Seymour Cassel

Nice guy John Plummer (Jason Lee) is engaged to ditsy Elaine Warner (Leslie Mann), and intends to use his life savings of $30,000 to put a down payment on a house because he does not want to accept money from her wealthy father, Mr. Warner (Dennis Farina), who is also John's employer and who already considers John unworthy of his daughter. Warner also has a mean dog named Rex who hates John and always agrees with his master. Simultaneously, his niece Noreen (Tammy Blanchard), daughter of John's "trailer-trash" sister, Patty (Megan Mullally), is accepted to Harvard University, but needs an additional $30,000 on top of her grants and scholarships in order to attend. Noreen shows her uncle John a videotape made many years ago, at which time he promised to pay for Noreen's college education when the time came if she were to work hard and be accepted to a university. John now has a moral and financial dilemmadisappoint his fiancée and prove her father right by showing that he cannot provide for Elaine, or disappoint his niece, sister, and her friends, who all look up to him, and take away his niece's only chance to escape from a life of lower-class poverty. John's best friend from high school, who was severely picked on and cried all the time, was an eccentric loser landscaper Walter "Duff" Duffy (Tom Green) tells John that one of his rich landscaping clients keeps large amounts of cash in an unlocked safe, and that no one is ever in the home on Sunday nights. Duff convinces John, who is bitterly opposed to the idea, that stealing from the homeowner would be okay, because no one would be hurt and the insurance company, which "deserve to be ripped off", would reimburse him. John reluctantly agrees, and he and Duff set out to steal the cash, but Duff runs off when lights come on in the home, leaving John staring down the barrel of the homeowner, Honorable Emmett Cook (Richard Jenkins)'s gun. Rather than being shot or turned over to the police, John instead finds himself forced at gunpoint to cross-dress and role-play the part of Cook's late wife as the two men lie in bed and "spoon". Eventually, after taking an incriminating photograph of John, one of many identical photos Cook keeps in an album while explaining to John that he is "not gay, I just miss my wife", Cook releases him. As he is leaving, Mr. Warner and his dog are riding by, and takes note of John's panicked behavior, believing that he has caught John in an affair which will be evidence he can use to persuade his daughter to call off the wedding. Further capers ensue as John and Duff attempt to rob a liquor store and later attempt to con a drug lord out of $30,000 by concocting a phony story about running an ecstasy ring. Meanwhile, a police detective (John C. McGinley) is on to John and Duff, but never has enough evidence to actually pin any of the crimes on them. Meanwhile, Mr. Warner breaks into the gun-toting Emmett Cook's house in order to get evidence against John, and once Cook catches him, he is also forced to "spoon". Before leaving, Warner finds the incriminating photo of John from the album in hand. Eventually, John is forced to confess everything to his fiancée, after her father confronts her with a photograph of John in drag with Cook. Not only is the fiancée not upset with John, but she now respects and admires him far more for the lengths he was willing to go to in order to provide for her, spare her feelings and send his niece to Harvard. The fiancée Elaine then confides in John that her wealthy father keeps a great deal of money at his business, and that it would be easy for them to steal it. John, Elaine, and Duff set out to rob the business in the night. Unfortunately, Mr. Warner had hid his dog Rex inside the vault. Rex attempts to attack Duff by biting him in the crotch but Rex is instead aroused and does not let go. Duff manages to get the lovestruck dog into a room, so he can try to break a window it make it look like a break in. Duff frantically tries to break a window (with Rex miserably watching while he tries to break out of the room in which he is trapped). The window will not break and Rex, yearning for Duff, finally escapes the room and jumps on top of Duff. Just as John and Elaine find the money, Mr. Warner finds them and tries to attack them but he is caught by the Detective who mistakes him for a burglar. John and Elaine escape to Duff's van but Duff is still being chased by Rex and has to jump inside the van but Rex follows them and finally has his way with Duff since there is nowhere else to run. The police arrive and the gang unsuccessfully tries to get away. They are all taken into custody by the detective and facing a series of charges including breaking and entering, animal cruelty, attempted vehicular manslaughter, (thanks to Duff selling him out), John feels like his goose is cooked, until the judge in charge of his arraignment turns out to be the gun-toting, Emmett Cook. Upon their mutual recognition, John writes, in his lawyer's notebook, a message to Cook and flashes it across the court, threatening to expose the judge's fetishupon reading the makeshift sign, Cook quickly dismisses all charges against John. Finally, Duff comes through as best he can and gives John his life savings, $1,000, which John bets on a longshot horse which wins and which paid 30 to 1. John and Elaine are married with Mr. Warner, Patty, Emmett Cook, and Duff among their wedding guests, Noreen goes off to college, and, in the final scene, John is left to ponder how loser Duff could possibly accumulate $1,000. The last scene shows Duff offering to "spoon" with Cook for $1,000.

Passionada is a romantic comedy about a Portuguese widow whose husband, a fisherman, died at sea. The widow's naive teenage daughter wants to be a professional gambler and she convinces her mother to date a British man who's new in town. The widow falls for the Brit, a professional gambler who pretends to be in the fishing business. —Anonymous Passionada is the story of three generations of Portuguese women in the fishing community of New Bedford, MA. The protagonist, Sally Amonte, is still mourning the loss of her deceased husband and though she is young and beautiful, has resigned herself to working in the textile mill, caring for her elderly mother-in-law, and worrying about her rebellious teenage daughter. Her husband was the love of her life and she does not expect to find another. Charlie Beck is a handsome British charmer, he arrives in a vintage sports car and woos Sally until he sweeps her off her feet. Unfortunately, he neglects to mention that he is a professional gambler with bad instincts and that the Jaguar is borrowed. Sally's daughter, Vicky, is aware of Beck's chosen profession and threatens to tell her Mom (who Beck has fallen in love with) about it unless he tutors her in the art of card counting. —Anonymous

Policeman Charlie Lang (Nicolas Cage) is a kind and generous man who loves his job and the Queens borough of New York City where he lives. Bo (Wendell Pierce) is Charlie's partner and together they work to maintain the peace in their neighborhood. Charlie is a good listener and loved kids. Charlie only wanted to help the community and never shied away from helping where he could (helping a blind man cross the street, teaching kids how to play baseball, catching petty thieves, delivering a baby on the public bus and so on) His wife Muriel (Rosie Perez) works in a hairdressing salon and, unlike Charlie, is selfish, greedy and materialistic, constantly complaining about their situation in life. Muriel hated Queens. Waitress Yvonne Biasi (Bridget Fonda) is bankrupt because her husband Eddie (Stanley Tucci), whom she could not yet afford to divorce, emptied their joint checking account and spent all the money without her permission, while also leaving her with a credit card debt of over $12,000. The court holds her responsible for the entire bill; moreover, Yvonne's boss docks her pay for the time she spent in court, even though Yvonne gave ample notice. Charlie meets Yvonne when she waits on him at the diner where she works. Since Charlie has cash to cover the bill but doesn't have enough money to pay the tip. So, he promises to give her either double the tip or half of his prospective lottery winnings the next day. Yvonne is sure that she will never see Charlie again in her life. Charlie wins a $4 million share of $64 million (in 21 annual payments) in the lottery the next day (as 16 other people picked the same numbers) and keeps his promise, despite the protests of his wife. Muriel sees this as an opportunity to become a spokesperson for her favorite beauty products. Muriel asks Charlie to do the right thing for them, but he is adamant that he gave Yvonne his word. Charlie returns to the diner and asks Yvonne to choose if she wants double the tip or half of the lottery (without telling her that he won the lottery). Yvonne goes for the split of the lottery and Charlie reveals that it is $4 million. Yvonne believes that Charlie is making fun of her string of bad luck, but he convinces her that they won $4 million in the New York State Lottery. For Charlie, a promise is a promise. Charlie and Yvonne become stars almost immediately. Yvonne buys the diner she was working in and promptly fires her ex-boss. She sets up a table with Charlie's name at which people who cannot afford food can eat for free. In another development, Charlie becomes a hero for foiling an attempted robbery at a grocery store but gets wounded in the process. Following a commendation, he takes mandatory leave from the NYPD. At a gathering on a chartered boat for the lottery winners and other members of high society, Muriel gets to know the newly rich Jack Gross (Seymour Cassel). She flirts with him and develops a strong liking for him, which is mutual. Both Yvonne and Charlie miss the cruise because he had to go and make change for her taxi driver and bond over dinner. Meanwhile, Charlie and Yvonne spend a lot of time together, on one occasion paying for the train journeys of passengers of the subway, and on another treating the children of his neighborhood to a day out at Yankee Stadium, about which there is a media report. Muriel gets fed up with Charlie's constant donations and overall simplicity and throws him out of their apartment, asking for a divorce. That same evening, Yvonne leaves her apartment after her husband shows up and threatens to stay until he gets $50,000 from her. Quite innocently, Charlie and Yvonne run into each other at the Plaza Hotel and, unintentionally, end up spending the night together. During divorce proceedings between Muriel and Charlie, Muriel demands all the money that Charlie won for herself. Charlie doesn't mind giving his share of the money but Muriel also wants the money he gave Yvonne, and Charlie's steadfast unwillingness to do so causes Muriel to take the case to court. The jury decides in her favor. Yvonne, feeling guilty at costing Charlie all his money, runs out of court in tears and tries to keep away from him. But the cop, by now hopelessly in love with the waitress, finds her at the diner and tells her that the money means nothing to him, and they declare their love for each other. While ruminating about their future at the diner and considering a possible move to Buffalo, they are gracious enough to provide a hungry and poor customer some soup, which he eats at the Charlie Lang Table. The poor customer is none other than the disguised undercover photojournalist Angel Dupree (Isaac Hayes), who takes photos of the couple and in the next day's newspapers publicly eulogies their willingness to feed a hungry and poor man even in their darkest hour. Just as Charlie and Yvonne are moving out of town, the citizens of New York City, no doubt touched by the generosity of the couple, send "the cop and the waitress" thousands of letters with tips totaling over $600,000, enough to help pay their debts. After Muriel gets remarried, her new husband Jack Gross flees the country with all the money from their checking account, revealing himself to be a con man. She then has no option but to move in with her mother in the Bronx and go back to her old manicure job. Eddie Biasi, now divorced from Yvonne, ends up becoming a taxi driver. Charlie happily returns to the police force and Yvonne reclaims the diner. At the film's end, Charlie and Yvonne get married and begin their honeymoon by taking off from Central Park in a hot air balloon that bears the New York Post headline "Cop Weds Waitress".

A pair of grizzled frontiersmen fight Indians, guzzle liquor and steal squaws in their search for a legendary valley 'so full of beaver that they jump right into your traps' in this fanciful adventure.

In a post-apocalyptic world divided between two groups called the Flockers and the Ravagers, an adventurer and his "pleasure girl" try to find their way to a rumored safe haven called the Land of Genesis.

Real action with Kristofferson, MacGraw and Borgnine in a play full of police chasing. Truckers unite during the conflict to fight for their rights. Great action!

Ragtime music publisher John Stark (Art Carney) watches Scott Joplin (Billy Dee Williams) walk down the back stairs of the Grand Opera House in New York City and recalls events from the composer's life. Joplin grows up in a musical family led by his mother, who washes clothes to pay for her son's piano lessons. When she dies, Scott's father considers music an activity for home and church and expects his son to labor for the railroad. Instead, Scott leaves home and finds work playing piano in a bordello. On his last day before leaving for Sedalia, Missouri, in 1899, Scott meets his replacement, Louis Chauvin (Clifton Davis), who decides to go with Scott and enter a "cutting contest," a head-to-head piano competition. The two agree to share the earnings if either one wins. In Sedalia's Maple Leaf Club, Scott tells the piano tuner that the A-flat key on one of the pianos is flat and introduces himself as a budding composer. The man advises him to seek out John Stark. Later, Chauvin informs his friend that the piano-tuner is Stark. During the competition, flashy performers eliminate one another, but Scott and Chauvin are the last men standing and Chauvin wins. However, the original tune by Scott catches the attention of Stark, who asks to see the music in his office the next day. Stark offers Scott $50 for the composition, called "Maple Leaf Rag," with ten percent royalties. Scott is ordered to demonstrate the tune by playing all day in Stark's store-front window, and to deliver the written composition that afternoon. Back at the Maple Leaf Club, the other piano players warn Scott that Stark is cheating him. Chauvin suggests they take their $100 prize money and move downriver to New Orleans, Louisiana. As Scott works on another song, he is seduced by a young woman and misses his appointment with Stark, who finds Scott at the Maple Leaf. When Scott announces that he can earn more playing saloons and brothels than by taking Stark's deal, Stark accuses the composer of fearing the challenge and Scott changes his mind. After signing with Stark, the sheet music to "Maple Leaf Rag" and other songs sell briskly, and ragtime music becomes popular. In 1901, a beautiful woman admires Scott's playing at Stark's store, so Scott follows her to a cemetery. He learns she is a widow named Belle Hayden (Margaret Avery) and they spend the day together. Scott tells her that Stark is moving his business to St. Louis, Missouri, and asks her to accompany him as his wife. They marry, move to St. Louis, and his publishing success continues. Later, Scott experiences some loss of control in his hand. Meanwhile, Sam Bundler (David Healy), the arts and music critic for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, comes to Stark's offices to interview Scott, wanting to write a piece decrying ragtime as the commercialization of a fad. Later, Scott sees a doctor who informs him that he has a secondary stage of syphilis. Scott has not yet infected Belle, but the disease could affect the child she is carrying, and the third stage could be debilitating for Scott. At the Joplin home, Chauvin visits with a prostitute on each arm. He teases Scott for his conservative appearance while Scott chides Chauvin for playing his music in ways other than it was written. Chauvin bears an invitation for Scott to play a gala gathering of madams at Tom Turpin's (Godfrey Cambridge) club and Scott dismisses the idea, despite longing for his raucous youth. When Belle says she does not mind if Scott plays at the club, he makes a surprise appearance and receives an ovation. As he plays, however, he remembers the woman who seduced and infected him in Sedalia and his hands begin to tremble. He recovers, but Chauvin observes the difference in his friend's performance. Sometime later, Stark notices that something is bothering Scott, who says he wants to distance himself from the past. Stark assures Scott that he is a great American composer and that he is proposing Scott to a committee staging the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis. However, the committee, including Bundler, describes ragtime as crude and is reticent to feature Scott's music alongside John Philip Sousa. Meanwhile, Scott hopes for committee approval and writes a new rag for the fair. Receiving a note from Chauvin saying that he is ill, Scott reluctantly visits his friend, who asks him to transcribe his music so he, too, will be remembered. As Chauvin plays and Scott writes the notes, Chauvin loses control of his hands and says he will send for Scott when he has recovered. Afterward, on the street, Stark says that the committee has approved Scott for the World's Fair and that Belle has given birth to a baby girl. Scott rushes home to discover there is something wrong with the baby, so he confesses he has been deceitful. The World's Fair arrives and Scott's music is ignored, overwhelmed by the scope and volume of Souza and his orchestra. Scott rages at Stark for failing him and decides that he is going to write an opera in ragtime. Stark warns that it will be professional suicide, adding that he is moving to New York City and the Joplins should accompany him. Scott returns home in turmoil and finds Belle sitting alone in the nursery; the baby has died and Belle leaves him. Scott stops speaking to Stark and pours his energy into writing the opera. One day, he comes across the composition he transcribed for Chauvin and remembers his friend's request for help. In 1906 Chicago, Illinois, a derelict Chauvin returns to home to find Scott playing the piano and the old friends reunite before Chauvin passes away. In 1910, Scott goes to New York City to see Stark and hands him the composition he wrote with Chauvin, as well as a stack of newly written rags. After a celebratory dinner, Scott tells Stark that he has finished the opera, Treemonisha, and he wants Stark to finance it, but the publisher guesses that Scott is ill and tells the composer he will not pay penance for Scott's misdeeds. Later, Scott begins rehearsals with performers on his own, but they do not go well. Poor Alfred (musician Taj Mahal), Scott's piano player, tells Stark that Scott needs $3,000 to produce the opera and reports of the staging of a one-night, bare-bones showcase in Harlem. Although Stark claims he is penniless and is moving back to St. Louis, Alfred confesses that Scott is dying of syphilis and Stark agrees to find a backer. Later, Scott performs for one of Stark's potential investors and Stark reflects on Scott's career. While playing "The Entertainer," Scott's hands give him trouble and he is unable to finish. Later, Stark and Scott say goodbye on the back stairs of the Grand Opera House and Scott walks home alone as snow falls around him. In 1974, Joplin's music won an Academy Award® for The Sting (1973), Treemonisha was staged successfully on Broadway; and in 1976, the composer was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Joplin died in 1917.