John Benjamin Hickey

A New York City subway dispatcher`s day is thrown into chaos when an armed gang hijack a train, leaving him to use his knowledge of the subway system to outwit their leader.

As three US servicemen - Marine Private First Class Ira Hayes, Private First-Class Rene Gagnon, and Navy Corpsman John "Doc" Bradley are feted as heroes in a war bond drive, they reflect on their experiences via flashback. After training at Camp Tarawa in Hawaii, the 28th Marine Regiment 5th Marine Division sails to the small island of Iwo Jima as part of an invading armada. Tough Japanese resistance is expected, and the Navy bombards suspected Japanese positions for three days. Sergeant Mike Strank is put in charge of Second Platoon. The next day, February 19, 1945, the Marines land in Higgins boats. The beaches are silent and Private First Class Ralph "Iggy" Ignatowski wonders if the defenders are all dead, before Japanese heavy artillery and machine guns open fire on the advancing Marines and the Navy ships. Casualties are heavy but the beaches are secured. Two days later the Marines attack Mount Suribachi under a rain of Japanese artillery and machine gun fire, as the Navy bombards the mountain. Doc saves the lives of several Marines under fire, which later earns him the Navy Cross. Finally, the mountain is secured. On February 23, the platoon under command of Sergeant Hank Hansen is ordered to climb Mount Suribachi. They reach the top and hoist the United States flag atop the mountain to cheers from the beaches and the ships. Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal, who witnesses the flag raising as he lands on the beach, requests the flag for himself. Colonel Chandler Johnson decides his 2nd Battalion deserves the flag more. Rene is sent up with Second Platoon to replace the first flag with a second one for Forrestal to take. Mike, Doc, Rene and three other marines (Corporal Harlon Block, Private First-Class Franklin Sousley and Private First Class Ira Hayes), are photographed by Joe Rosenthal as they raise the second flag. On March 1, Second Platoon are ambushed from a Japanese machine gun nest. During the fight over the nest Mike is hit by a U.S. Navy shell and dies from his wounds. Later that day Hank is shot in the chest and dies almost instantly, and Harlon is killed by machine gun fire. Two nights later while Doc is helping a wounded Marine, Iggy is abducted by Japanese troops and dragged into a tunnel. Doc finds his viciously mangled body a few days later. On March 21 Franklin is killed by machine gun fire and dies in Ira's arms. Of the eight men in the squad only three are left: Doc, Ira and Rene. A few days after Franklin's death, Doc is wounded by artillery fire while trying to save a fellow corpsman. He survives and is sent back home. On March 26, the battle ends and the U.S. Marines are victorious. After the battle the press gets hold of Rosenthal's photograph. It is a huge morale booster, and newspapers all over the country ask for prints. Rene is asked to name the six men in the photo: he identifies himself, Mike, Doc and Franklin, but misidentifies Harlon as Hank. Rene believes that Ira is the sixth man in the photograph; when he tells Ira this, Ira furiously denies it, insisting that it was Harlon in the photograph, not him. Rene pleads with Ira that as flag raisers they will both be sent home, but Ira reacts by holding a bayonet to Rene's throat, telling Rene he will kill him if he names Ira as the man in the photograph. Rene initially refuses to identify the sixth man but when he is threatened with being sent back to the fighting, he names Ira. Doc, Ira and Rene are sent home as part of the seventh bond tour drive to raise money for the war effort. When they arrive to a hero's welcome in Washington, Doc notices that Hank's mother is on the list of mothers of the dead flag raisers. Ira angrily denounces the bond drive as a farce. The men are reprimanded by Bud Gerber of the Treasury Department, who tells them that the country cannot afford the war and if the bond drive fails the U.S. will abandon the Pacific and their sacrifices will be for nothing. The three agree not to tell anyone that Hank was not in the photograph. As the three are sent around the country to raise money and make speeches, Ira is guilt-ridden, facing discrimination as a Native American and haunted by memories of the battle. He descends into alcoholism and throws up one night in front of General Alexander Vandegrift, commandant of the Marine Corps. A furious Vandegrift orders to have Ira sent back to his unit and the bond drive continues without him. After the war, the three survivors return to their homes. Ira still struggles with alcoholism and is never able to escape his unwanted fame. One day after being released from jail, he hitchhikes over 1,300 miles to Texas to see Harlon Block's family. He tells Harlon's father that his son was indeed at the base of the flag in the famous photograph. In 1954, the USMC War Memorial is dedicated and the three flag raisers see each other one last time. In 1955 Ira dies of exposure after a night of drinking. That same year Doc drives to the town where Iggy's mother lives to tell her how Iggy died, though it is implied that he does not tell her the truth. Rene attempts a business career but finds that the opportunities and offers he received during the bond drive are rescinded. He spends the rest of his life as a janitor. Doc, by contrast, is successful. He buys a funeral home and runs it for the rest of his life. In 1994, on his deathbed, he tells his story to his son James and in a final flashback to 1945, the men swim in the ocean after raising the flags.

Love is complex and relationships deteriorate. Celebrity couple Joe and Sally Therrian are going through yet another rough stage in their six-year marriage: while Joe's novels have been climbing higher and higher on the best-seller lists, Sally's film career has been steadily sinking into oblivion. Joe's been given the rights to cast and direct the screenplay of his latest book, but rather than resurrect Sally's career by casting her in the lead role, he's given it to Sally's rival, Skye Davidson. Even worse, he's invited Skye to their anniversary bash. Will the marriage, or anything else for that matter, survive the party? —Jean-Marc Rocher <rocher@fiberbit.net> While celebrating their reconciliation and six years of marriage, the American actress Sally Nash and the British novelist Joe Therrian receive their close friends, some colleagues and their next door neighbors in a party. Under the effect of Ecstasy, revelations are disclosed and relationships deteriorate among the group. —Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

After playing with a Ouija board with her brother Larry, 11-year-old Faith Corvatch becomes convinced that her soulmate, the man she is destined to be with, is named "Damon Bradley." This belief is strengthened when a few years later a carnival fortune teller tells her that "Damon Bradley" is the name of the man she will marry. But the fortune teller also says that a person makes their own destiny. Fourteen years later, Faith (Marisa Tomei) is a teacher at a Catholic school and is engaged to a podiatrist Dwayne (John Benjamin Hickey). Faith is still slightly hesitant and is not fully sure that Dwayne is her life partner. Faith's sister-in-law Kate is not respected by her husband Larry. Larry has no passion for Kate, and only sees her as a glorified house help. Kate hates it when Larry patronizing her by calling her "doll". Faith is depressed when she is asked to wear her future mother-in-law's wedding gown, which is very old fashioned. Kate tells Faith that life is not "Happily Ever After" as sold by everybody. 10 days before their wedding, Faith gets a call from her fiance's high-school classmate Damon Bradley. Faith is shocked and feels this is destiny, but Damon is flying to Venice that day. Determined to meet him, Faith follows his trail with her sister-in-law Kate (Bonnie Hunt) from Pittsburgh through to Venice. They reach the hotel where Doman is staying only to find that he has already checked out. They search Damon's room to figure out that he had left for Rome and go after him by renting a car. Kate cannot read the Italian maps and the ladies are lost in the Italian countryside with their car out of gas. A group of nuns passing by provides them some gas. They reach an address in Rome, where Damon had called before leaving Venice, and meet a woman named Anna (Barbara Cupisti) who was supposed to meet Damon that evening. Anna now has a prior commitment and Faith offers to take her place instead. This is where Kate meets a suave Italian named Giovanni. They finally reach a street-side restaurant in Rome, but they never quite catch up with him. At the restaurant, Faith and Kate wait for Damon and find that he is one of the booths. Before Faith can meet him, Damon walks away, and Faith runs after him and loses her shoe. Faith meets a young American man but has no interest until he identifies himself as Damon Bradley. The man had approached Faith with her missing shoe and learns from Kate that Faith is looking for a man whose name she read off a Ouija board when she was 11 years old. They spend a romantic evening together and fall hopelessly in love. Then he reveals that his actual name is Peter Wright (Robert Downing Jr), so she angrily leaves him and prepares to fly back home. Meanwhile, a suave Italian businessman named Giovanni (Joaquim De Almeida) has been wooing Kate. Kate reveals that Larry cheated on her. Peter convinces Kate that meeting Faith was destiny for him too. He was not supposed to be in Italy, as he works in Boston. He was a last-minute replacement for a co-worker who got measles. And he ran into Faith at the Piazza. Peter says that Faith and he were supposed to find each other. The next morning, Peter tells Faith that he searched for Damon overnight and discovered that he has moved on to Positano. Giovanni agrees to drive the three Americans there. At a posh hotel, Faith meets Damon, a good-looking playboy, and invites him to dinner. Peter spies on them at the restaurant until Damon makes unwelcome sexual advances with Faith. It turns out that this "Damon" is really a friend of Peter's who has helped Peter stage the entire scene. Back in the United States, Larry (Fisher Stevens) finds out that his wife Kate is in Italy. He travels there to find her while Kate and Faith are again planning to return home. Larry arrives in time to make up with Kate. He also reveals to her that Faith's childhood "Damon Bradley" phenomenon was a prank: Larry intentionally spelled out the name on the Ouija board, then he paid the fortune teller to tell Faith that her true love had the same name. He hasn't told Faith the truth because he has been afraid, she would never speak to him again. Faith and Peter are at the airport when they hear Damon Bradley paged. At the information desk, they finally meet Damon (Adam LeFevre), who is not especially handsome. Peter explains to Damon why Faith has been following him. He also tells Damon that he (Peter) is in love with her, then boards his flight home to Boston. Damon asks Faith if she loves Peter. She realizes that she does and rushes to join Peter on his plane. The airport staff delays the flight until Faith can board. She and Peter embrace and kiss as the passengers and crew applaud. Their plane then flies into the sunset.