Browse Movies : 2005 : Drama (Page #5)

Produced by John Singleton and the Winner of the Sundance Film Festival, "Hustle & Flow" is the redemptive story of a Memphis street hustler who struggles to break out of his gritty world to fulfill his life long dream of becoming a respected rap musician. He teams up with his middle class friend who is stuck in an office routine having missed the opportunity of becoming the music producer he always wanted to be. Together they have one last chance to follow their dream.

A high-school ugly duckling transforms into a swan in Walt Disney Pictures' "Ice Princess." Brainy Casey Carlyle (Michelle Trachtenberg) has never quite fit in. Caught between her fantasy of becoming a championship figure skater and her strong-willed mother (Joan Cusack), who has her on the fast track to Harvard, she can only hope to be like Nikki, Tiffany and Gen (Hayden Panettiere) - three elite skating prodigies who are ruthlessly competing on the US Figure Skating circuit (and have attitudes to match). But when Casey gets the chance to train with Gen and her coach, a disgraced former skating champion who also happens to be Gen's mother (Kim Cattrall), she must dash her own mother's hopes in order to pursue her dream. Now, with only the support of Gen's teenage brother, a hunky Zamboni driver (Trevor Blumas), Casey takes on the challenge of her life when she finds herself competing against the best to make it into the championship circuit and become a real "ice princess."

Dan Foreman (Dennis Quaid) is headed for a shakeup. He is demoted from head of ad sales for a major magazine when the company he works for is acquired in a corporate takeover. His new boss, Carter Duryea (played by Topher Grace) is half his age--a business school prodigy who preaches corporate synergy. While Dan develops clients through handshake deals and relationships, Carter cross-promotes the magazine with the cell phone division and "Krispity Krunch," an indeterminate snack food under the same corporate umbrella. Both men are going through turmoil at home. Dan has two daughters--Alex, age 18, and Jana, age 16--and is shocked when his wife tells him she's pregnant with a new child. Between college tuition, the mortgage and a new baby, Dan can't afford to lose his job in the wave of corporate layoffs. Carter, in the meanwhile, is dumped by his wife of seven months just as he gets his promotion. Dan and Carter's uneasy friendship is thrown into jeopardy when Carter falls for, and begins an affair with, Dan's daughter Alex (Scarlett Johansson).

When New York's hottest nightclub deejay Darrell (Usher) saves a mob boss's life (Chazz Palminteri), he is rewarded for his bravery with the responsibilty of watching over the don's beautiful daughter Dolly (Emmanuelle Chriqui). The sparks soon begin to fly between this attractive couple from very different worlds, against her formidable father's wishes. Meanwhile, the don has other things on his mind—quashing a potential war with an arch-rival and controlling a young, ruthless challenger to his throne. In the end, all's fair in love and gangster warfare in this hip, romantic comedy, "In the Mix".

A musician who is supposed to mend his ways ends up changing the habits of a group of fellow inmates. Wesley Benfield is a guitar player with a habit of walking on the wrong side of the law. One night, Benfield gets into a fistfight in a Missouri honky-tonk, and when police discover the car he drove to the club is stolen, it's not long before he finds himself standing before a judge. Benfield is ordered to move into a half-way house near a small Baptist college, and as part of his therapy he joins in a small gospel combo made up of the house's residents. However, Benfield is a lot more interested in playing the blues. With a bit of persuading, he convinces his bandmates to pursue a new musical direction, and they start sneaking out at night to play shows at a local nightspot.

Based upon JJ Connelly's London crime novel, "Layer Cake" is about a successful cocaine dealer (Daniel Craig) who has earned a respected place among England's Mafia elite and plans an early retirement from the business. However, big boss Jimmy Price hands down a tough assignment: find Charlotte Ryder, the missing rich princess daughter of Jimmy's old pal Edward, a powerful construction business player and gossip papers socialite. Complicating matters are two million pounds' worth of Grade A ecstasy, a brutal neo-Nazi sect and a whole series of double crossings. The title "Layer Cake" refers to the layers or levels the dealer has to go through as he painstakingly plots his own escape. What is revealed is a modern underworld where the rules have changed. There are no 'codes', or 'families' and respect lasts as long as a line. Not knowing who he can trust, he has to use all his 'savvy', 'telling' and skills which make him one of the best, to escape his own. The ultimate last job, a love interest called Tammy and an international drugs ring, threaten to draw him back into the 'cake mix'. But, time is running out and the penalty will endure a lifetime.

"Match Point" represents a departure for native New Yorker Woody Allen, the majority of whose films lovingly depict New York and—not always so lovingly—New Yorkers. Crossing the Atlantic for the first time in his film career, Allen set "Match Point" in London, where it was also filmed. The film is described as a melodrama about many things -- ambition, the seduction of wealth, love, sexual passion and, most importantly, the huge part luck plays in events as opposed to the comforting misconception that more of life is under our control than it really is.

In the wake of a painful estrangement from his daughter, boxing trainer Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) has been unwilling to let himself get close to anyone for a very long time—then Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) walks into his gym. In a life of constant struggle, Maggie's gotten herself this far on raw talent, unshakable focus and a tremendous force of will. But more than anything, she wants someone to believe in her. The last thing Frankie needs is that kind of responsibility—let alone that kind of risk—but won over by Maggie's sheer determination, he begrudgingly agrees to take her on. In turns exasperating and inspiring each other, the two come to discover that they share a common spirit that transcends the pain and loss of their pasts, and they find in each other a sense of family they lost long ago. Yet, they will both face a battle that will demand more heart and courage than any they've ever known.

This biopic focuses on the life of 20th-century Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani during the period after the first World War.

Ernesto is a successful artist who has his life turned upside down by his family's wishes for the canonization of his murdered mother. His extreme dislike for her ignorant ways brings about a greater connection to his inane brother who killed her, while his other brothers favor her beautification.

Awakened by a rumbling that could only be made by the much-feared Heffalump, the Hundred Acre Wood crew sets forth to catch the dreaded creature. Disregarded as too young to partake in such a dangerous expedition, Roo opts to search on his own – with far greater success than his friends. But in meeting a young, playful Heffalump named Lumpy, Roo quickly discovers that Heffalumps are nothing like what he's been told, and that the creature is equally afraid of Roo's silly pals. Roo and Lumpy strike up a sweet friendship and work together to dispel the unfounded fears of their respective friends and families.

A devoted daughter comes to terms with the death of her father, a brilliant mathematician whose genius was crippled by mental insanity, forcing her to face her own long-harbored fears and emotions. She adjusts to his death with the help of one of her father's former mathematical students, who searches through her father's notebooks in the hope of discovering a bit of his old brilliance. While she comes to terms with the possibility that his genius, which she has inherited, may come at a painful price, her estranged sister arrives to help settle their father's affairs.

Rocks Stars. Guitar Gods. Kids. At some point in almost everyone's life, they dream of becoming a rock star: feeling the roar of the crowd; basking in the adoration of legions of fans; experiencing the adventures of life on the road. Now imagine fulfilling that fantasy as a child. Welcome to "Rock School". A meditation on talent and teaching, "Rock School" is a celebration of youthful promise and steadfast dreams. It is also a kick-ass music movie that should be played loud!

Michael is a 24-year-old who has cerebral palsy and long-term resident of the Carrigmore Residential Home for the Disabled, run by the formidable Eileen. His life is transformed when the maverick Rory O'Shea moves in. Michael is stunned to discover that fast talking Rory, who can move only his right hand, can understand his almost unintelligible speech. Rory's dynamic and rebellious nature soon sparks a flame in Michael, introducing him to a whole new world outside of Carrigmore.

Unable to tie the knot with his Prozac captivated girlfriend, young Cuban filmmaker Sebastian finds himself thirty years-old and never in love. On his quest to finding the one, Sebastian turns to his friend/tour guide Daria. She introduces him to her sandbox of gay, thirsty, thirty-something cohorts and the adventure of his life as he tries to navigate through the unchartered waters of Hollywood and sexual politics.

"State Property 2: Philly Streets II" is the tale of three notorious gangsters, and their bloody battle for supremacy in the City of Brotherly Love. Beans, the imprisoned kingpin and hometown druglord, struggles to keep his renegade ABM Crime Syndicate on the map. He is driven and consumed by a festering hatred for his longtime rival... Dame, the Harlem-born hustler, is also the top dog in town. His Umbrella network is unmatched in cash-flow and manpower. With a long list of enemies seeking territory and revenge, the self-proclaimed "cake-aholic" is forced into a vicious war. Loco, the flashy Miami playboy, is about to be released from prison. His deep pockets and stellar reputation prove to be valuable tools in Loco's plot to takeover the streets of Philly... but he must first overcome the ghosts from a turbulent past. Alliances are formed and shattered, and lifelong friendships are put to the test as the various crews deal and duel to the death. Somewhere, buried deep within the ranks of one of these gangs, a ruthless criminal mastermind is conspiring to take them all down. The backstabbing, thievery and deception simmers, boils and ultimately spills into a gruesome finale—an old-fashioned shootout on the cold, unforgiving Philly streets.

Based on Robert Baer's memoir "See No Evil: The True Story of a Foot Soldier in the CIA's War on Terror." A drama showing how the CIA lost funding and let its guard down in the Middle East after the end of the Cold War.

Jack lives on the site of his abandoned island commune with his 16-year-old daughter Rose. A single father, Jack has always sheltered Rose from the influences of the outside world, but now, his fatal illness and Rose's emerging womanhood pose troubling questions about the days ahead. A man who has lived a life motivated by environmentalism and other altruistic causes, Jack now rages at those who do not share his concerns, like developer Marty Rance, who is building a housing tract on the edge of his property. When Jack invites his girlfriend Kathleen and her teenage sons, Rodney and Thaddius, to live with them, Rose feels betrayed and the situation quickly becomes precarious. Rose acts out wildly, creating chaos. Everything flies out of control, Jack finds himself trapped in an impossible place and is forced to take action, as Rose undergoes a sexual awakening with both liberating and devastating consequences.

Chronicles the anxiety-ridden two weeks leading to the marriage of Elliot Sherman who is the quintessential Baxter—the nice guy who never gets the girl.

"Beautiful Country" follows the story of Binh, a shy Vietnamese man in his 20s who embarks on a personal journey with a young beautiful woman, Ling, aboard a refugee ship to America in search of a better life and Binh's estranged American father.