted him in a photo exhibit to show her talent. Her inability to express her feelings comes up. He wants her to realize they could have a future and she continues to hold back. Photographing her adoptive mother, she's advised to try to admit her feelings out loud. Shannon helps Tessa try to channel Skylar after reading several books. First they try with a planchette, scrying, and instrumental trans-communication Electronic voice phenomenon which, unbeknownst to them, works on the TV. Getting in her adoptive mother's car, the built-in GPS shows her the same route she had scribbled on her SAT sheet. So, she blows off returning the car, following the route, arriving to the In Between author Doris she met in the hospital. She suggests Tessa seek him where they had their strongest moments. Flashback: 5 days before the accident. Tessa discovers Skylar has decided to go to Oregon to support his father for the year, leaving her on the East coast. She takes it as a sign, as she finally has applied to RISD and was about to express her love, and she breaks it off. After buying special photography equipment, Shannon drives Tessa to the places she and Skylar had most closely connected, hoping to catch his image/connect. Finally they do connect at The Empyrean, but not completely, and he shatters a mirror trying to reach her. The police catch up with her there, traced through her mobile. At home, her adoptive parents are on top of her, she collapses, and in the hospital she's told her heart needs to be repaired the next day. Shannon sneaks her out, with Skylar's help (he manipulates some electronics, distracting the nurses), who then guides them to the site of the accident. In a flashback to the night of the accident, Shannon convinces Tessa to catch Skylar before he leaves. The timelines overlap. As paramedics attend Tessa's collapsed body, reunited with Skylar briefly, they are in Paris, in black and white, and mimic the Doisneau print Le baiser... They are back at a house on the beach, and she hears from far off her adoptive mom calling her back. Tearfully, she reminds him that 'love never dies', deciding to go back to live. In a mid-credits scene, Tessa and Skylar are wandering around the beach drawing stick figures on sand

In 1998, NYPD Detective John Shaft II (Samuel L. Jackson), a relative of legendary private investigator John Shaft I (Richard Roundtree), is called in to investigate the grievous assault of Trey Howard (Mekhi Phifer) outside a restaurant. Shaft arrests Walter Wade Jr. (Christian Bale), the son of a wealthy real estate tycoon Walter Wade Sr. (Philip Bosco), after noticing blood on him and Wade claims he acted in self-defense. However, Trey's friend tells Shaft that when she and Trey entered the restaurant, Wade racially harassed him. Trey humiliated Wade in response and left the restaurant, and Wade followed after him. Shaft notices a waitress, Diane Palmieri (Toni Collette), eyeing Wade and tries to coax a statement from her but she claims to have not witnessed anything and disappears from the scene. When Wade mocks Trey after he dies on the ambulance stretcher, Shaft punches him and is suspended and transferred to another precinct. Later, Wade phones Shaft to taunt him that because of the punch, he was granted bail (for $200K) on the homicide charge and has fled to Switzerland. Two years later, Wade returns to the country and Shaft rearrests him. Shaft's friends throw him a celebratory party where the elder Shaft appears and warns him that Wade's wealth puts him at an advantage to beat the case. While temporarily detained at police headquarters, Wade befriends Peoples Hernandez (Jeffrey Wright), a Dominican drug lord who Shaft previously arrested (they were both put in the same cell). At his bail hearing, the judge makes Wade relinquish his passport in exchange for being released on bail again (for $1 MM); frustrated, Shaft resigns from the police force, promising to bring Wade to justice on his own terms. Worried that Shaft might find the missing eyewitness, Wade hires Peoples to find and kill her first. Shaft continues searching for Diane, enlisting the help of his friends Detective Carmen Vasquez (Vanessa Williams) and taxi driver Rasaan (Trevor Smith Jr.). Shaft gets Diane's location via her colleague Terry (Lanette Ware), who was at the restaurant that night. Diane spots Shaft and manages to escape. While visiting Diane's uncooperative mother, Shaft and Carmen realize they are being followed by officers Jack Roselli (Dan Hedaya) and Jimmy Groves (Ruben Santiago-Hudson), whom Peoples has promised a cut of the payment (of $40K) to follow Shaft and get to Diane. Disguised, Shaft and his former colleague, Detective Luger (Lee Tergesen), rob Wade of the money he had gathered to pay Peoples' off by selling some of his deceased mother's 'exclusive' jewelry. Now, without any cash, Peoples forces Wade to be his distributor to high end customers for 16 months, in exchange for finding Diane. Shaft and Luger plant the money on Roselli and Groves to make Peoples think he is being double-crossed (they call Peoples and tell him that the cops have the money under their car seats as they robbed Wade). However, Roselli and Groves spot Shaft fleeing the scene and realize they are being set up and resume tailing Shaft. Shaft traces a number Diane's mother called and finds Diane being protected by her brothers Mike (Ron Castellano) and Frank (Richard Cocchiaro). Before they can talk, Peoples' Gangbangers attack them. In the shootout, Shaft kills Peoples' younger brother and Mikey is injured. Shaft, Diane, Rasaan, and Frank take shelter at Rasaan's apartment, secretly followed by Roselli and Groves. While at the apartment, Diane admits seeing Wade murder Trey. Wade then made her keep silent in return for a payoff from Wade's father. Meanwhile, Peoples angrily attacks Wade over his brother's death. Peoples and his Gangbangers arrive at Rasaan's apartment, but Shaft engages and kills most of them in a shootout and everyone flees through the fire escape. Roselli and Groves try to kill Shaft, but Carmen comes up behind them and she kills the corrupt officers at Shaft's command. The shootout spills into the city streets where Shaft and Carmen kill the Gangbangers but Rasaan's cab crashes alongside Peoples' vehicle. Peoples takes Diane hostage with an ice pick. Shaft puts his gun down and convinces Peoples not to do Wade's dirty work and instead to fight him individually. Peoples releases Diane and drops his ice pick, then feigns preparing to fight Shaft before drawing his gun from his back; Shaft pulls his backup gun and kills Peoples first. Wade's trial finally arrives. Shaft tells Trey's mother, Carla Howard (Lynne Thigpen), that the trial will have a new judge, the D.A. as prosecutor, and an eyewitness. However, before the trial can begin, Carla guns down Wade on the courthouse steps and she is arrested. In the police station, Shaft reiterates to Carmen that he prefers to be a private detective. A woman arrives, asking Shaft for help filing assault charges against her abusive boyfriend. Shaft is initially reluctant, but when he sees her injury, he decides to help her via his methods. Shaft, along with John Shaft I and Rasaan, go together to confront the abusive boyfriend.

Betsy Jobs (Kirsten Dunst) and Arlene Lorenzo (Michelle Williams) are two sweet but somewhat ditsy teenage girls living in Washington D.C. in the early 1970s. Betsy comes from a wealthy family in the Georgetown area, while Arlene lives with her widowed mother Helen (Teri Garr) in an apartment in the Watergate building. Betsy stays with her father David (Karl Pruner) and brother Larry (Devon Gummersall). The house is upset as Larry has recently been drafted. One night, on a quest to mail a letter to enter a contest to win a date with teen idol singer Bobby Sherman, the two girls sneak out of Arlene's home, at the same time as the Watergate break-in. They manage to enter and leave through the parking garage door, accidentally causing the break-in to be discovered. They are seen by G. Gordon Liddy (Harry Shearer), who they believe to be committing a jewel robbery; they panic and run away. The security guard, who had heard the parking garage door being shut, goes to investigate and is startled by the taped door. The guard calls the police, who immediately arrest the burglars. The burglary revolved around members of a group associated with Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign breaking into and planting listening devices (and also taking photographs of confidential documents) in the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Office Building in Washington, D.C., on June 17, 1972. The next day, while at the White House on a school tour, they accidentally happen across Liddy again. They don't recognize him, but he recognizes them and instantly becomes suspicious. The girls had noticed a piece of paper stuck to the underside of Liddy's shoe, which they assumed to be toilet paper. But when Liddy left, they picked the paper which had some named and an amount of money written next to each name. They keep the paper as a souvenir. Liddy points them out to H. R. Haldeman (Dave Foley), who proceeds to interrogate them; their conversation (in which it is revealed that the girls don't actually think about the President that much) is interrupted by a phone call from Haldeman's wife. During the call the door of their room opens up and they can see directly into the Oval office with Nixon playing with his dog named Checkers. Arlene attracts the attention of the dog with a whistle, which brings Nixon into their room as well. President Nixon / Dick (Dan Hedaya), who takes Haldeman aside to complain about the bugging operation being so fouled up. The girls are naturally awestruck at being in the same room as Nixon - but more awestruck at being able to play with his dog, which gives Nixon an idea. In order to keep their silence, he appoints them his official dog-walkers. Which means they must be admitted repeatedly to the White House. Rose Mary Woods (Ana Gasteyer) is Nixon's assistant. On these visits they accidentally influence major events such as the Vietnam peace process (Arlene advocates that bombing hurts people, and Nixon takes that as the voice of the people and instructs Kissinger accordingly. Arlene says that the people would like Nixon more if he stopped the war) and the Nixon-Brezhnev accord, by bringing along cookies that they have inadvertently baked marijuana into. When Betsy's brother, Larry (Devon Gummersall), reveals the cookies' "secret ingredient" and realizes the President ate them, he concludes that this was likely a leading cause of Nixon's paranoia. They also become familiar with the key figures of Nixon's administration, including the long-suffering, frequently ignored Henry Kissinger (Saul Rubinek), and inadvertently learn the major secrets of the Watergate scandal without realizing what they know. They were finding their way through the White House and mistakenly stumble onto a room where a man was counting money with a machine and putting it into a briefcase, while others were busy shredding documents. Nixon explains that Paper Mache is a hobby of his. Arlene, previously infatuated with Bobby Sherman, now falls equally hard for the president. She adorns her bedroom walls with posters of Nixon and changes her look including wearing contacts instead of glasses. Just after reading an 18½-minute message of love into his tape recorder, she plays back another part of the tape and, after hearing his coarse, brutal rantings, quickly realizes his true nature. When they confront Nixon ("You kicked Checkers, you're prejudiced, and you have a potty mouth!"), he fires and threatens them ("You don't mess with the big boys!"). The girls now reevaluate what they have learned and decide to reveal everything to the "radical muckraking bastards" (Nixon's words) at the Washington Post, Bob Woodward (Will Ferrell) and Carl Bernstein (Bruce McCulloch). So, they become informants; two 15-year-old girls are the true identity of the famous Deep Throat (Betsy's brother had just been caught watching the film of the same name). Woodward and Bernstein - portrayed as petty, childish, and incompetent - are naturally skeptical of the two girls. To make matters worse, their only piece of physical evidence, a list of names of those involved from the Committee to Re-Elect the President, is eaten by Betsy's dog. Nixon's men realize that the girls are a real threat and attempt tactics such as bugging and undercover agents to find out what they know, eventually going so far as to break into Betsy's house and plant an undercover agent as Arlene's mother's boyfriend. Eventually pushed to the limit after being chased by the Watergate "plumbers", the girls decide to take action: sneaking into Haldeman's house, they manage to find and steal a crucial tape recording. They give a transcript of it to Woodward and Bernstein (keeping the tape as a "souvenir") thus ending Nixon's political career. Nixon finds Arlene's message on his tape and erases it, reasoning that he would be "crucified" if it was perceived that he had an affair with a 15-year-old girl. After the resignation, as Nixon's helicopter flies over Betsy's house, the two girl hold up a sign depicting the phrase "You suck, Dick", further angering the now ex-president.

A disgraced emergency services worker is given a chance at redemption when a New York commuter tunnel begins collapsing. He must rescue the trapped commuters before it`s too late!

Reunited by the death of a college friend, three divorced women seek revenge on the husbands who left them for younger women. After years of helping their hubbies climb the ladder of success, three wives have been dumped for newer, curvier models. But the trio is determined to turn their pain into gain. They come up with a cleverly devious plan to hit their exes where it really hurts, in the wallet. Sit back and watch the sparks fly as The Wives get mad, get even, and get it all. Justice has seldom been so sweet. Or so much fun. Reunited after nearly three long decades at their friend's funeral, the once-close-knit team of college friends--the Oscar-winning actress, Elise; the mouthy, Brenda, and the quiet housewife, Annie--realise that they have much more in common than their age. Betrayed and divorced by their treacherous husbands for trophy mistresses, the wronged women finally summon up the courage to take matters into their own hands, to avenge themselves, and give them a dose of their own medicine. Now, the exes are hell-bent on getting even. Do their former men stand a chance against the First-Wives Club? —Nick Riganas Now in middle age, Elise Eliot, Brenda Cushman née Morelli, Annie Paradis née MacDuggan, and Cynthia Griffin née Swann were the closest of friends in college twenty-five years ago, but they drifted apart after college in their differences. Elise is a youth obsessed famous actress. Brenda is brash and straight talking. Annie is a doormat of a woman who has never taken a decisive action in her life. And Cynthia is the proverbial glue in guiding the other three. Elise, Brenda and Annie are reunited at Cynthia's funeral, she who committed suicide upon the marriage of her ex-husband Gil Griffin to who was his much younger mistress. In reuniting, the three women come to various degrees of realization that they are much like each other and much like Cynthia: each is at a different stage of her marriage dissolving - Brenda and her discount retail mogul husband Morty Cushman have already divorced, Elise and her movie producer husband Bill Atchison are in the middle of a contentious divorce with Bill requesting alimony, and Annie and her husband Aaron Paradis, a partner in a successful ad firm, are separated, although Annie goes running back to Aaron for sex anytime he asks in her anticipation that they will get back together - and that each wife was the catalyst for her respective husband's financial success. But it isn't until each woman receives a final letter of that guidance from Cynthia and that they all finally discover that there is a younger woman now in her husband's life that the three, with the help of supporters, decide to join forces to get revenge on their husbands. The questions become if they can find a way to get back at each of the three where it will really hurt them, and if they themselves can overcome their own differences to accomplish this goal. —Huggo

Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) is a wealthy, popular 15-year-old living in Beverly Hills with her widowed father, Mel (Dan Hedaya), a successful lawyer. Though good-natured, Cher is naive and caught up in a superficial lifestyle revolving around expensive clothes and the social hierarchy of her high school. Her best friend Dionne (Stacey Dash) has a similar outlook on life, though she dates a high school boy named Murray (Donald Fasion), which Cher claims is a pointless endeavor. Cher's debate teacher, Mr. Hall (Wallace Shawn), gives her a C grade for the semester, which starts a dramatic chain of events. Dionne, who got a lackluster grade as well, hatches a plan with Cher to find a romantic interest for Mr. Hall, thus hypothetically making him happy enough to consider boosting their grades. They select another teacher, Miss Geist (Twink Caplan), as the chief candidate, and spark a mutual interest between her and Mr. Hall with a forged love letter and some subtle manipulation. The teachers soon become a couple, and both become much more lenient with their grading. Cher works her grade up to an A minus, greatly impressing her father. At home, Cher interacts with Josh (Paul Rudd), the college-age son of one of Mel's ex-wives, who often stays at the Horowitz home to avoid his mother and new stepfather. Josh is nearly the polar opposite of Cher: an earthy environmentalist with an interest in societal welfare. The two have a generally amiable but lightly contentious relationship, with Cher teasing Josh about his alternative lifestyle and Josh criticizing Cher's materialism. Mel openly approves of Josh's self-assurance and focus, encouraging Cher to find similar direction in her life. Tai Frasier (Brittany Murphy), a grungy artist with a trusting disposition and a clueless grasp of high school popularity, transfers to Cher's school. Cher and Dionne befriend Tai, and decide to give her a makeover to improve her social standing. However, Tai sparks up a romance with cheerful skateboarding stoner Travis Birkenstock (Breckin Meyer). Cher, fearing for Tai's reputation, attempts to steer her toward the rich, popular, newly-single Elton (Jeremy Sisto). Cher leads Tai in after-school workout sessions, guides her in cultivating a new wardrobe, and expands her lexicon with trendy vocabulary. Josh disapproves of Cher's project with Tai, accusing her of attempting to turn an innocent girl into a superficial brat, but Cher maintains that she is doing Tai a kindness. Through a series of orchestrated interactions, Cher gets Tai and Elton to notice each other. Tai is giddy with excitement, and while Elton is surprisingly receptive, he pays much more direct attention to Cher. To present the newly made-over Tai to the high school elite, Cher and Dionne bring her to a party. Once again, they attempt to steer her toward Elton, and believe that they made a connection when Tai is knocked unconscious with a projectile shoe, and Elton revives her with an ice pack. However, when departing, Cher winds up being driven home by Elton, who makes a pass at her, confirming that he had never been interested in Tai. Cher is shocked and repulsed, and Elton abandons her in a parking lot far from home. She is immediately mugged, and is forced to call Josh from a payphone to ask for a lift. On the drive home, Cher suggests that they pick up food for Mel and his colleagues, who are working on a difficult case at the house. Impressed by this considerate suggestion, Josh begins to form a new opinion of her. Another transfer student, the suave and handsome Christian (Justin Walker), arrives in Mr. Hall's debate class. Cher is taken with him immediately, and considers breaking her own rule of never dating a high school boy. The two become friends, and soon plan to attend a party along with Tai. Christian arrives at Cher's house to pick her up, and both Mel and Josh are put off by his relaxed, jazz-cat persona. Josh is clearly envious and tells Mel that he will trail them to the party for Cher's protection. While Cher and Christian bond on the dance floor, Tai self-consciously stands alone watching Elton dancing with his new girlfriend, Cher's snotty social rival Amber (Elisa Donovan). Josh arrives and dances with Tai to help her feel more included and comfortable. Cher is pleasantly surprised by this thoughtful gesture. Cher decides to move things forward with Christian, and invites him over one evening when her father is out. To her disappointment, he ignores her advances in favor of watching Tony Curtis movies. When driving with Dionne and her boyfriend Murray the next day, Cher laments Christian's lack of sexual interest in her, causing a highly amused Murray to point out that Christian is obviously gay. Embarrassed by her misconception of Christian, she abandons her romantic pursuit of him in favor of maintaining their genuine friendship. While at the mall with Cher and Christian, Tai experiences a traumatic incident when some male acquaintances nearly drop her over the upper-level railing as a prank. Christian angrily reprimands the culprits and comforts Tai, who is shaken but unharmed. Over the next few days, news of this dramatic event spreads throughout school, causing Tai's popularity to skyrocket. Cher watches, unnerved, as Tai is caught up in the attention, becoming the shallow, snobbish brat that Josh accused Cher of creating. Cher is further disturbed when Tai coldly rebuffs the sweet-natured Travis in favor of a more popular entourage. Cher, an atrocious driver with only a learner's permit, prepares to test for her license, but finds it difficult to focus after the shift in her friendship with Tai. She ultimately fails the driving test, and dejectedly returns home to find Tai and Josh playing a flirtatious game of hacky sack. Tai immediately speaks to Cher in private, excitedly revealing that she has overcome her disappointment about Elton because of her newfound attraction to Josh. Cher is startled by the discomfort she feels in response to this news, and tells Tai that she does not think Josh is a good match for her. Tai is affronted, and insults Cher before departing. Cher embarks on a solo shopping trip to clear her head, and realizes that she herself is in love with Josh. In an unusually vulnerable mood, Cher goes to her father for advice. Explaining that she is interested in a "do-gooder" type (though not revealing that her love interest is Josh), she expresses concern that she is too shallow and selfish to win his approval. Mel tenderly assures his daughter that she is an incredibly caring person, much like her late mother had been, who constantly goes out of her way to help her friends and family. Cher, heartened, resolves to become more compassionate on a wider scale. Not long after their fight, Tai approaches Cher apologetically and the two become friends again. After watching Travis participate impressively in a skateboarding competition, and after learning that he has given up his drug habit, Cher realizes that he is indeed worthy of Tai's affection, and is pleased when they reconcile. In an effort to impress Josh, Cher volunteers to help with a donation drive headed by Miss Geist for victims of the Pismo Beach disaster. Josh takes appreciative notice, and Cher herself feels unexpectedly fulfilled by engaging in this charitable endeavor. She and Josh also spend considerable time helping Mel and his colleagues process paperwork for their important case. While working with one of Mel's stressed-out underlings at the house, it is discovered that Cher had erroneously sorted some crucial documents, causing the panicked lawyer to cruelly insult Cher and storm out of the house. Cher is crushed, but Josh defends and comforts her, leading to them both revealing their feelings for each other. Mr. Hall and Miss Geist are married with many of their students in attendance, including Cher (who has brought Josh as her date), Dionne, Murray, Tai and Travis. The girls congregate as the bride prepares to throw the bouquet, and their boyfriends watch the ensuing scuffle with amusement until Cher triumphantly surfaces, bouquet in hand.

Set in the American Old West, the story is a first-person account by a wisecracking gambler Bret Maverick (Mel Gibson), of his misadventures on the way to a major five-card draw poker tournament being held on the paddle steamer Lauren Belle. Besides wanting to win the poker championship for the money, he also wants to prove, once and for all, that he is "the best". Maverick rides into the fictional town of Crystal River intending to collect money owed to him, as he is $3,000 short of the poker tournament entry fee of $25,000. His efforts to make up this $3,000 provide some plot motivation, as well as diversions caused by, and in the company of, three people he encounters at a poker game at Crystal River: an antagonist named Angel (Alfred Molina), a young con-artist calling herself Mrs Annabelle Bransford (Jodie Foster), and legendary lawman Marshal Zane Cooper (James Garner). The first two are also rival poker players. Maverick, Bransford and Cooper share a stagecoach. They narrowly escape a fatal plunge into a ravine after their elderly driver suddenly dies. During their journey they agree to help a wagon train of migrant evangelist settlers who have been waylaid by ruffians. The settlers offer Maverick a percentage of the recovered money they desperately need to start their mission, while one spinster missionary suggests marriage to Cooper, but both men turn down the offers. They are also headed-off by a troop of Indians led by Joseph (Graham Greene). Unknown to his companions, Joseph and Maverick are good friends, and Maverick allows himself to be "captured." Joseph is another one of his unreliable debtors, and Maverick tries to collect the $1,000 that Joseph owes him. In and around his tribal grounds they collaborate on a scheme to swindle a Russian Grand Duke. Still seething over his loss in the Crystal River game, Angel receives a telegram instructing him to stop Maverick from reaching the Poker game at Lauren Belle, and has also learned that Maverick had conned him in Crystal River. Angel catches up with Maverick after he has left Joseph's tribe, beats him up and attempts to hang him. Despite being tied to both a tree and to his horse, Maverick escapes and reaches the poker game, which is taking place on a paddle steamer. Bransford and Angel have also reached the game, and Cooper has been engaged to oversee its security. Still $2,000 short, he makes his way to the Lauren Belle and finds Bransford, who is still $4,000 short herself. Spotting the Archduke aboard, Maverick poses as a Bureau of Indian Affairs agent investigating the shooting of Indians for game, conning the Archduke out of $6,000 to cover his and Bransford's entry. Commodore Duvall welcomes the competitors to the tournament, with Cooper overseeing the security of the game and the $500,000 prize money and watching for any cheaters, who will be summarily thrown overboard if discovered. After the others are eliminated, the four finalists are Maverick, Bransford, Angel, and Commodore Duvall (James Coburn), the boat's owner and the tournament organizer. Prior to this game, Maverick and Bransford have a tryst in his quarters. Maverick almost fails to reach the final table by the 5:00 AM deadline, having had his stateroom door chained shut (by an unknown person) after a short tryst with Bransford. He manages to climb outside the steamer to reach the table on time. The game proceeds, with Bransford the first eliminated, and shortly thereafter a "fixed" hand is dealt to the three remaining players. The Commodore is given four 8s and Angel is given a low straight flush, whilst Maverick has the 10, jack, queen and king of spades. The Commodore and Angel each bet "all in". Maverick observes the dealer bottom-dealing to the others, protests the conduct of the hand, and eventually accepts one card dealt by Angel and calls without checking the card. It turns out to be the ace of spades, giving Maverick an unbeatable royal flush and the championship. An enraged Angel draws his gun, but he and his stooges in the audience are gunned down by Cooper and Maverick. Three plot twists follow Maverick's win. First, Cooper steals the $500,000 prize money instead of presenting it to Maverick. Second, it is revealed that the Commodore and Cooper were secretly in cahoots on the theft and that Angel had actually been working for the Commodore. Third, the Commodore betrays Cooper, but before he can shoot him, Maverick ambushes the two around a campfire and steals back the money, leaving them a single gun to settle their affairs. The gun turns out to be unloaded, and Cooper beats up the Commodore, then sets out to take revenge on Maverick. Later, Maverick is relaxing in a bath-house when Cooper finds him, and drops the facade to reveal that he is in fact Maverick's father. The real conspiracy was in fact between the two of them. However, Bransford enters the bath-house and robs Cooper and Maverick (whose relationship she had surmised from their similar mannerisms). After she escapes, Maverick reveals she only got away with half of the money, as Maverick had hidden the rest in his boots. Maverick and his father smile as he comments that it will be a lot of fun getting the rest of the money back from her.

In Chicago, Illinois, undercover police detectives Danny Costanzo (Billy Crystal) and Ray Hughes (Gregory Hines) spot two criminals, Julio Gonzales (Jimmy Smits) and "Snake", (Joe Pantoliano) getting out of a parked Mercedes-Benz. Gonzales recognizes the officers, jumps back in the car, and drives off, leaving Snake holding an attaché case. Snake runs down the alley to his third floor apartment, as the officers chase him. They persuade Snake to invite them inside, but he refuses to hand over the briefcase. When he asks if they have a search warrant, the policemen warn him that he will be uncomfortably detained for as long as it takes them to do the paperwork. Reluctantly, Snake surrenders the attaché case, which is filled with $50,000 in cash. Ray asks if Snake has resumed dealing drugs, but he denies the accusation. When Danny searches the apartment, nothing turns up, and the officers cannot make an arrest. Danny goes out on Snake's balcony, and announces to nearby basketball players that Snake's apartment has poor locks, and $50,000 for the taking. Snake realizes he cannot protect his windfall, and punches Ray in the face. Danny and Ray arrest him for assaulting an officer. As they drive Snake to the police station, they discover that the money belongs to Julio Gonzales. They stop at a cemetery so Danny can attend his Aunt Rose's funeral, and he briefly says hello to his former wife Anna (Darlanne Fluegel). Later, at the station, Anna appears and tells Danny she is getting remarried to a dentist. As they talk, a lawyer delivers an envelope with a $40,000 inheritance check from Aunt Rose's estate. With the money, Danny imagines he and Ray will treat themselves to fancy dinners and better seats at Chicago Cubs baseball games. Soon, Captain Logan (Dan Hedaya) informs them that the unidentified man who jumped from a building the other day was actually a South Side police officer, Alan Jackson. He also mentions that Jackson drowned before his body was pushed off the structure, and orders the partners to investigate the crime. At first, Danny and Ray suggest that Snake lead them to Gonzales, but he refuses. However, when he collects his briefcase and money upon being released, Danny and Ray have withheld all but $5,000 of his cash. He can sue the police department, which will take months, so he is forced to cooperate. The partners outfit Snake with an electronic "wire," and watch him take possession of a corrugated box that is filled with Uzi machine guns. They follow him to a shipping vessel as he meets Gonzales. The partners expect to carry out an arrest, but are surrounded and captured by Gonzales's men. However, Gonzales believes Snake has betrayed him and has him killed. Suddenly, two of Gonzales's men, Frank (Steven Bauer) and Tony (Jonathan Gries), announce they are policemen. A gunfight ensues, but Gonzales escapes with a machine gun. As Frank and Tony give chase, they are angry that Danny and Ray have ruined months of undercover work. Gonzales eludes the undercover officers, but Danny and Ray find and arrest him. Later, the captain criticizes the partners for ruining an undercover investigation, and claims they needed to be rescued like a couple of rookies. He orders them to take vacation. Danny and Ray seek out the sunshine of Key West, Florida, where they meet some women, fish, roller skate, and watch the sunset. Danny convinces Ray to quit the force and open a bar. When they return to Chicago, they give the captain 30 days notice of their retirement. However, Capt. Logan announces that Gonzales is back on the street thanks to his lawyer. The partners are eager to apprehend Gonzales and return to work. They get a tip that he may be living with his girl friend at the El Camino apartments. As Ray and Danny drive to the location, they recognize Gonzales's Mercedes. Ray takes a can of red spray paint and creates a no-parking zone around the car, and it is towed. Soon, they have a standoff with four of Gonzales's men. After getting the upper hand, Danny and Ray search the apartment, but Gonzales escapes out the back door. A few floors down, Gonzales grabs a female neighbor, and uses her as a human shield. Gonzales escapes and drives off in their police car. Backup units transport the stranded partners to the station. Capt. Logan warns that the anticipation of retirement is turning them cautious, and caution will likely get them killed. He insists they work together with Frank and Tony to capture Gonzales. A police mechanic transforms Ray and Danny's abandoned cruiser into a yellow taxicab with bulletproof windows. Soon, the four officers are embroiled in a messy stakeout. Tony accidentally shoots Danny but his bulletproof vest saves him. Afterward, Frank and Tony gloat that they have captured one crook, Juan Martinez, while Ray and Danny have none. Danny recognizes Juan, and pulls him aside for further questioning. When Juan gives them an important tip involving Gonzales's upcoming shipment of drugs, they remove his handcuffs. They warn Tony and Frank that Juan is escaping. Meanwhile, the partners go to the airport, hoping to ambush Gonzales, but other officers are already on the scene with drug-sniffing dogs. A dog locates a packet of cocaine believed to be worth $3 million, and Frank and Tony get credit for capturing a suspect. Ray and Danny are irked that the captain is treating them as though their retirement is already in effect. As they leave the runway, a drug agent tells them that further tests reveal the drugs found are of inferior grade, and are likely a decoy. At customs, Gonzales meets with a Colombian priest and nun. When he sees Danny and Ray, he escapes in a limousine, leaving the nun and priest behind. Ray and Danny give the priest and nun a ride, and a chase ensues. Gonzales's limousine drives onto the elevated railroad tracks and the police taxicab barely misses crashing into an oncoming train. The chase continues until Gonzales's limousine stops for another oncoming train. Gonzales jumps out and disappears into the station just as the train upends his limousine. Back at the station, the partners apologize, saying they mistook the priest and nun to be cocaine smugglers for Gonzales. They cannot find drugs inside the ceramic souvenirs in their suitcases, and the nun and priest are released. Ray and Danny soon realize that the ceramic containers themselves are made of pressed cocaine, and tell the captain. Later, the partners harass Juan Martinez to get new information about Gonzales's whereabouts. On their stakeout, Gonzales arranges for a trash compactor truck to destroy their taxicab with them in it after they refuse to return the drugs in exchange for a bribe that would cover a mortgage for their Key West bar. The partners escape through the back window, only to discover that Gonzales is gone. The next day, they retrieve Gonzales's Mercedes from the impound yard, and drive around town looking for him. Anna appears at Danny's apartment to give him an insurance policy she found, and they fight about his inability to act like an adult. Gonzales kidnaps Anna after she leaves the apartment. He warns Danny that he will kill her unless the drugs are returned. Danny and Ray go to the station, where Ray uses a fake requisition form to take the cocaine from the evidence room. Frank and Tony arrive, sensing something is brewing, but Danny and Ray refuse to give them information. As Danny enters the Illinois State Building, Ray sneaks into the basement. He meets Juan Martinez impersonating a security guard. Juan leads Ray to a cage in which all the real guards have been locked up. Ray discovers the only way up is by the window-washing rig. Meanwhile, as Danny rides up in a glass elevator, Anna passes, descending in a second elevator. Danny opens a duffle bag and displays plastic bags of cocaine. Gonzales gives the signal for Anna's elevator to rise until it is level with Danny. Suddenly, Gonzales's associate opens fire on both elevators. Danny orders his wife to drop to the floor. He shoots the associate dead. Ray rappels inside the building's atrium with ropes. He sees Frank and Tony enter the lobby and orders them to get Gonzales. Danny's elevator door opens but Anna's remains shut. He orders her to climb out the top and jump over to his elevator but she is afraid to move. He throws bags of cocaine in the air, and Gonzales is frantic as they burst on the lobby floor. Danny catches Anna and they escape. Ray shoots his way past Gonzales's men and swings onto firm ground. The partners fire away at Gonzales and he goes down. Ray and Danny argue over who fired the fatal shot, but Gonzales pops up again. After another round of shooting, Gonzales collapses dead on a down escalator, and his bloody body lands on the lobby floor. Anna hugs Danny and smothers him with kisses. Danny and Ray agree that the people of Chicago deserve good protection and Frank and Tony could use more seasoning. At this, Danny turns to the rookies and asks if anyone wants to buy his bar.

In an unnamed Texas town, a sleazy bar owner Julian Marty suspects his wife, Abby (Frances McDormand), of being unfaithful. Abby gets one of the bartenders, Ray, to give her a ride out of town to Houston. She mentions her husband gave her a pearl handled pistol for their first anniversary and she states she figured she leave before she uses it on her husband, A seedy private detective Loren Visser (M. Emmet Walsh) hired by Marty to follow Abby, takes photos of Abby and Ray, when they end up at a local motel together rather than leaving town. Marty makes a menacing wake up phone call to them, making it clear that he is aware of their tryst. The next day Ray confronts Marty at the bar, it ends badly and Ray quits, walking out at which point Marty threatens Ray. Marty arranges for the private detective to kill the pair, and on the detective's suggestion, Marty goes out of town to create an alibi. That night, the detective breaks into Ray's house and steals Abby's revolver, partially loaded with 3 bullets, that was originally given to her by her husband. Visser uses photos he has doctored to make it appear that he has actually murdered the lovers and goes to collect his $10,000 fee from Marty, whereupon he shoots Marty with Abby's gun and drops it on the floor. Upon leaving, the detective does not realize not only has he has left behind his lighter but also the doctored photo that Marty has removed from the envelope and placed in his safe when getting the money. Later, that same evening, Ray arrives at the bar to insist that Marty pay him the back wages he's owed. Ray finds Marty shot in his chair bleeding out onto the floor. Ray discovers the gun, when he kicks it and it goes off. He recognizes the pistol as belonging to Abby. Ray is interrupted by another employee, Meurice, who arrives in the bar. Ray uses the noise from the bar jukebox to mask his attempt to clean up the blood. He removes Marty's body, dropping Abby's gun into Marty's coat pocket, puts the body into his car and drives off after throwing the bloody windbreaker and towel into the incinerator behind the bar. Driving down the highway, he hears a noise from the rear seat: Marty is alive. Panicking, Ray stops the car, jumps out the passenger door, and runs a short distance into a field. On returning to the car, he sees that the back driver's side door is open and finds Marty crawling down the highway. At first Ray debates running him over with his car, but then grabs a shovel from the trunk, intending to kill him that way, but is interrupted by an oncoming tractor-trailer. Ray considers throwing Marty into the path of the truck, but instead he picks up Marty and drags him back and into the car. Ray drives to the middle of a farmer's field, digs a hole and throws the still alive Marty in. He is in process of burying him when Marty pulls Abby's gun from his jacket pocket. He points it at Ray, and pulls the trigger and it clicks; he pulls it again twice more with the same result. Ray removes the gun from him and continues to bury Marty alive. At dawn, Ray gets his car started and drives off. Meanwhile, the private detective burns the series of doctored copies of the photograph he used to fake the murder of Abby and Ray. He opens the envelope in he handed to Marty and got back and he discovers that Marty has replaced the photo with a sign asking employees to wash their hands before returning to work. Annoyed, he tries to light his cigarette and notices his engraved prized lighter is gone. At Abby's apartment, a deeply disturbed Ray arrives and tries to explain that he cleaned up Abby's mess. Abby does not understand what Ray is talking about, and they get into an argument. Ray has blood on his shirt and Abby thinks the two men had a fight. Ray thinks Abby is being coy when she uses the same term her husband told Ray she used when he caught her cheating. The phone rings, interrupting their argument, and Abby answers but the caller doesn't speak. Abby hangs up thinking it was Marty when it was really the detective. "Well, that was him." "Who?" "Marty." Horrified, Ray leaves and drops Abby's revolver on the table on his way out. Meanwhile, Meurice, the other bartender, checks his answering machine and gets a delayed message from Marty claiming that a large amount of money has been stolen from the safe and that either he or Ray took it. Meurice goes to confront Ray about the theft of the money. Abby goes to Marty's bar to try to find out what happened with Ray. Abby finds the bar ransacked, the safe's combination lock dented, chipped, and partially shattered. The private detective had been trying to break into the safe to retrieve the photo and was interrupted by Abby's arrival: he is hiding in the bar watching Abby move about. She picks up a towel from the top of the safe; a hammer falls out. Abby spins the dial but does not open the safe. The now-rotting fish that Marty brought back from his trip are still on the desk where Marty was killed; and the detective's lighter is still underneath. At her apartment, Abby lies in bed; she gets up to wash her face and hears someone enter the apartment. She calls Ray's name, then pushes open the bathroom door. Marty is sitting on the bed. He tells her that he loves her, and then warns her; "He'll kill you too.", then pitches forward and vomits a torrent of blood. Abby wakes up from the dream. Ray is at his apartment packing when Abby arrives. Abby thinks that Marty refused to pay Ray, that Ray broke into the bar to get his money, and that the two of them got into a fight. Ray interrupts and tells her he found her gun at the bar, that he can't eat or sleep lately, and that Marty was alive when he buried him. Abby leaves to tell Meurice that she thinks Marty is dead; Meurice leaves for the bar. Ray is at the bar; he opens the safe and finds the faked photo showing him and Abby in bed, bodies riddled with holes, blood staining the sheets. He leaves for Abby's apartment and notices the same older model VW parked behind him, the same car that was following them earlier,when they ended up at the motel. Ray pulls out, and the private detective follows him. Abby arrives at her apartment and turns on the lights; Ray is looking out a large window and tells Abby to turn off the light. Abby is reluctant to do so. The private detective is on top of a nearby building, watching the two through a sniper scope, and shoots Ray through the back, killing him. Abby runs to crouch beneath the window, takes off her shoes, and throws them at the light bulb, breaking it. Visser arrives at Abby's apartment, and she goes into the bathroom to hide; outside the bathroom window is a precipitous drop. In Abby's sparsely furnished living room, Visser bludgeons Ray with a large coin bank, then searches Ray's pockets for the lighter, thinking he took it. Failing to find it, he goes into the bathroom. Abby is not there; he looks outside the window, then hearing a sound through the wall, he reaches his arm over, finding another window. He opens the window; Abby slams it on top of his wrist and drives a knife through his hand into the windowsill. The detective screams and then shoots holes through the wall and finally punches through and removes the knife from his other hand. Abby, dazed, backs out of the room and slides down the wall opposite the bathroom door, finding her revolver on the table by the door. The door is partly closed; eventually the man's shadow darkens the doorway, and Abby fires through the door, using up the third and final bullet. The detective falls. "I'm not afraid of you, Marty," Abby says. Visser, laying out on the bathroom floor, bleeding from his chest and hand, suddenly bursts into laughing. "Well, ma'am, if I see him, I'll sure give him the message." The detective lies looking up at the underside of the bathroom sink. Water collects on its underside, grows into a drop, and drips. The movie ends.

The film opens in a New York night club. The gothic rock band Bauhaus is onstage performing the song "Bela Lugosi's Dead." In the crowd are John and Miriam Blaylock (David Bowie, Catherine Deneuve). Stylishly dressed and predatory, they stalk the crowd and connect with a young couple (John Stephen Hill, Ann Magnuson). The couple takes them back to their home, where John and Miriam seduce them before viciously slashing their throats. John and Miriam are vampires, although not in any traditional sense; lacking fangs, they use ancient Egyptian pendants to cut open the jugulars of their victims. The center of their strange existence is Miriam. She is an immortal being, able to pass along her supernatural qualities to selected human beings that she chooses to be her lovers. However, her progeny are not truly immortal as she is, and sooner or later, usually after 300 years or so, they find themselves suddenly and rapidly getting old. However, the progeny are unable to die, but continue to live forever withered, in a fully conscious, vegetative state. Miriam packs their decaying, aging bodies in caskets that she keeps in the attic of her residence. In the 18th century, Miriam offered this gift of immortality to John, who eagerly accepted, as had all her previous lovers through the ages. Suddenly, John develops trouble sleeping, and starts aging at a rapid rate. Miriam is aware of the significance of this happening, and she goes looking for a famous gerontologist, Dr. Sarah Roberts (Susan Sarandon), desperately seeking her help for a cure for John's fast deterioration. She makes contact with Dr. Roberts, and through her psychic powers, finds out that the doctor is just guessing, and that her research is inconclusive. Therefore, John, as all her lovers before him, is doomed to extinction. John also attempts to meet with Dr. Roberts at her clinic, but she dismisses his claims as delusional and leaves him to sit in the waiting room, hoping that he will grow bored and leave. John ages decades within a few short hours, and when Sarah sees him later, she begs John to stay so she can examine him. But John refuses to speak to her, his hunger for blood nearly overpowering him and forcing him to leave in search of a victim. Driven by his bloodlust and desperation to reverse the aging process, John makes a kill out of young Alice (Beth Ehlers), a music student that he and Miriam are tutoring. Her blood does nothing to help John, and he eventually falls down a flight of stairs at the townhouse, his legs no longer able to support his own weight. Miriam carries John's withering body up to the attic and puts him in a casket, next to several other caskets containing her earlier lovers. Later on, when Dr. Roberts shows up at Miriam's door looking for John, Miriam sees in the doctor a replacement for John in her life; it is love at first sight for Miriam, and she immediately proceeds to seduce Sarah. Sarah is a willing participant in Miriam's seduction, but she doesn't know that Miriam has now transformed her into a vampire, just as she did to John and her other lovers. Lieutenant Allegrezza (Dan Hedaya) shows up at Miriam's house looking for Alice, and is immediately suspicious of Miriam, although he has no real proof of any wrongdoing. Meanwhile, Sarah begins to manifest symptoms of vampirism. She is ravenously hungry, but eating normal food makes her vomit. She also starts seeing Miriam everywhere she looks. Finally she confronts Miriam about what happened between them on that day, and Miriam vaguely states that she has given Sarah eternal life, and that they belong to one another now. Sarah rejects what Miriam has told her, but she does understand that something terrible has happened to her. Sarah and her partners at the clinic, including Sarah's boyfriend, Tom Haver (Cliff De Young), cannot find a cure for the change that is occurring in Sarah's blood, and in desperation Sarah returns to Miriam. Miriam arranges for Sarah to make her first kill, bringing back a male prostitute, but Sarah is unwilling to take a human life. Finally, Tom arrives at the townhouse looking for Sarah following her disappearance, and is surprised to find that Sarah is there. Miriam knows that Sarah's hunger is now beyond reason, and when she takes Tom to Sarah, Sarah kills him for his blood. Miriam is now convinced that she has found her new lover, and she tells Sarah that they will now share an eternity together. Sarah, however, is wracked with guilt over taking Tom's life, and she attempts suicide by cutting her own throat with Miriam's ankh as they kiss. Sarah's blood pours into Miriam's throat and then Sarah collapses. Miriam is horrified at what Sarah has done, but she dutifully carries Sarah's limp body into the attic to place her among her other desiccated lovers. This time, however, she finds her crumbling lovers now out of their coffins, waiting for her. The sudden intake of Sarah's blood has caused a change in Miriam. Suddenly released from Miriam's spell, the lovers crumble into dust as Miriam herself begins to wither. The film's conclusion shows Lieutenant Allegrezza returning to question Miriam, only to find that the townhouse is now mysteriously empty and up for sale, all of the luxurious furnishings in the home gone and the money funneled to the sleep clinic where Sarah, presumably missing, used to work. In the final shot, Sarah herself is seen living in a high-rise luxury apartment with a couple lovers, while Miriam, imprisoned in a coffin just as she did to her own lovers, screams for her release.

In 1948, Reverend Desmond Spellacy is a young Roman Catholic monsignor in the Los Angeles Archdiocese. His older brother Tom is a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. Des is skillful at developing church projects while keeping down costs. He sometimes cuts a corner, overlooking the shady side of construction mogul Jack Amsterdam, a lay Catholic who uses his ties to Des for the congregation's benefit but mainly for his own. One day, Lois Fazenda, a young woman, is found murdered in a vacant lot, her body cut in two. Tom and his partner Frank Crotty are in charge of the case. Fazenda is labeled "the Virgin Tramp" by the press for apparently being both a Catholic and a prostitute, turning it into a sensational case. Tom's investigation leads him to Brenda Samuels, a madam. Tom was acquainted with Brenda years earlier while working as a bagman for Amsterdam, whose corruption extends to the local prostitution ring. Brenda called the police to report the death of a Catholic priest who was having sex with one of her prostitutes. While there, Brenda reproaches Tom for doing nothing for her while she was sent to prison for running one of Jack's whorehouses. Tom later believes that Fazenda appeared in a stag film and obtains a copy. He and Frank notice that a girl in the movie was at Brenda's brothel when they came to retrieve the philandering priest. Tom wants Brenda's help with tracking down the girl. Frank spots her days later when she is being taken to jail after a roundup. They learn that Fazenda was a favorite of Leland Standard, a pornographic movie director, because of her tattoo. Standard did his filming in a deserted army post in El Segundo. At lunch with his brother, Tom provokes Amsterdam with secret facts about Amsterdam's dark side, which makes Des uncomfortable. Des tells the Cardinal that the church needs to cut ties with Amsterdam for good. Des discusses "getting rid of Jack" with his cronies, who remind him that it would not be easily done. Sonny, a corrupt City Council member and mortician, proposes that they give Jack a salutation dinner. Des organizes a Catholic "layman of the year" banquet for Amsterdam as a gesture of appreciation before ending the church's relationship with him. Furious, Tom walks up to Amsterdam at the banquet and pulls off his sash while shouting, "Were you wearing this when you were banging Lois Fazenda?" Jack attacks Tom, and they scream at each other. Tom goes to Standard's "studio" and finds the floor and a bathtub covered with dried blood. He also finds Chinese food, which the medical examiner had found in her stomach. Tom and Frank look for Standard but learn that he had been killed in a car accident twelve hours after the murder. Tom wants to drag in Amsterdam for questioning to humiliate him in public, but Frank talks him out of it. Tom starts digging around and discovers that Fazenda was having sex with community leaders. Amsterdam's lawyer Dan Campion warns the Monsignor that Tom should lay off unless they want it revealed publicly that Des also knew Fazenda. She met Des only once in passing, whereas she had a sexual relationship with both Amsterdam and Campion. But the fact that Des had any kind of involvement in such a lurid case could permanently stain his reputation with the church. Tom will not be talked out of it. His determination becomes complete when Brenda is found dead, an apparent suicide. He decides to have Amsterdam picked up and taken to headquarters, which leads to Des being treated the same way. His rising career curtailed, Des asks to be relocated to a remote parish in the desert, the same place to which his mentor in the diocese, Monsignor Fargo, was exiled. Years later, in 1962, Tom visits Des, who is now dying. Tom feels that everything is his fault, but Des calls him his salvation, tells him that he is at peace, and absolves his brother of all blame. He shows Tom the plot where they will be buried together.