Hope Davis

The story of a family and a family business.

Scientists discover that fragments of a comet will hit Earth in a few days, and will likely cause the extinction of humanity; the only hope of survival is to take shelter in a group of bunkers in Greenland.

What happened in Durango (Basque Country) during the 80s? Did something exceptional actually happen? Through interviews, and audiovisual excerpts of the time, this documentary portrays the cultural, local and neighborly experiences in the 80s' Durango.

Dave Spritz (Nicolas Cage), a weatherman without meteorological qualifications in Chicago, is confronted with his own rage that life hasn't proceeded as he had planned. A successful and talented man, Dave finds it difficult to see his own talent because he compares himself with his Pulitzer winning, distant father Robert (Michael Caine). Robert won the award when he was 33 years old. Robert is undergoing medical tests but while he gets Dave to drive to the doctor's appointments, he doesn't allow Dave to attend the appointments and keeps the whole diagnosis and follow-up secret from him. Not to mention that "fans" delight in recognizing him on the street and throwing food at him. Dave suspects, because they're resentful of how easy his high-paying job is. Dave makes $240,000 a year for 2 hours of work every day. He makes money with public appearances as well. People expect that since Dave is on TV and is a public figure, so he has a moral duty to oblige them with autographs and photographs, as requested. The other problems in his life, an angry ex-wife Noreen (Hope Davis), a daughter Shelly (Gemmenne De La Pena) bullied at school and a son Mike (Nicholas Hoult) just leaving rehab don't help. Don Bowden (Gil Bellows) is a counselor at Mike's school. Don is showing too much interest in Mike. Don takes Mike out for a movie. And Dave would really rather just think about sex. The situation worsens when Robert is diagnosed with Lymphoma and given only a few months to live. Dave tries to connect with Shelly but taking her to a parent-child ice skating potato sack race at the public skating rink. Dave finds cigarettes in Shelly's backpack and realizes that she might still be addicted. Dave pushes Shelly to finish the race, even though she tangles her foot in the sack and falls to the ground. Shelly ends up damaging the tendons in her leg. Robert makes Dave realize that Shelly wears tight fitting clothes and is hence teased as "Camel Toe" by her colleagues at school. Dave wants to reconcile with Noreen and work out issues between them, but she is already seeing Russ. Dave doesn't like Russ interfering in matters concerning Dave's children. Dave and Noreen attend a trust building session, but Dave reacts badly to Noreen's criticism of his science fiction novel, and Noreen decides that Dave has not changed at all. Noreen tells Dave that she hates him and that they can never be back together again. As he becomes more and more depressed, Dave takes up archery, finding the activity a way to build his focus and calm his nerves. Dave was introduced to archery when Shelly took it up as a hobby. After spending $170 on equipment and purchasing a 5-class lesson plan, Shelly gives up the hobby after a single class as she can't get hold of the bow. Dave returns to the range to take up the remaining lessons. Dave gets better at archery and feels a little good about himself. Dave uses what he learned to teach Shelly archery all over again. Shelly says that she is not interested in archery and only wanted to try archery as she wanted to hunt animals. Meanwhile, Don takes Mike to his home, and Don seduces Mike into taking his clothes off on the pretext of taking some modeling photos of Mike. To prove himself to his father and possibly reconcile with Noreen, his estranged wife, Dave pursues a weatherman position with a national talk show called Hello America. The job would nearly quadruple his salary but means relocating to New York City. When Hello America invites him to New York, he takes his daughter with him and bonds with her by helping her shop for a more suitable wardrobe that hides her camel toe. Shelly says that she knows she is called Camel Toe at school. She believes that camel toes are tough, as camels roam all over the desert. This means her colleagues see Shelly as tough, and she likes that. While away, Dave learns that his son attacked his counselor Don, claiming that the man wanted to perform oral sex on him. Don claims that Mike tried to steal his wallet and they were only having an argument. Noreen is no help as she strongly indicates that Dave is an absentee dad, and the only reason Mike is in this trouble is because Dave does not pay any attention to him. Despite this stress and an all-night drinking binge, Dave impresses the Hello America interviewers and is eventually offered the job. The job pays $1.2 million including all the perks and bonuses. When he returns, Dave slaps Russ (Michael Rispoli), Noreen's boyfriend, when he finds him dealing with his son's predicament. Dave later confronts the counselor at his home, beating him up and warning him that he is in store for worse. The family holds a living funeral for Robert, in which Dave asks Noreen to reconcile and move to New York, but she has decided to marry Russ. Dave blames Russ for Noreen's refusal to try things again with him. He takes out his bow and arrow from the car trunk and takes aim at Russ when he comes out of the funeral for a smoke. But Dave does not shoot the arrow. But his stunt is noticed by Noreen and Robert. Dave delivers his eulogy at Robert's living funeral, but he is interrupted when the power goes out. It returns after 40 minutes, but by then everyone forgot that he was delivering his eulogy. Dave and Robert have one final talk, in which Dave breaks down in tears, unsure of his life's choices. Robert consoles him, telling him that he has time to "chuck" the garbage of his life. Robert dies soon after. Several months later, Dave has accepted the job and moved to New York. People have ceased throwing things at him though, he muses, this may be a pleasant side-effect of his archery hobby, for which he carries a bow.

Julian Noble (Pierce Brosnan) wakes up in bed next to a hooker. He looks in her bag and discovers some purple nail varnish; he paints his toe nails and then burns some documents. Julian walks to a park and sits on a bench in Denver, pretending to read a paper. He keeps staring at a Porsche across the road. A young boy asks him if the Porsche is his car. He says his mom thinks Julian is cute. Julian rudely replies "I don't know anything about that car and I'm only interested in your mother if she lost 20 pounds and 30 years!" The boy goes away and Julian sees a man getting into the Porsche; he quickly gets up and walks away quickly. When the car explodes, Julian doesn't even bother to look. Elsewhere in Denver, Danny Wright (Gregg Kinnear) wakes up at 5:45AM with lightening and thunder breaking continually overhead during a terrible storm. He gets up quietly without waking his wife. He goes downstairs and eats breakfast when his wife, Bean (Hope Davis), comes down, wakened by the storm. They talk about how they will miss each other and Danny replies he will be back in just two days. They embrace and then start to undress for a quickie before he leaves for the airport. Suddenly a tree falls through their roof and they leap to the side before the tree crashes through their kitchen. Danny runs into the Denver airport out of the pouring rain. He meets his business partner. They talk about their upcoming trip and how important it is to their business. They can't afford to miss the plane to Mexico. Coincidentally, Julian is on the same flight. The ticket agent asks him how he is and, after looking at her cleavage for a lingering moment and at her name tag, he replies "Couldn't be better. But more importantly how are you Genevive?" After they arrive in Mexico City, a man walks into a hotel carrying a large metallic briefcase. Julian gets out a taxi and walks into the hotel and after checking in, goes into the hotel bar. The man joins him and orders a beer. They talk casually for a minute. Julian asks the bartender whether there are any good and bloody bullfights on on Sunday. The bartender replies there is a good one with a matador from Madrid. The bartender then asks Julian whether he is in town for business or pleasure. Julian replies "My business is my pleasure". before the man walks away, leaving the briefcase behind, next to Julian. Julian takes the suitcase up to his room and opens it. It contains a sniper rifle and pictures of his target. Danny and his partner are leaving the same hotel on the way to their meeting with a prospective client. They are both worried about their presentation. Julian leaves the hotel after them and goes into the city. He goes to a flea market stand where he target shoots in a booth. Three cute teen age school girls watch him. He smiles at them and scores on the first shot. When he misses the second shot. He smiles at the girls and then laughs. The girls giggle at him. Julian's boss, Mr. Randy (Phillip Baker Hall), meets him and describes the job. He remarks that the girls might be too pubescent even for him! His boss says the schedule has been moved up, and the job has to be completed today. Julian is unhappy. As his boss walks off he shouts back to Julian, "Happy birthday". Julian appears to ahve forgotten it is his birthday. Julian follows his target in the gun's scope from a high vantage point. He shoots the woman and kills her. Elsewhere, Danny and his partner walk joyfully into a bar, exclaiming about how brilliant their first pitch to the client went. Julian returns to his hotel room and watches TV, bored and lonely. He puts on a large Mexican sombrero and then takes it off, annoyed. He calls a number of people and they all hang up on him. He gets really annoyed and decides to head for the brothel. When he returns to the hotel he goes straight to the bar where Danny is also drinking. He orders a margarita and Danny says he looks like he needs one. Julian says how they always taste better in Mexico "margaritas and cock". They begin talking and Julian commends Danny for getting back on his feet with his new business deal after being fired from his job suddenly and left struggling. Julian says something rude and Danny is offended. Julian apologizes and they continue to talk. Danny tentatively reveals that he lost his son in an accident, and Julian responds with a crude joke about a "fifteen-inch schlong," changing the subject. Danny is deeply offended and begins to leave before Julian apologizes. Danny relents and allows Julian to buy him a drink. The next morning Julian walks through the hotel lobby in his tight swim trunks and boots, drinking a can of beer, drawing stares. He kicks off his boots and jumps in the swimming pool. Underwater, he imagines sharks are in the water. At the entrance to the hotel Danny and his partner are upset. The clients now want to hear pitches from other companies. They agree that Danny will remain behind and attempt to secure the contract. Julian sees Danny and apologizes for his rudeness the night before. He tells Danny that he lost his wife while driving drunk. Gaining Danny's sympathy, he invites Danny to a bullfight. Danny is initially reluctant but agrees to join him. At the bullfight they both smoke cigars. Danny is amazed by the experience. Julian tells Danny that he doesn't have a proper address, that he lives wherever he works. Danny is really suprised and asks what Julian does. Julian says he'd rather not say. Julian then explains to Danny the honour of a bull dying in a bull fight and that the crowd respects the bull. Danny finally persuades Julian to say what he does. Julian asks him to not "loose his shit" when he tells him what job he does. Julian says "sometimes people need to be eliminated. Danny does not believe it and jokes about Julian being a hitman. Julian says "my handler calls me a facilitator, a facilitator of fatalities." Danny finds this hilarious and does not believe him. Danny humours Julian and says he wants a man in the crowd killed. Julian agrees and they leave the bull ring. They go outside the toilets and Julian explains the "got-to-pee" theory. He tells Danny about what to and what not to worry about. He shows Danny the escape routes and picked a lock of a door. Danny is amazed. Julian then empties lighter fluid into a bin full of paper. The man Danny joked about killing got up and went into the toilets. Julian threw a cigarette into the bin and it exploded. The guards immediately ran to put it out. Julian dragged Danny away, pulled out a knife and dragged him into the toilets. He goes to the cubicle the man is in. Danny is now scared and begs Julian not to kill him. Julian kicks open the door his knife ready with Danny whimpering. He apologizes to the man and pulls Danny out of the toilets laughing. The two walk down the street together to a little bar. Julian asks Danny a favour. He wants Danny's help with a job and offers to pay $50 000. Danny is revolted by the idea and says no. He changes the subject but Julian changes it back. Danny still says no so Julian walks off in a mood, Danny calls him back and Julian just says "consider me the best cocktail party story you ever met". That evening Danny heard news that the business deal is now going against him. He sits drinking. Julian comes knocking on the door drunk trying to apologize. The screen goes black and you hear a bottle smash. The screen changes to six months later. There are short clips of Julian having sex, drinking and killing people in Vienna, Moscow, Las Vegas, and Sydney. The screen slows down in Budapest where he is meeting Mr Randy. Julian wants to have a break as he feels "burnt out" but Mr Randy said he can't otherwise the agency will find a new young assassin. Julian says he is tired and doesn't want to do that job. Mr Randy remarks about a failure in Manila but pleads with him to do that job. Julian reluctantly agrees and goes off to do it. He is on a roof above a crowded square and has his sights set on his target. He is about the pull the trigger when he sees himself cowering. he tries again but collapses. The screen changes to Mr Randy. He is speaking to the messenger of his boss Mr Stick. The messenger says Mr Stick wants Julian dead. Mr Randy is surprised and sad. He says he's only made two mistakes. The messenger walks off. The screen changes again but this time to Denver where Danny and Bean are having sex. All looks well. That evening they are in bed talking about how they love each other and support each other. Tomorrow is the fourth anniversary of their son's death. In the middle of their conversation the doorbell rings. It is late at night so they both run downstairs. Danny look out the door and sees Julian standing there. He lets Julian in and hugs him. He greets Bean and says she's fantastic. Danny asks Julian what he is doing there. Julian replies he doesn't know but Danny and Bean offer him some whisky. They sit down and talk. Julian notices the bull fight ticket framed and on the wall. Julian is touched by this. Bean asks to see Julian's gun. He shows it to her and comments "My god you are a magnificent woman!". Julian comments on how good Danny looks and understands that Danny got the job he went to Mexico for. Julian proposes a toast to Bean, Danny and himself ("a toast to a dead man"). The three move in to the kitchen and Julian explains how he messed up in Manila and how he was burnt out. He said he drank and had sex but nothing worked. He still felt terrible. He said he had to kill a Copper Wire Executive in a market. His plan was to bump into him and stab him. But as Julian got near to his target. The target turned into a child. He collapsed and woke up in a pile of donkey excrement. Julian then explained how his jobs from then were hot and cold. He explained his mistake in Budapest and said how his bosses now wanted to kill him. Danny is really amazed and asks can't he just apologize. Julian said it is impossible as he only just got out of Budapest alive because Mr Randy let him off. Bean then asked him how he got here. Julian tells her how their home is the only home he knows. That Danny is his only friend. Bean invites Julian to stay the night. Julian asks Danny whether he can dance with Bean. Danny obliges and Julian and Bean dance beautifully together. Bean then makes a comment about having a horrible hangover. Julian tells her a recipe to prevent this from "the only woman he'd ever loved" his mother. Danny then knows how Julian lied about his wife. There is a moment of tenseness between them. Julian asks whether they want him to leave but they say "No", so he stays. Julian wakes Danny up after they went to bed. He takes him into his rental car. Julian again says he needs Danny's help. He said he had been offered a reprieve from death but needed Danny's help to do it. He couldn't do the job on his own as he was burnt out. He needed Danny to help kill the target. At first Danny says no but after Julian says Danny owes him, he obliges. They flew to Arizona together to the race courses to kill the target. Julian gets Danny to open a door to set off the alarm so he could turn off the alarm in the future. He then asks Danny to bump into the target so Julian could have a clear shot. Julian is on the stairwell with a sniper rifle. Danny does his part but Julian is unable to take the shot he breaks down. Danny goes to find him and together they agree that Danny will talk Julian through firing. They are successful in killing the man. The screen then changes to the plane on the way home. Julian says thank you and Danny says it's ok. They talk about what happened the night where Julian was knocking on Danny's hotel room. There is a flashback and we discover what really happened. Danny let Julian in and they began talking. Danny asked Julian to kill his business opponents. Julian says no as he doesn't think Danny is that type of person and knows Danny will regret it. The flashback ends and they are back on the plane. Danny says " You became my friend that night Julian. You surprised me!" Julian replied "I surprised myself." Julian tells Danny that really he didn't do any assignment and that the person he killed was Mr Stick. Julian killed the guy that was trying to kill him. Bean and Danny, when he got back, went to the cemetery together and Julian after watching them for a while left leaving only a little piece of information showing that he was going to Greece!

The movie opens with Catherine (Gwyneth Paltrow) talking to her father Robert (Anthony Hopkins) after he startles her watching TV in the middle of the night. He gives her a bottle of champagne for her birthday, which she starts drinking from the bottle, commenting on how bad it is. They chat for a while about the nature of insanity and how he is crazy, but then she challenges his admission that he is crazy, pointing out that he had just admitted that the nature of insanity is that you can't acknowledge your own insanity. He reminds her that he's not just crazy he died last week and his funeral is tomorrow. Awoken from this dream, Catherine realizes that there is someone still upstairs -- Hal (Jake Gyllenhaal), a former student of Robert's. Robert was a professor in the University of Chicago's math department and Hal is a fledgling mathematician, struggling to advance in the field with any sort of developments of his own. In his younger years, Robert had made many advances in mathematics, revolutionizing the field twice before 22, and is quite famous and well regarded for it, but struggled with mental illness for the last 20+ years of his life. Catherine asks him why he is still there and he confesses that he thinks that somewhere in Robert's books of notes there has to be additional products of his mathematical genius. Catherine asks him what there has been in the notes he's made it through. Hal confirms that it was gibberish, but tells her that it would make a career for someone to find even a fraction of the advances Robert made in his early to mid twenties. She asks if he is trying to steal her father's work, and he says that, no, he would credit the discovery to her father. She demands to see his backpack and pulls it off of his back, dumping it out while trying to find any of her father's belongings. Nothing found, she apologizes and he gets ready to leave. As he's walking out the door she picks up his folded up coat from a chair, thinking he is forgetting the garment, but a notebook falls out. She yells at him, and calls the cops, but he tells her that he was going to give it to her as a present because it has something complimentary written about her in it. He leaves, and the cops pull up, but she sends them away. The next day, for the funeral, Catherine's sister Claire (Hope Davis) arrives in a town car. A huge contrast to the unkempt Catherine, Claire is an overly put together, bordering on completely neurotic New Yorker. Relations between the sisters are tense, and Catherine can't stand her sister's constant harping on appearance-related issues. Catherine is also upset that Claire didn't care for her father as much as Catherine did in his final years. Catherine's ultimately futile struggle to keep up with her own studies as her father ceases to be able to care for himself is documented in a series of flashbacks. She had started math grad school at Northwestern (Robert asks her: "You actually want to live in Evanston?") and fell behind in her coursework after she returned to check on her father and found him living amongst dirty dishes and sitting outside. He tells her that his brain is working again after the mental illness had interrupted it for a number of years, but she stays to take care of him. At the funeral, a lot of this frustration on Catherine's part comes out. She is upset at the high number of people there, in this very somber ceremony planned by others, and held in Rockefeller Chapel, a huge Gothic structure that is part of University of Chicago. She interrupts a string quartet and yells at everyone for not being there for her father while he was alive, and ends by saying she's glad her father died. After she storms out, Hal follows her and asks if she needs to be walked home. She declines his offer. Claire is set on selling Robert's house back to the University, and Catherine is upset that she will be kicked out, since this is where she's been living for the past few years. Claire wants to bring Catherine to New York, and it comes out that Catherine may be struggling with the same mental illnesses that her father struggled with. They have a wake at the house the night after the funeral, and Hal's band plays. Claire gets smashed drinking with a theoretical physicist from the University, and Catherine and Hal end up sleeping together. After they consummate their affections, Catherine is seemingly comfortable with Hal's intentions toward her family, and gives him a key to her father's desk. He goes up to the office and finds a notebook which contains a lengthy but apparently very important proof a mathematical discovery of sorts. He is very excited and shows the discovery to Catherine and Claire, saying that this discovery could get anyone tenure at any math department in the country. He asks Catherine how long she knew about this and why she didn't tell him about it. She tells him that she wrote it. This is met with silence from Hal and incredulity from Claire. The handwriting looks like Robert's, but Catherine claims it is her own. Claire pushes Hal into a corner and forces him to admit that he is somewhat doubtful that Catherine could have written the proof. She gets upset and tries to tear the book up, but Hal takes it to have people in the math department look at it and see if the proof is accurate. The next day as Claire and Catherine are packing up in separate parts of the house, Catherine suddenly goes berserk and starts throwing things before collapsing on her knees and crying. Claire comforts her and Catherine sobs "I stole it from him, I stole it from him." Claire says that it is okay and that she was living under a lot of stress with their father. Hal takes the proof to be examined by his colleagues, who believe the proof to be valid. He comes to the house as Claire and Catherine are leaving. Claire has convinced Catherine to come live in New York, and Catherine has apparently not said a word since her breakdown. Claire tells Hal to leave. He wants to see Catherine. She emerges from the house and appears completely depressed and broken. She is terse with him, but he tells her that the proof works, but that he doesn't think that her father wrote it because there is newer mathematics in it (he says it is a "hipper" proof than someone of her father's generation would have written). She is unmoved as he tells her that he thinks she wrote it and wants her to explain it to him sometime. The sisters get into a car and head to the airport. Hal sprints after the car and throws the book through the window and onto Catherine's lap. They arrive at the airport and are sitting in the terminal. In another flashback, it is revealed that after Catherine dropped out of school to care for her father he challenges her to work on math, which she does, and there are scenes of them sitting across from each other studying math books and writing. She becomes engrossed and doesn't heed his calls to come talk as promptly as she had. She is working on the proof and really was the one who wrote it. When she comes to show him, she realizes that her father has slipped back into his illness. When she walks into the room he is too excited to look at what she wants to show him, demanding that she read aloud a proof that he has written and says is ground breaking. She reads it aloud and begins crying as she does, as the "proof" is in fact complete nonsense. She locks her own proof, the truly ground breaking one, into his desk drawer, where it presumably stays until Hal discovers it, because she realizes that her father is now incapable of understanding what she has accomplished. So it seems that when she sobbed that she had stolen the proof from him, she was speaking of her guilt for doing her own work and not supporting her father as she worked on the proof. She is also troubled because she sees herself in her father, realizing that if she has his genius, then she might also slip into serious mental illness like him. Back in the airport, Catherine has begun to come to terms with her own genius and her own flaws, aided by Hal's confidence in her. She decides that she does not need to go with her sister to New York and runs out of the airport. She returns to University of Chicago, and the movie ends with her and Hal meeting up on some benches on campus and discussing the proof, as students mill around them.

The movie opens with shots of a large building in Omaha, NE, called the Woodmen Building. Actuary Warren Schmidt (Jack Nicholson) is sitting in his dull, gray office watching the clock until it hits five. There are packed boxes all around him, implying that this is his last day at work. The clock hits five and Warren solemnly grabs his coat, turns out the lights and leaves. In the next scene, Warren is driving at night in the rain with his wife Helen to a steakhouse where his retirement party is being held. The affair is rather quiet and solemn, with the new guy replacing Warren offering a tribute and telling Warren to feel free to come down to the office any time, mentioning that he may need some help with Warren's old accounts. Warren's best friend and co-worker Ray, who is obviously inebriated, delivers an impassioned speech for his friend. Warren appears touched at the sentiment and excuses himself. He retreats to the other side of the restaurant where the bar is and orders a drink. It's obvious he is not happy to retire. When Warren and Helen return home, their daughter Jeannie calls to wish Warren well. They discuss her upcoming wedding. Before bed, Helen remarks to Warren that she wishes he would try to be more friendly to Jeannie's fiancé. In the days following Warren's retirement, he is not sure what to do with himself. Helen surprises him with breakfast in their newly purchased Winnebago, saying how much fun they are going to have traveling the country. Warren doesn't appear enthused, but puts on a smile for his wife. A visit back to the office to visit his replacement doesn't go well; the new guy brushes him off, and Warren is taken aback by it. As he leaves the building, he passes a dumpster and discovers all of his old files have been thrown away. When he gets home, however, he tells Helen that the visit went well and that the new guy needed his help. Days pass and Warren spends his time sitting in front of the TV feeling sorry for himself. As he's flipping channels he comes across a commercial for a Third World relief fund where people can "adopt" a young African child (trivia: that's Angela Lansbury's voice in the commercial). Warren makes the call. After some more days of loafing and moping around, Warren receives his packet in the mail. He has "adopted" a young Tanzanian boy named Ndugu. He is advised in the letter to write to the young boy, so he does. In the letter (done in voiceover, which is very funny), he tells Ndugu about his life, how he's been married for 42 years... and soon the letter spirals into a rant about how he was cast aside by Woodmen, how his wife is starting to annoy him, and how his daughter is about to marry a loser waterbed salesman named Randall. He goes off to mail the letter, and his wife tells him not to dilly-dally. Next we see Warren heading into a Dairy Queen, where he gets some ice cream. He comes home to find Helen unconscious on the floor. She has died. Jeannie and Randall fly in for the funeral; Warren is very happy to see her but is rather stiff toward Randall, who is just emotional over the death. After the funeral Warren's friend Ray is sobbing violently (somewhat important later). Jeannie and Randall stay for a while at Warren's house. Warren asks Jeannie to stay longer, implying that he'd like for her to take care of him, but Jeannie is adamant about getting back to Denver to plan the wedding. Warren is upset that Jeannie still wants to go through with it; he thinks she should postpone because of Helen's death, but Jeannie insists her mother would want her to get married. Jeannie then rails on Warren for buying a cheap casket, saying that Helen deserved more. Eventually Jeannie and Randall leave for Denver, telling Warren they'll see him in a few weeks. Warren writes another letter to Ndugu about Helen's death, taking back all the bad things he said about her previously. This is done in a voiceover as Warren goes through her makeup, putting on her cold cream, and going through her closets. He then opens a shoebox and finds several to letters to "My darling Helen" which were not written by him. He looks closely at the signature and realizes who his wife had an affair with. In a rage, he sweeps all of Helen's belongings into boxes and throws them into a local recycling bin. Then he drives to a barber shop. Seconds later, Ray comes out and Warren confronts him with the letters. Ray tries to explain that the affair happened 25-30 years ago, but Warren clumsily punches him anyway and drives off in a rage. Warren decides since there's nothing left at home for him, he will go to Denver early. He loads up the Winnebago and takes off. Within a few hours he calls Jeannie at a gas station pay phone to say he's coming. Jeannie freaks out, and insists he go home until it's time to come for the wedding. Warren is very upset as he hangs up, feeling unneeded. He decides to take a leisurely pace, and in another letter to Ndugu, he tells of his pathetic adventures visiting the site of his childhood home-- which is now a tire store-- and his old fraternity at the University of Kansas, where the current frat brothers do not connect with him. He goes on to visit an arrowhead museum and ruminate about Native Americans, then buys some Hummel figurines like his wife collected. He's finishing the letter to Ndugu in an RV campground just as there's a knock on his door. John Rusk, another Winnebago enthusiast, greets him and invites him over to dinner with him and his wife Vicki. John and Vicki turn out to be two unbearably perky people from Wisconsin; Warren is perplexed by them at first, but later he warms up to them. After dinner, John leaves to get some more beer, while Vicki shows Warren pictures of their family. When they are alone, Vicki makes an observation that Warren is a sad person. Warren admits this and breaks down a little bit. When he tries to kiss Vicki, she shrieks and kicks him out of her camper. Warren goes back to his Winnebago and takes off into the night, passing a confused John on the road. In an deserted spot, Warren sits on top of his Winnebago with lighted candles and the Hummels, talking to Helen and wondering what he did to drive her into an affair. He asks her forgiveness for not being a good enough husband, and sees a shooting star. The next morning he takes off, leaving the candles and figurines on the roof. One by one they slide off the roof as he drives. Warren eventually arrives in Denver at the house of Randall's mother, Roberta (the wonderful Kathy Bates). Roberta's house is full of odd decorations which match her dotty personality. She is very outgoing and Warren seems somewhat frightened of her. Jeannie and Randall arrive, and Warren tries to get Jeannie alone to tell her to call off the wedding, but she is too busy. Dinner is a tense event. Roberta and Randall's father (her ex) Larry (an almost unrecognizable Howard Hesseman) snipe at each other. Randall's brother Duncan acts like a zombie, and Warren is watching everything and wondering why he is there. After dinner he finally gets Jeannie alone and begs her not to marry Randall, saying she deserves better. Jeannie tears into him, saying he was never there for her in the past but now wants to run her life. She says she will marry Randall, and Warren will come to the wedding and deal with it. Warren is very hurt at her behavior. Warren is given Randall's old room, equipped with a waterbed. He looks around to see Randall's honorable mention trophies and participant certificates (to enhance just how average the guy is). Warren wakes up the next morning with his back out of whack from sleeping on the bed. Jeannie thinks he's faking it and is furious. Roberta becomes Warren's nursemaid. Very funny scene follows as Roberta feeds him soup for lunch and goes into detail about Jeannie and Randall's sex life. Warren is very uncomfortable, and Roberta gives him some Percodan to get him through the rehearsal. At the rehearsal, Warren is completely stoned but gets through it and the dinner. Roberta takes him home and puts him in the hot tub. Here Warren is finally relaxed, until Roberta comes out. She disrobes and goes down into the tub with him (she's completely naked, he's wearing swim trunks). Roberta slowly hits on Warren, making him so distraught that he soon leaves to retreat to his Winnebago, where he spends the night. The next day is the wedding, which goes off without a hitch. Warren is restrained throughout the whole ceremony and reception. After Randall's best man gives the speech, he hands the mic over to Warren. Jeannie appears nervous, but Warren goes into a speech, then pauses. He mentions Helen dying and delivers an impassioned speech about how Helen wanted to see Jeannie happy. He then offers a nice tribute to Roberta and Larry, as well as Larry's wife, and even finds something nice to say about Duncan. The crowd applauds and Warren retreats immediately to the men's room to control himself. The reception goes on gaily. Another letter to Ndugu in voiceover as Warren drives home. He writes about the wedding and how Jeannie and Randall are in Orlando on his nickel, and that there's nothing he can do about her life anymore. On his trip home east, Warren stops at a museum and marvels at the courageous journeys pioneers had made going west, prompting him to ponder what he has accomplished in the direction of his life. He is depressed that he hasn't made one bit of difference to anybody, that he hasn't done anything important. He returns home; the house is a mess and there's a huge pile of mail behind the door. Warren quietly collects everything and goes to his den to sift through it. He finds a letter from a nun who works at Ndugu's orphanage, and she explains that Ndugu cannot yet read or write, but he enjoys Warren's letters, and he likes to paint. A picture by Ndugu for Warren in enclosed in the letter, and Warren unfolds it to see two smiling stick figures holding hands (one child and one adult, apparently Warren and Ndugu). Warren breaks down and cries, realizing that he indeed has made a difference in somebody's life.

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.

When Erin (Hope Davis) is dumped by her boyfriend (Philip Seymour Hoffman), her mother (Holland Taylor) places embarrassing personal ads on her behalf. Erin reluctantly goes out with a string of men, but a lonely plumber (Alan Gelfant) with aspirations to be a marine biologist keeps crossing her path. If the two could only meet, they might make the perfect pair. Directed by Brad Anderson, the film earned a spot at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival.