December 2002 Movies

Amy Renner Amy Renner

Sep. 27, 2016

Best Movies Released December 2002

On this Page:
December 6 December 13 December 18 December 19 December 20 December 25 December 27

Victor Rosa (John Leguizamo) is all about the mighty dollar and fashions himself as a businessman on par with Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Bill Gates. With an iron fist, he runs a successful "street pharmaceutical" business that peddles a heroin mix he has named Empire. His beautiful fiancée, Carmen, a Baruch College student, befriends a classmate with an investment-banker boyfriend, Jack Wimmer. Victor meets Jack, and they instantly connect. Both are hard-core businessmen from two different sides of the legal fence. When Jack offers Victor a piece of the action on the stock market, he sees his ticket out of the violent streets of the South Bronx and jumps at the opportunity. But there is a bigger price to be paid than clean money for his gorgeous new Soho lifestyle. For the first time, Victor is confronted with a price tag that he will find difficult to pay.

Isabella Rossellini, Carlos Leon, Sonia Braga, Franc Reyes, John Leguizamo, Denise Richards, Peter Sarsgaard, Ruben Blades

R Drama Crime

53%

  • 2.6
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Sequel to the 1999 hit, "Analyze, This," follows Ben Sobel's struggle to help Paul Vitti, his mobster client. Paul, who's been spending time in prison, is released to the custody of his psychiatrist. Paul tries to adjust to a straight life, but it's Ben who has issues this time: he's depressed after the recent death of his father.

Billy Crystal, Robert De Niro, Lisa Kudrow, Harold Ramis, Joe Viterelli, Brian Rogalski

R Comedy

33%

  • 2.7
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A true story about four Allied POWs who endure harsh treatment at the hands of their Japanese captors during World War II while being forced to build a railroad through the Burmese jungle. Ultimately they find true freedom by forgiving their enemies.

Mark Strong, Pip Torrens, David L. Cunningham, Robert Carlyle, Ciarán McMenamin, Sakae Kimura, Masayuki Yui, James Cosmo

R Drama War

20%

  • 2
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In a futuristic world, a strict regime has eliminated war by suppressing emotions: books, art and music are strictly forbidden and feeling is a crime punishable by death. Cleric John Preston (Bale) is a top-ranking government agent responsible for destroying those who resist these rules. When he misses a dose of Prozium, a mind-alterering drug that hinders emotion, Preston, who has been trained to enforce the strict laws of the new regime, suddenly becomes the only person capable of overthrowing it.

Christian Bale, Angus MacFadyen, Kurt Wimmer, Matthew Harbour, William Fichtner, Dominic Purcell, Emily Watson, Taye Diggs

R Action Adventure Thriller

43%

  • 2.5
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It's two odd stories in one. The plot follows the attempt of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage) to adapt Susan Orlean's nonfiction novel "The Orchid Thief" for the big screen. As Kaufman tries to work with the book's true story — the tale of John Laroche (Chris Cooper), a Florida plant dealer who works with Seminole Indians to create clones of rare orchids, which he sells to collectors for huge profits — he nearly goes mad. Enter his fictional twin (also Cage), a more successful version of Charlie. Charlie finally manages to finish the script, finding that in the process, he's incorporated himself and his writer's block into the story.

John Cusack, Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Tilda Swinton, Chris Cooper, Cara Seymour, Spike Jonze, Ron Livingston

R Drama Comedy

29%

  • 3.9
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A street savvy, independent single mother who lives in the Bronx with her son, and works as a maid in a first class Manhattan hotel dreams of a better life but has learned to depend upon her own wits to get her there. When a handsome, debonair heir to an American political dynasty is in New York and staying in the hotel where Marisa works, the two meet by a twist of fate and mistaken identity. She soon finds herself gaining insight into the life of a man she might otherwise have judged from a distance. When her true identity is revealed, however, the truth sets in as to the disparity in their lives.

Jennifer Lopez, Ralph Fiennes, Natasha Richardson, Wayne Wang, Di Quon, Bob Hoskins

PG-13 Comedy Romance

71%

  • 4
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Jessica Spencer (Anna Faris) is convinced she has the perfect life. She's the hottest, most popular girl in high school, captain of the cheerleading squad and dating the dreamy quarterback. But thse gets a big does of reality when she wakes up in the body of a 30-year-old man (Rob Schneider)! She quickly discovers that trading on your looks isn't so easy when you're a girl who constantly needs a shave. And until she can figure out how to change herself back, Jessica must find a way to win the Cheer Competition, go to the prom, and win her boyfriend back - all as a guy. From some of the guys who brought you "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo" and "The Animal" comes a wild, heartfelt comedy everyone can enjoy no matter what you sex.

Rachel McAdams, Adam Sandler, Tom Brady, Anna Faris, Rob Schneider, Matthew Lawrence, Eric Christian Olsen

PG-13 Comedy

71%

  • 4.5
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Desmond Doyle is devastated when his philandering wife abandons their family on the day after Christmas. His unemployment and the fact that there is no woman in the house to care for the children, Evelyn, Noel and Brendan, make it clear to the authorities that his is an untenable situation. The Catholic Church and the Irish courts decide the Doyle children put into Church-run orphanages. Although a sympathetic judge assures Desmond that when his financial situation reverses, he will be able to get his children back; money is hard to come by. During that time, Evelyn and her brothers suffer the abuses of living in orphanages while Desmond struggles to secure finances. Now he must battle the courts to get his children back.

Aidan Quinn, Bruce Beresford, Pierce Brosnan, Julianna Margulies, Stephen Rea, John Lynch, Sophie Vavasseur, Alan Bates

PG Drama

100%

  • 5
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There are those among us who are preternaturally lucky. They are the survivors of the plane crash that kills everyone else, the ones who escape being victims of war and terror, the gamblers who win high-stake games and even life itself. Their gift is not only being lucky, however; it includes the power to rob others of their luck and leave them helpless in the face of misfortune. Frederico has been robbed of his luck and believes that Tomas, the survivor of a plane crash, will be the instrument of his vengeance. The two men embark on a voyage of initiation, a series of trials challenging others that will lead them to the summit of chance, but they must avoid the scrutiny of policewoman Sara, herself a survivor, to finally meet Sam, the master of the domain from which only one person will emerge intact.

Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Eusebio Poncela, Monica Lopez, Antonio Dechent

R Thriller Suspense

14%

  • 1
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Jack Nicholson stars as Warren Schmidt, a man who is set adrift following retirement and the sudden death of his wife. Uncertain about his future as well as his past, Warren packs up his 30-foot Winnebago to set out on a journey across the Nebraska plains to attend his daughter's (Hope Davis) wedding to a waterbed salesman (Dermot Mulroney). But every step he takes seems wrong, and Warren seems destined to end his life as he lived it: a failure. But along the way, Warren recounts his journey and shares his observations with an unexpected friend - a poor Tanzanian boy he is sponsoring for 73 cents a day. In his long letters to the boy, Warren begins to see himself and the life he has lived with new eyes.

Dermot Mulroney, Jack Nicholson, Hope Davis, June Squibb, Kathy Bates, Harry Gittes, Michael Besman, Jim Taylor

R Drama Comedy

0%

  • 1
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The sequel to "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" follows the continuing quest of Frodo Baggins and the Fellowship that has joined together to destroy the One Ring and stand against the leader of the dark lord Sauron. The fellowship has divided and now find themselves taking different paths to defeating Sauron and his allies. Their destinies now lie at two towers: Orthanc Tower in Isengard, where the corrupted wizard Saruman waits, and Sauron's fortress at Barad-dur, deep within the dark lands of Mordor.

Karl Urban, Peter Jackson, Barrie Osbourne, Phillipa Boyens, Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis

PG-13 Drama Action Adventure War Fantasy Sci-Fi

91%

  • 4.6
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Based on a true story, a biographical drama centering upon Antwone "Fish" Fisher who—once a Sony Pictures security guard—eventually gained fame as an acclaimed writer and a Hollywood producer. In the earlier part of his life, he was a sailor prone to violent outbursts. On the verge of being kicked out of the Navy for repeated fighting, he is sent to a naval psychiatrist for help. Refusing at first to open up, the young man eventually breaks down and reveals a horrific childhood rife with abuse. With the help of a Navy psychiatrist, he turns his life around and decides to embark on a search to find the family that abandoned him as a baby. Through the guidance of his doctor, he confronts his painful past and begins a quest to find the family he never knew. In the course of that search, his life changes dramatically.

Denzel Washington, Todd Black, Antwone Fisher, Derek Luke, Viola Davis, Cory Hodges, Malcolm David Kelley, Salli Richardson

PG-13 Drama

100%

  • 4.5
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This Nickelodeon movie finds this animated family going on wild adventures around the world. Now 12-year-old Eliza is in Africa where she meets a mysterious shaman who grants her the power to talk to animals. But there's a catch - if she reveals her gift, she will lose it forever. One day, Eliza discovers that poachers plan to kill an elephant herd with an electrified fence and she and Darwin, her pet chimp, must stop them.

Rupert Everett, Jeff McGrath, Cathy Malkasian, Brenda Blethyn, Jodi Carlisle, Lacey Chabert, Tim Curry, Flea

G Comedy Animation

80%

  • 3
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In the romantic comedy "Two Weeks Notice", Sandra Bullock plays a brilliant but detail-obsessed attorney opposite Hugh Grant as her charming, irresponsible and fabulously wealthy boss in a film that explores whether or not it's ever too late to say "I Love You."

Hugh Grant, Marc Lawrence, Alicia Witt, Mark Feuerstein, Robert Klein

PG-13 Comedy Romance

100%

  • 5
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Set during the mid 1800s, this story is based upon the non-fiction book of the same title by Herbert Asbury, about the beginning of the mob in America. The story centers around two rival gangs, the Dead Rabbits and the Native Americans. When the leader of the Dead Rabbits is murdered, his son Amsterdam (Leonardo DiCaprio) seeks revenge on the man held responsible Bill "The Butcher" (Daniel Day-Lewis).

Leonardo DiCaprio, Liam Neeson, Daniel Day-Lewis, Martin Scorsese, Alberto Grimaldi, Steven Zaillian, Steven Zallian, Jay Cocks

R Drama Crime

50%

  • 3.1
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A heroic coming-of-age story which follows the epic adventures of a young lion cub named Simba as he struggles to accept the responsibilities of adulthood and his destined role as king of the jungle. As a carefree cub, he is both excited and anxious to become king, one day, and spends his days frolicking with his pal, Nala. His father, King Mufasa, the revered ruler of Pride Rock and the lands that surround it, teaches him about the "Circle of Life"--the delicate balance of nature which bonds all animals together; Simba's father cautions him to prepare for the day when he will be called upon to lead. Mufasa's evil brother, Scar, hopes that day will never arrive and schemes to do away with the king and Simba so that he can assume the throne for his own tyrannical purposes. Scar and his hyena henchmen--Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed--lure Simba into the path of a wildebeest stampede in which Mufasa is killed trying to save his son. Scar convinces Simba that he is responsible! for his father's death and urges him to leave the Pride Lands and never return. A frightened and guilt-ridden Simba flees into exile where he is befriended by a wacky but warmhearted warthog named Pumbaa and his free-wheeling meerkat companion, Timon. Under the dubious guidance of this nature's odd couple, Simba adopts their "Hakuna Matata" (no worries) attitude towards life--taking things one day at a time. The cub matures into a young adult and is able to forget his past until a beautiful young lioness--who turns out to be his childhood friend Nala--arrives on the scene. She tells him of the hard times and suffering that have come to the Pride Lands under Scar's reign, and beseeches him to take his place as king. With the help of Rafiki, a wise shaman baboon, Simba realizes that his father's spirit lives on in him and that he must accept the responsibility of his destined role.

Matthew Broderick, Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons

G Adventure Family Kids 3D Post-3D

94%

  • 4.5
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Frank Abagnale, Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio) worked as a doctor, a lawyer, and as a co-pilot for a major airline—all before his 18th birthday. A master of deception, he was also a brilliant forger, whose skill gave him his first real claim to fame: At the age of 17, Frank Abagnale, Jr. became the most successful bank robber in the history of the United States. FBI Agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks) had made it his prime mission to capture Frank and bring him to justice, but Frank is always one step ahead of him, baiting him to continue the chase.

Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Martin Sheen, Steven Spielberg, Jennifer Garner, Jeff Nathanson, Amy Adams, Frank John Hughes

PG-13 Drama Action Adventure Crime

82%

  • 4.3
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Written by, directed by, and starring Roberto Benigni, this is the classic story of a wooden puppet come to life and his magnificent odyssey to become a 'real boy'. Despite guidance from the beautiful Blue Fairy (Nicoletta Braschi) and the love of his father, Gepetto (Carlo Guiffre), Pinocchio's curious spirit leads him into one wild adventure after another - distracting him from his goal, and distancing him from his loved ones. Using Carlo Collodi's original masterwork as its source, the film is filled with mysterious fairies, colorful circuses, mystical forests, talking animals, fantastical toys and magnificent playlands.

Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Carlo Guiffre, Carlo Giuffre, Bruno Arena

G Comedy Fantasy Kids

57%

  • 3.7
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The film is adapted from the autobiography of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish Jew who detailed his survival during World War II. A composer and a pianist, he played the last live music heard over Polish radio airwaves before Nazi artillery hit. During the brutal occupation, he eluded deportation and remained in the devastated Warsaw ghetto. There, he struggled to stay alive even when cast away from those he loved. He would eventually reclaim his artistic gifts and confront his fears, with aid from the unlikeliest of sources.

Adrien Brody, Roman Polanski, Thomas Kretschmann, Maureen Lipman, Frank Finlay, Ed Stoppard, Emilia Fox, Julia Rayner

R Drama

58%

  • 4.3
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It's the long-awaited film version of the Broadway hit. Set in the roaring 20's, this is the story of Chicago chorus girl Roxie Hart (Renée Zellweger), who shoots her unfaithful lover (Dominic West). Landing in jail, she meets Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones), another chorus girl and murderess, currently enjoying media attention and legal manipulation, care of her attorney, Billy Flynn (Richard Gere), king of the old "Razzle Dazzle." Soon enough, however, Flynn takes Roxie's case as well, and Velma finds herself old news as Roxie is now the most famous murderess in town, on her way to getting out of jail and becoming a star. The two go through a series of attempts at getting what they both want: freedom and fame.

John C. Reilly, Rob Marshall, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renée Zellweger, Richard Gere, Christine Baranski, Dominic West, Mya

R Drama Comedy Crime Musical

50%

  • 3.8
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This is the story of a young man, Sonny (James Franco), living in New Orleans and trained to follow the family tradition as a paid male prostitute for wealthy women, and he hates it. He wants to free himself from this predetermined life and find something for himself outside the business, perhaps even in the Army, but his family won't hear of it.

James Franco, Nicolas Cage, Brenda Blethyn, Mena Suvari, Harry Dean Stanton, Brenda Vaccaro, Scott Caan, Seymour Cassel

R Drama

38%

  • 4.4
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