Browse Movies : 2002 : R : A

Set in a London working-class housing estate over a long weekend, it tells the story of Penny's love for her partner, taxi-driver Phil, has run dry. He is a gentle, philosophical guy and she works on the checkout at a supermarket. Their daughter Rachel cleans a home for elderly people, and their son Rory is unemployed and aggressive. The joy has gone out of Phil and Penny's life, but when an unexpected tragedy occurs, they are brought together to rediscover their love.

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.

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.

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.