David Ogden Stiers

Red Riding Hood is training in the group of Sister Hoods, when she and the Wolf are called to examine the sudden mysterious disappearance of Hansel and Gretel.

At the wedding of a friend, the remaining bachelors bet on staying single. Seven years later, one of the two remaining loses $51,000 in Vegas. He must get the other guy married to cash in and pay his debt or die. A cute woman helps him. Seven years ago, a bunch of friends make a bet that'll give the last remaining bachelor a ton of money. Now, after losing a ton of money at a Vegas Casino, Michael Delaney has to quickly get his friend Kyle married so that he can collect the prize money to pay back his debt.

Michael Cromwell (Tim Allen) is a self-absorbed, successful commodities broker living in New York City. Michael lives in the corporate jungle of New York. Michael is partners with Richard and has just purchased 300 lots of coffee futures, which is 5100 tons of coffee, which Richard considers a huge mistake in the current market. Wanting to marry his new fiance Charlotte (Lolita Davidovich), he needs to obtain a final divorce from his first wife, Patricia (JoBeth Williams), who left him some years earlier. Abe (Luis Avalos) is Michael attorney and driver in Venezuela. Patricia now lives with a semi-Westernized tribe in Canaima National Park, Venezuela. Michael travels there to get her signature on divorce papers, but upon arriving Abe tells him that Patricia could not come to Canaima city and instead wants Michael to come to the island of Lipo-Lipo. George Langston (Bob Dishy) is Michael and Richard's boss and is livid at seeing the futures contract for coffee, but Michael (before leaving Canaima) tells Richard not to sell the coffee till he tells him to. Richard ends up hiding under his desk to avoid George. Upon reaching there (by travelling through piranha infested waters) Michael discovers he has a 13-year-old son, Mimi-Siku (Sam Huntington). Mimi-Siku has been born and raised in the jungle and is fully trained to live off the land. Patricia is called Paliku. Patricia says that she left Michael as he was too absorbed in his work and had just installed a 5th phone line in their apartment. The boatman leaves Michael on the island as he had another appointment. Patricia says that the boatman will be back in a couple of days. Michael uses a satellite connection to confirm the trade to sell his coffee futures (for 97.25 cents per pound) for a profit of $300,000. Then the laptop runs out of battery power. Michael attempts to bond with Mimi-Siku in his brief stay with the tribe and promises to take him to New York 'when he is a man'. Mimi-Siku is popular with the girls and has friends such as a tarantula and an alligator. Michael is also given a new name, Baboon, as a custom in the tribe. That night, Mimi-Siku undergoes the tradition rite of passage of his tribe, who then consider him to be a man. The tribal elder gives Mimi a special task, to allow him to become a tribal leader one day. Mimi must bring fire from the Statue of Liberty and looks forward to traveling with his father. Against his protests, Michael brings Mimi-Siku to New York with him. Patricia tells Michael that he cannot break the first promise he makes to his son. Michael learns that Richard never sold the coffee as the confirm order did not reach him. Now the price is down 7 cents. Michael tells George to hold on to coffee and is confident that the market will turn around. The losses on the current trade are already over $1 million. Michael's fiance, Charlotte (Lolita Davidovich), is less than pleased about the unexpected visitor, particularly at his loin cloth outfit, and trying to urinate in front of her at the fake tree (as is usual in his tribe), suggests eating her cat and releases his enormous pet tarantula in her apartment. Charlotte is having Ian (Dominic Keating) do a profile on her for the fashion channel. Ian will be following her everywhere and will be covering the wedding as well. Mimi-Siku can hit a fly with a blow dart gun. When Michael tries the same thing, he hits his own leg. Mimi-Siku wears traditional dress during much of his stay in New York. As Michael attempts to adapt Mimi-Siku to city life, cross-cultural misunderstandings occur when Mimi-Siku reverts to customs considered acceptable by his tribe. He kills a pigeon that lands on Chalotte's balcony for breakfast. On climbing the Statue of Liberty to reach the flame, Mimi-Siku is disappointed when he sees that the fire is not real. Richard tries desperately to find a buyer for his coffee contract and unearths Alexei Jovanovic, a Russian dealer. Jovanovic offers to pay 85 cents per pound but wants a guarantee that the price will not drop below 75 cents per pound. Jovanovic pays in cash, which means now they are laundering money for the Russian mafia. Michael walks away, but Jovanovic corners Richard, who agrees to the deal. While staying at the home of Michael's partner, Richard Kempster (Martin Short) Mimi-Siku falls in love with Richard's daughter, Karen (Leelee Sobieski). He paints her face, and gives her a new name, Oo-Ku-Mai, as is the custom in his tribe. Richard is unhappy about Mimi's presence in his home because of his influence over Karen and cooking and eating his prize-winning fish. He freaks out when he sees Mimi and Karen together in a hammock and threatens to send her to an all-girls summer camp. The Kempsters and Michael Cromwell are being targeted by Jovanovic (David Ogden Stiers), a Russian mobster and caviar dealer, who believes that they have cheated him in a business deal. Jovanovic arrives at the Kempsters', intent on removing Richard's fingers in revenge. By fighting together and utilizing Mimi-Siku's hunting skills (and spider) the two families defeat the mobsters. Mimi-Siku returns to the Amazon jungle, but before he leaves, his father gives him a satellite phone, so they can stay in touch. Michael also presents Mimi with a Statue of Liberty cigarette lighter, which produces fire from the torch and will fulfill Mimi's quest. In return, Mimi gives his father a blowpipe and poisoned darts, telling Michael to practice and come to see him when he can hit flies. Shortly afterwards, Michael finds himself disheartened by the rat-race and realizes that his relationship with Charlotte is not working for him anymore. He attempts to kill a fly with his blowpipe, on the trading floor of the New York Board of Trade. He hits the fly, but also his boss, who collapses asleep on the trading floor. Michael returns to Lipo-Lipo to see his son and ex-wife, bringing the Kempster family with him for a vacation. Karen and Mimi are reunited, and it is implied that Michael and Patricia also resume their relationship. As the closing credits start rolling, Michael undergoes the rite of passage as Mimi did earlier.

With a serial strangler on the loose, a bookkeeper wanders around town searching for the vigilante group intent on catching the killer. A small and insignificant bookkeeper, Kleinman, is awoken one night by his neighbors who wants his help to track down a strangler who has been killing people all over town. The citizens form vigilance committees, but when Kleinman has dressed, his neighbors have disappeared. Meanwhile a circus has come to town. Irmy and Paul are two of the artists. After a fight, Irmy leaves the circus in the middle of the night. Eventually she meets Kleinman, scared and alone. —Mattias Thuresson It's the middle of a dark and foggy night. Max Kleinman is awaken from a deep sleep by a group of men wanting him to join their lynch mob to capture a serial murderer, who only seems to strike when foggy and who primarily murders by strangulation with a wire cord. Kleinman is included within the plan even though he is largely treated as a schmuck by those that know him, the members of the mob who don't even tell him what his role in the plan is, despite his repeated requests. In his wanderings through the dark and foggy streets, he encounters many people, most notably a young innocent named Irmy. A sword swallower with a traveling circus in town, Irmy left both the circus and her boyfriend Paul, one of the circus clowns, not only because she wants to have a baby and he doesn't, but because she caught him cheating on her. Irmy's own wanderings through the streets to find a place to sleep for the night takes her to many places, including a brothel. In addition to their initial goals of capturing the murderer and finding a place to sleep for the night, Kleinman and Irmy discover that their time together may bring up larger issues in their life. However, they may not only end up being attempted targets of the murderer, but Kleinman in particular may be a convenient scapegoat for what end up being the competing lynch mobs, who want to see someone - anyone - pay for the murders with his own life. —Huggo

A young doctor on his way across the country to a job interview crashes his car in a small town and is sentenced to work for several days at the town hospital. Benjamin Stone is a young doctor driving to L.A., where he is interviewing for a high-paying job as a plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills. He gets off the highway to avoid a traffic jam, but gets lost and ends up crashing into a fence in the small town of Grady. He is sentenced to 32 hours of community service at the local hospital. All he wants is to serve the sentence, get his car fixed and get moving, but gradually the locals become attached to the new doctor, and he falls for the pretty ambulance driver, Lou. Will he leave? —Sami Al-Taher <staher2000@yahoo.com> A young male doctor stumbles in a small town as he is on his way to a job interview. He is stuck there and ordered to work at the town hospital. During his time, he gets to know the whole town and the true definitions of multiple things along the way. —RECB3

An emotionally distant writer of travel guides must carry on with his life after his son is killed and his marriage crumbles. After the death of his son, Macon Leary, a travel writer, seems to be sleep walking through life. Macon's wife, seems to be having trouble too, and thinks it would be best if the two would just split up. After the break up, Macon meets a strange outgoing woman, who seems to bring him back down to earth. After starting a relationship with the outgoing woman, Macon's wife seems to think that their marriage is still worth a try. Macon is then forced to deal many decisions —Justin Sharp <rainman88@earthlink.net> After the murder of their young son, the marriage between Macon and his wife Sarah disintegrates, and she moves out. After a freak accident puts him on crutches, Macon goes to stay with his quirky siblings at the family home, where he meets the spirited Muriel, a dog trainer with a young son of her own, with whom he begins a friendship. When Sarah learns about this, she attempts a reconciliation and Macon is forced to make a decision. —Jwelch5742 Macon Leary is the author of a travel book for people who want to travel with the minimum fuss and as little impact as possible on their lives. Arriving back from a working trip, his wife announces she can no longer deal with the fact that he is dealing with the death of their son the same way that he travels: with minimum impact. Macon subsequently meets the quirky Muriel, who it seems is just the opposite to Macon. —Murray Chapman <muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au>

High school student Lane Meyer (John Cusack) wakes up on a Saturday morning a few weeks before Christmas for his school's ski team tryouts. Lane is quite obsessed with his girlfriend, Beth (Amanda Wyss). Packing his skies into the family's jalopy station wagon, he picks up Beth and drives to the mountains where the tryouts are being held. Unknown to Lane, Beth is planning to break up with him and date Roy Stalin (Aaron Dozier), the school's best skier, captain of the team and the only person able to ski the resort's infamous K-12, a treacherous run that has injured many other hopefuls. Stalin will judge the trials himself and immediately takes an eye to Beth, allowing her to hold his clipboard. Lane makes his run and finishes within the qualifying time to make the team, however, Stalin doesn't record Lane's time until he's well past the finish line, disqualifying him. Lane his crestfallen but becomes even more so when, on the drive home, Beth drops the news that she's breaking up with him to date Roy. She tells Lane that she needs to date someone more popular. Heartbroken at the thought of their six-month relationship ending, Lane resolves to win Beth back. All of his attempts fail and Lane becomes even more depressed and considers several types of suicide, each one failing as well. Lane also fails to hold down a part-time job flipping hamburgers for one of his father's clients, the cantankerous Rocko (Chuck Mitchell) and is harassed by two Korean brothers, Yee Sook Ree (Yuji OkumotoYuji Okumoto) & Chen Ree (Brian Imada) who persistently challenge him to drag races -- one of them can only speak English like Howard Cosell giving a play-by-play commentary on the action. Lane never wins and often gets into accidents while trying to beat them. Lane is also pestered by his uncouth father (David Ogden Stiers) who wants him to start dating again and also work on a pet project: there is a hulk of a 1968 Camaro under a tarp on the front lawn. His father sets him up with the daughter of his coworker, the obnoxious Joanne Greenwald (Rima Lyn (as Rima Delane)), who makes it clear she doesn't want to date Lane, much less accompany him to a school dance that night. She accepts half of what she perceives the evening will cost them collectively and sends Lane away. At the dance, Lane is finally able to make a connection with Monique Junot (Diane Franklin), a seemingly meek French foreign exchange student staying with the Meyers' neighbors, Ricky Smith (Dan Schneider (as Daniel Schneider)) and his overbearing and obnoxious mother (Laura Waterbury). Ricky becomes jealous and his mother, who believes Monique will be a good match for her son, bundles Monique off in their car. Lane's friend, Charles De Mar (Curtis Armstrong), a drug-obsessed goof-off who has been at their school for seven years as a student, suggests that Lane try to ski the K-12 in order to win Beth back. Lane tries a few times but wipes out. Returning one night from the ski resort, he finds Monique standing in the street hurling oranges at a nearby road sign. She confesses that she's been able to speak English all along, a fact she'd kept hidden from Ricky and his mother so she wouldn't have to speak to him and more easily fend off his advances. However, she reveals she's become frustrated and angry that Ricky and his mother have been so persistent. Lane promises not to tell anyone about her secret and also corrects her pronunciation a few times. The next morning, Lane finds Monique working on his Camaro. Surprisingly she has resurrected the engine but there's still much work to be done. She gets Lane to join her over his objections. The finish the job, the car purrs and runs like a top, and they go out for a cruise. At a red light they find the two Korean guys out with their girlfriends. With much greater confidence, Lane defeats them soundly, the Korean duo unable to even get their car moving. Lane takes Monique out on a date to the burger restaurant he was fired from and treats her to dinner. He also woos her by playing the saxophone, an instrument he'd given up some time ago. Monique is impressed and they finally hit it off. In the school cafeteria the next day, Roy harasses Lane, even making nasty suggestions about Monique. Monique shakes a soda can and sprays Roy with it, prompting Roy to refer to her as a "frog." Lane stands up to Roy and challenges him and the two agree to meet at the K-12 that weekend for a showdown. Though Lane suggests they keep the contest between them, the whole school is informed a few moments later when it's announced over the PA system. At the mountain, Monique coaches Lane in skiing the slope. Lane crashes and tumbles but still remains confident because of Monique. They are met by Charles who reminds him that the whole town has turned out for the match. As Charles leaves, he breaks part of the boot harness on Lane's ski. As he's trying to fix it, Lane is met by a persistent paperboy (Demian SladeDemian Slade) who has been harassing Lane for the $2 his family owes for their subscription. The boy chases Lane on his snow-outfitted BMX bike to the top of the K-12 where Stalin is waiting. Out of pure terror, Lane begins his run down K-12, keeping his balance on one ski. Stalin starts his own run as well. As they both zip down the slope, Stalin eventually knocks the paperboy over a cliff, where he plummets and lands safely but dazed. Lane and Stalin continue their race to the finish line where Lane wins. The town crowds around him and Beth embraces him briefly before Lane sees Monique being dragged away by Ricky and his mother. When one of the Korean brothers asks him -- like Howard Cosell -- how he was able to pull off such a daring comeback. Lane says "Language lessons!" and runs after Monique. When Lane catches up to Monique, Ricky challenges him to a fencing match with ski poles. Lane defeats Ricky, throwing him onto his mother. He slings Monique over his shoulder and they run off. Ricky composes himself and is instantly smitten with a young, geeky girl who helps him to his feet. He walks off over the protests of his mother. The final scene of the movie shows Lane and Monique making out on his Camaro while it's parked on the pitcher's mound at Dodger Stadium. A single paperboy on a bike is seen riding toward them.

Smitten by a female stranger, new graduate student, Boris Lafkin, follows the girl into the University Medical Center. There he catches the eye of Dr. Harry Wolper, a Nobel Prize-winning biologist who is seeking a student assistant. Harry promises to identify the girl if Boris forgoes his assistant position with Harry's rival colleague, Dr. Sid Kuhlenbeck, and comes to work for him. Harry vows to teach Boris "the big picture" while under his mentor-ship. When Boris accepts, Harry takes him to his off-campus laboratory and explains his experiment, "Lucy," named after his deceased wife. For the past thirty years, Harry has been cultivating her cells, attempting to bring her back to life. Although Harry does not really know the name of Boris' love interest, the boy still grows to admire his new instructor. When Harry needs a "sequencer" to continue his experiments, the two steal one from rival Dr. Sid Kuhlenbeck. Later, Boris learns that his father has passed away, and Harry attends the funeral with his grieving young protege. As Harry shares stories of his wife, Lucy, Boris expresses admiration for the doctor. With their partnership secured, Harry reveals that he has learned the name of Boris' flame: Barbara Spencer. In time, Boris sees Barbara on the street, and helps her carry a refrigerator to her new apartment. When Boris meets her roommate, Larry, he assumes the two are a couple, and becomes despondent. As Dr. Kuhlenbeck pries Boris for information about Harry's secret experiment, he reveals his intention to have Harry removed from his leadership position at the university, and transferred to an outlying facility where the elderly scientists teach. Meanwhile, Harry posts fliers seeking a female ovary donor to further his experiments. When he later consoles a crying young woman named Meli, who believes she may be pregnant but cannot afford medical testing, Harry offers to perform a blood test at no charge. Learning she is not pregnant, the grateful girl offers Harry one of her eggs and moves in to Harry's home. When Boris meets Meli and learns she donated an ovary, he believes Harry has gone too far. In turn, Meli confides her intention to marry Harry. Sometime later, Barbara seeks out Boris and explains that she no longer wants to live with her roommate, Larry, after he made sexual advances toward her. Boris offers Barbara temporary accommodations at his apartment while she looks for a new place to live. Feeling comfortable with her new friend, Barbara accepts his offer. Elsewhere, Harry asks Meli for a second egg, and she agrees, on condition that Harry gives their budding relationship a chance. At Boris' apartment, Barbara settles in, and the young man struggles to restrain his attraction to her. Later, Meli proposes marriage to Harry, but he refuses to take the young girl seriously. At a faculty dinner party, Harry introduces his colleagues to Meli, and the girl is mesmerizing. When Dr. Kuhlenbeck attempts to seduce her, Meli rejects him. Harry later shows his home lab to the chairperson of the Biology department, Paul, and shares his progress with resurrecting "Lucy." Paul, a close friend of Harry's, advises him to keep his ludicrous experiment to himself. In time, Harry invites Boris and Barbara to his beach house, where they fall in love. Boris proposes marriage while making love to Barbara, and she accepts. Back in Harry's lab, "Lucy's" fertilized egg begins to grow in a test tube. Paul and Boris congratulate the doctor on his achievement, but Meli is not pleased. Later, Barbara develops morning sickness, and she fears she is pregnant. Later still, Dr. Kuhlenbeck discovers the stolen lab equipment at Harry's house, and university officers repossess the contraptions, destroying the "Lucy" fetus in the process. However, some of her cultivated cells remain intact. Due to the incident, Boris anticipates being expelled and blames Harry for leading him astray. Meanwhile, Meli fights with Harry over "Lucy," chastising him for not accepting his wife's death. Heartbroken, Meli leaves her companion. Later, Harry accepts a transfer to the isolated research facility within the university, but first fulfills his obligation to give a presentation for Biology department financiers. Dr. Kuhlenbeck is furious when Harry successfully procures a large grant from the financiers, and learns the research funds will go with Harry to the outlying facility. Later, Boris takes Barbara to the hospital after she suffers pains and fainting spells. There, Dr. Kuhlenbeck examines her, and rushes her into emergency treatment when she falls unconscious. Barbara's parents arrive at her bedside and tell Boris how much Barbara loves him. Dr. Kuhlenbeck reveals that Barbara suffered a stroke and can no longer breathe on her own. Although she could remain alive in a coma for several years, Dr. Kuhlenbeck recommends that her parents remove her from life support. Devastated, Boris vows to protect Barbara, but her parents give permission to let her die. As Boris begs Dr. Kuhlenbeck to wait, claiming Barbara is not brain dead, Harry arrives to intervene. Bearing a letter from the university dean, Harry is given permission to conduct tests on Barbara for two more days, and enlists Boris' help. Ultimately agreeing with Dr. Kuhlenbeck's grave assessment, Harry extracts some of Barbara's cells and offers to use them to bring her back if she dies, but Boris is determined to accept her death, if it occurs. Forgoing science, Harry and Boris turn to prayer and the power of love to save Barbara. When Boris tells his mentor that he failed to learn "the big picture" because he was too caught up in his love for Barbara, Harry suggests otherwise. Harry leaves Boris to sit vigil at Barbara's side and searches for Meli, posting fliers around town declaring his desire to marry her. Harry speaks aloud to his deceased wife, and finally bids her farewell. Sometime later, Meli finds Harry at his beach house, and he throws the last of Lucy's cells into the ocean. They express their love for each other, and Meli agrees to marry Harry. Meanwhile, at the hospital, Boris pleads with Barbara to live. As Dr. Kuhlenbeck pulls Boris away, Barbara squeezes her lover's hand, proving she is still alive. When Dr. Kuhlenbeck removes her breathing machine, Boris is enraged, then realizes Barbara is breathing on her own. Looking for Barbara's parents to notify them of Barbara's recovery, Boris sees Harry, and the friends embrace. Sometime later, Boris returns to the hospital carrying armfuls of presents for Barbara. In the final scene, students flock to follow Harry to his new outpost within the university, and Meli tells him she's expecting a baby.

After his aunt dies of a heart attack while fighting the IRS, Harry Johnson decides to take up the cause. Harry Johnson's aunt is a rich eccentric with an extensive collection of military memorabilia, who also happens to be in a fight with the IRS. When she dies of a heart attack, Harry blames her death on the IRS and takes up the fight himself. As Harry's cause gains attention and supporters, the 'war' soon escalates into a full-scale seige with Harry right in the center. —Jean-Marc Rocher <rocher@fiberbit.net>