Maury Chaykin

Rudolph Smuntz (the father of Ernie and Lars Smuntz) has died, leaving behind a famous albeit run-down string factory and an equally run-down old house, both to his two sons. Ernie Smuntz owns a famous restaurant and sees no point in running the string factory, but Lars, who has no job, thinks it would be a great opportunity to continue running "Smuntz String" for their father's sake. When Ernie accidentally kills the mayor in his restaurant, he is left with nothing and is forced to close down. With Ernie's restaurant and "Smuntz String" not doing so well, they decide to check out the house they were left. After finding some ancient plans for the house in the attic, they discover that the house is historically significant and very valuable. The brothers then decide to have the house restored in order to sell it -- but someone's out there to stop them: a mouse! And this is no ordinary mouse. It does everything to stop the renovation of the house and scare the Smuntz brothers away. The brothers fight back against the mouse, and when they think they have got rid of it they plan an auction at the house to sell it -- but the mouse returns and causes all sorts of havoc. In the end, the ancient house collapses, leaving Lars and Ernie with nothing, again. Lars and Ernie return to the factory, thinking they have got rid of the the mouse, but they were wrong. The mouse returns to the factory with them and takes over the factory controls, creating a revolutionary idea which makes the brother rich.

In 1948 Los Angeles, Easy Rawlins has seen better days. So he accepts a job to locate the mysterious Daphne Monet but ends up in a web of murder, brutal cops and city politics.

A small-time criminal rescues passengers from a crashed airliner only to see another man take credit. Bernie LaPlante is having a rough time. He's divorced, his ex-wife hates him, and has custody of their son. The cops are setting a trap for him, then to top it all, he loses a shoe while rescuing passengers of a plane crash. Being a thief who is down on his luck, he takes advantage of the rescue, but then someone else claims credit for it. —Rob Hartill Bernie LaPlante is an amoral man and a hustler. He is facing criminal charges. His wife decides to limit his access to their son because he doesn't keep his promises. While on his way to his son's birthday, a plane crashes, and he is nearby. He goes on board to steal what he can but in the process saves some people, one of them being television reporter Gale Gayley. She doesn't get a good look at him but someone gets a photo of him which isn't clear. She then mounts a campaign to find him which includes a reward of a million dollars. Before hearing of this, Bernie tells his experience to John Bubber. He also says that he doesn't want any recognition. Bernie's trial is taking place and he, upon hearing of the million dollars, thinks that he hit the mother lode but before he can claim it, John does, and Bernie is sent to jail. John then grows close to Gale. Bernie, who stole her purse, sells what's in it, and when word of this reaches her, she thinks he is holding this over John, and all sorts of chaos ensues. —rcs0411@yahoo.com

Two contrasting women, one optimistic and the other cynical, embark on a life-changing road trip to Alaska, where an unexpected inheritance awaits one of them, leading to a series of adventures that challenge their perspectives. For her entire life, 27-year-old Marianne Johnson has been on the move; the decisions she's made as an adult have been total failures, such as her second-most-recent marriage to Curtis Johnson, which brought her to Normal, Wyoming. However, she has an optimistic view of life, always believing that each decision she makes will be the right one. She is a linear thinker and despite being bright in this regard, she has no life or job skills and has never had a paying job besides a short stint in the Army, where she met Curtis. Conversely, 38-year-old Darly Peters wears her failures openly on her sleeve, bulldozing her way through life. Currently a cocktail waitress in Normal, Darly receives news that her ex-husband, whom she left 18 years ago, has died and has deeded the house which they were building at the time in remote Palmer Valley, Alaska to her. She believes this house will be the first time in her life she will feel settled. Seeing in Marianne a stranger in need, Darly offers her a ride to Portland, where she will be staying with her judgmental sister and brother-in-law. As that move to Portland also proves to be another disaster in Marianne's life, she decides to accept Darly's invitation to go to Alaska with her. Along the way, they get into one adventure after another, meeting people who may affect their view of life. What will also affect their lives is Darly's Alaska past which leads to life in Alaska not quite what they were expecting. —Huggo A female buddy picture whose initial run was handicapped by being released after "Thelma and Louise." The film chronicles Marianne and Darly's cross-country adventure and, the hardships and characters they encounter. Where "Thelma and Louise" was about keeping control until the very end, "Leaving Normal" is about knowing when to stop. —Robert B. Young Marianne is a child at heart while everyone around her is mad at the world and taking it out on her for not being "mature" like them. She runs away and joins "hardened by life" Darly on her trip to claim land in Alaska. Its a classic "iron sharpens iron" road-trip movie. —Hannah Hudson < inferno_ears@hotmail.com >

A British art expert travels across America in order to purchase a rare Renoir painting in the South but comes across some crazy characters in the process. Young Englishman Henderson Dores (Daniel Day-Lewis), yearning to give up his genteel British ways and be a bold and brash American, gets his chance when his New York firm sends him south to acquire a Renoir painting from Loomis Gage (Harry Dean Stanton), the eccentric head of an unusual family. Working at a New York City auction house as a nineteenth century art expert under the direction of Edgar Beeby, the father of his overbearing socialite fiancée Melissa, stereotypical uptight Brit Henderson Dores moved to the US to expand his horizons i.e. to break out of his staid British rut. Edgar sends him to rural Luxora Beach, GA upon news that a man named Loomis Gage wants to sell what was thought to be a long lost Pierre-Auguste Renoir painting, Henderson estimating its value in auction upwards of $10 million, which would make it one of the house's most lucrative acquisitions. Already feeling like a fish out of water in New York, Henderson feels even more so in rural Georgia in dealing with Loomis and his stereotypical backwoods, eccentric and disparate family, each member who has his or her own motivation separate from Loomis. As one by one New Yorkers start descending on Henderson in this situation, some related to his professional life and some to his personal life, Henderson reevaluates what was his version of the American dream. —Huggo A British art expert travels across America in order to purchase a rare Renoir painting in the South but comes across some crazy characters in the process. —anonymous