Say Anything (1989)

.
"I am looking for a dare to be great situation."
Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack), underachiever, kickboxer, and recent high school graduate, is smitten with the beautiful valedictorian Diane Court (Ione Skye) but Diane has spent her entire life focused on academics with the goal of winning a fellowship in England. She's neglected the social side of her life. But Lloyd is determined to change that and soon Diane is smitten with Lloyd, too. Their love grows but is complicated by the usual teenage angst and Diane's possessive father (John Mahoney).

Others in the cast include Lili Taylor, Chynna Phillips, Jason Gould, and Jeremy Piven as some of Lloyd's buddies; Richard Portnow and Philip Baker Hall as IRS agents; and Joan Cusack as Lloyd's older sister. Also appearing are Bebe Neuwirth and Eric Stoltz.

Set in Seattle. Includes one of my fav songs, "In Your Eyes," written and performed by Peter Gabriel.

Written and directed by Cameron Crowe.

Run time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Rated PG-13.

My personal rating: B-

RocknRolla (2008)

.
"People ask the question... what's a RocknRolla? And I tell 'em - it's not about drums, drugs, and hospital drips, oh no. There's more there than that, my friend. We all like a bit of the good life - some the money, some the drugs, other the sex game, the glamour, or the fame. But a RocknRolla, oh, he's different. Why? Because a real RocknRolla wants the ####ing lot."
When a Russian gangster's (Karel Roden) London real estate scam flops, many of London's slimey underworld characters scramble to get rich from the chaos.

A rather frenetic tale with action and humor and a diversity of personalities including the London mobster Lennie (Tom Wilkinson) who had been setting up the original transaction; Lenny's right hand man Archie (Mark Strong); the Russian's shifty accountant (Thandie Newton); Lenny's doped-up rockstar stepson Johnny Quid (Toby Kebbell) who wants to get even with Lenny for childhood abuses; the Russian's right hand man Victor (Dragan Micanovic); Wild Bunch members One Two (Gerard Butler), Mumbles (Idris Elba) and Handsome Bob (Tom Hardy) who are in cahoots with the accountant; and Americans Roman (Jeremy Piven) and Mickey (Ludacris) who also get mixed up in the stew.

Written and directed by Guy Ritchie.

Run time: 1 hour, 55 minutes

Rated R for pervasive language, violence, drug use and brief sexuality.

My personal rating: B

White Palace (1990)

.

A Younger Man
A Bolder Woman

Uptight 20-something advertising executive Max Baron (James Spader) is compulsively organized, personally disciplined, and still grieving over the death of his wife two years before.

Nora Baker (Susan Sarandon), a 40-something waitress at the White Palace burger joint in St. Louis, is disorganized, spontaneous, and mouthy.

They have a confrontation at the White Palace one evening over burgers missing from a large order he'd place to take to a friend's bachelor party. Later that night, Max runs into Nora at a bar and they talk. Max offers to take her home but he's sloshed and ends up staying the night. Of course, it becomes a one-night stand that leads to Max's infatuation with Nora.

The infatuation leads to more sex and eventually love but can they overcome the prejudices against the differences in the age, class, and personality, and the social standards his family and friends expect of him?
Others in the cast include Steven Hill, Jason Alexander and Jeremy Piven as Max's friends, Kathy Bates as Max's boss, Renee Taylor as Max's mother, Eileen Brennan as Nora's mother.

Directed by Luis Mandoki.

Run time: 1 hour, 43 minutes

Rated R

My personal rating: B

Runaway Jury (2003)

.

"Trials are too important to be decided by juries."

When a day trader (Dylan McDermott) is shot to death at his office in New Orleans, his widow hires an idealistic attorney, Wendell Rohr (Dustin Hoffman), to sue the gun manufacturer.

The defense team is lead by (Bruce Davison), but the real power of the team lies in the ruthless jury consultant Rankin Fitch (Gene Hackman) who stops at nothing to discover everything he can on every potential juror and even more on those selected to serve on the jury.

Juror Nicholas Easter (John Cusack) and his girlfriend Marlee (Rachel Weisz) on the outside of the courtroom are collaborating to sell the verdict to either the prosecuting or the defending attorney. But what is their agenda?

Complex, with many twists and turns, and much suspense.

Others in the stellar cast include: Bruce McGill, Jeremy Piven, Jennifer Beals, Nora Dunn, Rusty Schwimmer, Luis Guzmán, Celia Weston.

Based on a novel by John Grisham. Directed by Gary Fleder.

Run time: 2 hours, 7 minutes

Rated PG-13 for violence, language and thematic elements.

My personal rating: B