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Char·ac·ter


            Jonathan "The Duke" Mardukas (Grodin) is an accountant who embezzled $15 million from Las Vegas gangster Jimmy Serrano (Dennis Farina) and skipped bail. He is hiding in New York when his Los Angeles bail bondsman, Eddie Moscone (Joe Pantoliano), hires bounty hunter Jack Walsh (De Niro) to bring the accountant in. To get the $100,000 bounty, Jack needs to get "The Duke" back to L.A. before midnight on Friday, or Eddie forfeits the $450,000 bail and faces bankruptcy.The FBI, led by Special Agent Alonzo Mosely (Yaphet Kotto), wants Mardukas under arrest to build their case against Serrano. Alonzo warns Jack not to interfere with his plans, but Jack, under the pretense of accepting, pays no attention, and instead pinches Mosely's identification. Serrano, meanwhile, suspects that Mardukas has access to financial information that could lead to his conviction. Additionally, that information would implicate Serrano and his ties to other mobsters, which could jeopardize his life if exposed. As a result, Serrano intends to have Mardukas killed before he can testify against him in open court.After apprehending Mardukas in Manhattan, Jack is unable to take him to L.A. by plane due to Mardukas' professed fear of flying, which gets them thrown off their transcontinental flight. The pair embark on a wild cross-country chase (with Mardukas even temporarily piloting a plane, proving that his fear of flying was a ruse), relying on various unreliable modes of transportation, all the while dodging the FBI and Serrano's henchmen Tony (Richard Foronjy) and Joey (Robert Miranda). Moscone also hires rival bounty hunter Marvin Dorfler (John Ashton) as insurance in case Jack is unable to deliver Mardukas, but offers him $25,000, claiming he offered the same to Walsh.Throughout their journey, Walsh and The Duke bicker constantly, due to the clash of Walsh's rough-hewn personality and Mardukas' habit of nagging. Much of the movie involves Mardukas' sincere effort to uncover the truth about his captor, a person he suspects is actually a decent man beneath his cynical and embittered exterior. He eventually learns that Jack was a former Chicago undercover detective who refused to go on the take of a heroin dealer he was building a case against. He was then drummed out of the force after being framed for heroin possession by corrupt colleagues and driven out of Chicago, his marriage ended and he became estranged from his family. His ex-wife ended up remarrying one of his colleagues, now a captain, whom Jack insinuates was one of the corrupt members of the force. Jack has not seen his daughter since she was a little girl, and has since then lost all faith in the law, explaining his profession as a bounty hunter. As the plot unfolds, it turns out that the heroin dealer responsible for Jack's framing was Jimmy Serrano himself. Jack, for his part, wants to see the job done so he can retire and open a coffee shop with his promised $100,000 bounty, aware that in doing so, he will most likely be helping Serrano avoid prison. He also has a keen sense of propriety and refuses a bribe from Mardukas, as well as a large cash offering from Serrano's camp in exchange for turning Mardukas over to them.After making it as far as Arizona, the two are chased by dozens of police cars. They narrowly dodge the police, but Mardukas is captured by Dorfler. Finally figuring out that Moscone cheated him and how much The Duke is actually worth, Dorfler decides to give him up to Tony and Joey for $1 million. However, Dorfler inadvertently reveals where he is keeping the fugitive, and is knocked unconscious. Mardukas is captured by Serrano's men, and Dorfler, defeated, decides to go home.Walsh, meanwhile, is finally found by Mosely and his men, and taken into custody. An enraged Walsh calls Moscone and furiously berates him for hiring Dorfler as insurance. Moscone, however, reveals that Dorfler is not delivering The Duke to him, and Walsh realizes that Dorfler has delivered Mardukas to Serrano. Walsh calls Serrano's men and tells them that Mardukas gave him computer disks with enough information to put Serrano away (earlier, Mardukas had informed Walsh that he intended to backup files on to disks but never did). Walsh threatens to turn the disks over to the FBI unless Serrano himself returns The Duke to him at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. Walsh tells Mosely and the FBI of his plan to deliver Serrano to them (even though the disks to be used in the sting are blank, Serrano's taking possession of them would be enough to indict him for conspiring to destroy government evidence and obstruction of justice), but will only carry it out if he is allowed to return Mardukas to Moscone personally and collect his money. Mosely, since his primary target is Serrano, accepts Walsh's proposal.At the airport, Serrano and Walsh confront each other for the first time since Jack left Chicago. The exchange is interrupted by Dorfler, who sees the exchange going on, not knowing that the FBI are watching and waiting for Serrano to take possession of the disks. Jack, whose microphone wire gets knocked out by Dorfler, yells to the FBI that Serrano has the disks. The FBI move in, arresting Serrano, his men, and Dorfler.As bargained with Mosely, Jack takes the Duke back to Los Angeles. He calls Eddie Moscone and tells him he has Mardukas in L.A. before the deadline - but he is letting him go. Before Jack can leave, they exchange gifts - Jack hands The Duke his broken watch, and Mardukas hands Jack a money belt he had hidden on his person throughout the film, filled with $300,000 in $1,000 bills: he was planning on leaving before Jack showed up, so he didn't have time to use the money. The two part as friends. Mardukas then disappears, and Jack tries to get a cab. However, since the driver doesn't have change for a thousand dollar bill, he zips up his leather jacket and pulls up his collar, preparing to walk home.
    

Midnight Run

Madoff

Heart and Souls

Seems Like Old Times

Taking Care of Business


            A small-time diamond trader Howard R. Chesser (Charles Grodin, narrator) sliding by with an easy living and girlfriend he cant marry, rankles at being treated with contempt by the Diamond Exchange. Located at 11 Harrowhouse, the Exchange carefully controls the flow of diamonds and stockpiles tons of in order to maintain their value. When multi-millionaire Clyde Massey (Trevor Howard) wants a large diamond to be named "The Massey," Chesser jumps at the chance to negotiate a million-pound deal and snub his nose at the Exchange and particularly its snobbish Director Meecham (John Gielgud. However, things do not go according to plan, when Chesser and his girlfriend Maren (Candace Bergen) are robbed of the diamond on his return from getting it cut; he finds himself blackmailed by Massey into engineering the theft of all four tons of diamonds stockpiled at the Exchange. With the help of his free-spirited girlfriend, the gravely ill employee at the Exchange named Watts (George Mason), a cockroach wearing nail polish and a giant vacuum hose the three manage to literally suck up all the diamonds through the wiring system.But there is still more action, betrayal, a car chase featuring a black Lotus Europa and a twist on returning the diamonds to 11 Harrow House.
    

11 Harrowhouse

The Lonely Guy

The Woman in Red


            In the Indonesian port city of Surabaya, Fred Wilson, a spokesman and promotions specialist for a huge oil conglomerate, Petrox, is preparing a voyage aboard one of the corporation's exploration ships. As the ship sets sail, a stowaway steals on to the boat and hides under the canvas cover of a life boat.The ship makes its way through the stormy south Indian Ocean. Wilson gathers the crew for a meeting to tell them where they're going, saying he couldn't risk telling them anything until they were far out of port. Wilson shows them a pair of photographs of an innocuous fog bank. One picture was taken in the 1940s by a US Navy vessel. The second was taken a few weeks prior to their departure from Surabaya. Wilson also shares another photo, this one taken by a US satellite that went off course and was armed with spectrographic instruments. The readings from the satellite, explained by Wilson's geologist, Roy Bagley, show that an island may exist behind the fog bank and that it may have petroleum deposits on it. Wilson is very excited, believing that, with the oil and gas shortage causing economic problems for Petrox back in the States, that the island will be a rich source of oil for the company.At that moment the meeting is interrupted by the same man who stowed away in the life boat. The stranger identifies himself as Jack Prescott, a primate paleontologist, who had snuck aboard the ship specifically because it was going to the island. He talks about the island's other secret: that a large beast inhabits the island, is the dominate life form there and is worshipped as a god by the local native tribe. Jack also talks about a strange wedding ritual the natives follow to placate the beast; that a beautiful woman must be "wed" to it to satisfy it's temper.Wilson believes Jack is a spy and orders him detained until they can run a check on his credentials. While they lead him away on the main deck, Jack spots a life raft floating some distance away. When the raft is salvaged, they find a beautiful blond woman unconscious, but alive. She's brought a aboard and revived by Jack. She identifies herself as "Dwan" and tells everyone that she'd been a guest aboard a yacht that sank after a fire that had occurred during the storm they'd sailed through the day before (the captain remembers that they'd received a faint distress call during the storm). Dwan had been on the deck because the party's host had wanted to show the movie Deep Throat & she refused to stay in the viewing room.Dwan quickly wins the hearts of the crew. Jack is allowed to join the voyage as a photographer. The ship arrives at the fog bank and a landing craft is launched with Jack and Dwan accompanying the party. After sailing for a bit in the fog bank, it lifts and the mysterious island is visible. They land on a beach and begin to trek inland. They stop at a huge wall, built of giant timbers and chinked with mud. Wilson believes the wall was left behind by an ancient civilization but Jack points out that repairs consisting of mud have been done recently. He's also certain that the wall was built to protect the village from something dangerous lurking on the other side. The party hears drumming in the distance and finds a small village at the edge of the wall where the island's human inhabitants are in the midst of a ritual. One of the tribe's women is being dressed in ceremonial garb while a priest wearing a carved gorilla mask dances in front of her. Wilson speculates that the man in the mask will be the groom, however Jack suggests that the real groom is beyond the wall's huge gate the village is centered around. Bagley spots a small pool of black fluid in the village and tells Fred that it could be oil.Suddenly the priest spots the landing party and halts the ceremony. He walks straight to the party and shouts angrily, quite plainly furious that their ritual has been witnessed by strangers. When he spots Dwan, he demands they trade her for six women from his village. When Jack refuses the offer, the natives advance and Jack orders the men to fire their guns in the air to scare them off.The party returns to the ship and makes plans to return to the island, pacify the locals and start their tests of the oil they spotted. Jack is highly critical, pointing out that Petrox is essentially invading the sovereign territory of an independent and primitive tribe and that the natives were shouting a strange word, "kong" during the ritual, insisting that there's more to the wall and the ritual that could endanger the lives of everyone. Wilson and his staff ignore Jack and he leaves. On deck, he gathers supplies and plans to steal a landing boat to return to the island and explore himself. Dwan finds him and talks him out of going -- she has a bad feeling that Jack will be harmed. She and Jack plan to meet in her state room and spend the night together. Jack agrees and leaves briefly. While Dwan waits for him, she's suddenly grabbed by a small gang of locals from the island and taken swiftly away in an canoe. Jack returns & finds a necklace that could have only belonged to one of the locals. He tells Wilson, who rallies his crew to go to the island and find Dwan.On the island, the natives are preparing Dwan for the ceremony. She's dressed in their traditional garb and given a small amount of fluid from a seashell -- presumably a drug to calm her. She's taken to a sacrificial altar on the other side of the wall's giant gate and tied by the arms to two posts. The natives run back through the gate and close the bolt. They gather at the top of the wall, waving torches and beating ceremonial drums. Suddenly, their celebration is halted. From deep in the forest they hear the cracking of falling trees. As the noise becomes closer, a massive beast crashes out of the forest. Dwan looks up to see a giant ape standing in front of her, scrutinizing her carefully. Kong looks Dwan over, roars his approval and gently picks her up. He turns and walks back into the forest.Jack, Wilson and the rest of the rescue party arrive in the village, firing flares to scare the natives away. They open the bolt and cautiously wander outside. Wilson stumbles into a large hole that everyone recognizes as an ape's footprint. Jack gathers several men and they begin following Kong's trail into the forest. Wilson stays behind to organize operations on the other side of the wall.Pursuing Kong along his tracks and the trail of broken trees, the team pauses occasionally to plant seismic markers for Wilson. Though the workers don't feel the need to rush, they begin to quicken their work when Jack suggests Kong is headed their way. The team comes to a deep ravine, bridged by a downed tree. Jack makes his way across, showing the rest that it's safe. As the team crosses, Kong suddenly appears on Jack's side. Jack slides down the ravine wall on a vine while Kong seizes the end of the tree trunk and begins to tilt the crew off -- all of them except for one man, Boan, plummet to their deaths. Kong spends a short time trying to grab Jack who has hidden in a small crevice. Kong gives up and strolls off. Jack yells for Boan to make it back to the village and tell Wilson he's going to continue his pursuit of Kong.Back on the beach, Bagley returns to tell Wilson the test results he'd gotten from a sample of the oil. Though it is pure crude, it hasn't gone through enough of the natural process to make it a grade suitable for refining. Wilson is crushed, having already radioed Petrox that he was going to be bringing in a huge find. However, another idea strikes him and he calls for a cargo air drop.At the wall Wilson preps for Kong's return: he's brought a bulldozer ashore and along with several dozen barrels. He has his crew dig a deep hole near the gate and lays electrical cable. While he watches from the top of the wall, he spots Boan. When he asks his man where the rest of his crew is, Boan only answers by making a slashing gesture across his throat.In the forest, Kong continues his trek, grasping Dwan. He stops at a large clearing and puts Dwan down, sitting back and watching her eagerly. She tries to crawl away a few times but Kong stops her with a simple gesture. When she tries to run, he roars and stops her again, pounding the ground near her when she falls into a mud patch. He picks her up again and stalks off. At a giant waterfall, she holds her under the curtain to clean off the mud. Later, Kong arrives at a mountain bluff where he begins to curiously pick at Dwan's clothing. At one point, Dwan becomes angry, pounding on the ape's nose. Just then, a giant rattlesnake slithers out of the brush and attacks Kong. Kong wrestles with the snake, which quickly coils itself around him. As he struggles, Jack finds Dwan and they run off. Kong is enraged and kills the snake by ripping it's jaws open. He takes off after Dwan and Jack.Dwan and Jack are able to stay just ahead of Kong -- they leap from a tall cliff, landing in a river. Kong chases the exhausted pair back to the wall where Wilson's men quickly open & close the gate for them. Wilson orders the bolt drawn back halfway to allow Kong the chance to enter. Kong smashes the wall open, stumbles through the wrecked gate and falls directly into the camouflaged hole Wilson's crew prepared. Wilson uses an explosive device to dump hundreds of gallons of chloroform into the pit. Kong thrashes for a bit and then falls unconscious. The natives fall to their knees in front of the pit.A few days later, a large Petrox tanker is sailing on the ocean. Kong is housed in one of the giant tanks. Wilson tells Jack and Dwan that they're both being given lucrative entertainment contracts. A tour of the USA featuring Kong as Petrox' new mascot is being readied. Dwan accepts immediately but Jack is scornful, calling it a grotesque farce. Eventually he gives in. That night, while Jack and Dwan kiss on the bridge, Dwan's scarf slips from her neck and drifts down into Kong's holding cell. When he smells Dwan's scent, he flies into a rage and begins beating the sides of his tank, waking the crew. Dwan goes to the grating on the top of the tank and tries to calm the beast when the captain threatens to flood the tank with sea water. He leaps up to try and catch Dwan -- he misses and the impact rocks the ship, causing Dwan to fall. Kong catches her safely and puts her on the floor. She then climbs out.The Kong tour begins at Shea Stadium. Jack visits Dwan and Wilson before the show, saying he's abandoning his contract and donating the money he earned to a fund that will send Kong back to his island. At the show, Jack watches the gaudy and grandiose pageant where Dwan is lashed to a platform similar to the one on the island and Kong is brought out, caged, shackled and wearing a horrid crown. When the media moves in to take a statement from Dwan, Kong believes she's being threatened and almost effortlessly breaks his shackles and rips apart his cage. He begins a rampage that destroys part of the stadium and crushes several people under his feet, including Wilson himself. He spots Jack taking Dwan out of the parking lot in his car but they're forced to run when the fleeing crowd is too thick. Kong breaks out of the stadium and follows them through the city. Believing he's spotted Dwan on an el-train, he smashes it open, tossing aside the screaming woman when he sees it isn't her.Jack and Dwan make it to Manhattan and find it mostly deserted. Dwan wants Jack to buy her a drink at an abandoned bar. Jack is more concerned with Kong finding them, but Dwan reminds her that apes don't like water and he can't possibly make it across the East River to Manhattan. Jack suddenly remembers that the World Trade Center towers look very much like two rock spires in Kong's mountaintop hideout on his home island. He calls the military &, after gaining their word that they'll try to capture Kong rather than kill him, tells them that they should let Kong climb the World Trade Center towers. The military agrees. Meanwhile, Kong, in seeming defiance of Jeff's theory, wades across the East River and onto Manhattan when he sees that the nearest bridge is being watched by the Army.Moments later, Dwan is captured by Kong when he finds them in the bar. He stomps away toward the WTC, being given a clear path by the military. When he arrives there, he climbs one of the towers with Dwan clutching his shoulder. When he reaches the top, he's suddenly set upon by men wielding flame throwers. Kong leaps from his tower to the other. He rips up various rooftop objects and hurls them at the men, finally finding a gas tank that explodes, killing both men. Jack is helpless to aide Dwan, watching from the observation deck on the other tower.Kong and Dwan hear helicopters in the distance. The choppers close in and are ready to open fire, waiting for Kong to release Dwan. Though she pleads with Kong to hang on to her for his own safety, he gently brushes her away and the Hueys open fire. Despite being able to knock two of the choppers out of the sky, he is still gravely injured by the gunfire. He grows weak and falls prone on the roof. Dwan approaches him and reaches out to touch him when he rolls over & falls off the tower, crashing into the plaza below. On the ground, Dwan approaches the ape and listens as his heartbeat slows and stops. She's immediately surrounded by a mob of reporters and government officials. Sadly, she calls out Jack's name, however Jack does nothing.
    

King Kong

The Couch Trip

Beethoven

The Humbling

My Summer Story


            The film opens outside of a grocery store, where a man is giving out samples of a new canned cheese product called "Cheese Tease", which nobody seems to enjoy eating. Pat Kramer (Lily Tomlin) emerges from the store with her two young children, Jeff (Justin Dana) and Beth (Shelby Balik), along with their maid, Concepcion (Maria Smith). The man forces a sample of Cheese Tease on Pat, and on the way home a can of air freshener explodes inside the car, fogging everybody and making them gag. Once home, Pat greets her neighbor, Judith Beasley (also played by Lily Tomlin), a busybody type who is in charge of the neighborhood council. Judith makes Pat listen to her sales pitch for a line of female beauty products, and she leaves Pat with some samples. Pat's husband, Vance (Charles Grodin), is returning that night from a business trip. He works for an advertising agency that pushes all sorts of products. He gives Pat a new perfume, accidentally spilling it on her dress, and tells her that they need to come up with a name for the new product. Pat suggests "Sexpot", which Vance seems to like. That night, Pat's dress begins smoking, which Pat and Vance are unaware, and the next day it is missing.At a meeting, Vance pitches the idea of calling the perfume "Sexpot" at a meeting with the perfume's makers. His boss, Dan (Ned Beatty), thinks the idea is genius, and he hints that Vance could be up for a promotion. He gives Vance a new product to christen, a new glue. At home that night, Pat is hosting the neighborhood council meeting, at which Judith berates other neighbors for petty misbehavior. Concepcion accidentally drops a vase, and Vance uses the new glue to repair it. Chaos erupts, though, when Pat gets some of the glue on her fingers and ends up glued to other people and objects in the house.By this time, Pat and Vance have both noticed that Pat is smaller than she used to be. When she visits a doctor, she finds that she's two inches shorter than she normally is. As the days pass, the phenomenon continues, but Pat insists that she not be treated any differently than she ever was. She stands on things to reach the kitchen countertop, and goes about her daily routine, which seems to be preparing meals and buying products. Eventually she's referred to doctors at the "Kleinman Institute", particularly Dr. Eugene Nortz (Henry Gibson) and Dr. Ruth Ruth (Elizabeth Wilson), who tell her that the reason she is shrinking has to do with the various chemicals she's been exposed to through her household products. They tell her to go home and wait for them to come up with an antidote, which she does, but secretly they are part of an secret company called "The Organization for World Management". They intend to somehow make a "shrink serum" from her blood and use it in a plot to shrink the entire world into subservient miniatures.Meanwhile, Pat's celebrity begins to increase the more she shrinks. Judith convinces her to leave the house on a grocery store run, and she sits on the edge of the shopping cart like a child. When she starts feeling self conscious about the gawkers she attracts, Judith smuggles her out of the store in a shopping bag. Eager to tell her story about how household chemicals caused her to shrink, she accepts an invitation to appear on the Mike Douglas Show, a daytime talk show, but Dan convinces Vance that she shouldn't reveal the cause of her plight, lest they risk losing clients in the agency. Pat begrudgingly obeys and claims she doesn't know why she's shrinking.Eventually Pat's size has decreased so much that she moves into a doll house that her family gives her for Christmas, along with a wardrobe of doll-sized clothing. She begins to lose control of her life due to her size; she can't control the kids anymore, her sex life with Vance disappears, and she has a hard time doing the household chores that she used to do, like cooking family meals. The evil doctors enlist Dan to help them lure the unsuspecting Pat into a position where they can exploit her, and at one point they make her a lucrative offer to be a spokesperson for more household products, but Pat refuses on principle.Finally they decide to kidnap Pat, and they get their chance the next morning when a freak mishap occurs. As she helps Concepcion prepare breakfast, Pat has an argument with Vance and the kids. Desperate after they leave, she loses her footing while standing on the kitchen counter and falls into the sink, landing in the garbage disposal. Concepcion comes back to the kitchen and starts cleaning up, shoving food into the garbage disposal and nearly drowning Pat with it. She almost turns on the disposal, but is interrupted by the doorbell, a distraction that the kidnappers use to gain entrance to the house through the back door. Pat manages to climb out of the garbage disposal and leaves one of her doll shoes behind. After the goons from The Organization for World Management kidnap her, Concepcion returns to the kitchen, only seeing Pat's shoe in the sink after she turns on the garbage disposal. Everyone assumes Pat is dead, and they hold a funeral service for her in the back yard, where they bury her shoe in a matchbox.In reality, Pat has been taken to a secret underground lab, where she is kept in a rat cage while the doctors study her. She shares space in the lab with a caged gorilla named Sidney (Rick Baker), who is extremely intelligent and seems to understand both spoken English and sign language. A lab assistant named Rob (Mark Blankfield) tells Pat that the doctors have told him that she's really just a clone of the real Pat Kramer, who they say is dead. Pat tries to tell him this isn't true, but he doesn't believe her. With Sidney's help, she does manage to gain access to a file folder on the table near her cage, where she reads all about her case and discovers the nefarious plans to shrink the world. Pat maneuvers her way to a telephone, again with Sidney's help, and manages to make a frantic phone call to Vance. Vance becomes hysterical upon learning that Pat has been kidnapped, but the doctors cut the phone call short when Dan tips them off that Pat has made communciation with the outside world Rob enters the lab and sees Pat making the call, but she manages to convince Rob that her story is true by showing him the top secret plans she found in the file folder. Rob bolts from the lab, but Pat and Sidney hear gunshots and fear Rob is dead.Pat is now trapped underneath a funnel, while Vance goes on national television and tells the world that Pat is alive and has been kidnapped. Pat and Sidney are overjoyed when Rob returns, still alive, and helps them escape. After a lengthy chase where numerous armed guards pursue them and fire at them, they manage to make it to the surface and exit the lab, which happens to be located underneath the very shopping center Pat used to patronize. The guards give chase, and the disruption causes shoppers to collide, resulting in a large puddle of laundry detergent and other household liquids. The guards back off when Rob gets the attention of the police, stomping on their feet so they will arrest him. Sidney deposits Pat on a table near the Cheese Tease man's microphone, where she gets everyone's attention over a loudspeaker. Judith is there too, holding a demonstration outside the supermarket, and everyone is stunned to see Pat still alive. She gives a brief speech where she says she felt like she had to warn everyone about the threat from corporations and products, but she says "You don't really need me to tell you what's wrong with the world." She tells Rob to make sure the secret plans get into the hands of the authorities. Already only a few inches tall, Pat begins to shrink away to nothing, and Vance and the children arrive just in time for her to say goodbye to them before she seems to vanish, the tiny garment she wore blows away in the breeze, landing in the puddle of liquids near the table. The onlookers are mortified, especially Pat's family and friends. Unseen by anybody, the puddle begins to swirl, seemingly on its own.Later that night, in a tribute to Pat, countries around the world simultaneously salute her with church bells, the news programs giving coverage and linking via satellite. Outside the Kramer residence, a police car discreetly pulls up and an officer comes to the front door, saying "This lady says she belongs here." A normal-sized Pat bursts inside, ecstatic to be home. The family is shocked and elated, and Concepcion screams and collapses. Sidney is at the house, too, and the kids tell her Vance said it would be alright if he lived with them. Pat babbles that the puddle seems to have reversed the shrinking process, returning her to her normal size. Vance tries to put her wedding ring back on, but it won't fit, and as she contemplates this, the shoe she is wearing suddenly bursts as her foot seems to enlarge all on its own. Pat gives a cryptic smile--apparently she's not done growing.
    

The Incredible Shrinking Woman

It's My Turn


            This first appeared on realmoviereview.comThough it was released worldwide as Fast Track, its US title was The Ex (likely because of a copyright issue), which doesnt really suit the film. The young stars do a good job, and there are some laughs, though the story is only slightly more elaborate than a sit com. Still, it has a few shining moments.Zach Braff is Tom Reilly, a soon-to-be father who finds himself forced to take a job with His father-in-law (Grodin in a very good performance) at an ad agency where he finds him self pitted against his wifes high school friend, and fling, Chip Sanders (Jason Bateman) for his corporate survival.This formula comedy is a mix of TVs The Office and Meet The Parents, which means that it also has a higher frustration level than I usually enjoy in my comedies, as things get progressively worse and worse for poor Tom Reilly. Still, this film will appeal to fans of the hot young cast, and of the movies mentioned above. For others, its not bad and shouldl give a giggle or two.
    

The Ex

Clifford

Beethoven's 2nd


            In New York City, two singer/songwriters, Chuck Clarke (Dustin Hoffman) and Lyle Rogers (Warren Beatty), stare at the window of a Sam Goody record store. Chuck insists the only difference between them and hit makers like Simon and Garfunkel or Bruce Springsteen is that they do not have an essential ingredient: an agent. Soon, Chuck invites talent agent, Marty Freed (Jack Weston), to watch them perform their material at the store Song Mart. Afterward, Marty informs the duo that they have no stage talent. They need patter, "shtick," and gimmicks.For their next tryout, Chuck and Lyle (playing as their duo act called 'Rogers and Clarke') cover a familiar song with awkward choreography at a local nightclub. Despite audience booing, Marty offers them two bookings, one in Honduras at a hotel frequented by American journalists, and another longer engagement in Morocco. Chuck and Lyle mull Marty's offer at a nearby bar.In a series of flashbacks to five months earlier, Lyle was working by driving an ice cream truck, writing song lyrics as he worked. He played new songs for his speechless wife, Willa (Tess Harper). At a restaurant, Chuck played piano for customers. Afterward, as Chuck and his girl friend, Carol (Carol Kane), chatted, a waiter delivered a note from Lyle saying how much he enjoyed Chuck's performance. The songwriters met and had instant rapport, furiously collaborating on songs. They spent so much time composing that Willa left Lyle due to neglect. He sank into a depression, then Chuck helped him recover. Soon, Carol also felt neglected and ended her relationship with Chuck. He called Lyle and threatened suicide. Lyle promised to come to Chuck's aid, but his friend asked him not to alert the police because it would ruin his show business career. However, Lyle called the police, and Chuck climbed onto the ledge of his building when an officer appeared at his apartment. As Lyle joined Chuck on the ledge, Rabbi Pierce appeared to calm Chuck. Lyle grabbed Chuck's hand, and guided him back into his apartment.At the bar in the present day, Chuck remembers all that he and Lyle went through and decides they should take their act to Morocco.In Ishtar, Morocco, as a desert archaeological camp is attacked, Professor Barnes orders his associate, Omar (J.C. Cutler), to escape with an important, newly discovered ancient map that could provoke war in the Middle East. Omar barely has time to give his sister, a left-wing French-Moroccan agent named Shirra Assel (Isabelle Ajani), the map before he is killed. His last words promise that no one will find the map except "two messengers of God."At the Ishtar airport, Shirra Assel, disguised as a man, approaches and persuades Chuck to exchange passports and suitcases with her so she might travel to Marrakesh. She quotes: "It is a matter of life and death." She convinces him that he can visit the American Embassy and have his passport easily replaced. When the duo learns that a new passport will take days to process, Chuck convinces Lyle to travel to nearby Marrakesh and do the show alone, while he checks into a hotel in Ishtar.At the Marakesh Hotel, another American, named Jim Harrison (Charles Grodin), invites Lyle to dinner. After Chuck chats about show business, Jim reveals he works for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He is in Morocco to prevent the Communists from staging a coup to overthrow the royal Moroccan government. Jim hints that his agency likes to recruit people like Chuck as operatives.At his solo show, Lyle launches into a rendition of "Bridge Over Troubled Water," and is soon drowned out by an apathetic crowd. Suddenly, Chuck appears and belts out "That's Amore," and show tunes that revive the audience. The new act of Rogers and Clarke, are a hit and are applauded. Later, Chuck says he is going for a drive to get some air.Later that night, Shirra wakes Lyle in his hotel room as she tries to reclaim her suitcase. As Lyle tackles her, she claims Chuck is a CIA agent, and the contents of the suitcase are necessary to overthrow the tyrant running her country. Lyle is skeptical about her story, but she convinces him to help her find a camel seller named Mohammed, and buy a blind camel. She leaves carrying the heavy suitcase.Meanwhile, Chuck secretly meets Jim Harrison, and learns his movements have been tracked through a pen with a hidden microphone that Jim gave him as a gift. The CIA has reason to believe that dictator Muammar Gaddafi in Libya is interested in Shirra's map, and the CIA wants to take possession of the document before Gaddafi does. Chuck claims not to know where Shirra is. However, Jim Harrison believes Lyle knows where to find her after appearing to have a sexual encounter with her at the hotel, and being recruited by her as a left-wing terrorist. Chuck does not believe any of Harrison's assertions but Harrison gives Chuck a beeper to stay in contact.In the morning, Lyle sneaks out of the hotel room, and Chuck follows him. The friends meet and CIA agents follow them to an outdoor market. Chuck and Lyle are kidnapped, but Harrison's associates shoot the captors and panic breaks out. The two friends run, and ask an enterprising local to help them hide. The youth takes them into his uncle's rug shop. The kidnappers confiscate two rolled up rugs, thinking the songwriters are hidden inside. Dressed in Moroccan garments, Chuck and Lyle escape over the rooftops.Meanwhile, Harrison visits Emir Yousef (Aharon Ipalé) at his palace in Ishtar to explain that the Americans, Chuck and Lyle, are merely pawns. The Emir insists the songwriters will be mistaken for "messengers of God." If radical Shiites gain possession of the map they will use it as a sign to overthrow the Emir. The Americans must be killed to demonstrate that God does not favor those who oppose the Emir.As Lyle negotiates for a blind camel at the Ben Sheli Camel Market, Chuck confronts Shirra in a nearby hotel room. He accuses her of recruiting Lyle as a Communist but she denies it. She thinks he stole her map and gave it to Jim Harrison. He denies it but promises to keep her secret. When Chuck finds Lyle, he has bought a blind camel with poor teeth. As Lyle leaves to change his disguise, Harrison appears and warns Chuck that the Emir's men want to kill them. Harrison hands Chuck two canteens with water, and a compass with escape instructions. When they reach a safe hotel at a desert oasis, CIA agents are supposed to rescue them, but it is a ruse. Harrison hopes that the desert trek will result in their deaths.Meanwhile, Shirra's associates convince her the songwriters must be executed. Shirra gives Lyle a beaded necklace with instructions to drop a trail of beads, heading into the desert. At night, the beads will glow and the friends can find their way back to town.The next morning in the desert, Chuck collapses from heat exhaustion. As Lyle helps his friend, vultures appear. Elsewhere, an associate of Shirra's tells Prof. Barnes they plan to announce over radio that they are in possession of the ancient map.The songwriters survive a sandstorm and think they see Moroccans with a truck. Chuck instructs Lyle, dressed in flowing robes, to get water. The Moroccans are actually Australian gunrunners who mistake Chuck for an auctioneer. As Chuck pretends to auction guns to the locals, CIA agents see that the songwriters have stopped moving through the desert and send a helicopter to retrieve their bodies. When the helicopter pilot realizes they are alive he retreats, and the auction is cut short.At his palace, the Emir tells Harrison he wants the "the messengers of God" killed and the helicopter returns to the desert.Parched and exhausted, Chuck and Lyle think of song lyrics to keep alert, and soon discover Shirra's map sewn into the lining of Chuck's jacket. Just then the helicopter appears and when the pilot shoots at the songwriters, they return fire with guns they collected from the auction. The helicopter leaves but returns with a second Apache attack helicopter. However, Shirra appears in a truck. She arms Chuck and Lyle with powerful guns, and the two helicopters are forced to abort their mission.Chuck and Lyle manage to smuggle the map into the United States. Back in New York, Marty, the talent agent, negotiates with Harrison to implement social reforms in Morocco, get rid of the Emir, and back and promote an album and worldwide tour for Chuck and Lyle. If the CIA succeeds, the songwriters promise not to sell the map to the KGB or anyone else. As a show of support, Harrison arranges for American forces and CIA agents to attend Chuck and Lyle's show at Chez Casablanca. Shirra thinks their songs are wonderful.In the final scene, back in America, Chuck and Lyle's "Live in Concert" album can be seen in the window of Sam Goody records.
    

Charles Grodin

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