Josh Mostel

A reporter untangles a murder case that connects to an unflappable young politician. The investigation reveals a cover-up that shakes the nation`s power structures to its core.

Sonny Koufax (Adam Sandler) is a carefree, unmotivated 32-year-old bachelor who lives in New York City and has declined to take on adult responsibility. He has earned a degree in law but has chosen not to even try to attempt to take the bar exam, since he was awarded $200,000 in a vehicle accident years prior and lives off his restitution. He is employed, on a part-time basis only, as a toll booth attendant and he more or less just does this job just to get out of the apartment once in a while. The film shows Sonny's friends, all former schoolmates, are "moving ahead" in their lives. His roommate, Kevin Gerrity (Jon Stewart), decides to ask Corinne (Leslie Mann) to marry him, which is another thing that irritates Sonny. Kevin decides to pop the question the day before he is leaving for China for his law firm. Corinne vehemently dislikes Sonny because he constantly teases her about her former job at Hooters when she was in medical school. Two of his male friends from school, in contrast to their conduct in Sonny's experience while at school, are now revealed to be homosexual and in a committed domestic partnership. Sonny's girlfriend, Vanessa (Kristy Swanson), disgusted and perplexed at Sonny's contrasting and inconsistent conduct decides to end her romantic relationship with him-and also find a new much older man with more reliability. Sonny quickly becomes occupied with a new series of events in his life. Sonny wakes up to Kevin already at the airport leaving for China. Kevin is revealed to having fathered an illegitimate son, whose name is Julian (Dylan and Cole Sprouse). Julian is abandoned at Sonny and Kevin's apartment, with a written explanation that Julian's mother is now declining to care further for Julian. It is revealed at the Social Services office that Julian's mother died of cancer. Kevin, at the airport ready to go to China, gets a call from Sonny informing him of the letter and the boy. Despite his selfishness and lack of parenting skills, Sonny assures him that he will take care of Julian until Kevin returns from China. Sonny decides to handle the situation himself, and, in the process, decides Julian will solve his problem with his ex-girlfriend. To win Vanessa back, Sonny introduces her to Julian. However, he discovers that she is now dating Sid, whom - despite being much older than her - she reveres as more motivated and intelligent with a "five-year plan". Becoming frustrated with parenting, Sonny poses as Kevin and takes Julian to his social worker Arthur Brooks (Josh Mostel) telling him that Julian should return to his mother. However, Brooks informs Sonny that Julian's mother died of cancer and offers to place Julian into a foster home. After this, Sonny rants about it in a phone call to his father, Lenny, who is shocked and infuriated with Sonny for trying to raise a child, due to his irresponsibility. Sonny, in caring for Julian, soon discovers a new purpose in his life and a deep connection with Julian as a father figure. Julian helps Sonny find a new girlfriend in Corinne's lawyer sister Layla. Brooks finds a foster home for Julian and leaves messages for Sonny, but is suspicious when he does not respond. After a meeting at Julian's school Sonny rethinks his parenting methods after Julian's teacher complains about the habits he has developed due to Sonny's influence. He turns Julian's behavior around. Social Services discovers that Sonny is posing as Kevin and insists that he give up Julian. Social services take Julian and decides to press charges against Sonny. Sonny complies, but contacts Layla to help take legal action. The case is brought to court, where Sonny has his friends as counsel, including Layla (Joey Lauren Adams), Corinne's sister and Sonny's new girlfriend, and late arrival Kevin. Sonny gets positive testimony from his friends-even Corinne, who swore to disliking him from the day they met. Sonny then calls himself to the stand and asks his father to question him. Despite Lenny's fervent belief that he is not father material, Sonny convinces him that he will not fail at being a father. Impressed by Sonny's sincerity, Lenny vouches for him. The judge is ready to sentence him to jail for kidnapping Julian and defrauding the state. At this point, Kevin steps forward as Julian's father and insists that no charges be filed, having remembered a drunken fling with a Hooters girl in Toronto during the 1993 World Series, and connecting that with Julian's earlier testimony of originally coming from Toronto and being born in July. Judge Healy (Carmen De Lavallade) grants Kevin custody pending a DNA test. Sonny promises Julian that although he cannot be his father, he will always be there for him. He then passes Julian to Kevin and the two start to bond. Sonny still maintains contact with Julian through Kevin, often meeting up with him for activities such as basketball. One year, three months, and six days later, Sonny, now a lawyer and married to Layla with a child of their own, is surprised with a birthday party at Hooters attended by all his colleagues and friends, including Julian, but is more surprised to find his ex-girlfriend working as a Hooters girl, and her boyfriend with his so-called five-year plan working the grill.

Gifted poker player Mike McDermott (Matt Damon) loses his entire $30,000 bankroll in a hand of Texas hold'em against Teddy "KGB" (John Malkovich), a Russian mobster who runs an illegal underground poker room. Shaken, Mike decides to concentrate on law school, while promising his girlfriend and fellow law student Jo (Gretchen Mol) not to play the game anymore. Mentor and fellow rounder Knish (John Turturro) offers him a part-time job driving a delivery truck to make ends meet. Time passes, and Mike is true to his promise. He focuses on school and work until his childhood friend Lester "Worm" Murphy (Edward Norton) is released from prison. Worm is also a card player, who owes an outstanding debt accumulated before his incarceration. At Worm's influence, Mike is soon rounding again, which interferes with his studies and hurts his relationship with Jo. When Worm is given a five-day deadline to pay off his debt, Mike joins him in a furious race to earn the money. Worm wants to cheat to win, but Mike insists on playing straight. Played out through several card games in and around New York City, the two nearly make the $15,000 needed, but the pair are caught cheating and lose their entire bankroll. After this, Worm decides to leave the city, and he advises Mike to do the same. This is when he reveals to Mike that his debt is owed to KGB, the same Russian mobster who cleaned Mike out of his $30,000 bankroll several months before. Infuriated, Mike cuts ties with Worm once and for all. Mike refuses to flee. In a race against time to pay off Worm's debt, Mike gets his shot at redemption by placing his life on the line against the man who forced him out of the game. With the help of a $10,000 loan from his law school professor Petrovsky (Martin Landau), Mike sits down to play KGB in a no limit, heads-up game of Texas Hold'em. In two heated heads-up matches, Mike beats KGB, winning enough to pay off Worm's debt, repay his loan to the professor, and regain his original bankroll of about $30,000. The movie ends with Mike officially dropping out of law school, saying goodbye to Jo, and going to Las Vegas to play in the World Series of Poker Main Event.

Billy Madison (Adam Sandler), a 27-year-old heir to a wealthy father, has spent his entire life reaping the benefits of his family's hotel chain with 650 properties, Madison Hotels, a Fortune 500 company. 61,000 people work for the hotel chain. He spends his days drinking with best friends, Jack (Mark Beltzman) and Frank (Norm Macdonald), and creating disturbances across his father's estate. Billy is so baked in the sun and on drugs that he sees Penguins chasing him everywhere. Billy feels that it is too hot for penguins and wants to capture them and send them back to colder climates. Juanita (Theresa Merritt) is the house maid and cares for Billy. One day, Billy ruins a dinner meeting between his father, Brian (Darren McGavin), and his business associates. Billy is very late arriving for the dinner and then acts obnoxiously after being instigated by Eric Gordon (Bradley Whitford), Brian's executive vice president. This prompts Brian to lose any remaining faith in Billy, as he chooses the conniving Eric to become the next CEO of the company. Brian also passes over Carl, who is a senior and loyal employee to the company for his entire working life of 25 years. Brian said that he and his now deceased wife always wanted to turn over their empire to Billy, but Eric argues that the 61,000 employees will have their jobs in danger when Billy takes over. When Billy, who despises Eric, protests that he can be responsible, Brian reveals that he secretly bribed all of Billy's school teachers in order for him to pass. Billy begs his father to reconsider his decision. The two finally come to a compromise: Billy must pass elementary, middle, and high school (grades 1-12) on his own within the course of twenty-four weeks (two weeks per grade), in order to prove his competence. Miss Lippy (Dina Platias) is Billy's first grade teacher, where he reads stories and plays dodge ball. Billy is brutal with the other kids at dodge-ball. Billy has a lot of trouble with simple hand eye coordination required to create a cotton snow-man. The urinals for first grade are too small for Billy. He passes first grade when he draws a blue duck. Every time Billy passes a grade, he throws a grand party for all his fellow students at his mansion. Rollo is the school janitor who brings news of Billy's progress to Eric. Billy passes 2nd grade after completing the spelling bee correctly. Shortly after enrolling into school, Billy becomes attracted to a third-grade teacher named Veronica Vaughn (Bridgette Wilson), who initially is disgusted with Billy and finds his enrollment to be a distraction for the other students. He eventually finds himself as one of Veronica's students and earns her respect by defending Ernie (Jared Cook), his friend and classmate. Eric peed his pants while on a class trip and to save him from embarrassment, Billy throws water on his pants and pretends that peeing in pants is cool. The whole class pees inside their own pants. Billy starts getting Valentine cards from the pretty girls in school, but he has the hots for Veronica. Billy becomes popular among the third graders and begins to miss them as he advances through school. Veronica and Billy hook up after he passes 3rd grade. Carl warns Billy that Eric is up to something. When Billy reaches ninth grade, he finds that rather than being the cool guy that everyone looks up to, he is now considered a loser; realizing how it feels to be on the receiving end of bullying, he calls up an old classmate, Danny McGrath (Steve Buscemi), and apologizes for the way he treated him in high school. Danny accepts his apology and crosses his name off a list of people to kill. Billy's progress frustrates and alarms Eric, leading him to take the offensive while Billy struggles in high school. He visits Billy's grade school principal, Max Anderson (Josh Mostel), and threatens to reveal his past as a professional wrestler that is filled with controversial incidents, especially a particular one back in 1983, when Max accidentally caused the death of another man while performing a stunt. Coerced, Max publicly states he took bribes from Billy in return for passing him. The announcement angers Brian who chooses to give the hotel chain to Eric. Billy becomes distraught and reverts to his original care-free lifestyle. Veronica and others come to Billy's aid, convincing him to keep fighting Eric. He returns to school and begins to study again; however, Billy realizes that he must reclaim the hotel chain. His grade school friends visit Max at his home and convince him to retract his previous statements. Veronica encourages Billy to practice by removing one piece of clothing for every correct answer he gives. With Billy's named cleared, Brian and Carl Alphonse (Larry Hankin), a loyal, long-time employee of Madison Hotels argue to Eric that Billy deserves another chance, but Eric disagrees and threatens to file a lawsuit. Billy challenges Eric to an academic decathlon that will determine his father's successor. Although both men excel in different activities, Billy manages to take a single-point lead before the contest's final event, a Jeopardy! style academic test. The game progresses as Eric is given the chance to answer and potentially win. However, he is asked to answer a question about business ethics, of which he has no concept, and begins to break down. Refusing to admit defeat, he brandishes a gun at Billy. Max, clad in his wrestling outfit, subdues Eric. The attack fails to keep Eric down and laughing maniacally, he makes a final attempt to get revenge on Billy by turning his gun on Veronica. Suddenly, Danny McGrath appears with a high-powered rifle and disables Eric by firing a single shot into his buttocks. Danny and Billy share a quick wave, before he departs. At Billy's graduation, he announces that he is passing the hotel business to Carl and will instead attend college with hopes of becoming a teacher.

On the verge of turning 40, an unhappy Manhattan yuppie is roped into joining his two friends on a cattle drive in the southwest. Mitch is a middle-aged big-city radio-ads salesman. He and his friends Ed and Phil are having mid-life crises. They decide that the best birthday gift is to go on a two-week holiday in the Wild West, driving cattle from New Mexico to Colorado. There they meet cowboy Curly who not only teaches them how to become real cowboys, but also one or two other things about life in the open air of the west. —Sami Al-Taher <staher2000@yahoo.com> Pushing 40, miserable New York City executive Mitch Robbins finds himself struggling to find his long-lost smile and meaning in life. But Mitch's equally-bored best friends, Ed and Phil, aren't doing any better. However, this year, to escape the dreaded midlife crisis, the lifelong companions have decided to follow their instinct and try their luck at getting a sense of accomplishment. Now, the utterly unprepared thrill-seekers are playing cowhands on a real-life, two-week cattle drive from New Mexico to Colorado to find freedom. Will the clueless city slickers ever become real cowboys? —Nick Riganas

After receiving wedding pictures from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, entertainment attorney Walter Fielding (Tom Hanks) complains to his girl friend, concert musician Anna Crowley (Shelley Long), about his newly married scofflaw father, Walter, Sr. (Douglass Watson). His father might be starting a new life, but he stole the firm's money and ran away to Brazil, and left him and the law firm in debt. The next morning, Walter comments that his father's much younger Filipino new wife, Florinda (Tetchie Agbayani), looks underage. When Anna tells him not to be so conventional, he admits he wants a house in the suburbs, and a wife. When he asks Anna to marry him, she asks for more time to make her decision. Her first marriage to Russian music conductor, Max Beissart (Alexander Godunov), was a disaster, and she is not in a rush to marry again. Suddenly, her former husband's associate, Shatov (Yakov Smirnoff), barges into the bedroom and informs Anna that "Maestro" is returning home, and reclaiming his luxury apartment. Walter and Anna are both broke, and cannot afford to relocate elsewhere in New York City. They decide to contact their friend, real estate broker Jack Schnittman (Josh Mostel), for help. Meanwhile, Max conducts his first rehearsal back in town, and criticizes the orchestra for their mediocre performance. While jogging, Jack Schnittman proposes that Walter gather $200,000 in cash by the end of business Friday because the owners of a $1 million property are willing to sell for less. Walter is suspicious, but feels pressured, and agrees to consider the deal. At dinner, Max tells Anna his life is meaningless without her, and he wants to get back together. Anna insists she loves Walter, and Max only loves himself. Anna goes with Walter to inspect the house Jack recommended. The owner, Estelle (Maureen Stapleton), shows them the property, and explains that Israeli Intelligence arrested her longtime husband, Carlos, for being Hitler's "pool man." If Estelle can sell the property and the furnishings, she might raise enough money to pay the lawyers. Walter and Anna want time to make a decision, but Estelle claims that Carlos is facing extradition, and she must sell immediately. She offers to include an antique Lincoln car in the deal. Walter cannot resist a bargain and convinces Anna to buy the house. She sells valuables from her divorce to raise her share of the money. Walter persuades his client, a successful boy singer named Benny (Billy Lombardo), to loan him the $200,000 in cash to pay for the new house. As soon as Walter and Anna move in, their house falls apart. When the front door is stuck shut, Walter receives an electrical shock as he rings the doorbell. Upstairs, Anna tries out the four-poster bed they acquired with the house, and becomes trapped when the mattress collapses around her. When Walter knocks to get Anna's attention, the front door falls down. He turns his attention to repairing the staircase, but his hammering loosens the ceiling plaster upstairs. In the bathroom, Anna is revolted when she turns on the bathtub faucet, and gooey, rusty water spurts out. Walter assures her that all houses need maintenance, and encourages her to be more positive. As Anna hangs her clothes in the bedroom closet, the rod and shelving collapse. Outside, Walter repairs the front door. He tests it three times and goes inside, but within seconds, the door frame separates from the structure, falling to the ground. Upstairs, when Anna pulls the dumbwaiter ropes, a raccoon emerges and attacks. Walter hears Anna's screams, but as he races up the staircase, it collapses around him. Walter is convinced the house is "a lemon," and that Estelle swindled them into buying that faulty house, but Anna will not let him quit. However, a rainstorm reveals that there are several leaks in the roof. The next morning, a carpenter named Art Shirk (Joe Mantegna) arrives to do an estimate on a new staircase, and declares that the front door has dry rot. Art's plumber brother, Brad (Carmine Caridi), arrives, and insists on a $5,000 upfront check without even inspecting the house. He claims to have seen the house several years earlier, and does not expect the plumbing problems have been resolved. Later, electrical fires occur when too many appliances are used. The blender and the popcorn popper explode, and the stove doors burst open. The turkey is propelled out one window and bursts through a second floor bathroom window. As Anna and Walter pour buckets of lukewarm water in the bathtub, the rotting floor gives way, and it crashes onto the floor below. The next day, Brad Shirk's foreman, Curly (Philip Bosco), arrives with a crew that looks like a gang of Hell's Angels. Curly encourages Walter and Anna to leave while they work on the house. Walter returns to find piles of debris everywhere after the group had trashed the house even more. Since Walter was not available to sign building permits, Curly and his crew went as far as they could. He promises to return when Walter has his permits approved. The "permit man," Mr. Shrapp, agrees to return if Walter pays a cash bribe. Soon, Walter falls into a hole in the floor concealed by a throw rug. Mr. Shrapp arrives, and believes he hears Walter laughing instead of answering the door. Angered by Walter's rudeness, Mr. Shrapp rips up the permits and leaves. Anna calls Walter to be picked up at the train station, but he cannot answer the phone. She hitches a ride with a truck driver, and finds Walter stuck in the floor. When she attempts to rescue him, he plummets to the floor below. That evening, when Walter puts another log in the fireplace, the chimney comes crashing down, and snuffs out the fire. Four months later, the house is still under repair as a more competent work crew fixes all the damages and patches up the holes in the floor, walls, and ceiling. Walter complains that Curly estimated the job would be done in two weeks. However, things are looking up. A new staircase and running water in the kitchen are the latest improvements, but accidents continue to occur. At an orchestra rehearsal, Max persuades Anna to have dinner at his apartment. Although she claims she will not sleep with him, they drink too much, and in the morning, Max tells her they made love, and she is consumed with guilt. Later, Anna tells Walter that Max took orchestra members to dinner after a brilliant rehearsal. When Walter wants to know if she spent the night with Max, Anna insists he will have to trust her. They argue as Anna lies about her indiscretion. When she finally confesses, Walter spends the night downstairs. In the morning, the fight continues. Walter want to kick her out of the house and refund her money. The workers listen in as she claims the house belongs to her just as much as it belongs to him. Finally, they agree to stay together until the repairs are done, sell the house, divide the money, and split. Anna retreats to the bedroom and sobs. Later, Max makes a surprise visit, and learns that Anna and Walter have decided to break up. He suggests that Anna should rekindle their relationship, but that is not part of her plan. Max confesses they did not sleep together, but lied to sabotage her relationship with Walter. When he sees how much she actually cares for Walter, Max decides to play matchmaker. He warns that it would be a mistake for Walter to throw away his relationship with Anna. Another few days later, when the house is finally renovated and restored, Walter and Anna are confused about where to take their relationship. Walter confesses he will get over Anna's one-night stand with Max. Anna tears up as she reveals she never slept with Max. They fall into each other's arms and kiss. Anna and Walter throw a wedding in their new home and Max conducts a full orchestra as part of the entertainment. Despite the repairs to restore their new house cost more than the $200,000 in cash that they used to purchase it, Walter and Anna are finally happy and that their "money pit" of a house is finally livable and everything is great. In Rio de Janeiro, the crafty con artist Estelle and her partner-in-crime Carlos (John van Dreelen) resurface where they offer to sell a house to Walter, Sr. insisting it must be a cash deal... and the vicious cycle is about to start all over again.

The camera pans across a landscape of desert hills dotted with stone ruins ("Overture"). A plume of dust in the distance resolves into a red and white bus that stops and disgorges a troupe of actors. The actors unpack costumes and props, including a large wooden cross. They dance around Ted Neeley, who will play Jesus, and dress him in a white robe. The actors, some still dancing, deploy themselves around the ruins of what might have been a temple. As Jesus talks with a group of followers, Judas (Carl Anderson) watches from a distance and worries ("Heaven on their Minds"). He's afraid that Jesus is beginning to believe what people are saying about him -- that he's God. He's also afraid that Jesus' followers will turn on him when they find that he isn't God, and that the Romans who occupy Judea will come down on them if they perceive Jesus' growing following as a threat to their rule. In the cave where Jesus and his followers are staying, the apostles ask when they're going to Jerusalem ("What's the Buzz?"). Jesus puts them off ("Don't you try to think ahead / Save tomorrow for tomorrow / Think about today instead"). Mary Magdalene (Yvonne Elliman), seeing that Jesus is hot and tired, tries to soothe him by bathing his face with cool water, which Jesus appreciates ("She alone has tried to give me / What I need right here and now"). Judas steps in to say he thinks it strange "that a man like you / Can waste his time / On women of her kind." Jesus responds angrily ("Who are you to criticize her?") ("Strange Thing Mystifying"). Caiaphas (Bob Bingham) the high priest discusses Jesus with his associate Annas (Kurt Yahjian). Like Judas, Caiaphas believes that Jesus' popularity will bring down the wrath of the Romans. He mentions talk of crowning Jesus king. They agree to take the matter to the priests' council ("Then We Are Decided"). Back at the cave, Mary sings to Jesus to relax him ("Everything's Alright") and rubs ointment on his head and feet. Judas interrupts to scold Mary for wasting money on expensive ointment when it could have been used to help the poor. Jesus points out that they can't help everyone ("Surely you're not saying / We have the resources / To save the poor from their lot? / There will be poor always, / Pathetically struggling. / Look at the good things you've got!") He adds that he'll soon be gone, a warning that no one but Judas seems to notice. In council, Caiaphas tells the other priests that Jesus is a danger to the nation, concluding "Like John [the Baptist] before him / This Jesus must die" ("This Jesus Must Die"). Jesus is carried into Jerusalem by cheering, palm-waving crowds ("Hosanna"). Caiaphas advises Jesus to disperse the mob because they're too loud. "Nothing can be done to stop the shouting," Jesus replies joyfully; "If every tongue was stilled the noise would still continue / The rocks and stones themselves would start to sing." Later, in a big dance number, followers led by Simon Zealotes (Larry Marshall) tell Jesus how much they love him; at first he smiles at the crowd and laps it up. Simon urges Jesus to "Keep them yelling their devotion / But add a touch of hate at Rome" ... "You'll get the power and the glory / Forever and ever and ever" ("Simon Zealotes"). Jesus loses his smile while Judas looks on anxiously; this is the sort of thing Judas most fears. Some Roman soldiers march up and stop to watch, but Simon and his crowd are too wrapped up in their hero worship to notice. In a somber mood, Jesus tells the people -- and Mary, who kneels at his feet -- that none of them understand power and glory, and "To conquer death / You only have to die" ("Poor Jerusalem"). Simon is deeply puzzled. Pontius Pilate (Barry Dennen), a Roman official, sings of a dream in which he met "a Galilean, a most amazing man. / He had that look you very rarely find, / The haunting, hunted kind." Pilate foresees that he'll be blamed for the death of the Galilean in his dream ("Pilate's Dream"). Jesus visits the temple, which is like a modern-day flea market with modern-day merchandise (postcards, hand grenades) -- plus money lenders, of course. And prostitutes. Becoming angry ("My temple should be a house of prayer / But you have made it a den of thieves!"), Jesus runs around dumping tables and knocking over stalls ("The Temple"). Judas, again, watches in dismay. The vendors and customers flee. Jesus walks off into the hills, perhaps to calm down, but is accosted among the rocks by a crowd of the blind, halt, and sick, who beg to be healed. At first he reaches out to them, but he's unable to help them all and the mob seems to swallow him. He finally screams "leave me alone!" Meeting Jesus as he walks back to their camp, Mary wraps him in a tattered blanket and sings to him as he lies down under a tent ("Everything's Alright (Reprise)"). As he sleeps, she muses about her love for Jesus, which confuses and frightens her ("I Don't Know How to Love Him"). "I'm the one / Who's always been / So calm, so cool / No lover's fool ... I never thought I'd come to this." Judas seems to be agonizing over something; he squats in an empty landscape, letting sand run through his fingers. When a row of Roman tanks appears over the crest of the hill and bears down on him, he runs to the temple. He's there to betray Jesus, but tries first to explain his motives to the uninterested priests ("Damned for All Time/Blood Money"). All they want to know is where the soldiers can find Jesus at a time when he's not surrounded by crowds. Caiaphas offers Judas a fee ("We'll pay you in silver / Cash on the nail"), which Judas turns down ("I don't want your blood money") until Caiaphas points out that Judas can give the money to the poor -- he knows exactly which buttons to press. Judas takes the bag of money and says that Jesus will be in the Garden of Gethsemane on Thursday night. In the Garden of Gethsemane, the apostles are feeling mellow ("Look at all my trials and tribulations / Sinking in a gentle pool of wine") and Jesus is feeling sorry for himself -- not without reason, given what he seems to know is about to happen to him. "For all you care, this wine could be my blood," he says. (His petulance is a brilliant way to explain the rather odd, cannibalistic ideas behind the Eucharist.) He goes on to predict that "one of you here dining" will soon betray Jesus and another will deny knowing him. Judas exchanges some bitter words with Jesus before going off to bring the soldiers. The remaining apostles fall asleep and Jesus asks, "will no one wait with me? Peter? John? James?" ("The Last Supper"). Jesus goes for a walk to commune with God ("Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say)"). He asks whether he has to go through with his death, and asks to know the reason for it ("You're far too keen on where and how / But not so hot on why"). If God replies, it's not evident. Judas comes back with soldiers and identifies Jesus for them with his famous betraying kiss. Peter and the other apostles wake up and offer to defend Jesus ("Hang on lord, we're gonna fight for you"), but Jesus tells them "it's all over" and to "stick to fishing from now on" ("The Arrest"). The soldiers march Jesus back to the city, attracting a crowd as they go. Curious bystanders and journalists question him as he walks ("Do you think that you may retire? / Did you think you would get much higher? / How do you view your coming trial?"). Jesus doesn't answer. The soldiers take Jesus to Caiaphas, who asks if he's really the son of God. Jesus doesn't deny it, only replying "that's what you say." The crowd demands, "take him to Pilate!" Peter, Mary, and another disciple stop at a camp along the road for water. A woman, a soldier, and an old man all recognize Peter ("you were with that man they took away"), but each time Peter claims not to know Jesus ("Peter's Denial"). Mary says sadly, "It's what he told us you would do. / I wonder how he knew." Jesus is frog-marched into the presence of Pilate, who makes fun of him, asks him if he's really king of the Jews, and dismisses his case to Herod ("Pilate and Christ"). King Herod (Josh Mostel), surrounded by wildly costumed, dancing courtiers, twits Christ in his turn. In "King Herod's Song (Try It and See)", he offers to let Jesus go if he'll perform a miracle. ("Prove to me that you're divine -- / Change my water into wine!") When Jesus fails to respond, Herod declares him a fraud and sends him away. Mary Magdalen and Peter, standing on a stark mountainside overlooking the desert, wish for things to go back to the way they were before Jesus was arrested ("Could We Start Again, Please?"). They're backed by a crowd of followers. Jesus (who isn't really there, of course) turns and walks off into the desert. Soldiers throw Jesus into a pit, where Judas peers down at him until he's pushed away by a guard. Judas goes back to the priests to complain about how badly Christ has been treated, saying he'd save him the suffering if he could. Annas and Caiaphas tell Judas that events have unfolded just as he predicted, and "What you have done / Will be the saving of Israel." Judas isn't comforted and continues, in a song that includes a brief reprise of "I Don't Know how to Love Him," to berate himself for the betrayal. Overcome with remorse, Judas hangs himself from a tree ("Judas' Death"). Jesus is taken back to Pilate, where the priests ask that Jesus be sentenced to death ("We need him crucified / It's all you have to do"). Pilate resists, saying Christ has committed no crime worthy of death and asking Jesus to defend himself. The crowd gets so agitated that Pilate agrees to flog Jesus ("Trial Before Pilate (Including the 39 Lashes)"). But it's not enough. Faced with an incipient riot and Jesus' insistence that nothing Pilate can do will prevent his death, a frustrated Pilate says "die if you want to, you misguided martyr!" and washes his hands. In another fantasy sequence, Judas descends from a star (lowered by a visible crane) to speak to Jesus, who is alone in the amphitheater where the trial was held. Judas points out that Jesus could have spread his message more easily if he'd come today ("Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication"). He asks Jesus why he chose "such a backward time / And such a strange land?" ("Superstar.") On a hilltop where two men have already been crucified, soldiers are pounding nails into something on the ground. They raise a cross on which Jesus is hanging, crowned with thorns. They jeer, but Jesus asks God to forgive them. A few of Jesus' followers, including a grief-stricken Mary, watch from below. The soldiers raise a ladder and nail a board to the cross above Jesus' head. It's just possible to make out the letters INRI on the board; they stand for Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum -- Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews. Jesus asks, "my God, my God, why have you forgotten me?", and says "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." He dies. As the film ends, the performers, out of costume, reboard their bus. Last come Yvonne Elliman (Mary) and Carl Anderson (Judas); there's no sign of Jesus. Ted Neeley stripped away his costume and disappeared into the cast beforehand. The bus drives off. The final shot shows the empty cross against a setting sun, as a shepherd and his flock cross the hillside ("John 19:41").