Jon Gries

Charles Farmer, played by Billy Bob Thornton, is a soft-spoken, wellliked, small town family man who has spent years building a rocket ship in his barn. As he nears completion of his project, however, several complications appear in his trajectory in the form of government interference and economic problems. Once the media got a hold of the story, the money woes seemed to make less sense to me. Look for Bruce Willis as a former astronaut, who visits Farmer. We spend the film watching and wondering whether these issues can be overcome and allow him to launch, and whether or not he should even try. Virginia Madsen stars as his supportive wife and Max Thieriot is his fifteen-year old son and assistant. (this first appeared on realmoviereview.com)

Napoleon Dynamite (Jon Heder) is a socially awkward high school student from Preston, Idaho who lives with his older brother Kipland Ronald "Kip" Dynamite (Aaron Ruell), their grandmother Carlinda Dynamite (Sandy Martin), and their pet llama, Tina. Napoleon's school days are spent doodling mythical creatures, dealing with bullies and playing tether-ball by himself. Napoleon is beaten up by bullies at school very often and he calls home for Kip or his grandmother to come and get him, but Kip refuses. Kip, 32, is unemployed and boasts of spending hours in Internet chat rooms with "babes" and training to be a cage fighter. Their grandmother leads a secret life involving mysterious boyfriends and quad-biking in the desert. Napoleon daydreams his way through school, doodling Ligers and fantasy creatures, and reluctantly deals with the various bullies who torment him. Napoleon frequently makes up fantastic stories about himself and assumes a sullen and aloof attitude. Napoleon and Kip attend a martial arts class taught by Rex. Rex has an 8-week course in which he teaches the basics of self-defense. But the program costs $300 each and Napoleon and Kip do not have that kind of money. Napoleon's grandmother breaks her coccyx in a quad-bike accident and asks their Uncle Rico (Jon Gries) to look after the boys while she recovers. Flirtatious, middle-aged Rico arrives in the camper van he lives in. Rico, a former athlete who lives in a 1975 Dodge Tradesman camper-van, uses the opportunity to team up with Kip in a get-rich-quick scheme to sell numerous items door-to-door. Kip wants money to visit his Internet girlfriend LaFawnduh (Shondrella Avery) in Detroit or for her to come visit him. Former high-school athlete Rico dwells on his past and dreams of going back in time. He believes wealth will help him get over his breakup with his girlfriend and failed dreams of NFL stardom. Napoleon becomes friends with two students at his school Deborah "Deb" Bradshaw (Tina Majorino), a shy girl who sells head-shots of famous celebrities and Knick-Knacks to raise money for college and Pedro (Efren Ramirez), a transfer student from Ciudad Juárez. Deb had come to Napoleon's home to sell stuff, and when he makes fun of her, she leaves her materials with Napoleon and runs away. Napoleon approaches Deb at lunch and offers to return her sales kit to her, which he had brought with him to school and kept in his locker. Nepoleon buys a key-chain from Deb. A friendship soon develops between the three outcasts. Deb takes interest in Napoleon's drawings. Pedro has a cool bike called the Sledgehammer and Napoleon uses that to perform aerial stunts, most of which go wrong, and Napoleon ends up hurting himself. The guys know that the school dance is coming up and Pedro plans to ask the school's popular girl Summer. Napoleon tries to explain to Pedro that she is out of their league, but Pedro is unfamiliar with the concept as he is from Mexico. Pedro knows that his chances are low, and he decides to bake a cake for Summer as tip the odds in his favor. Pedro puts the cake outside Summer's home with a note and runs away. Summer approaches Pedro at school but cannot find him and gives a note to Napoleon instead. Pedro is rebuffed when he asks the popular and snobby Summer Wheatly to accompany him to the high school dance. Deb gladly accepts. Napoleon is afraid to get a date for himself as he believes that girls like boys with skills like Nun-chucks or computer hacking and he doesn't have any skills. Pedro tells Napoleon that he makes cool drawings and asks him to build on that. Pedro encourages Napoleon to find a date and he picks popular classmate Trisha (Emily Kennard). As a gift, he draws an (unintentionally bad) picture of her and delivers it to Trisha's mother, one of Rico's customers. Rico tells Trisha's mother embarrassing stories about Napoleon to evoke sympathy. She buys his wares and forces Trisha to accept Napoleon's invitation. Trisha goes to the dance with Napoleon but abandons him to hang out with Summer. Pedro allows Napoleon to dance with Deb. Inspired by a poster at the school dance, Pedro decides to run for class president, pitting him against Summer Wheatley (Haylie Duff), a popular yet snobby girl at the school. The two factions put up fliers and hand out trinkets to attract voters. To demonstrate their "skills" and increase their respect around the school, Napoleon and Pedro enter a Future Farmers of America competition, grading milk and cow udders. They win medals, but it does little for their popularity. Rico and Kip's scheme causes friction with Napoleon when Rico begins spreading embarrassing rumors about Napoleon, to evoke sympathy from his prospective customers. Tensions finally come to a head after Rico tries to sell Deb a breast-enhancement product, claiming it was Napoleon's suggestion, which causes her to break off their friendship. Rico's sales scheme ends when martial arts instructor Rex (Diedrich Bader) walks in on Rico demonstrating the breast-enhancement product on his wife, and assaults him. Kip, meanwhile, is head-over-heels in love, because LaFawnduh came to visit him from Detroit. She gives Kip an urban makeover, outfitting him in hip hop regalia, and they leave together on a bus for Michigan. On the day of the class president elections, Pedro gives an unimpressive speech before the student body. After the principal unexpectedly informed them that Pedro needed to have a skit to accompany his speech, Napoleon gives the sound engineer a music tape he received from LaFawnduh, and performs an elaborate dance routine to "Canned Heat" by Jamiroquai. The routine receives a standing ovation from everyone except for Summer and her boyfriend. The film concludes with Pedro becoming the class president, Rico reuniting with his estranged girlfriend, Grandma returning from the hospital, and Napoleon and Deb making up and playing tether-ball. Kip and LaFawnduh are married in an outdoor ceremony in Preston. Napoleon, absent for the vows, arrives riding a horse, claiming that it is a "wild honeymoon stallion" that he has tamed himself. After Deb photographs Napoleon on the horse, Kip and LaFawnduh ride into the sunset.

Beck (Dwayne Johnson) is a "retrieval expert", a bounty hunter who collects debts for a man named Billy Walker (William Lucking). He is dispatched to a nightclub to retrieve a championship ring from a football player, and after doing so is assaulted by one of Walker's other collectors. Angry, he confronts Walker and tells him that he wants out of the business. Walker talks him into one last bounty - retrieve Walker's son Travis (Seann William Scott) from a small mining town in Brazil and Walker will give him enough money to open his own restaurant. Beck accepts and leaves for Brazil. When Beck arrives in the town of El Dorado he meets with the man running the mining operation, Cornelius Hatcher (Christopher Walken). Hatcher gives Beck his blessing to grab Travis, but reneges when he finds out that Travis has discovered a missing golden artifact called "El Gato De Diablo". Beck confronts Hatcher and his men in the local bar and leaves with Travis. On the way back to the airfield, Travis forces their Jeep off the road and into the jungle. There he tries to escape but is re-captured by Beck. After an unfortunate encounter with some local monkeys, the two find themselves in the camp of the local resistance movement. At the resistance encampment, Travis convinces the rebels that Beck works for Hatcher and was sent to kill them all. After a prolonged fight, Beck gains the upper hand before the rebel leader Mariana (Rosario Dawson) intervenes. She wants Travis, as the Gato can be used to ensure the locals can free themselves from Hatcher. Hatcher suddenly attacks the camp, killing many rebels. Beck, Travis, and Mariana escape the camp and Beck makes Mariana a deal: she helps him get Travis to the airfield in exchange for the Gato. After some searching, Travis leads them to a cave behind a waterfall where the Gato is located. They retrieve it and begin the journey back. On the way back, Mariana chastises Travis for wanting to sell the artifact, but Travis argues that he actually did want to give it to a museum. Mariana gives the two men Konlobos, a toxic fruit that temporarily paralyzes the eater. As she tells Beck which direction the airfield is, she leaves them with the fire to keep the animals away. After waking up able to move, Beck hauls Travis to the airfield. The local pilot, Declan (Ewen Bremner), tells Beck that Mariana was captured earlier by Hatcher and will probably be killed. Travis pleads with Beck to help, and the two head into town to rescue her. Using a cow stampede for cover, the two begin their assault on Hatcher's goons. Travis becomes trapped by gunfire in a bus, and Beck saves him before the bus explodes. Hatcher tells his brother to take Mariana and the Gato and flee, but they are stopped by Travis. Hatcher confronts Beck, who offers him the chance to leave town, which Hatcher initially refuses. After he is shot by the townspeople, Hatcher agrees to leave town, but eventually dies from his gunshot wounds. Travis gives the Gato to Mariana before leaving with Beck, who tells him that despite all they've been through he must still return Travis to the United States. Travis is delivered to his dad who begins to verbally and physically abuse him. Beck asks to celebrate with them and gives Walker and his men Konlobos. As they are paralyzed, Beck removes the cuffs from Travis and the duo leave together, with Travis continuing to jokingly annoy Beck.

An NYPD police officer is recruited to an agency that protects Earth from extraterrestrial threats and gets involved in a mission that could determine the fate of the world.

Chilli Palmer (John Travolta) is a loan shark in Miami. When his New York based boss dies of a heart attack, Palmer finds himself working for Ray 'Bones' Barboni (Dennis Farina) an old rival who hates, Palmer. Bones is upset with Palmer for not collecting a loan from dry cleaner Leo Devoe (David Paymer) who was killed in an airliner crash. Bones directs Palmer to get the money from Devoe's widow (Linda Hart). Visiting the widow Palmer realizes that Devoe is not actually dead but got off the plane at the last minute and has used the accident to get out of the loan and, through his wife, collect a $300,000 settlement from the airline. Devoe has taken the money out of the state, but never sent for his wife. Angry, she lets Palmer know that he is in Las Vegas. Palmer travels to Vegas and meets with a casino chief who tells him that Devoe has managed to gamble his winnings up to $500,000 and has moved on to Los Angeles. The casino chief asks Palmer while he is in L.A. if he can visit low budget movie producer Harry Zimm (Gene Hackman) and remind Zimm that he owes the casino $150,000. Palmer traces Zimm to the house of his sometimes girlfriend, sometimes star, Karen Flores (Rene Russo). Late at night when Flores hears the TV playing downstairs, she sends Zimm down to turn it off and he finds Palmer watching Letterman. Palmer delivers his reminder to Zimm about the casino debt and Zimm promises to pay. Palmer is a big film fan and engages Zimm in a conversation about his work eventually pitching him a story which is a fictionalized version of his hunt for Devoe. Flores comes downstairs to find them talking over drinks and, less than happy with both, and throws them out. Action switches to the airport where gangster Bo Catlett (Delroy Lindo) is meeting a representative of a Columbian cartel, Yayo Portillo (Jacob Vargas) to buy a shipment of drugs. Catlett takes the drugs and gives Portillo the key to an airport locker where the $500,000 in cash is stowed. Portillo, suspecting a set up and that the locker is being watched by the Federal agents, does not go to the locker, but shows up at Catlett's mountainside house. Catlett shoots him and his body falls over the balcony down the mountainside. Catlett sends his bodyguard, Bear (James Gandolfini) a sometimes stunt man, to retrieve the key and hide the body. Zimm tells Palmer about a movie he wants to produce, "Mr. Lovejoy," which has what he thinks is an Oscar winning script. He can't produce it, however, because Catlett has already lent Zimm $150,000 to do a film called "Circus Freaks." Zimm can't return the money because he lost it at Vegas in attempt to gamble it up to $500,000, the amount he needs to buy the Lovejoy script from the late writer's wife Doris Saphron (Bette Midler). Palmer tells Zimm to let him handle the next meeting with Catlett and he will get Circus Freaks put off for a few months. Palmer will get the money from Devoe to finance Mr. Lovejoy. Zimm gets nervous in the meeting with Catlett and Catlett's tough subordinate Ronnie Wingate (Jon Gries). Zimm screws it up so that Catlett finds out about the valuable script and wants a piece of the production. He even offers to give Zimm $500,000 for the picture and suggests he send Palmer to get it from a locker at the airport. Palmer goes to the airport and senses a setup. He tests what is going on by seeming to open the locker with the money when actually he opens the locker next to it. He is grabbed by federal agents, but then released when they realize that they have made a mistake. Afterward Bear confronts Palmer in the parking lot to get the key back but is outmatched by Palmer who levels him with a few blows. As Bear recovers Palmer asks him about his stunt work and flatters him by knowing about the movies he's been in. Palmer mentions that he thinks Bear can do a lot better than working for Catlett. The key to making Mr. Lovejoy a success is to get star Martin Weir (Danny DeVito) to sign on. Flores is Weir's ex-wife and still has a good relationship with him. Flores starts to become romantically involved with Palmer and helps him get access to Weir. As it turns out Weir's current girlfriend is Rock star Nicki (Renee Props) an old friend of Palmer's from Miami. Soon Palmer, who is familiar with Weir's work and flatters him, manages to talk him into signing on for the picture. Palmer also interests Weir in playing the fictional version of himself in the story he is developing. Palmer tracks down Devoe and takes $310,000 of the $500,000 leaving him with just his Vegas winnings. Devoe complains, but Palmer tells him if Bones had found him instead Bones would have taken all the money and killed him. Meanwhile Bones has learned of the money Devoe has scammed from the airline. He comes to LA when Zimm foolishly contacts him and tries to get him to invest in his film. A meeting between the two doesn't go well and leaves Zimm in a cast and head brace. At the same meeting Wingate appears and is shot by Bones, who then makes it look like Zimm killed Wingate in self-defense. The fact that Yayo has disappeared along with $500,000 has brought Colombia drug lord Mr. Escobar (Miguel Sandoval) to L.A. with two goons. Though Catlett denies knowing what happened to Yayo or the money, it is clear that Escobar holds Catlett responsible giving him just a couple of days to find both of them or there will be fatal consequences. Desperate, Catlett confronts Palmer to get Devoe's money, kidnapping Flores and taking her to his house until the cash is delivered. Palmer arrives at the house to rescue Flores. Catlett plans to take the money and kill them both, but with Bear's help (Bear has secretly switched sides), Palmer turns the tables on Catlett and sends him flying over the balcony to his death. Something Catlett had planned for Palmer. Bones finally catches up with Palmer and demands Devoe's money. Finding the airport locker key in Palmer's coat, Bones assumes that Palmer has hid the money at the airport. When Bones goes to the airport and opens the locker, we see the federal agents close around him. The scene suddenly switches to an airport set at a movie studio. A voice addresses Bones and when he turns around, we see that the character is now portrayed by Harvey Keitel. Threatening him is Weir playing the fictional version of Palmer. Weir screws up the shot and as the movie company breaks for lunch, we see that Penny Marshall is the director and Bear a technical consultant with Zimm producing and Palmer and Flores as executive producers. There is a long helicopter pull out shot from the studio and the credits roll.

In Chicago, Illinois, undercover police detectives Danny Costanzo (Billy Crystal) and Ray Hughes (Gregory Hines) spot two criminals, Julio Gonzales (Jimmy Smits) and "Snake", (Joe Pantoliano) getting out of a parked Mercedes-Benz. Gonzales recognizes the officers, jumps back in the car, and drives off, leaving Snake holding an attaché case. Snake runs down the alley to his third floor apartment, as the officers chase him. They persuade Snake to invite them inside, but he refuses to hand over the briefcase. When he asks if they have a search warrant, the policemen warn him that he will be uncomfortably detained for as long as it takes them to do the paperwork. Reluctantly, Snake surrenders the attaché case, which is filled with $50,000 in cash. Ray asks if Snake has resumed dealing drugs, but he denies the accusation. When Danny searches the apartment, nothing turns up, and the officers cannot make an arrest. Danny goes out on Snake's balcony, and announces to nearby basketball players that Snake's apartment has poor locks, and $50,000 for the taking. Snake realizes he cannot protect his windfall, and punches Ray in the face. Danny and Ray arrest him for assaulting an officer. As they drive Snake to the police station, they discover that the money belongs to Julio Gonzales. They stop at a cemetery so Danny can attend his Aunt Rose's funeral, and he briefly says hello to his former wife Anna (Darlanne Fluegel). Later, at the station, Anna appears and tells Danny she is getting remarried to a dentist. As they talk, a lawyer delivers an envelope with a $40,000 inheritance check from Aunt Rose's estate. With the money, Danny imagines he and Ray will treat themselves to fancy dinners and better seats at Chicago Cubs baseball games. Soon, Captain Logan (Dan Hedaya) informs them that the unidentified man who jumped from a building the other day was actually a South Side police officer, Alan Jackson. He also mentions that Jackson drowned before his body was pushed off the structure, and orders the partners to investigate the crime. At first, Danny and Ray suggest that Snake lead them to Gonzales, but he refuses. However, when he collects his briefcase and money upon being released, Danny and Ray have withheld all but $5,000 of his cash. He can sue the police department, which will take months, so he is forced to cooperate. The partners outfit Snake with an electronic "wire," and watch him take possession of a corrugated box that is filled with Uzi machine guns. They follow him to a shipping vessel as he meets Gonzales. The partners expect to carry out an arrest, but are surrounded and captured by Gonzales's men. However, Gonzales believes Snake has betrayed him and has him killed. Suddenly, two of Gonzales's men, Frank (Steven Bauer) and Tony (Jonathan Gries), announce they are policemen. A gunfight ensues, but Gonzales escapes with a machine gun. As Frank and Tony give chase, they are angry that Danny and Ray have ruined months of undercover work. Gonzales eludes the undercover officers, but Danny and Ray find and arrest him. Later, the captain criticizes the partners for ruining an undercover investigation, and claims they needed to be rescued like a couple of rookies. He orders them to take vacation. Danny and Ray seek out the sunshine of Key West, Florida, where they meet some women, fish, roller skate, and watch the sunset. Danny convinces Ray to quit the force and open a bar. When they return to Chicago, they give the captain 30 days notice of their retirement. However, Capt. Logan announces that Gonzales is back on the street thanks to his lawyer. The partners are eager to apprehend Gonzales and return to work. They get a tip that he may be living with his girl friend at the El Camino apartments. As Ray and Danny drive to the location, they recognize Gonzales's Mercedes. Ray takes a can of red spray paint and creates a no-parking zone around the car, and it is towed. Soon, they have a standoff with four of Gonzales's men. After getting the upper hand, Danny and Ray search the apartment, but Gonzales escapes out the back door. A few floors down, Gonzales grabs a female neighbor, and uses her as a human shield. Gonzales escapes and drives off in their police car. Backup units transport the stranded partners to the station. Capt. Logan warns that the anticipation of retirement is turning them cautious, and caution will likely get them killed. He insists they work together with Frank and Tony to capture Gonzales. A police mechanic transforms Ray and Danny's abandoned cruiser into a yellow taxicab with bulletproof windows. Soon, the four officers are embroiled in a messy stakeout. Tony accidentally shoots Danny but his bulletproof vest saves him. Afterward, Frank and Tony gloat that they have captured one crook, Juan Martinez, while Ray and Danny have none. Danny recognizes Juan, and pulls him aside for further questioning. When Juan gives them an important tip involving Gonzales's upcoming shipment of drugs, they remove his handcuffs. They warn Tony and Frank that Juan is escaping. Meanwhile, the partners go to the airport, hoping to ambush Gonzales, but other officers are already on the scene with drug-sniffing dogs. A dog locates a packet of cocaine believed to be worth $3 million, and Frank and Tony get credit for capturing a suspect. Ray and Danny are irked that the captain is treating them as though their retirement is already in effect. As they leave the runway, a drug agent tells them that further tests reveal the drugs found are of inferior grade, and are likely a decoy. At customs, Gonzales meets with a Colombian priest and nun. When he sees Danny and Ray, he escapes in a limousine, leaving the nun and priest behind. Ray and Danny give the priest and nun a ride, and a chase ensues. Gonzales's limousine drives onto the elevated railroad tracks and the police taxicab barely misses crashing into an oncoming train. The chase continues until Gonzales's limousine stops for another oncoming train. Gonzales jumps out and disappears into the station just as the train upends his limousine. Back at the station, the partners apologize, saying they mistook the priest and nun to be cocaine smugglers for Gonzales. They cannot find drugs inside the ceramic souvenirs in their suitcases, and the nun and priest are released. Ray and Danny soon realize that the ceramic containers themselves are made of pressed cocaine, and tell the captain. Later, the partners harass Juan Martinez to get new information about Gonzales's whereabouts. On their stakeout, Gonzales arranges for a trash compactor truck to destroy their taxicab with them in it after they refuse to return the drugs in exchange for a bribe that would cover a mortgage for their Key West bar. The partners escape through the back window, only to discover that Gonzales is gone. The next day, they retrieve Gonzales's Mercedes from the impound yard, and drive around town looking for him. Anna appears at Danny's apartment to give him an insurance policy she found, and they fight about his inability to act like an adult. Gonzales kidnaps Anna after she leaves the apartment. He warns Danny that he will kill her unless the drugs are returned. Danny and Ray go to the station, where Ray uses a fake requisition form to take the cocaine from the evidence room. Frank and Tony arrive, sensing something is brewing, but Danny and Ray refuse to give them information. As Danny enters the Illinois State Building, Ray sneaks into the basement. He meets Juan Martinez impersonating a security guard. Juan leads Ray to a cage in which all the real guards have been locked up. Ray discovers the only way up is by the window-washing rig. Meanwhile, as Danny rides up in a glass elevator, Anna passes, descending in a second elevator. Danny opens a duffle bag and displays plastic bags of cocaine. Gonzales gives the signal for Anna's elevator to rise until it is level with Danny. Suddenly, Gonzales's associate opens fire on both elevators. Danny orders his wife to drop to the floor. He shoots the associate dead. Ray rappels inside the building's atrium with ropes. He sees Frank and Tony enter the lobby and orders them to get Gonzales. Danny's elevator door opens but Anna's remains shut. He orders her to climb out the top and jump over to his elevator but she is afraid to move. He throws bags of cocaine in the air, and Gonzales is frantic as they burst on the lobby floor. Danny catches Anna and they escape. Ray shoots his way past Gonzales's men and swings onto firm ground. The partners fire away at Gonzales and he goes down. Ray and Danny argue over who fired the fatal shot, but Gonzales pops up again. After another round of shooting, Gonzales collapses dead on a down escalator, and his bloody body lands on the lobby floor. Anna hugs Danny and smothers him with kisses. Danny and Ray agree that the people of Chicago deserve good protection and Frank and Tony could use more seasoning. At this, Danny turns to the rookies and asks if anyone wants to buy his bar.