Jeff Bridges

The Granite Mountain Hotshots are a group within the firefighting department, who are called upon only to fight wildfires. The heroic story tells us about their grit, determination and the sacrifices they had to make on June 2013, when a wildfire in Yarnell, Arizona was out of control.

An east coast small town mayor makes a run for Senate. The progressive candidate makes an inspired run but dies before the election and his two aides attempt to put up a ruse that he's still alive.

In Hell or High Water, two brothers, Toby (Chris Pine) and Tanner (Ben Foster), go on a calculated bank robbery spree that puts them on a collision course with a West Texas Ranger (Jeff Bridges) determined to take them down.

Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds headline the 3D supernatural action-adventure R.I.P.D. as two cops dispatched by the otherworldly Rest In Peace Department to protect and serve the living from an increasingly destructive array of creatures who refuse to move peacefully into the afterlife.

A stylistically daring CGI feature, ``Surf`s Up`` is based on the groundbreaking revelation that surfing was actually invented by penguins. In the film, a documentary crew will take audiences behind the scenes and onto the waves during the most competitive, heartbreaking and dangerous display of surfing known to man, the Penguin World Surfing Championship.

A writer's young assistant becomes both pawn and catalyst in his boss's disintegrating household. Alternately tragic and comic, an exploration of the complexities of love in both its brightest and darkest corners. Adapted from John Irving's best-selling novel A Widow for One Year, the film is set in the privileged beach community of East Hampton, New York and chronicles one pivotal summer in the lives of famous children's book author Ted Cole (Jeff Bridges) and his beautiful wife Marion (Kim Basinger). Their once-great marriage has been strained by tragedy. Her resulting despondency and his subsequent infidelities have prevented the couple from confronting a much-needed change in their relationship. Eddie O'Hare, the young man Ted hires to work as his summer assistant, is the couple's unwitting yet willing pawn - and, ultimately, the catalyst in the transformation of their lives. —Anonymous

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

With his career on the skids, a Hollywood screenwriter enlists the aid of a modern-day muse, who proves to test his patience. What happens when a screenwriter (Brooks) loses his edge, he turns to anyone he can for help... even if it's the mythical "Zeus's Daughter" (Stone). And he's willing to pay, albeit reluctantly, whatever price it takes to satisfy this goddess, especially when her advice gets him going again on a sure-fire script. However, this is not the limit of her help, she also gets the writer's wife (MacDowell) going on her own bakery enterprise, much to the chagrin of Brooks, who has already had to make many personal sacrifices for his own help. —BOB STEBBINS <stebinsbob@aol.com>

The early career of legendary lawman Wild Bill Hickock is telescoped and culminates in his relocation in Deadwood and a reunion with Calamity Jane. Maverick Writer and Director Walter Hill's version of the famous Wild Bill Hickok legend is a dreamscape western that is told entirely in flashback. Hickok's friend Charley Prince (Sir John Hurt) narrates the events of Wild Bill's life while sitting at Bill's graveside. Hickok is played by Jeff Bridges as a mean, high-spirited, but gallant outlaw. He wanders the West, adding to his reputation with some well-chosen gunfights, and he meets up with characters such as Calamity Jane (Ellen Barkin), who becomes his sidekick for a time. After becoming a legend, Hickok signs up for a stint with Buffalo Bill Cody's travelling variety show. Eventually, he falls in love with Susannah Moore (Diane Lane), and his love leads him to tragedy in the town of Deadwood, South Dakota. Wild Bill Hickok, famed lawman and gunman of the Old West, is haunted by his past and his reputation. He is loved by, but cannot love, Calamity Jane. Dogging his trail is young Jack McCall, who blames Bill for abandoning the boy's mother and destroying her life. McCall has sworn to kill Bill, and Bill's ghosts, his failing eyesight, and his fondness for opium may make McCall's task easier. —Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>

An Irish bomber targets an old foe in Boston. Jimmy Dove works for the bomb squad in Boston and he is always the one who is on the tough jobs. One day he decides to quit the force and to become a teacher for the rookies of the squad. A few days later his former partner is killed by a bomb and Jimmy becomes suspicious that maybe this bomb could have been built by a former friend of himself. He begins to investigate and finds out that his worst nightmare has returned from his past. —Harald Mayr <marvin@bike.augusta.de> There's a serial bomber loose in Boston, and he has killed Blanket, a member of Boston's bomb squad and the best friend of explosives expert Jimmy Dove. Dove has just retired from the bomb squad to marry a violinist named Kate, who has an 11-year-old daughter named Elizabeth. Haunted by grisly flashbacks, Dove soon figures out the identity of the bomber -- Irish explosives expert Ryan Gaerity, a man who is so radical in his views that even the IRA wants nothing to do with him. Gaerity has escaped from the maximum security Castle Gleigh prison in Ireland, using a bomb made from ingredients that include blood, wool, and a porcelain toilet. Gaerity has fled to Boston, where he saw Dove, who had just disarmed a bomb planted in a MIT computer lab, painted as a reluctant hero on TV. Gaerity was furious: it's because of Dove that he's spent years in prison. Dove was born Liam McGivney, and he used to be a naive Irish patriot. Gaerity recruited him and taught him to build bombs, and Gaerity conceived a terrorist plan that went terribly wrong. Liam helped Gaerity build a bomb, then he realized that Gaerity intended to detonate it on a crowded street. Liam tried to stop Gaerity from detonating the bomb, but bomb device went off, killing a lot of people, including Gaerity's sister. Liam escaped from Ireland and made his way to America, where he changed his name to Jimmy Dove. Gaerity was arrested, tried, and imprisoned until his escape. Gaerity, who has now taken up residence in an abandoned gambling ship called the Dolphin, has decided to get revenge on Dove, and Gaerity started terrorizing the bomb squad by killing Blanket. Now, Dove is the only one who can stop Gaerity. —Todd Baldridge

A former radio DJ, suicidally despondent because of a terrible mistake he once made, finds redemption in helping a mentally unstable homeless man who was an innocent victim of that mistake. Jack Lucas was once a famous, arrogant and egotistical New York City call-in radio talk show host. Largely self-inflicted due to remorse and grief, Jack goes on a quick downward spiral, both personally and professionally, after a glib comment he makes to one of his regular callers results in that caller going on a murder spree. Three years later, the only emotional and financial support a despondent Jack receives is from his current video store owning girlfriend, Anne. When Jack hits rock bottom, he meets a seemingly crazy and homeless man calling himself Parry. Parry does have mental health issues, namely hallucinations centered around the story of the Fisher King, which is why he has an obsession with obtaining the Holy Grail. When Jack learns of Parry's own background and the reason he got to where he is, Jack feels he needs to be part of Parry's salvation. He figures the way to do so is to connect Parry with Lydia Sinclair, a shy and uncoordinated woman who Parry loves from afar. In doing so, Jack may himself be able to recapture his old life back. But if he does, he may not realize that he was no saint in that former life. —Huggo A former radio shock-jock (Bridges) sinks into a boozy depression when his flip comment on the air is blamed for a shooting spree in an upscale cafe. Living off the kindness of long-suffering girlfriend Anne (Ruehl, who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress), Jack has an epiphany when he is rescued from street punks by Parry (Williams), a homeless former professor who has created a world of his own invention to insulate himself from the pain of witnessing his wife's death in the cafe shooting spree.

In 1950s Texas, a woman trying to recover sexy photos of herself and divorce her husband witnesses a murder and uncovers corrupt land dealings. Working in an Austin, Texas, beauty parlour in 1954, Nadine Hightower endeavours to retrieve some 'art studies' she injudiciously had taken. Her visit to the photographer leaves her in possession of highly valuable plans. With both the police and the murderous villains after her, she enlists the help of her (almost) ex-husband Vernon, the none too successful owner of the Bluebonnet Bar. —Jeremy Perkins {J-26} Austin, Texas, 1954. They say there are no mistakes or failures in life, only lessons. And well-meaning but naive beautician Nadine has learned her lesson after unwisely posing for a sleazy local photographer. Now, she wants the compromising negatives back, and her soon-to-be ex-husband Vernon will help Nadine get out of the tight spot whether he likes it or not. Instead, all they get is a dead body and a mysterious envelope containing secret blueprints. As bad luck invites more trouble, the murderous jackals of the corrupt real-estate magnate, Buford Pope, close in on the estranged couple, prepared to kill for the precious documents. Once, Nadine and Vernon promised each other to have and to hold. But what happens now that the bullets fly? Can divorce wait? —Nick Riganas

When Jack is arrested for the murder of his wife, he hires Teddy Barnes to represent him. But the lawyer finds an attraction to her client that may put her in mortal danger.

A gangster hires an ex-football player to find his girlfriend. When he finds her, they fall in love, but soon get caught in a complex web of corruption, betrayal and murder.

In 1977, the Voyager 2 deep space probe was launched containing a gold, phonographic disk with messages of peace embedded within it and inviting visitors to come to the planet Earth. The Voyager probe is intercepted by an alien space ship which sends a small observational scout vessel in response to the invitation in order to establish first contact with Earth. However, instead of being greeted by its human hosts, the spacecraft is promptly shot down by the US government. The ship crashes in Chequamegon Bay, Wisconsin and the alien, a blue ball of energy, emerges from the wreckage. It stumbles upon the house of recently widowed Jenny Hayden (Karen Allen). There, it finds a lock of hair belonging to Jenny's deceased husband Scott in a photo album and uses it to clone a new body. The depressed Jenny watches stunned as the alien takes on Scott's form. The Starman (Jeff Bridges) possesses seven small silver spheres which he turns into pure energy to perform miraculous feats. He uses the first one to send a message to his people that his craft has been destroyed, that the environment is hostile, and that he will rendezvous with them at "Landing Area One" in three days, located in Arizona. He then uses the second one to create a holographic map of the United States in order to compel the dumbstruck Jenny to help him get to Arizona. However, Jenny is frightened of the Starman and reacts with hostility towards him, doing what she can to avoid traveling with him. After repeatedly and unsuccessfully attempting to escape, she finally implores the Starman to shoot her with her pistol. Instead, the Starman releases the pistol's magazine and tells her he means her no harm. As they continue on their journey the Starman, who developed a rough understanding of English syntax from the Voyager 2 disk, learns to communicate exactly who he is and what his purpose is to Jenny while she tries to teach the Starman that humanity is not completely savage. The Starman explains to Jenny that he has three days to get to the rendezvous point, Arizona's Barringer Crater, or he will die. She teaches him how to drive a car and use credit cards, intending to leave him self sufficient enough to continue the journey alone. However, while they are stopped at a small diner, they connect on a more emotional level with Jenny attempting to explain to him what love is. She also witnesses the Starman revive a dead deer that had been tied to the front of a hunter's (Ted White) car. Deeply moved, she resolves to help him. Meanwhile, the US army, after discovering the crash site of the Starman's ship, is tracking the couple's trail to Arizona. The army battalion is led by the cold-blooded NSA Chief George Fox (Richard Jaeckel) who is reluctantly assisted by SETI scientist, Mark Shermin (Charles Martin Smith). Shermin is clearly a more understanding and empathic man and, after he finds the Voyager 2 disk in the Starman's ship, Shermin deduces that the Starman was invited to Earth peacefully and discovers that the alien has taken the form of Scott Hayden through collected pieces of evidence around Jenny's house. Once news of the fugitives becomes publicized, a couple of cops (Dirk Blocker, M.C. Gainey) intent on becoming local heroes, discover Jenny and Starman residing at a motel. They decide to hold position outside until the government arrives but, when Jenny and Starman attempt to escape, despite employing a distraction, the cops pursue them by car and one shoots Jenny. Starman crashes their vehicle into an overturned gas tanker, protecting himself and Jenny from the ensuing explosion with one of his spheres. Under cover of the chaos, he seeks refuge in a mobile home being transported on a trailer bed. Jenny never regains consciousness but Starman, down to his last two spheres, uses one to revive her, gently kissing her as her wounds heal. He then leaves her and attempts to reach the Crater alone; afraid she will be hurt again. Jenny regains consciousness and heads off to find him, aware that they were being pursued by the government. Meanwhile, the Starman hitches a ride with a local truck driver, telling him that his name is Scott and he's headed for Arizona. A large traffic jam awaits them. Several miles back, Jenny manages to hitch a ride with another truck diver and, after a while, are met by the same traffic jam. Police have barricaded the road and are interrogating people. When she locates Starman standing anonymously within the crowd, and knowing it's only a matter of time before he's revealed, Jenny employs the truck driver to stage a distraction for her. He explodes a gas can which incites the police to chase after him, enabling Jenny to reach Starman. They escape in the panic and continue their journey, stowing away on a train boxcar. En route, they become close and consummate their feelings for one another. Starman tells Jenny that he gave her a baby, despite Jenny's insistence that she is infertile. Starman assures her to believe what he says and tells her that the child will be the son of her husband, since he is a clone of Scott. He explains that the child will know all that Starman knows and will grow up to be a teacher. However, he gives her the option of taking it back but Jenny refuses, joyfully accepting his gift. The couple mistakenly travel too far on the train and arrive in Las Vegas and, to make matters worse, Jenny has lost her wallet. The Starman uses their last quarters in a slot machine which he manipulates with his powers in order to win a $500,000 jackpot. The couple use their winnings to buy a new car to complete the drive to Winslow, Arizona, which is near Barringer Crater. Meanwhile, Fox has received information from NORAD that the trajectory of The Starman's Observation Craft, prior to it being shot down, was to Barringer Crater, and concludes that the Starman, along with Jenny Hayden would be in that general vicinity within the next 24 hours of that determination. Near the end of the journey, the Starman, growing weaker, and Jenny are confronted in a cafe in Winslow, where Mark Shermin interviews the dying Starman. The Starman explains to him that his people had previously visited Earth and are interested in humans because, out of all the many savage intelligent races in the universe, humans are at their best when things are at their worst. Confronted with this, Shermin decides to ruin his career to help the Starman and Jenny escape. The couple reach the crater as Army helicopters buzz them. Suddenly, the aliens' large, spherical mothership appears in the sky and descends into the crater. A blue light surrounds the couple and the Starman is instantly restored to health. He tells Jenny he will never see her again. Jenny confesses her love and begs him to take her with him but he says she would die on his world. He then gives her his last silver sphere, telling her that her son will know what to do with it before asking Jenny to tell her son about him. He asks her to tell him how to say goodbye and they kiss one last time before the Starman walks away into the beam. As Jenny watches in silence, the mothership rises, carrying the Starman away.

Richard Bone (Jeff Bridges) is a handsome, over-aged beach bum living on a yacht in Santa Barbara, California. George Swanson (Arthur Rosenberg) wants him to sell yachts, but instead Bone makes a few extra bucks as a gigolo, sleeping with middle-age wives of prospective buyers. Bone's best friend is Alexander Cutter (John Heard), who lost an arm, an eye and a leg in Vietnam over 10 years earlier. Cutter resents Bone because while Cutter was off fighting in Vietnam, Bon had, as always, walked away form possible danger and commitment. But Cutter's real resentment is against wealthy men who sent him to fight a meaningless war. Cutter spends his nights at local bars drinking and insulting everyone around him. His neglected wife Maureen 'Mo' Cutter (Lisa Eichhorn) stays home and drinks alone. Bone would like to sleep with Mo, but she disrespects him too much. One evening after leaving a woman at a hotel (Nina van Pallandt), Bone drives home. His car stalls in an alley. A big car pulls up behind him, A figure, wearing all black clothing, sunglasses and a strange hat, gets out and dumps something in a trash bin before getting back into the car and driving away. The next morning, the police tell Bone that someone had brutally murdered a young hitchhiker named Vickie Duran. Bone says he could never really identify the person dumping the body because it was too dark. At a street parade, Bone spots oilman J.J. Cord (Stephen Elliott), known as one of the most wealthy and most powerful men in the area. He automatically says "That's him!" Later, Bone retracts his statement, still unsure if Cord was the man who was dumping the body that night. Cutter hopes to convince Bone that Cord was the killer. Cutter provides evidence that Cord often picked up hitchhikers and that he was in the vicinity where Vickie was killed. Cutter enlists the help of Valerie Duran (Ann Dusenberry), Vickie's sister, to try to convince Bone to trap Cord. When Mo finds out, she is furious at both Cutter and Bone for playing around with real danger, but she agrees to help them out. The three of them type up a blackmail note. Bone backs out of delivering it, but Cutter proceeds with the plan. If Cord agrees to pay, they will know they have the right man. Cutter reports that Cord will soon deliver a message to Bone, whose name is on the letter. After another argument between them over going after Cord, Mo throws Cutter out of the house. At a weak moment, she agrees to sleep with Bone who willingly shows up at the house and they have sex for the first time. Right afterwords, Bone leaves in the middle of the night, breaking his promise to Mo. The next day, Bone learns from Cutter that the house was blown up and Mo has been killed. Bone suggests that Mo killed herself after he left. Cutter thinks that Bone is egotistical and that Cord did it, thinking that Bone was inside the house. They discover that the bomb that blew up Cutter and Mo's house was in the message package that was supposed to contain blackmail money. At a polo match, Cutter spots Cord wearing a polo cat, in which he approaches Cord and threatens him for destroying his home and killing his wife, plus other women. Cord naturally denies committing any murder Mouring his dead wife, Cutter moves into George's guest house. He tells Bone that Cord took control of the marina by force several years ago from George's father and mother. Since Cutter lies constantly, Bone doesn't know whether to believe him. With the police unable to make any arrest of Cord without evidence, Cutter decides to take matters into his own hands by killing Cord. He is also obsessed with Cord's guilt. He gives Bone permission to back out, as Valerie has already done. But Bone goes with Cutter when they crash a party at Cord's house. Cord's bodyguards capture Bone. Meanwhile, Cutter steals Cord's horse. He eludes Cord's men and charges the house on the horse, crashing through the window of the room in which Cord and Bone stand. As Cutter lies on the floor dying from his injuries, he points a gun at Cord. Bone assures Cutter: "It was him!" Bone takes the gun out of Cutter's hand and points it at Cutter. He give Cord one last time to confess to the murders of Mo, Vickie Duran and other women by asking Cord, "Was it you?" Cord disdainfully puts on a pair of familiar looking sunglasses... thus confirming that he was the one in the alley that night and answers "What if it were?" Making a true commitment, Bone pulls the trigger.

Craig Blake (Jeff Bridges) is a young Southern man born of a wealthy family in Birmingham, Alabama, but left lonely and idle after his parents died in a plane crash. He is content to spend his time fishing, hunting and puttering around his large family mansion, inhabited only by himself and an elderly butler named William (Scatman Crothers). Craig's "job" is a sinecure working at a shady investment firm run by a slick con artist named Jabo (Joe Spinell) and he does very little actual work. But since Craig has to have his name "on paper" somehow as an employee, he is asked by Jabo to personally transact the purchasing of a small gym that the real estate firm is buying in order to clear space for an office high-rise. Craig initially approaches the gym, called Olympic Spa, representing himself as a businessman looking to buy it, and acts relatively impersonal with its staff, one of whom includes trainer Franklin (Robert Englund), although he is strangely fascinated with the world he discovers there (reflecting the expansion of physical exercise to the mainstream which occurred in the 1970s). But Craig's primary social life is centered around the upscale country club he attends. Later, the audience is introduced to the ritzy country club crowd, including the WASP-y Lester (Ed Begley, Jr.) and the roguish rake Halsey (John David Carson). Craig Blake spends his time at this club with his friends playing tennis and shooting poker dice, and flirting with the upper-class women of all ages - one of whom asks Craig to find an "authentic" musical guest for an upcoming party at the club. As Craig moves forward with his business deal, he falls in love with the gym after visiting it several times - he is immediately taken by the pretty receptionist Mary Tate Farnsworth (Sally Field) and the free-spirited, friendly Austrian bodybuilder Joe Santo (Arnold Schwarzenegger), who aspires to win the Mr. Universe title. He cannot bring himself to sell out his newfound friends at the gym for the sake of his job, and so he evades the inquiries of his friend and co-worker Hal Foss as to his progress in the purchasing deal. All the while, he grows closer to Mary Tate and Joe Santo - who initially appear to be a couple. However, Mary Tate latches onto Craig romantically - and Santo gives Craig his blessing for this unorthodox relationship, claiming that he needs to keep himself challenged both in the gym and in his romantic life in order to succeed. Mary Tate and Craig begin a passionate and exciting relationship. But trouble erupts when he tries to integrate Mary Tate into his country-club scene. This tension comes to a head at a party at the country club, which features Joe Santo as a musical guest, performing bluegrass songs on the violin with a small country group. Craig, with Mary Tate as his guest (dressed inappropriately in a garish and revealing pink dress), is enthusiastic about Joe Santo's upcoming musical performance for the night. But Craig's friends, particularly Halsey, mock Santo as a "freak" and an outcast. When Halsey suggest that Santo disrobe and show the crowd his "tits," Craig throws a glass of Scotch in his face and tells Halsey that Santo could "crush him like an eggshell." A fight nearly breaks out between the two, but is broken up. Meanwhile a bitter Halsey and his friend Packman formulate a plan to embarrass Santo. When Santo's musical act is finally put on stage, the crowd seems enthusiastic about the music, though the hostess of the party dismisses it as a "racket." However, Halsey and Packman drunkenly bellow at Santo and heckle the band. Santo notices it, but stoically continues playing. However, when Halsey screams "let's hear it for Muscle Beach symphony orchestra!" Santo is unable to continue playing, puts down his violin and leaves the party. Meanwhile a frustrated Craig tries to convince Mary Tate to see him for who he really is, and not for his snobbish friends and ritzy surroundings. The Mr. Universe contest is approaching fast and Santo is training hard. But Jabo attempts to bribe the owner of the gym, Thor Eriksen (R.G. Armstrong), when he realizes that Craig will not purchase the building as he was supposed to. He plies Eriksen and his assistant Newton with drugs, booze and hookers, and on the day of the contest, they are busy with acts of debauchery as Santo is readying to take the stage - hoping to beat his rival Dougie Stewart (played by fellow bodybuilder Ken Waller in a memorable cameo). While Thor is drunk and distracted with the prostitutes, Newton secretly stashes the prize money inside his handbag, and then leaves the gym with the prostitutes when they are finished - stealing the money and fleeing. Meanwhile, Joe Santo and Dougie Stewart pose together on stage, to the theme song from the film 'Exodus' and the enthusiastic applause of the crowd. Meanwhile, Craig visits at the gym and engages in an intense physical fight, dodging weights and gym equipment thrown by the drunken and drug-crazed Eriksen. He finds Mary Tate at the gym, who had just moments earlier been assaulted by Eriksen in an amyl nitrite fueled rage. When the contestants at the Mr. Universe show discover that the prize money has been stolen, they run after Joe Santo, who himself is actually running to try to meet Mary Tate. The chase results in the wave of bodybuilders pouring out into the streets of Birmingham, to the amazed crowd of onlookers which sees them. The bodybuilders take advantage of this unexpected attention to put on an impromptu posing routine for the crowd, and the members of the crowd join in, imitating the athletes' poses and enjoying themselves - an embracing of the bodybuilding lifestyle by 'normal' people which arguably represents the real-life 1970s boom of personal fitness. The film ends with Craig sarcastically deriding Jabo and his former bosses at the real-estate firm, and deciding to go into the gym business with Joe Santo. A voice-over by his uncle Albert says, "you may not have been the Blake that we anticipated, but you are definitely Craig Blake - an identity that no one will dare challenge." Craig has finally "found himself" and discovered a true place in the sun, and true friendships, and he mocks his former boss Jabo with an exaggerated bodybuilding pose - acting as a final burning of the bridge between his old life and his new one. The final shot of the film shows Craig moving out of his family's mansion, passing on all of his old family memorabilia to his loyal butler William, and leaving behind his old self once and for all... on the way to a new and exciting future.

With the help of an irreverent young sidekick, a bank robber gets his old gang back together to organize a daring new heist. Seven years after a daring bank robbery involving an anti-tank gun used to blow open a vault, the robbery team temporarily puts aside their mutual suspicions to repeat the crime after they are unable to find the loot from the original heist, hidden behind a school chalkboard. The hardened artilleryman and his flippant, irresponsible young sidekick are the two wild cards in the deck of jokers.

Several young draft dodgers head West to their deaths in this fatalistic reworking of OLIVER TWIST set in 1863 America - Jeff Bridges as the Artful Dodger, Barry Brown as Oliver, and David Huddleston as a sort of Fagin.

Two men, working as professional boxers, come to blows when their careers each begin to take different directions. The film tells the story of two boxers and their problems. One of them is on the decline of his career while the other one just begins his ascent in this sport. —Volker Boehm The stories of two men in working class Stockton, CA, they at either end of a career or potential career in boxing, are told, the two who meet by chance in working out at the same time at the local Y. The older of the two is thirty year old Billy Tully, a year out of the racket, he who is still trying to find his place in a post-boxing world as such needing to take whatever menial job he can find. As he still blames his former manager/trainer Ruben for how his career ended in not being there for him when it mattered, Billy turns to Oma, a barfly, for some sort of human connection. In how unsatisfied his life has become, something he unwilling to admit to anyone including himself, he contemplates the pipe dream of returning to the ring. The younger of the two is eighteen year old Ernie Munger, who, untrained and only boxing for fun, is encouraged by Billy to pursue it more seriously in going to talk to Ruben in Billy seeing in Ernie some natural talent as well as suitable physical attributes. While Ernie progresses in the sport, he ends up having some expectations, some unrealistic, about what it can accomplish for his life. Other things affecting his ultimate view of boxing is his relationship with girlfriend Faye, and seeing the experience of others around him, including Billy. —Huggo

One morning in November 1951, Sonny Crawford (Timothy Bottoms) and Duane Jackson (Jeff Bridges), co-captains of the dismal high school football team in the small dying town of Anarene, Texas shrug off insults about the team's last game of the season. Sonny relaxes with his friends, Sam the Lion (Ben Johnson), the aging but still vital cowboy who owns the small town's cafe, pool hall and movie theater, and Sam's ward, the mute, gentle, simple-minded Billy (Sam Bottoms). Sonny and Duane have breakfast at the cafe, run by salty-tongued waitress Genevieve (Eileen Brennan), and discuss their usual Saturday night plans of seeing the "picture show" and necking with their girl friends in the pickup they jointly own. Sonny goes to work and that night, while Duane and his blonde girl friend, Jacy Farrow (Cybill Shepherd), take the first turn in the pickup, Sonny joins his girl, Charlene Duggs (Sharon Taggart), in the theater. The unpleasant and bickering Charlene complains that Sonny has forgotten their one year anniversary, but Sonny is more interested in watching Jacy, the most beautiful and wealthiest girl in town, as she and Duane come into the theater and begin to kiss. Sonny and Charlene then take their turn in the pickup, but the frustrated Sonny, longing to do more than fondle Charlene's breasts, ends their stale relationship when she becomes petulant. Later at the cafe, Genevieve comforts Sonny and wonders why both he and Duane live in a boardinghouse rather than with their parents. At basketball practice one afternoon, Coach Popper offers to get Sonny excused from class the next day for driving the coach's wife Ruth (Cloris Leachman) to her doctor's appointment, and Sonny agrees. That night, Jacy is confronted by her alcoholic mother Lois (Ellen Burstyn), who does not want her daughter to waste her youth as she did. When Lois advises Jacy not to marry Duane and instead sleep with him to learn that there is "nothing magic about it," Jacy is shocked. Then next day, Sonny arrives at Coach's home to pick up Ruth, and the shy woman is disappointed to see that her husband has not come himself. During the return trip, Sonny is nonplussed by Ruth's tears, although she tells him that there is nothing seriously wrong. Afraid to be alone, Ruth invites Sonny in for a soda, but her continuing sobs unsettle him even more, although he timidly tries to comfort her. Another few days later, at the town's annual Christmas dance, Lester Marlow (Randy Quaid), one of Jacy's country club friends, asks her to come to a nude swimming party at the home of wealthy Bobby Sheen (Gary Brockette). Eager for excitement, Jacy consents, then schemes on how to end her date with Duane. Perturbed to see Lois dancing with Abilene (Clu Gulager), the oil driller with whom Lois is having an affair, Jacy lures Duane to the pickup. There, Duane gives Jacy a lavish Christmas present and Jacy, hoping to distract him, places his hand under her skirt before announcing that Lois had ordered her to attend the swimming party with Lester. Meanwhile, Sonny helps Ruth clean up and while they are outside, they engage in a passionate kiss and agree to meet soon. In the nearby town of Wichita Falls, Lester introduces Jacy to Bobby and his crowd of sexually adventurous friends, and Jacy, eager to attract Bobby's attention, strips on the diving board and finally jumps into the pool, fully naked, and joins the group. Back at Anarene, Duane suggests to the other boys that they ought to buy a hooker for Billy so that he will not die a virgin. Sonny's attempts to stop them are unsuccessful and soon Billy is in the back seat of a car with local waitress Jimmie Sue, who, angered by Billy's fumbling, bloodies his nose with a massive punch. The group returns Billy to Sam's pool hall, and while Sam questions them, Duane hides. Upon hearing what the boys have done, Sam condemns their "trashy behavior" and bans them from entering his businesses. Duane pretends to have fallen asleep in the car, and as the weeks pass, continues to patronize Sam's establishments, while Sonny stays away and is lonesome for Sam, whom he admires deeply, as well as Billy and Genevieve. In the meantime, Sonny begins an affair with Ruth, although during their first encounter at her house, Ruth is so horrified by the loud squeaking of the bed springs that she cannot enjoy herself. Several weeks later, Sonny enters the cafe one night and Genevieve, while reprimanding him for his treatment of Billy, allows him to stay. She attempts to caution him about his affair with Ruth, which is common knowledge, but Sonny remains silent. Sam and Billy enter, and after Billy joyfully greets his friend, Sam forgives the repentant youth. Another afternoon later on New Year's Eve, Sam takes Sonny and Billy fishing and reminisces about a time 20 years earlier when he brought a young lady friend swimming at the same spot. Although he and his paramour were in love, she was already married and Sam lost her. Meanwhile, in Wichita Falls, Jacy attends another party at Bobby's, where the arrogant young man asks if she is a virgin. When Jacy admits that she is, Bobby tells her to come back when she is more experienced. Back in town, a bored Sonny and Duane decide to go to Mexico for the weekend and Sam, bemused by their exuberance, gives them some money. Upon their return a few days later on January 3, however, the boys are shocked to learn that Sam has died from a sudden heart attack during their absence. In his will, Sam leaves the movie theater to Miss Jessie Mosey, who ran the theater's concession counter, the cafe to Genevieve and the pool hall to Sonny, which stuns the young man. A few months later, the spring season arrives. The senior class attends their class picnic in Wichita Falls and Jacy plans a rendezvous with Duane at a local motel so that she can be rid of her virginity. The excitement and pressure make Duane impotent, although he is successful upon their second attempt after graduation. Meanwhile, Ruth, who has blossomed under Sonny's attention and fallen in love with him, gives Sonny a wallet for graduation. Jacy breaks up with Duane, telling him that she would rather be with Bobby. Heartbroken, Duane leaves town for an oil-drilling job. Jacy's plans go awry, however, when Bobby dallies with her, then marries his girl friend. One night, bored and lonely, Jacy is sitting at home when Abilene arrives to see Lois. Flirting outrageously, Jacy asks Abilene to take her to the pool hall, where he has sex with her on a pool table. Upon their return, however, Abilene treats Jacy coldly, and when she sees her mother, Jacy breaks into tears. As Lois is comforting her, she mentions Ruth and Sonny's relationship, and Jacy, who was unaware of Sonny's liaison, is intrigued, as she knows about Sonny's crush on her. Determined to win Sonny away from Ruth, Jacy begins to date him, and promises that eventually they will spend the night together. Intoxicated, Sonny avoids Ruth, who waits miserably for him every afternoon. Skipping forward another few months later, the summer passes until one day, Duane comes home for a visit and questions Sonny about Jacy. Sonny admits that they have been dating and as the confrontation grows more heated, reveals that Jacy told him about Duane's impotence. Furious, Duane smashes his beer bottle against Sonny's temple, nearly blinding him. While he is in the hospital, Sonny refuses to see Ruth and Duane joins the US Army. Later, when Sonny returns home, Jacy, who is thrilled to be the center of attention due to the fight over her, tells him they should elope. Eagerly anticipating having sex with Jacy, Sonny acquiesces, but after they are married and are driving home, Jacy reveals that she left a note for her parents detailing their plans. Sonny is crushed when they are stopped by a patrolman and Jacy is driven home by her furious father, who arranges for the marriage to be annulled, but Jacy, who wanted only to heighten her notoriety, is pleased. A resigned Lois drives Sonny back to Anarene, where she reveals that she was the woman with whom Sam had the affair twenty years earlier. Another month or two later in the autumn season, Sonny watches the school football team play and learns that Duane is home on leave. Both dreading and needing to see his friend before he ships out for Korea, Sonny finds Duane and asks if he wants to attend the picture show, as Miss Mosey is being forced to close it due to lack of business. Duane agrees and the boys spend a companionable evening watching the last movie. In the morning, Duane admits that if he had married Jacy, her father would have forced them to get an annulment, too. After Duane leaves on the bus, Sonny is in the pool hall when he hears the screech of brakes in the street and rushes outside to discover that Billy has been hit and killed by a trucker who did not see him, but then drove away from the scene in a hit-and-run. Grief-stricken, Sonny lashes out at the gathered men who deride Billy as a simpleton, then drags his friend's body to the sidewalk, where he carefully covers him. In the final scene, Sonny then drives to Ruth's house, where the surprised woman admits him but then upbraids him for breaking her heart. Although Ruth tells Sonny that he has ruined what was between them, when he tenderly takes one of her hands, she caresses him in return and tells him, "Never you mind, honey. Never you mind."