John Cusack

Arsenal tells the intertwining stories of the Lindel brothers, Mikey and JP, who had only each other to rely on growing up. As adults, JP found success as the owner of a construction company, while Mikey became a small-time mobster, mired in a life of petty crime. When Mikey is kidnapped and held for a ransom by ruthless crime boss Eddie King , JP turns to the brothers' old pal Sal, a plain clothes detective for help. In order to rescue his brother, JP must risk everything and unleash his vengeance against King's relentless army of gangsters.

Chi-Raq is a modern day adaptation of the ancient Greek play `Lysistrata` by Aristophanes. After the murder of a child by a stray bullet, a group of women led by Lysistrata organize against the on-going violence in Chicago`s Southside creating a movement that challenges the nature of race, sex and violence in America and around the world.

Carpe Diem - For God's sake. is a comedy-drama film composed of three different stories. In the first, a guy named Donato is at hospital for a serious brain disease. Three friends visit him and while trying to help him will end up facing their own emotional dramas.The second takes place in a television program. A celebrity gets interviewed at different stages alternated by various other important guests. The atmosphere of lightness and fun will end up in tragedy.The last story is at a news broadcast. A referendum is taking place to limit or abolish the production and exportation of arms. The western population of the planet is about to vote through internet. The decision is not simple and the spirits get on fire.'The time and the truth are waiting for our choices'.

On a cold and spooky Autumn night, 5 friends gather to spin their yearly yarns in an attempt to scare each other. Tales of ghostly lights, portals to another dimension, mud monsters, labyrinths and deformed figures help heat up the night around the cozy campfire. But watch out - something may be stalking the gang in these very woods.

In 19th Century Baltimore, a killer terrorises the city by orchestrating a series of grisly murders which seem to mirror the killings from the dark tales of Edgar Allen Poe. When the police find themselves unable to stop this spree of murders, they enlist the help of Poe himself to assist them in nabbing the killer. The stakes are raised when Poe`s to be wife, Emily Hamilton is abducted by the killer and her life is put in jeopardy unless Poe writes his tales of terror again. As the police and Poe race towards trying to unmask the killer, time is running out for Emily.

An American man returns to a corrupt, Japanese-occupied Shanghai four months before Pearl Harbor and discovers his friend has been killed. While he unravels the mysteries of the death, he falls in love and discovers a much larger secret that his own government is hiding.

The movie follows a group of best friends who have got bored with their adult lives: Adam (Cusack) has been dumped by his girlfriend; Lou (Corddry) is a party guy who can't find the party; Nick's (Robinson) wife controls his every move; and videogame-obsessed Jacob (Duke) won't leave his basement. After a crazy night of drinking in a ski resort hot tub, the men wake up, heads' pounding, in the year 1986. This is their chance to kick some past and change their futures- one will find a new love life, one will learn to stand up for himself with the ladies, one will find his mojo, and one will make sure he still exists!

A corporation hires a professional assassin to pose as its trade show representative who must organize the wedding of a Middle Eastern pop star, which will allow him the opportunity to kill a Middle Eastern politician. A political satire set in Turaqistan, a country occupied by an American private corporation run by a former US Vice President. In an effort to monopolize the opportunities the war-torn nation offers, the corporation's CEO hires a troubled hit man, to kill a Middle East oil minister. Now, struggling with his own growing demons, the assassin must pose as the corporation's Trade Show Producer in order to pull off this latest hit, while maintaining his cover by organizing the high-profile wedding of Yonica Babyyeah, an outrageous Middle Eastern pop star, and keeping a sexy left wing reporter in check. —fmmini

Ray Keene (John Cusack); a high school gym teacher, ex-cop and a widower; realises the need to bond with his son; Chris (Jamie Anderson) when the latter is caught smoking marijuana. On their hiking trip into the wilderness, they come across Frank Carden (Morgan Freeman), a professinal assasin who is being driven through the wilderness by the marshals. However his men rescue him from the marshals. Confusion takes the precedence but Ray does his best to keep his son away from trouble. Will Ray successfully escape from this uninvited trouble or fall prey at the hands of the assasin?

A widowed science-fiction writer considers adopting a six-year-old outcast who thinks he's an alien from Mars. What's the nature of being a parent and of being a child? David is a widower grieving for two years. He writes science fiction and was considered weird as a boy. He meets Dennis, a foster child who claims to be on a mission from Mars, stays in a large box all day, fears sunlight, and wears a belt of flashlight batteries so he won't float away. David takes the six-year-old home on a trial. His sister and his wife's best friend offer support, but the guys are basically alone to figure this out. Dennis takes things, is expelled, and is coached by David in being normal. Will the court approve the adoption, and will Dennis stay? Can a man become a father and a child become a son? —<jhailey@hotmail.com> Widowed for two years, David Gordon, a successful writer of fantasy fiction, believes it's time to move on with his life by doing what he and his wife Mary were planning on doing before she passed away, namely adopt a child. Partly because of understanding fantasy, not only in writing it but having believed such in his formative years, David is ultimately convinced by Sophie, the manager of the home, that he should consider adopting Dennis, an adolescent who is largely a loner in his belief that he is a Martian, his ultimate mission to make it "home". David gets a reluctant approval from the adoption board to proceed with Dennis, their hesitance in Dennis being classified as special needs and David being single. With help from his sister Liz, who jokes that her own two sons are the spawn of the devil, and his platonic friend Harlee, a landscaper who could be more if he opened his eyes to the possibility, David tries to connect with Dennis, which may be more challenging than he anticipated in Dennis' behavior all in light of his belief of being from Mars, and, by association, what he does to try and make it home. The situation is made more difficult as David has to finish his next book, his contractual obligation in it being the next in his Dracoban series. —Huggo

Author Michael Enslin, who specializes in debunking paranormal occurrences, checks into the fabled room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel in New York City, settles in, and soon confronts genuine terror. Author Mike Enslin specializes in paranormal investigations writing books along the line of the 10 best haunted hotels in America and so on. He receives an anonymous postcard in the mail telling him not to stay in room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel in New York City. His attempts to make a reservation there are unsuccessful and he is told that it isn't available - ever. His research reveals that there have been a number of very strange deaths in that room dating as far back as the hotel's opening 95 years ago. The hotel is forced to accept him but the manager, Gerald Olin, begs him not to stay there. In his opinion, the room is evil and no one has ever been able to stay in there for more than an hour. Enslin scoffs at the warning and is soon in the room - from which he soon becomes desperate to leave. —garykmcd Hacked off with his miserable life, the quasi-successful author of spine-chilling ghost stories, Mike Enslin, makes a living debunking supernatural events by visiting sites of reported paranormal activity. Profoundly cynical, Enslin receives an anonymous postcard warning him not to check into the mysterious room 1408 of Manhattan's Dolphin Hotel, of course, only to spark his suspicious interest. Intrigued, Mike chooses to ignore the hotel manager's insistent warnings of the evil room's grave dangers--and after packing his spirit-detecting gear--he boldly enters a secret realm of bizarre occurrences and surreal instances. Will Room 1408 make for an excellent final chapter in sceptic Mike's new novel? —Nick Riganas Supernatural writer Mike Enslin is the author of two successful books on supernatural phenomena. As research for his latest book, Enslin is determined to check out the notorious room 1408 in a New York City hotel by personally staying as a guest in the fabled room. He believes that 1408 is just a myth perpetuated by stories and rumors that Enslin has collected for his past works. However, hotel manager Mr. Olin has strong objections to Enslin's stay and only warns him of possible danger to come. Enslin is determined to go anyway. But what Mike Enslin is about to experience is no myth, as 1408 truly is a room where the guests don't check out by noon. —mystic80

At mid-afternoon on Christmas Eve in Wichita, Kansas, mob lawyer Charlie Arglist (John Cusack) and crooked businessman and pornographer Vic Cavanaugh (Billy Bob Thornton) steal over $2 million from their mob boss Bill Guerrard (Randy Quaid). While it appears, there will be an easy getaway for the pair, they learn the roads out of town are too icy to drive on. Vic takes the cash for safe-keeping, and they split up and try their best to evade being captured by Guerrard and his men, who have discovered their scheme. Charlie visits Sweet Cage, a local strip-club, owned by Renata Crest (Connie Nielsen), a woman whom Charlie has long lusted for. She is upset because a new law will prevent strip clubs from operating after the first of the year. In response to Charlie's persistent efforts, she tasks him with bring her an existing compromising picture, taken of a local crusading politician, so that she can use it to blackmail him to keep her club in business. She hints that she might respond favorably to Charlie's sexual desire if he helps her with this. Before he leaves the club, Charlie sees someone looking for him. He hides in the bathroom, where "As Wichita Falls, So Falls Wichita Falls" is written on the walls. He manages to evade the hulking man because Sidney the bartender lies and tells him that Charlie already left. Once the man leaves, a panicked Charlie calls Vic to warn him, but Vic dismisses his concerns. Charlie drives to another strip club owned by Guerrard and removes the photo from the backroom safe. Before he gets there, his car skids on ice and he is stopped by Officer Tyler, who asks Charlie to remember him to his boss, Guerrard. Charlie promises to do so, but then can't remember the man's name a minute later. At the second club, he is unexpectedly nice to a stripper, and the bartender there takes note of that. While Charlie is in the back stealing the photograph, the menacing man shows up again, once again demanding to know if Charlie has been there. Once again, the bartender lies for Charlie and he's again able to evade capture. Once he leaves, a now very panicked Charlie rushes out with his phone open to call Vic again but slips on the ice and breaks his phone. Charlie drives to a restaurant to meet with Vic in person instead, and Vic assures him things will be okay. While they're talking, Vic gets a phone call from someone and tells Charlie it's his overweight wife asking when he'll be home. Vic leaves, but before Charlie can go, the bar manager asks Charlie to take care of Pete (Oliver Platt), Charlie's old and now very drunk friend. Pete is married to Charlie's beautiful ex-wife Sarabeth. Charlie takes Pete to the home of Pete's current and Charlie's ex-in-laws where his children and Sarabeth are having dinner with her parents. It's clear that Pete doesn't want to go in and is unhappy with his new marriage to Charlie's ex-wife. While still outside the house, he drunkenly confesses to Charlie that he and Sarabeth were constantly "f**king everywhere" while she was still married to Charlie. Pete asks Charlie if that makes him angry, and Charlies replies, "Actually, it makes me curious. Makes me wonder who she's f**king now." Once inside, Pete acts out, cursing and saying terrible things about both his wife and his in-laws. Charlie attempts to talk to his children but is met with open hostility from his older son for not being more involved in their lives. Finally, Sarabeth's mother tells him to leave, and take Pete with him. So, Pete and Charlie go back to the restaurant they'd left earlier, and ask the bartender for one more drink. She agrees to give them each one for free if they will drink it and then leave. Charlie calls the Sweet Cage looking for Renata while Pete makes drunken sexual comments to the bartender, despite the fact that her boyfriend is waiting there for her close. The boyfriend eventually throws him out of the restaurant and then kicks him in the scrotum. Pete vomits in Charlie's car, Officer Tyler shows up again, and Charlie drives Pete home (which was previously Charlie's house), where Pete passes out. Charlie "borrows" Sarabeth's new Mercedes (which was a gift from Pete) from the garage since Pete threw up all over Charlie's car. Charlie goes back to Sweet Cage to find Sidney the bartender beating up a guitar player. Renata has returned, so he gives her the photo. Based on Charlie's kindness to the stripper at the other club and his refusal to demand anything in return for the valuable photo, Renata deduces that Charlie is hiding something. He hints at the existence of money, and she suggests they go off together. Before they can do that, however, she tells him that Vic had called her earlier to say Charlie had been right about mob enforcer Roy Gelles (Mike Starr) looking for the two of them, and that Charlie needs to go meet with Vic at The Velvet Touch while she closes her bar. Charlie goes to The Velvet Touch and finds a severed human thumb in the back room. He drives to a bridge to be sick, and is once again spotted by Officer Tyler, whose name he still can't remember. He heads to Vic's house and sees a gun go off through the window. He breaks into the other car in Vic's driveway and finds ID belonging to Roy, so he assumes that Roy just killed Vic. He calls Renata to tell her so, and she encourages him to take Roy out and get the money from him so they can run off together. She encourages him to make this his "defining moment" to be "something more." Charlie goes into Vic's house, finds Vic's wife newly dead and is then startled by Vic himself. Vic tells him that Roy shot his wife, but that he managed to lock Roy up in a trunk. After an argument about which car would hold the two bodies best, the two of them stuff the trunk with Roy inside it into the back seat of Sarabeth's Mercedes, and the corpse of Vic's wives into the trunk, then head for a local lake. On the way, Roy continues talking to the two of them, telling Charlie Vic killed his own wife, and that he's going to kill Charlie too. Vic berates Charlie for "being nice" on Christmas Eve, saying it's a dead giveaway that he's planning to leave town, then gets annoyed with Roy's talking and shoots into the trunk, which becomes quiet. Charlie and Vic get the trunk down onto a dock at the lake, but it's shot open from the inside and Roy gets out, shooting Vic in the process. Vic shoots Roy dead, but then falls into the frozen lake. Vic begs for help, but Charlie realized that Roy was right, and Vic was planning to kill him once they got the bodies into the lake, and then take the money for himself. He dumps Vic's wife's body on Vic, telling him, "I don't want you to die alone," and leaves Vic to die, still pleading to be saved. But then Charlie discovers the carry-on bag in the car does not have the money in it, and that he doesn't know where the money actually is (and with Vic dead, has no way of figuring that out), so he gets drunk. He calls Renata and tells her what has happened, but she asks him to come to her despite not having the money. When Charlie hangs up the phone, it is revealed that someone is pointing a gun at her. First Charlie heads back to his old house and delivers some very cheap Christmas gifts to his children, leaving them under the tree. Pete is still passed out there and begs Charlie to take Pete with him when he leaves town. Returning to Sweet Cage, Charlie discovers Bill Guerrard's car in the parking lot. He goes inside just a moment when Guerrard is in the bathroom, to discover that Renata is tied to a chair. She has just enough time to tell him where a shotgun is hidden before Guerrard emerges from the bathroom, not seeing that Charlie has arrived. Charlie manages to fetch the double-barreled shotgun from behind the bar, and Guerrard discusses the situation with Renata, surmising it was really her who designed the plan, as Vic was too dumb and Charlie too cowardly to pull it off, without her encouragement. Charlie returns and points the gun at Guerrard, but Guerrard just taunts him. At Renata's urging, Charlie fires the gun, but it is loaded with bird-shot and only superficially wounds him. As Charlie starts to cut Renata loose, Charlie is stabbed in the foot by a recovered Guerrard. Officer Tyler, making his rounds, hears the gunshot and arrives but Guerrard shoots him dead. Renata frees herself and stabs Guerrard in the chest. A struggle ensues, and Charlie manages to kill Guerrard with a second shot to the back of the head at point blank range. Charlie mends his wound, while Renata cleans Guerrard's blood off of herself, and suddenly sees Vic's carry-on bag containing the money in her open closet. Flashing back, he realizes Renata is the one Vic was having dinner with earlier, and that he and Renata were planning to go off together after Vic had killed him. Renata emerges from the bathroom acting as if she is going to seduce Charlie. As they embrace, Charlie shoots Renata with Guerrad's gun just before she can kill him with a concealed razor she brought out of the bathroom. On Christmas morning, a sad Charlie drives out of town with the money. He finds Sidney with his kids on the side of the road in a camper-motor home, on their way to Six Flags. They are stalled because the camper has run out of gas. Charlie lets Sidney siphon some gas from his tank and Sidney tells him that Charlie's the nicest guy he knows. Charlie says he's "awfully sorry to hear that." They wish each other well, but as Sidney's motor won't immediately start. Before he drives off, Charlie pulls a red Sharpie from his pocket and begins to write "As Wichita Falls, So Falls Wichita Falls" on the back of the camper. Based on the handwriting and the ink color, it's implied that he was the one writing this phrase all over town the entire time. Not seeing Charlie back there, Sidney accidentally backs into him, knocking him to the ground. Charlie picks himself up and gets back in the Mercedes, where Pete is revealed to have been lying in the back seat the entire time. He has at last awoken from his stupor and wants to know where he is. Charlie tells him he's in Heaven. They wish each other "Merry Christmas" and drive off to a new and different future.

Sarah Nolan, a preschool teacher, is forced into finding a man after her sister Carol makes her a profile on a matchmaking website. Her life is changed when she meets Jake, a recent divorcee. Preschool teacher Sarah Nolan (Diane Lane), divorced for eight months, is still grieving the end of her marriage. Although she didn't see it as being perfect, she probably would have stuck it out as what she saw as the "for better or worse" obligation of the wedding vows, that is if her ex-husband, Kevin, didn't end it for what ended up being leaving her for a younger woman. She is urged by her over-supportive family, comprised of her many siblings, their partners, and her widowed father, to get back into the dating scene, something she has been reluctant to do in not feeling ready. As such, her most proactive sister in the matter, Carol (Elizabeth Perkins), sets her up on an Internet dating site. Within her less than prepared state, Sarah does go along with meeting men by the means offered to her. Beyond especially her female siblings, Sarah is given unique perspectives on the whole issue of dating and commitment by her father, Bill (Christopher Plummer), who is exploring dating after losing who was the love of his life in Sarah's mother, thrice divorced Dolly (Stockard Channing), one of Bill's conquests, who he meets on-line, and Sarah's gay teaching colleague, Leo (Brad William Henke), who she sees as being in the most committed loving relationship with his partner Eric (Victor Webster) of anyone she knows. Of the men she meets, Sarah makes what she believes is a connection with two, albeit awkward in both cases. One is Bob Connor (Dermot Mulroney), the divorced father of one of her students, her hesitance in dating him only because of crossing the professional/personal line. The other is custom wooden boat builder Jake Anderson (John Cusack), who too was pushed into trying on-line dating by his best friend/divorce lawyer Charlie (Ben Shenkman), who wants Jake solely to get some action despite Jake wanting his love life to be more like Lara and Yuri in Doctor Zhivago (1965). Much of what happens between Sarah and the two men is based on what stage they are in post-divorce dating life, but is also dependent on how much Sarah is willing to take a chance on each, which may also include her and the respective man just not meshing at a given point in time, and her making a wrong decision in the process based on what she sees as the prospects. —Huggo Sarah Nolan (Diane Lane), a recently divorced thirty-something-year-old, has a family that just can't help getting involved in her personal life, or lack there of. After her sister puts her profile on PerfectMatch.com, this preschool teacher goes on a number of outrageous and hilarious dates. But will she be able to find the one, who must love dogs? —Nina Sarah Nolan (Diane Lane), a preschool teacher in her thirties, is recently divorced. Her family's new pet project is to find her a boyfriend. After a series of disastrous, but hilarious, dates she decides to swear off dating for good. Her well-meaning family and friends are not going to let her give-up quite so easily though. Her sister enrolls her in on-line dating and includes the description of "must love dogs". She loves dogs, but doesn't own one of her own, so she borrows her brother's dog to meet Jake Anderson (John Cusack) at the dog park. He, too, had to borrow a dog. It's a hit-and-miss beginning - but could true love wag its tail for these two? —Johnson Preschool teacher Sarah Nolan (Diane Lane) got divorced eight months ago, but she is still vulnerable and alone. Her family presses her to find a new Mr. Right, and her sister Carol puts her profile on the site PerfectMatch.com. She has blind dates with odd guys, but she particularly likes Jake Anderson (John Cusack), who divorced three months ago and still misses his former wife. Jake likes her too, but Sarah has a one-night stand with Bob Connor (Dermot Mulroney), the father of one of her students, and Jake gives up on her. Later, Sarah finds that Jake is her perfect match. —Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Malcolm Rivers (Pruitt Taylor Vince) is a psychotic killer awaiting execution for several vicious murders. His psychiatrist, Doctor Malick (Alfred Molina), has discovered a journal belonging to Rivers that may explain why he really committed the murders. With this late evidence brought forth, a new hearing takes place on a stormy night in which Malick will try to persuade the Judge to spare Rivers. Meanwhile, a group of ten strangers, through a number of circumstances, find themselves stranded in the middle of a storm in a remote motel in the Nevada desert. With the phone lines down due to the storm, the group prepare to spend the night, taking care of those that have been injured through their arrival. However, the group quickly finds that there is an unknown murderer present, killing off each of the guests and leaving behind one of the motel's room keys to be found, starting with Room 10's key and counting down. Back at the hearing, the contents of Malcolm's journal are revealed, indicating the prisoner suffers from an extreme case of Dissociative Identity Disorder, harboring ten distinct personalities. Malick is able to bring forth one of Malcolm's personalities, Ed (John Cusack), revealing that events at the motel are occurring inside Malcolm's mind, each personality being a distinct person though all sharing the same birth date. After hearing of events in the motel, Malick informs the Ed personality that he must find and eliminate the hostile personality in order to prevent Malcolm from being executed lest all the personalities be killed off. In the motel setting, as the group is dwindled down, Ed believes that the personality of Rhodes (Ray Liotta) is the murderer, and sacrifices himself to kill Rhodes, leaving only Paris (Amanda Peet) alive. When Malick demonstrates that that homicidal personality is dead, the judge decides to place Malcolm in a mental institution under Malick's care. As Malcolm is driven along with Malick to the institution, in Malcolm's mind, Paris has driven away from the motel to her hometown in Florida. As she tends an orange grove, she discovers the Room 1 motel key in the ground, and turns around to find the young boy Timmy standing behind her. Timmy, the true homicidal personality, had orchestrated all the deaths at the motel, and made it appear that he had been killed as well; he finishes his task by killing Paris, reciting Hughes Mearns's Antigonish. Now driven only by his last personality of Timmy, Malcolm strangles Malick, and the transport van runs off the side of the road.

Veteran publicist Lee Phillips (Billy Crystal) is fired from his position at a major film studio. Studio head Dave Kingman (Stanley Tucci) later invites him back for a private screening of Time Over Time, a new time travel thriller starring Gwen Harrison (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Eddie Thomas (John Cusack). Eddie and Gwen were a beloved husband-and-wife team dubbed "America's Sweethearts". Eddie and Gwen have starred in many romantic movies together and the audience loves them as an on-screen couple. They did 6 movies together which made over a $100 million at the box office. Their marriage fell apart when Gwen had an affair with her co-star Hector (Hank Azaria), causing Eddie to suffer a mental breakdown and check into a remote New Age wellness retreat. Eddie is traumatized by the fact that Gwen takes Hector to all the places that were their favorites when they were a couple. Eddie has been locked up in there for 6.5 months, and has been separated from Gwen for over a year and a half. When Lee arrives, Kingman reveals he has nothing to screen: the movie's director, Hal Weidmann (Christopher Walken), is refusing to release the completed film, insisting on premiering it at the upcoming press junket. Weidmann is a 3-time Oscar winning director, and hence cannot be pressured into doing what Kingman wants. Kingman is desperate to get hold of it, as the studio has recently suffered a string of flops (and hasn't had a hit in over 2 years) and Time Over Time is likely the couple's last film together. Kingman has already invested $86 million into the movie and wants it to be a hit to recover his costs. Unsure when, or even if, the film will arrive, Kingman begs Lee to promote it at the junket by convincing the press that Eddie and Gwen are back together, promising to restore Lee's job if he succeeds. Lee recruits rookie publicist Danny (Seth Green) to assist him. They move the event from Four Seasons hotel to the new Hyatt opening in the middle of the desert, with nothing around for several miles. The whole press junket is designed to keep the press entertained and away from the thought of actually watching the movie and reviewing it. Gwen is also under pressure as she knows that her last 2 movies which she did without Eddie, crashed and burned at the box office. Lee visits Gwen, who now resides with Hector, to persuade her to attend the junket. Kathleen "Kiki" Harrison (Julia Roberts), Gwen's sister and personal assistant, convinces her that a junket appearance will help her floundering career and public image. Kiki is overshadowed by Gwen and is treated by her like dirt. Gwen is livid whenever Kiki gets even a little bit of attention from anyone. Kiki was recently overweight and has lost 60 pounds. Hector invites himself to the junket over Eddie's protests. At the wellness retreat, Lee bribes its spiritual guru (Alan Arkin) with a luxury car to convince a reluctant Eddie to face Gwen. At the junket, Gwen cozies up to Eddie for the press, while behind the scenes their interactions remain tense. Eddie goes over to spy on Gwen at her cottage and ends up falling on a cactus. While removing the thorns, he is caught on camera, and it looks like he was masturbating. Lee makes sure that the tape is released to the media for publicity. Eddie pines for her initially but soon tires of her duplicitous nature. Gwen uses Kiki as her go-between with Eddie, unaware she has feelings for him. Kiki remembers that one night after Gwen and Eddie broke up, he got drunk and kissed Kiki. While Kiki remembers the incident fondly, Eddie simply believes that he took advantage of Kiki and views her as a good friend. To distract the press until the film arrives, Lee and Danny plant clues that Eddie and Gwen have reconciled. After Lee leaks a misleading photo of them to the media, Hector shows up and confronts Eddie, leading to a fist fight that ends when Hector knocks him out with a serving tray. Kingman is thrilled with the publicity, but a guilt-ridden Lee starts to question his tactics. Kiki helps Eddie to his room, where they give into their growing attraction and have sex. However, at Gwen's cottage the next morning, Eddie tells Gwen he is "not technically" seeing anyone, causing Kiki to storm off in disgust. Eddie goes after Kiki, who lambastes him for his inability to move on from Gwen. Kiki later laments to Lee about a lifetime of coming second to Gwen, while Eddie has an epiphany and realizes Kiki is who he truly wants. Lee, deducing that Eddie and Kiki are in love, encourages him not to give up, but just then, Weidmann arrives in a helicopter to deliver the film. At the screening, Weidmann shocks everyone by revealing that he abandoned the original script and used hidden camera footage, without the actors' knowledge, to create a "reality movie" instead. The new film follows Gwen's affair with Hector and Eddie's resulting mental decline; highlights include Gwen's demanding behavior on set, Kingman being insulted by his assistant, and Gwen mocking Hector's penis size. Gwen and Kingman confront Weidmann, who defends his artistic vision, while Hector assures the crowd that he is well-endowed (which Weidmann's daughter is happy to confirm). Desperate, Gwen announces that she and Eddie are getting back together, but he rebuffs her and publicly declares his love for Kiki. Kiki decides to stop putting her sister's desires ahead of her own, and a humiliated Gwen fires her and flounces off. Kiki and Eddie then kiss as the audience applauds. In the aftermath, Weidmann's movie becomes a hit, and Lee resumes his studio job to promote it. Gwen admits to the press that the reconciliation was a lie, blaming her erratic behavior on pain medication before departing with Hector. Eddie and Kiki decide to pursue a relationship, and with Lee's blessing, they leave together to travel.

During the Christmas shopping season in New York City, Jonathan Trager (John Cusack) meets Sara Thomas (Kate Beckinsale) as they both try to buy the same pair of black cashmere gloves at Bloomingdale's. They feel a mutual attraction, and despite the fact that each is involved in other relationships, they end up eating ice cream at Serendipity together, and soon exchange goodbyes. However, both realize that they have left something at the ice cream bar and return only to find each other again. Considering this to be a stroke of fate, Jonathan and Sara decide to go out on the town together, and ice skate on the Wollman Rink at Central Park. Jonathan teaches Sara about Cassiopeia, saying that the freckles on Sara's arm match the pattern of the Cassiopeia constellation. At the end of the night, the smitten Jonathan suggests an exchange of phone numbers. Sara writes hers down, but it flies away with the wind. Wanting fate to work things out, Sara asks Jonathan to write his name and phone number on a $5 bill, while she writes her name and number on the inside cover of a copy of Love in the Time of Cholera. If they are meant to be together, he will find the book and she will find the $5 bill, and they will find their way back to each other. Jonathan is not satisfied with this, so they go into a hotel with 28 floors and enter into different elevators to see if they both choose the same floor. They each take a single glove from the pair they purchased. They both press floor 23, but a child gets on the elevator with Jonathan and presses all the buttons, so it is too late by the time he reaches floor 23. The two believe they've lost each other forever. Several years later, Jonathan is at an engagement party with his fiance Halley Buchanan (Bridget Moynahan). On the same day, Sara comes home to her house to find Lars Hammond (John Corbett), a famous musician, proposing to her. As their wedding dates approach, each find themselves with a case of cold feet, and decide to return to New York in an attempt to find each other again. Jonathan and his best friend Dean Kansky (Jeremy Piven) return to Bloomingdale's in an attempt to find Sara. They meet the same salesman (Eugene Levy) and eventually end up with only an address. They meet a painter who recalls that she lived there for a short time after being referred by a placement company, which he identifies as being located in a shop next to Serendipity. Jonathan and Dean follow the lead to find that the agency has moved, and its former location is now a bridal shop. Jonathan takes this as a sign that he is supposed to stop looking for Sara and get married to Halley. Sara takes her best friend Eve (Molly Shannon) with her to New York, where she visits the locations of her date, hoping that fate will bring back Jonathan. At the Waldorf Astoria, Eve bumps into an old friend--Halley--who is there to get married the next day. Halley invites Eve and Sara to the wedding without anyone realizing the groom is Jonathan. Failing in their search, Sara and Eve console themselves with a coffee at Serendipity. Eve is handed the $5 bill as change. The day before the big event, Halley hands Jonathan a copy of Love in the Time of Cholera as a gift, having noticed him picking up the book every time they're in a bookstore. It is the copy that Sara had written in, and he immediately sets off to find her. He sees people in her house being intimate, when it's actually Sara's sister and her boyfriend. Jonathan then comes back home for the wedding. Sara decides not to attend the wedding and starts to return home. She goes to the Waldorf to retrieve her belongings, where she finds Lars, who followed her to New York. While with Lars, she sees Cassiopeia in the sky, and breaks her engagement with him. On the plane the next day, Sara finds that her wallet got exchanged with Eve's. She realizes she has the same $5 bill which Jonathan wrote on several years earlier and gets off the plane to search for him. His neighbors tell her he's getting married the same day. She rushes to the hotel, only to see a man, apparently cleaning up at the end of the ceremony. She is in tears until the man says the wedding was called off. Sara later remembers the jacket she left in the park. Jonathan is wandering around Central Park. He finds Sara's jacket and uses it as a pillow to lie down. As the first snowflake drops, he sees Sara. They introduce themselves to each other formally for the first time. The film concludes with Sara and Jonathan at Bloomingdale's, enjoying champagne on their anniversary at the same spot where they first met.

Depressed by a dead-end job and a stale marriage, Craig Schwartz changes his life when he discovers a portal into the mind of actor John Malkovich.

A visiting city reporter's assignment suddenly revolves around the murder trial of a local millionaire, who he befriends. This panoramic tale of Savannah, Georgia's eccentricities focuses on a murder and the subsequent trial of James Arthur Williams (Kevin Spacey): self made man, art collector, antiques dealer, bon vivant, and semi-closeted homosexual. Magazine reporter John Kelso (John Cusack) finds himself in Savannah amid the beautiful architecture and odd doings to write a feature on one of William's famous Christmas parties. He is intrigued by Williams from the start, but his curiosity is piqued when he meets Jim's violent, sexy lover, Billy Hanson (Jude Law). Later that night, Billy is found dead, and Kelso stays on to cover the murder trial. Along the way, he encounters the irrepressible Chablis Deveau (Lady Chablis), a drag-queen comedienne; Sonny Seiler (Jack Thompson), lawyer to Williams, whose famous dog Uga, is the official mascot of the Georgia Bulldogs; an odd man who keeps flies attached to mini leashes on his lapels and threatens daily to poison the water supply; the Married Ladies' Card Club; and Minerva (Irma P. Hall), a spiritualist. Kelso has his hands full being Jim's buddy, cuddling up to a torch singer, meeting every eccentric in Savannah, participating in midnight graveyard rituals, and helping solve the mysteries surrounding Billy's murder. —Teresa B. O'Donnell <sun.moon.stars@worldnet.att.net>

This complex 1996 drama directed by Harold Becker (Sea of Love) attempts to explore big-city corruption and the flexibility of what's right and wrong in the political arena. John Cusack plays the senior aide to mayor John Pappas (Al Pacino), a popular and seasoned politician whose administration is threatened when what seems to be an accidental shooting of a child reveals a nest of corruption and lifelong personal debts. This tests Cusack's loyalty to the man he thought he knew. Pacino turns in a finely textured performance as a man who has his own lofty ideals, but whose pragmatism sets in motion a series of events with tragic results. Cusack admirably captures the essence of someone polished and savvy at his job but must cope with fundamental disillusionment. This political thriller suffers at times from a lack of focus, but still offers an insightful and poignant treatise on the quagmire of politics in the modern age and the human toll it sometimes exacts.

Best friends from law school to election night, their friendship is sorely tested when one learns of another's betrayal. Peter and Tim are both law students looking to get into the battleground of politics in Washington, but they both have different ideals and ethics. Tim wants to pursue a career in justice, but Peter is determined to be a big political power broker any way he can, even if that means bending the rules. As their careers push them towards political opposites, their friendship must constantly adapt to the new situation. —Murray Chapman <muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au> Peter Burton and Tim Garrity both meet when they go to law school. Tim comes from an affluent family, while Peter comes from the working class, which he is a bit ashamed of. Tim's a noble person who wants to do what is right, while Peter's willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead. And that includes blackmail and intimidation. And when his latest scheme burns Tim, Tim decides to find out if Peter deliberately betrayed him or if the man he works, John Palmeri made him do it and if so to make them answer for it. —rcs0411@yahoo.com

This film reenacts the Manhattan Project, the secret WWII project, and the first atomic bombs designed, built, and tested in Los Alamos. In real life, Robert Oppenheimer was the scientific head of the Manhattan Project, the secret wartime project in New Mexico where the first atomic bombs were designed and built. General Leslie Groves was in overall command of it. This film reenacts the project with an emphasis on their relationship. —Anonymous

Cartoonist "Hoops" McCann (John Cusack) works on a scholarship application to the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), before rushing off to attend his high school graduation ceremony. Hoops comes from a long-line of professional basketball players (his father and grandfather, great-grandfather, etc.) but was rejected for a sports scholarship to his college of choice due to his poor basketball performance on the school team of not scoring a single hoop. Hoops can't even throw a paper wad into a wastebasket from three feet away (a running gag used throughout the movie). At school, Hoops joins his best friend, George Calamari (Joel Murray), who persuades Hoops to spend two weeks partying on Nantucket Island before heading off to college. George stops to pick up his 10-year-old sister, Squid (Kristen Goelz), after school. She and her injured dog, Bosco, join George and Hoops for the trip to Nantucket after Squid shows that she does not tolerate any verbal abuse from others over her dog's ugly appearance. When two young girls make fun of Bosco and contort their faces, Squid slaps them on their backs and their faces stay that way. They both run off screaming. They stop for gas, and Hoops uses the restroom. A group of bikers led by Stain (John Matuszak) check the stalls looking for a woman named Cassandra (Demi Moore). As Stain demands his money, Hoops finds Cassandra's cash hidden in the towel dispenser, and throws the bills up in the air. He runs out, grabs Cassandra, and they jump into George's car. George speeds to the ferry, which is leaving the dock. George's car lands on the ferry deck, while the lead biker, Stain, falls into the bay (and getting little fish harpooned to his spiked pink-colored hairstyle). During the ferry ride, Cassandra informs them that she is visiting her grandfather, Mr. Eldridge, who lives on the island. When they arrive, she suggests they might meet again. George introduces Hoops to his friends, fraternal Stork twins Clay (Tom Villard) and Egg (Bobcat Goldthwait), two dim-witted local auto mechanics who are currently working as private security guards on a Hollywood film set for a movie titled 'Foam 2', a horror film about a dolphin with rabies menacing the community (a nod to the film series 'Jaws'). The group arrives at the home of George's grandparents. Grandma (Billie Bird) fusses over Squid while George's insane Uncle Frank (Bruce Wagner) has locked himself in a bedroom, listening obsessively to the local radio station, trying to win an on-air contest. The crotchety man tells his nephew and Hoops to scram. George and Hoops go to Target Beach, the local artillery range, and meet another friend, Ack Ack "Acky" Raymond (Curtis Armstrong), who collects mortar shells for his father, the gung-ho General Raymond (Joe Flaherty), the owner of the local guns and ammo store, who also heads up the local Scout troop. As they drive past a cemetery, Hoops notices Cassandra at her grandfather's funeral. Meanwhile, at the estate of the island's richest and most powerful family, the Beckersteds, Aguilla (Mark Metcalf) asks his spoiled son, Teddy (Matt Mulhern), if he is prepared to win this year's sailing regatta. Teddy has a new sailboat but the stakes are high. Old Man Beckersted (William Hickey), Teddy's wealthy grandfather, has vowed to disown Aguilla and Teddy if the young man does not win the trophy. Aguilla wants to use his father's resources to purchase the late Mr. Eldridge's property and build condominiums. However, his plan will be foiled if Cassandra raises $3,000 to pay Eldridge's back taxes. As Hoops walks with Cassandra on the beach, she explains her financial predicament. In addition, she worries that the friends her grandfather invited to live at the house will soon be homeless. Cassandra decides to sell some of her grandfather's furniture to raise money. Hoops draws cartoons to cheer her up (showing one of several animated sequences throughout the film of a "Lonely Rhino" searching for "Love" a blind cupid, while evading the evil and wealthy "Fuzzy Bunnies"). A few days later on the beach, Hoops works at his drawings until George suggests that the Stork twins entertain his friend. As they chat, Teddy's girl friend, Cookie Cambell (Kimberly Foster), asks Hoops, Clay, and Egg to help her launch her boyfriend's sailboat. Hoops declines Cookie's offer to go sailing but agrees to her offer to take in a movie at the local drive-in theater that evening. Later that evening at nightfall, Hoops learns that Cassandra has raised some money selling her grandfather's furniture. Cassandra invites him to the Dew Drop Inn to hear her play guitar, where she hopes to raise more money. Hoops promises to be there, but he has already made the movie date with Cookie. He tells his friends that he prefers to watch Cassandra perform, but Cookie shows up at the door, and he feels obligated to go to the movies with her. He asks the Storks to keep an eye on Teddy at his family's house in case he leaves to look for Cookie. At the Dew Drop Inn bar/restaurant, Cassandra takes the stage to play her acoustic guitar and sing, but there is hardly anyone in attendance. She also looks a little disappointed that Hoops is not there. On the film set of 'Foam 2', Egg takes over for his brother, watching the costume trailer and gets himself stuck in a Godzilla costume when he tries it on for a gag. When he realizes he has to be at the Beckerstead's party at 8:00 pm to watch Teddy, he is forced to go there in the costume. At the drive-in theater, Hoops buys snacks, and Teddy's friend, Ty (Jeremy Piven), notices that Hoops is with Cookie. Ty telephones his friend and reports that Cookie is on a date with Hoops. The news sends Teddy into a jealous rage. Elsewhere, Grandma takes Squid on a drive into town for dinner. While at a gas station, the two attendants make fun of Squid's dog, prompting Squid to roll up her car window and trap their neckties. Grandma drives off, dragging them down the road. At the Beckersted estate, Egg (still stuck in his Godzilla costume) hides in the bushes where a fundraiser is being held to raise money for the condo developments on the Elderidge property, and some Japanese investors are in attendance. When Old Man Beckersted throws a lit cigar away, it lands in Egg's Godzilla mouth. Egg goes crazy and crashes the party with smoke billowing out of his costume's mouth and stomps on the condo development models (resembling a Japanese monster movie of Godzilla stomping on city buildings) before running away into the night. Back at the drive in theater, Cookie is bored, and suggests that they go to "the Point" and look at the moon. At the Point, General Raymond delivers a rousing speech to his Boy Scout troop about how their overnight retreat is a perfect opportunity to practice their rescue skills. Just then, Hoops slips and falls, and the scouts descend and wrap him in bandages like a mummy. The scouts chase after Cookie, but she runs away and Teddy picks her up in his car, Cookie unfairly blaming Hoops and his friends for her terrified state. George rescues Hoops, and they drive to the Dew Drop Inn, but it is closed for it is after 11:00pm. Egg also arrives still dressed in his Godzilla costume as well as Acky and Clay, and they all help Egg out of the costume. When Teddy arrives with his friends and threatens to beat up Hoops, Cassandra steps in and challenges Teddy to compete against Hoops in a series of free-throw basketball shots (unaware that Hoops is terrible at basketball). Using Ack Ack as a makeshift "basket", Teddy makes every shot and Hoops misses every shot. Teddy is eager to rough up Hoops, but Cassandra sprays mace so that her new friends can escape. Hoops thanks her, and apologizes for missing her performance. A few days later, Hoops sees Cassandra at the beach, and offers to use his animation skills to help her fund raise. He creates an animated advertisement for Cassandra's performance, and shows it at the drive-in. He and his friends also hand out concert fliers in town. When Aguilla Beckersted realizes that Cassandra might raise enough money to save her grandfather's property, he enlists Teddy to prevent her from performing. Hoops and his friends fight back by pouring barrels of live lobsters into the Beckersted swimming pool. When Teddy goes for a swim with Cookie, the lobsters attack them both. Cassandra's concert is a success, but when she shows up to pay the tax bill, the meek banker explains that he already sold the mortgage to Old Man Beckersted. In revenge, Aguilla reveals more of his ruthlessness when he kicks and severely injures Squid's dog, who has to go to the animal hospital (staffed mostly by animals). Cassandra is ready to give up, but Acky suggests they enter and win the regatta by beating Teddy. The friends work to repair a shoddy boat, and Cassandra persuades Hoops to be captain. As they finish the boat, they realize they don't have a very powerful engine. Clay shows up with Teddy's Ferrari to have it serviced at their garage. Egg notices that Clay has a black eye given to him by Teddy. Egg becomes enraged, grabs a chainsaw and approaches Teddy's Ferrari... Race day arrives and most people laugh at Hoops' team and their boat, which looks silly next to the higher end sloops. The race begins with each team rowing out of the harbor. When they start to fall behind, George eggs Egg on with negative news about his favorite wrestling star and they begin to make up some distance. Teddy's team pulls way out in front when the rest of the boats hoist their sails for the next leg of the run. After a few miles, Aguilla Beckersted appears aboard Teddy's boat and sabotages Hoops' team by cutting their lanyard line with an arrow from a cross bow. Unable to thread the rope at the top of the mast, Hoops uses a small weight, and on a million-to-one shot, throws the small bearer ball through the hoop at the top (thus ending his curse at not being able to score any hoops). As Hoops, George, Acky, Clay and Egg sail on, Aguilla aims another arrow to put a hole in Hoops' craft, when the mechanical dolphin from 'Foam 2', powered by Squid, rams into the boat. Aguilla falls overboard where the mechanical dolphin "eats" him alive. The top hatch pops open and Squid cheerfully waves. In the last lap, the racers retract the sails and engage the boats' engines. Teddy leaves his father in the water and speeds toward the finish. Hoops' team all don anti-aircraft helmets and blow the boat's rear "hatch", revealing the engine from Teddy's Ferarri, installed by the Stork twins after Egg's rampage. Hoops and his friends speed to victory (giving 'the finger' to Teddy, Ty and the rest of his snobby friends). Afterward, Hoops offers Teddy the trophy in exchange for the Eldridge house. However, Old Man Beckersted, impressed with the novice team's effort, informs Cassandra that he is returning the Eldridge property to her and there will be no real estate development. Hoops and Cassandra celebrate and kiss for the first time. Also, Squid's dog is alive and returns to her... after giving birth to a litter of puppies at the animal hospital. In the final scene sometime later, George's uncle Frank finally wins the radio call-in contest for $1 million, but his phone gets disconnected before he can tell the DJ his name and his prize is given away to someone else; he snaps and promptly uses a rocket launcher to fire a guided missile to blow up the radio station. The Stork twins arrive in their tow truck and head to the fiery remains to roast marshmallows.

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

At Vernon Academy, a prestigious boys' preparatory school in Illinois, Jonathan Ogner (Andrew McCarthy) arrives on campus to begin his senior year. Upon entering his dormitory, he is greeted by his new roommate, Squire Franklin Burroughs IV (Rob Lowe), who is nicknamed "Skip." Following a brief chat, Skip coerces Jonathan to dress in women's underwear as part of senior-class ritual, then locks him out of the building, exposing him to ridicule by the other students. Later, Skip apologizes for the prank, explaining it as a school tradition. Jonathan endures the taunts of his classmates until lunch the next day, when he runs from the cafeteria in tears. Skip returns to his room and discovers Jonathan hanging from the ceiling. The horrified student fetches Mr. Kennedy (Remark Ramsay), the headmaster, but when they enter the room, Jonathan's body has been replaced with a mannequin bearing Kennedy's likeness. The prank earns Jonathan the respect of Skip and his classmates. That night, over a bottle of vodka, Jonathan admits that he cheated on the Scholastic Aptitude Test, or SAT, believing that his "life depends" on being accepted to Harvard University, even though he has always been an exceptional student. He and Skip sneak out of the dormitory to meet Lisa (Virgina Madison) and Susan (Deborah Thalberg), who attend Vernon's sister school, Foxfield Academy. Jonathan ruins the evening by vomiting in the backseat of Skip's car. Sometime later, Skip appoints Jonathan as secretary to the school's dance committee, which travels to Foxfield to meet with Headmistress DeBreul (Fern Persons) and several students, including Lisa and Susan, to plan a Halloween dance. Jonathan's clumsiness in the presence of the women causes a series of mishaps, including the baring of Lisa's breasts and the destruction of a vase given to the school by Eleanor Roosevelt. Jonathan is banned from Foxfield for life, denying him the only source of female companionship within a hundred miles of Vernon. Skip directs Jonathan to the Free and Easy Club in Chicago, Illinois, where he is likely to meet a sex partner. Skip also instructs Jonathan to return to school with a pair of panties as evidence of his conquest. At the club, Jonathan endures two awkward encounters before he meets Ellen (Jacqueline Bissett), an older, uninhibited English woman in her late-thirties. Taking Skip's advice, Jonathan lies about his age, saying he is a doctoral candidate at Northwestern University. Afraid of further embarrassing himself, Jonathan leaves the bar and hails a taxi. Ellen joins him and directs the driver to her hotel, where she and Jonathan make love in an elevator. Two days later, Jonathan returns to Vernon with a pair of Ellen's panties, and word spreads quickly of his sexual prowess. During a subsequent tryst in Chicago, Ellen asks to visit Jonathan at Northwestern the following weekend. When Jonathan claims that he will be attending a conference in New York City, Ellen offers to meet him there, leaving Jonathan no choice but to make travel plans. In a Manhattan clothing store, Ellen inadvertently sees Jonathan's student identification card and (seeing that he is underage and lied to her about himself attending Northwestern) runs from the store. Before Jonathan can stop her, she speeds away in a taxi. Jonathan returns to Vernon in a state of depression, resulting in a decline in his health and his schoolwork. Skip tries to lift his roommate's spirits, but makes no progress until Jonathan is notified that he has been accepted to Harvard. Over the Christmas holidays, Jonathan visits Skip at the Burroughs family's lavish estate. While the boys converse with Mr. Burroughs (Cliff Robertson) in the den, Skip's mother, who happens to be Ellen, appears. Following a brief introduction and an awkward pause, Ellen retires to her bedroom. At dinner, Ellen drinks heavily while Jonathan struggles to hide his discomfort. Afterward, when Mr. Burroughs scolds Ellen for her behavior, she seeks comfort from Jonathan, who declines her advances. Jonathan leaves the next day at Ellen's request. Upon returning to school, the students of Vernon learn that they are under investigation by a man named Balaban (Stuart Margolin), whom they believe to be a drug enforcement agent. After flushing several pounds of marijuana down the school's toilets, it is revealed that Balaban is targeting students who cheated on the SAT. Over the next few weeks, Jonathan receives several desperate phone calls from Ellen, until he finally agrees to meet her in Chicago. Skip asks to join him, but Jonathan insists on going alone, purportedly to mourn his ill-fated romance. In Chicago, Ellen and Jonathan exchange angry words before falling into each other's arms and making love. Meanwhile, Skip arrives in the city with friends from Vernon and Foxfield with the intention of surprising Jonathan, but when they burst into the hotel room, Skip is appalled at the sight of his mother in bed with Jonathan and runs from the room. Back at Vernon, Skip tells Jonathan that he is not upset by the affair, but is unable to hide his anger, and shows little emotion upon learning of his mother's commitment to a mental hospital. Later, in the cafeteria, Kennedy introduces Balaban to the students, and announces that each of them will be interviewed as part of the investigation. Although Jonathan manages to hide his guilt from Balaban, he worries that Skip may betray him as an act of retribution. When Skip is summoned by Balaban, he defies the investigator and utters an obscenity as he leaves the room. The incident makes Skip a hero among the students, and exacerbates Jonathan's guilt. He tries to instigate a conversation with his roommate, but Skip remains silent until Jonathan makes a provocative statement about Ellen, and a brawl ensues. The boys take the fight into the wooded area behind the school, and then into the dormitory. When both are exhausted, Jonathan explains that he was truly in love with Ellen, but promises never to see her again. Skip offers his forgiveness.