Browse Movies : 2002 : Drama

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.

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.

In 1993, an elite group of American Rangers and Delta Force soldiers are sent to Somalia on a critical mission to capture a violent warlord whose corrupt regime has lead to the starvation of hundreds of thousands of Somalis. When the mission goes terribly wrong, the men find themselves outnumbered and literally fighting for their lives.

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.

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.

Dre and Sidney can attribute their friendship and the launch of their careers to a single childhood moment - the day they discovered hip-hop on a New York street corner. Now some 15 years later, she is a revered music critic who leaves her L.A. Times music review gig to edit New York hip-hop magazine XXL, while he is a successful, though unfulfilled New York music executive. Dre and Sidney should be perfect for each other, except that Dre's about to get married and Sidney begins to be wooed by a handsome basketball player. Still, as they lay down the tracks toward their futures, hip-hop isn't the only thing that keeps them coming back to that moment on the corner...

Edward Norton stars as ex-FBI agent Will Graham, an expert investigator who quit the Bureau after almost losing his life in the process of capturing the elusive Dr. Lecter (Hopkins). Years later, after a series of particularly grisly murders, Graham reluctantly agrees to come out of retirement and assist in the case. But he soon realizes that the best way to catch this killer, known as the Tooth Fairy, is to find a way to get inside the killer's mind. And the closest thing to that would be to probe the mind of another killer who is equally brilliant and equally twisted. For Graham, that means confronting his past and facing his former nemesis, the now-incarcerated Lecter.

Edward and Connie Summer (Richard Gere, Diane Lane) have the perfect life: a happy marriage, an eight year old son, and a beautiful house in the suburbs. But when Connie's chance encounter with a handsome stranger (Olivier Martinez) erupts into a full-blown affair, desire becomes obsession, and the true price of betrayal takes a shattering toll.

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.

An unemployed cameraman finds an incredible story with a mysterious old neighbor who claims to have been the second gunman on the grassy knoll during the JFK assassination.

The film follows four sons of well-known Brooklyn-based mobsters and their desperate fight to retrieve a bag of cash in a small Montana town ruled by a corrupt sheriff. As they unite to find the money, they come face-to-face with the bloodshed and betrayal that is their birthright.

When Joe Nast's (Jake Gyllenhaal) plans for marriage change due to an unexpected loss, he wants to be the man he believes everyone wants him to be - dutifully bereaved husband-to-be and perfect would-be son-in-law to Ben (Dustin Hoffman) and JoJo (Susan Sarandon). But when another woman unexpectedly enters his life, he's quickly torn between fulfilling his new role and following his heart.

Maud Bailey (Gwyneth Paltrow), a brilliant English academic given to doing things by the book, is researching the life and work of poet Christabel LeMotte (Jennifer Ehle). Roland Mitchell (Aaron Eckhart) is an upstart American scholar in London on a fellowship to study the great Randolph Henry Ash (Jeremy Northam), now best known for a collection of rapturous, late-life poems dedicated to his wife. When Maud and Roland discover a cache of love letters that appear to be from Ash to LaMotte, they follow a trail of clues across England to the Continent, echoing the journey of the impassioned couple a century earlier.

Director Rich Murray puts the Philadelphia hip-hop scene on the map with "Snipes", an urban crime thriller that breathes fresh life into the genre. Erik (Sam Jones III) is an ambitious teenager who spends more time posting flyers for his favorite rapper, Prolifik (Nelly), than sitting in the classroom. When he and his best friend stumble across a dead body one night, they trigger a series of tragic events. It turns out Prolifik, as well as the master tapes for his new record, have been kidnapped by a gang of thugs who want Bobby Starr (Dean Winters), the ruthless president of Prolifik's label, to dish out a meaty ransom. If he doesn't, they promise to make sure Bobby's uncle and chief investor, the dangerous Johnny Marandino (Frank Vincent), knows just how carelessly Bobby has been spending his money. Through a misunderstanding, Erik becomes the target of Bobby Starr, as well as the kidnappers. Fearful for his own life, as well as his father's, Erik must find a way to get his hands on the master tapes, before Bobby Starr gets his hands on him. Murray's energizing film boasts credible performances¯especially from rap superstar Nelly¯and a pulsating hip-hop soundtrack.

This film screened in April 2002 in New York City as part of the Gen Art Film Festival.

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.

Alexis Bledel (TV's 'Gilmore Girls') plays a free-spirited 15-year-od in a stuffy Victorian household who stumbles on the Tucks, a Based on the award-winning book by Natalie Babbitt, Walt Disney Pictures' "Tuck Everlasting" captures the story of Winnie Foster (Alexis Bledel), a teenage girl on the cusp of maturity. Winnie longs for a life outside the control of her domineering mother (Amy Irving), and when lost in the woods near her home, she happens upon Jesse Tuck (Jonathan Jackson), a boy unlike any she's ever met before. He and his family (William Hurt, Sissy Spacek, Scott Bairstow) are kind and generous, and they immediately take her in as one of their own. However, the Tucks hold a powerful secret, and with the mysterious Man in the Yellow Suit (Ben Kingsley) tracking them down, they fear that the world as they know it could end. Ultimately, Winnie must decide whether to return to her life or stay with her beloved Jesse and his family forever.

An honest but provocative fictional examination of a critical month in the life of a young man named Jimmy (Eminem) as he searches for identity and a sense of purpose. Against the familiar backdrop of indifference and community decay, he learns to express his anger, fears and frustration as he struggles to transcend his bleak circumstances.

Shane West and Mandy Moore star as two high schoolers -- she a straitlaced preacher's daughter and he an unmotivated delinquent. When events thrust him into her world, he begins an unexpected journey he'll never forget.

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.

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.