8MM

Private investigator Tom Welles is contacted by Daniel Longdale, attorney for wealthy widow Mrs. Christian, whose husband has recently died. While clearing out her late husband's safe, she and Longdale found an 8mm film which appears to depict a real murder, but Mrs. Christian wants to know for certain.
After looking through missing persons files, Tom discovers the girl is Mary Ann Mathews, and visits her mother, Janet Mathews. While searching the house with her permission, he finds Mary Ann's diary, in which she says she went to Hollywood to become a film star. He asks Mrs. Mathews if she wants to know the truth, even if it is a horrible one. She says that she wants to know what happened to her daughter, so after reading the diary and a note left for her mother inside of it, he leaves it for her and then leaves.
In Hollywood, with the help of an adult video store employee called Max California, Tom penetrates the underworld of illegal pornography. Contact with a sleazy talent scout named Eddie Poole leads them to director Dino Velvet, whose violent pornographic films star a masked man known as "Machine". To gain more evidence, Tom pretends to be a client interested in commissioning a hardcore bondage film to be directed by Velvet and starring Machine. Velvet agrees and arranges a meeting in New York City.
At the meeting, attorney Longdale appears and explains that Christian had contracted him to procure a snuff film. Longdale says that he told Velvet that Tom might come looking for them. Realizing that the snuff film was authentic, the private eye knows he is at risk. Velvet and Machine produce a bound and beaten Max, whom they abducted to force Tom to bring them the only surviving copy of the illegal film. Once he delivers it, but before he turns it over, they kill Max and beat Tom and then burn the film. As they are about to kill Tom, he tells them that Christian had paid $1 million for the film and that the reason Christian wanted the film made was for the simple reason that he had enough money to make it possible. Velvet, Poole, and Machine received much less and that Longdale kept the major portion. In an ensuing fight, Velvet and Longdale are both killed; Tom wounds Machine and escapes.
He calls Mrs. Christian to tell her his discoveries and recommends going to the police, to which she agrees. Arriving at her estate, Tom is told that Mrs. Christian committed suicide after hearing the news. She left envelopes for the Mathews family and Tom: it contains the rest of his payment and a note reading, "Try to forget us."
Tom decides to seek justice for the murdered girl by killing the remaining people involved. Tracking down Eddie, Tom takes him to the shooting location and tries to kill him. He calls Mrs. Mathews to tell her about her daughter and asks for her permission to punish those responsible. With that, he returns and beats Eddie to death with his pistol, before burning his body and pornography from his car. Tom traces Machine and attacks him at home. Tom unmasks him, revealing a bald, bespectacled man named George. He says, "What did you expect? A monster?" George goes on to tell Tom that he has no ulterior motive for his sadistic actions; he does them simply because he enjoys it. They struggle, and Tom kills him.
After returning to his family, Tom receives a letter from Mrs. Mathews, thanking him and suggesting he and she were the only ones to care about Mary Ann.

Irreversible

Cast

Monica Bellucci
Alex (as Bellucci)
Vincent Cassel
Marcus (as Cassel)
Albert Dupontel
Pierre (as Dupontel)
Jo Prestia
Le Tenia (as Prestia)

The film opens with an old man and another man sitting on a bed in an apartment building. The old man talks about why he was in prison (he slept with his daughter).
The camera then pans out the window to a gay club called "The Rectum". The police have arrived and they are wheeling out a body that has obviously been assaulted. People seem to be yelling and swearing to the person on the stretcher.
Then, a flashback occurs to two men frantically searching in "The Rectum" for a man whose name is "La Tenia". It is unclear at this point who La Tenia is. One of the men is the person who was being carried out of the club before. He asks around to people in the club, but nobody will answer. Instead, the people ask him to perform sexual acts on them. Eventually, the man searching for La Tenia finds a man whom he thinks is La Tenia and the other man smashes his face in with a fire extinguisher, killing him.
The film flashes back again to a street. Prostitutes are standing on corners. The two men who were in the club, whose names are revealed to be Pierre and Marcus, are asking to find a man named Guillermo Nunez. They are referred to a prostitute named Concha, who is actually a male transvestite, who knows where La Tenia is. He refuses to tell and they beat him. He does reveal that he is in The Rectum.
The film flashes back to Pierre and Marcus leaving a party. The walk outside and the police are wheeling a body out of a tunnel. Marcus identifies the woman as his girlfriend, Alex. She has been brutally beaten and is unconscious. A man approaches Marcus and asks him if he wants revenge. Marcus replies yes.
The film flashes back again to the party. Alex, Marcus, and Pierre socialize with friends. Marcus is drunk and under the influence of drugs. After Marcus acts inappropriately, Alex leaves. She tries to get a taxi, but is unable to. A prostitute recommends to take the underground walkways because they are safer. After she enters it, she sees La Tenia threatening prostitute Concha with a knife. As he sees Alex, he lets her go and grabs Alex, afterwards raping and beating her brutally for nine minutes. During the act a person appears in the background and disappears.
Further back in time, Alex, Pierre, and Marcus walk in the subway to get to the party. It is revealed that Pierre was originally Alex's boyfriend, but Marcus is her new boyfriend. Pierre does not seem to have any problem with that.
Flashing back to a couple hours before, Marcus and Alex are lying in their bed just after they woke up. Pierre calls and lets them know that his car has broke down and they have to take the subway instead. After Marcus leaves to buy some liquor, Alex finds out that she is pregnant with Marcus' child.
In the final scene, Alex sits in a park reading a book while children play. She is completely unaware of her uneventful fate. The scene fades into flashing strobe lights and shows a final slide saying LE TEMPS DETRUIT TOUT (time destroys all things).

8MM

Private investigator Tom Welles is contacted by Daniel Longdale, attorney for wealthy widow Mrs. Christian, whose husband has recently died. While clearing out her late husband's safe, she and Longdale found an 8mm film which appears to depict a real murder, but Mrs. Christian wants to know for certain.
After looking through missing persons files, Tom discovers the girl is Mary Ann Mathews, and visits her mother, Janet Mathews. While searching the house with her permission, he finds Mary Ann's diary, in which she says she went to Hollywood to become a film star. He asks Mrs. Mathews if she wants to know the truth, even if it is a horrible one. She says that she wants to know what happened to her daughter, so after reading the diary and a note left for her mother inside of it, he leaves it for her and then leaves.
In Hollywood, with the help of an adult video store employee called Max California, Tom penetrates the underworld of illegal pornography. Contact with a sleazy talent scout named Eddie Poole leads them to director Dino Velvet, whose violent pornographic films star a masked man known as "Machine". To gain more evidence, Tom pretends to be a client interested in commissioning a hardcore bondage film to be directed by Velvet and starring Machine. Velvet agrees and arranges a meeting in New York City.
At the meeting, attorney Longdale appears and explains that Christian had contracted him to procure a snuff film. Longdale says that he told Velvet that Tom might come looking for them. Realizing that the snuff film was authentic, the private eye knows he is at risk. Velvet and Machine produce a bound and beaten Max, whom they abducted to force Tom to bring them the only surviving copy of the illegal film. Once he delivers it, but before he turns it over, they kill Max and beat Tom and then burn the film. As they are about to kill Tom, he tells them that Christian had paid $1 million for the film and that the reason Christian wanted the film made was for the simple reason that he had enough money to make it possible. Velvet, Poole, and Machine received much less and that Longdale kept the major portion. In an ensuing fight, Velvet and Longdale are both killed; Tom wounds Machine and escapes.
He calls Mrs. Christian to tell her his discoveries and recommends going to the police, to which she agrees. Arriving at her estate, Tom is told that Mrs. Christian committed suicide after hearing the news. She left envelopes for the Mathews family and Tom: it contains the rest of his payment and a note reading, "Try to forget us."
Tom decides to seek justice for the murdered girl by killing the remaining people involved. Tracking down Eddie, Tom takes him to the shooting location and tries to kill him. He calls Mrs. Mathews to tell her about her daughter and asks for her permission to punish those responsible. With that, he returns and beats Eddie to death with his pistol, before burning his body and pornography from his car. Tom traces Machine and attacks him at home. Tom unmasks him, revealing a bald, bespectacled man named George. He says, "What did you expect? A monster?" George goes on to tell Tom that he has no ulterior motive for his sadistic actions; he does them simply because he enjoys it. They struggle, and Tom kills him.
After returning to his family, Tom receives a letter from Mrs. Mathews, thanking him and suggesting he and she were the only ones to care about Mary Ann.

Dorian Gray (2009)

When a naïve young Dorian Gray arrives in a train to Victorian London, to inherit an estate left to him by his abusive Grandfather, he is swept into a social whirlwind by the charismatic Lord Henry Wotton, who introduces Gray to the hedonistic pleasures of the city. Lord Henry's friend, society artist Basil Hallward, paints a portrait of Gray to capture the full power of his youthful beauty. When the portrait is unveiled, Gray makes a flippant pledge: he would give anything to stay as he is in the pictureeven his soul.
Gray meets and falls in love with young budding actress Sibyl Vane. After a few weeks, he proposes marriage to her, but after Lord Henry tells Gray that having children is "the beginning of the end", he takes Gray to a brothel. This breaks Sibyl's heart as Gray leaves her, and she drowns herself soon after. Gray learns of this next day from her brother James ("Jim"), who tells Gray that Sybil was pregnant. Jim then tries to kill Gray before being restrained and carried off by the authorities. Gray's initial grief disappears as Lord Henry persuades him that all events are mere experiences and without consequence, and his hedonistic lifestyle worsens, distancing him from a concerned Hallward.
Gray goes home to find the portrait of himself warped and twisted and realises that his pledge has come true; while the portrait ages, its owner's sins are shown as physical defects on the canvas. The chaos of the portrait of Gray starts, leading him to brutally kill Hallward after telling him his secret, dumping the body in the River Thames.
Having left London to travel for many years, Gray returns to London and during the welcome-back party the guests are surprised to see that he has not aged at all. He becomes close to Lord Henry's daughter, Emily, a member of the UK suffragette movement, despite Lord Henry's distaste for such a relationship due to Gray's lifestyle and unnatural appearance, Emily having provided Lord Henry with a greater moral focus.
Although Gray appears genuinely interested in changing his ways as he spends time with Emily, matters are complicated when he is confronted by Jim, still seeking revenge for his sister's death. Despite Gray's attempts to pretend to be someone else by pointing out his apparent age, Jim nevertheless deduces Gray's true identity, only to be killed by a train while pursuing Gray in the London Underground. As Gray makes arrangements to leave London with Emily, Lord Henry's study of old photographs makes him remember the time when he teased Gray to deal with the devil for eternal youth and beauty at the cost of his soul.
Breaking into Gray's house as Gray and Emily are making plans to leave together, Lord Henry discovers the concealed portrait, but is interrupted by Gray before he can uncover it. Although Gray attempts to convince Lord Henry that he still cherishes his friendship and genuinely loves his daughter, Lord Henry discovers a stained scarf of Basil's in a box, prompting Gray to angrily declare that he is what Lord Henry has made him, the personification of the life he preached but never dared practise. Full of anger and grief, Gray attempts to strangle Lord Henry, but is distracted by Emily's call long enough for Lord Henry to knock him aside and expose the portrait.
Disgusted and horrified at the twisted sight on the canvas, Lord Henry throws a lit lamp at the portrait, causing it to catch fire, subsequently locking the gate of the attic, to ensure Gray and the painting are destroyed, before his daughter sees the ruckus as she pleads with Gray for the key. Gray, after seeing her and realising that he really loves her, turns his back as Lord Henry drags his daughter out of the house, his last words being to assure Emily that she has his whole heart. Resolving to end it all, Gray stabs the painting with a poker, causing his body to age the years that it has never suffered, Gray charging at the portrait to fully impale it as his years catch up to him before the attic is consumed by an explosion.
A few months later, scarred from the explosion and after attempting to reconcile with Emily through Agatha over the phone, Lord Henry heads to his attic where he keeps the now-youthful portrait of Gray, grimly noting that nobody will look at it now. As Lord Henry leaves, the portrait's eyes glow, suggesting that Gray's soul may still be within the portrait even after his death.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Dorian Gray (Hurd Hatfield) is a young man living in late-19th century London. While wealthy, charming, generally intelligent and very handsome, he is naive and easily manipulated. These faults lead to his spiral into sin and, ultimately, misery.
While posing for a painting by his artist friend Basil Hallward (Lowell Gilmore), Dorian meets Basil's friend Lord Henry Wotton (George Sanders). Wotton is enchantingly cynical and witty, and tells Dorian that the only life worth living is one dedicated entirely to pleasure. After Wotton convinces Dorian that youth and beauty will bring him everything he desires, Dorian openly wishes that his portrait could age in his place, and that he could keep his youthful good looks forever. He makes this statement in the presence of a certain Egyptian statue, which supposedly has the power to grant wishes. When the portrait of Dorian is complete, Lord Henry hails it as a masterpiece and is surprised when Basil announces he will never exhibit it because he feels he put "too much of himself" into it. Basil is also concerned about Lord Henry's influence on the impressionable Dorian, who Basil considers a dear friend and an artistic muse. Basil gives the painting to Dorian, who proudly hangs it in his opulent home.
One fateful night, Dorian visits a lower-class tavern, The Two Turtles, where he is given a prime seat for the night's entertainment. He is instantly charmed by the tavern owners' daughter, Sibyl Vane (Angela Lansbury), who performs a sweet singing routine during the lineup. Dorian is invited backstage after the show to meet Sibyl, and plays the piano for her in the empty tavern. Sibyl is flattered by the attention of such a handsome gentleman, and her mother (Lydia Bilbrook) encourages the relationship because of Dorian's wealth, but Sibyl's brother James (Richard Fraser) is suspicious. James tells his enamored sister in private that if this young man, whom Sibyl nicknamed "Sir Tristan" after a virtuous knight in Arthurian mythology, ever harms her, he will kill him. James is then deployed to Australia on a sailing mission.
Dorian excitedly tells Basil and Lord Henry that he is engaged to the beautiful Sibyl Vane, and invites them to come with him to the tavern to hear her sing. Despite having heard Lord Henry's disdainful views on marriage, Dorian is so genuinely happy that Lord Henry's words no longer influence him. Basil sees this as a positive development, and after seeing Sibyl perform and making her acquaintance, encourages the engagement for the sake of Dorian's moral purity. Lord Henry, on the other hand, cannot resist exploiting his innate ability to influence his friends, and suggests that Dorian test Sibyl's worth with an "experiment." Dorian invites Sibyl to his house that night and, when she prepares to go home, asks her to stay. Torn between love and honor, Sibyl nearly leaves, but cannot resist Dorian's charm. This meant that she had failed Lord Henry's test, and Dorian sends her an incredibly hurtful letter, accusing her of "killing his love," and that she can have no part in his life henceforth. He sends her a sum of money for compensation, but Sibyl is emotionally destroyed.
When Dorian returns home after abandoning Sibyl, he notices a slight change in the portrait Basil had painted of him. The mouth looks somehow crueler, and a cold unkindness is present in the face that had not been there before. When he wakes the next morning, the change is still visible. He feels immense guilt over how badly he had treated Sibyl, and hastily composes an apology letter in an attempt to redeem himself. Before he can deliver it, Lord Henry arrives with the news that Sibyl Vane had killed herself the night before. Dorian is initially devastated, but Lord Henry convinces him to not blame himself for the tragedy and invites him to the opera. Abandoning his grief, Dorian falls deeper into Lord Henry's teachings of "new hedonism", and goes to the opera with him that very night. Basil is surprised and worried when he witnesses Dorian's uncaring behavior in regard to Sibyl's death, and Dorian plans to dedicate his life solely to his own pleasure. Because the change in the portrait still disturbed him, Dorian has it covered with a screen and locked in his old school room at the top of the house, to which he keeps the only key.
Eighteen years later, Dorian is nearing his fortieth birthday, but has not visibly changed since age twenty-two. His friends and neighbors are awestruck at his youthful appearance, but unsavory rumors constantly circulate about his strange behavior and acquaintances. Having taken Lord Henry's ideas to heart, Dorian's life consists largely of scandals with women, opium dens, and influencing other wealthy young men to adopt his hedonistic way of living. Over time, many of his friends lost their good standing in society, and women were shamed to be in his company. Dorian meets Basil again, who is preparing to catch a train to Paris, and invites him to his house. Basil expresses his concern about Dorian's behavior, and admits that in order to truly know what kind of man Dorian is, he would have to see his soul itself. Dorian grimly leads Basil up to the old school room to look upon his handiwork for the first time in eighteen years. Dorian removes the coverings from the hidden portrait, and Basil is horrified to see that the man in the painting has warped into a hideous, demon-like creature to reflect Dorian's multitude of sins. Basil begs Dorian to repent and change his ways, but Dorian feels a surge of anger toward Basil, blaming him for his miserable life because the painting was his own work. Dorian stabs Basil to death and locks his body in the school room with the horrible painting, in which blood has appeared on the hands of the twisted painted Dorian.
The next morning, Dorian summons a former friend, Allen Campbell (Douglas Walton), whose reputation had since been ruined by his associations with Dorian. Campbell is a scientist specializing in anatomy and chemistry, and Dorian blackmails the highly reluctant man into disposing of Basil's body. The nature of the blackmailing subject is not revealed, but Campbell agrees to disintegrate Basil's body, and departs afterward looking shaken and disturbed.
Basil's disappearance is talked about in London society for some time, but Dorian is never suspected. Among the few who have remained his loyal friends are Lord Henry and Gladys (Donna Reed), Basil's niece, who was a little girl when the portrait was painted. Dorian enters a romance with Gladys, though he is apprehensive about the effect he appears to have on the lives of those he becomes close to. He visits a seedy inn one evening and finds a former friend, Adrian Singleton (Morton Lowry), a wealthy young man who had been ruined by following Dorian's influence. Adrian is now a disheveled opium addict, but he knows of Dorian's sordid past and mockingly addresses him as "Sir Tristan" as Dorian departs the inn. The nickname is overheard by James Vane, Sibyl's brother, who happened to be at the inn and had spent eighteen years being hell-bent on avenging his sister. Though he did not know her cruel suitor's name and had never seen his face, the name "Sir Tristan" is enough to motivate him to follow Dorian outside and threaten him. Dorian calmly denies ever knowing a Sibyl Vane, and asserts that he is too young to have had anything to do with a death that occurred eighteen years before. James Vane admits that this man looks too young to be the suspect, and releases him. Adrian Singleton, with both amusement and resentment, explains to James that Dorian Gray was the man he sought, and that he had not looked a day older than twenty-two for the past eighteen years. Enraged, James Vane begins to track down Dorian Gray.
A few days later, Dorian attends a hunting party with several society friends. The sport is interrupted when a man, assumed to be a beater, is shot to death by accident after hiding in the bushes unseen. It is revealed to Dorian later that the dead man was not a beater, but James Vane, having followed Dorian in revenge and lost his own life in the process. Dorian feels even more guilty and cursed, but wishes to make one final stab at having a good and worthwhile life. He soon proposes marriage to Gladys, who happily accepts, much to the displeasure of her friend David Stone (Peter Lawford), who is one of the many who are suspicious of Dorian.
Despite his happiness about his upcoming marriage to Gladys, Dorian is weighted down by the deaths of Sibyl, Basil, and James, as well as the ruin of Adrian Singleton and others like him. The last straw is the news that Allen Campbell, whom Dorian ruined and then blackmailed into disposing of Basil's body, had killed himself in misery. Dorian realizes that the one noble thing he can possibly do is to spare Gladys from the certain misfortune he will bring her.
At long last, Dorian ventures up to the school room to face the painting that is the embodiment of his corrupted soul. Using the same knife with which he had murdered Basil Hallward, he stabs his painted figure through the heart. Dorian himself feels the effect of the knife, and collapses, praying for his salvation. Roused by his screams, his houseguests, including Gladys, David, and Lord Henry, rush upstairs and find Dorian Gray's dead body on the school room floor, now in the form of the hideous creature from the painting. The painting itself, with the knife still protruding from it, has reverted to its original image of the handsome, innocent youth than Dorian once was. Lord Henry, stricken, sees the horrible results of his own influence and gazes at Dorian's corpse in shocked remorse.

The Godfather

In late summer 1945, guests are gathered for the wedding reception of Don Vito Corleone's daughter Connie (Talia Shire) and Carlo Rizzi (Gianni Russo). Vito (Marlon Brando), the head of the Corleone Mafia family, is known to friends and associates as "Godfather." He and Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall), the Corleone family lawyer, are hearing requests for favors because, according to Italian tradition, "no Sicilian can refuse a request on his daughter's wedding day." One of the men who asks the Don for a favor is Amerigo Bonasera, a successful mortician and acquaintance of the Don, whose daughter was brutally beaten by two young men because she refused their advances; the men received minimal punishment. The Don is disappointed in Bonasera, who'd avoided most contact with the Don due to Corleone's nefarious business dealings. The Don's wife is godmother to Bonasera's shamed daughter, a relationship the Don uses to extract new loyalty from the undertaker. The Don agrees to have his men punish the young men responsible in return for future service if necessary.
Meanwhile, the Don's youngest son Michael (Al Pacino), a decorated Marine hero returning from World War II service, arrives at the wedding and tells his girlfriend Kay Adams (Diane Keaton) anecdotes about his family, informing her about his father's criminal life; he reassures her that he is different from his family and doesn't plan to join them in their criminal dealings. The wedding scene serves as critical exposition for the remainder of the film, as Michael introduces the main characters to Kay. Fredo (John Cazale), Michael's next older brother, is a bit dim-witted and quite drunk by the time he finds Michael at the party. Sonny (James Caan), the Don's eldest child and next in line to become Don upon his father's retirement, is married but he is a hot-tempered philanderer who sneaks into a bedroom to have sex with one of Connie's bridesmaids, Lucy Mancini (Jeannie Linero). Tom Hagen is not related to the family by blood but is considered one of the Don's sons because he was homeless when he befriended Sonny in the Little Italy neighborhood of Manhattan and the Don took him in and saw to Tom's upbringing and education. Now a talented attorney, Tom is being groomed for the important position of consigliere (counselor) to the Don, despite his non-Sicilian heritage.
Also among the guests at the celebration is the famous singer Johnny Fontane (Al Martino), Corleone's godson, who has come from Hollywood to petition Vito's help in landing a movie role that will revitalize his flagging career. Jack Woltz (John Marley), the head of the studio, denies Fontane the part (a character much like Johnny himself), which will make him an even bigger star, but Don Corleone explains to Johnny: "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse." The Don also receives congratulatory salutations from Luca Brasi, a terrifying enforcer in the criminal underworld, and fills a request from the baker who made Connie's wedding cake who wishes for his nephew Enzo to become an American citizen.
After the wedding, Hagen is dispatched to Los Angeles to meet with Woltz, but Woltz angrily tells him that he will never cast Fontane in the role. Woltz holds a grudge because Fontane seduced and "ruined" a starlet who Woltz had been grooming for stardom and with whom he had a sexual relationship. Woltz is persuaded to give Johnny the role, however, when he wakes up early the next morning and feels something wet in his bed. He pulls back the sheets and finds himself in a pool of blood; he screams in horror when he discovers the severed head of his prized $600,000 stud horse, Khartoum, in the bed with him. (A deleted scene from the film implies that Luca Brasi (Lenny Montana), Vito's top "button man" or hitman, is responsible.)
Upon Hagen's return, the family meets with Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo (Al Lettieri), who is being backed by the rival Tattaglia family. He asks Don Corleone for financing as well as political and legal protection for importing and distributing heroin. Despite the huge profit to be made, Vito Corleone refuses, explaining that his political influence would be jeopardized by a move into the narcotics trade -- the judges and politicians he's allied himself with over the course of several decades would renounce their friendships with him if he were to enter the drug trade. The Don's eldest son, Sonny, who had earlier urged the family to enter the narcotics trade, breaks rank during the meeting and questions Sollozzo's assurances as to the Corleone Family's investment being guaranteed by the Tattaglia Family. His father, angry at Sonny's dissension in a non-family member's presence, privately rebukes him later. Don Corleone then dispatches Luca Brasi to infiltrate Sollozzo's organization and report back with information. During the meeting, while Brasi is bent over to allow Bruno Tattaglia to light his cigarette, he is stabbed in the hand by Sollozzo, and is subsequently garroted by an assassin.
Soon after his meeting with Sollozzo, Don Corleone is gunned down in an assassination attempt just outside his office, and it is not immediately known whether he has survived. Fredo Corleone had been assigned driving and protection duty for his father when Paulie Gatto, the Don's usual bodyguard, had called in sick. Fredo proves to be ineffectual, fumbling with his gun and unable to shoot back. When Sonny hears about the Don being shot and Paulie's absence, he orders Clemenza (Richard S. Castellano) to find Paulie and bring him to the Don's house.
Sollozzo abducts Tom Hagen and persuades him to offer Sonny the deal previously offered to his father. When Tom is released, Sollozzo gets word that the Don has survived the attempt on his life. He angrily tells Tom to persuade Sonny to accept his offer.
Enraged, Sonny refuses to consider it and issues an ultimatum to the Tattaglias: turn over Sollozzo or face a lengthy, bloody and costly (for both sides) gang war. They refuse, and instead send Sonny "a Sicilian message," in the form of two fresh fish wrapped in Luca Brasi's bullet-proof vest, telling the Corleones that Luca Brasi "sleeps with the fishes."
Clemenza later takes Paulie and one of the family's hitmen, Rocco Lampone, for a drive into Manhattan. Sonny wants to "go to the mattresses" -- set up beds in apartments for Corleone button men to operate out of in the event that the crime war breaks out. On their way back from Manhattan, Clemenza has Paulie stop the car in a remote area so he can urinate. Rocco shoots Paulie dead; he and Clemenza leave Paulie and the car behind.
Michael, whom the other Mafia families consider a "civilian" uninvolved in mob business, visits his father at a small private hospital. He is shocked to find that no one is guarding him -- a nurse tells him that the men were interfering with hospital policy and were told to leave by the police about 10 minutes before Mike's arrival. Realizing that his father is again being set up to be killed, he calls Sonny for help, moves his father to another room, and goes outside to watch the entrance. Michael enlists help from Enzo the baker (Gabriele Torrei), who has come to the hospital to pay his respects. Together, they bluff away Sollozzo's men as they drive by. Police cars soon appear bringing the corrupt Captain McCluskey (Sterling Hayden), who viciously punches Michael in the cheek and breaks his jaw when Michael insinuates that Sollozzo paid McCluskey to set up his father. Just then, Hagen arrives with "private detectives" licensed to carry guns to protect Don Corleone, and he takes the injured Michael home. Sonny responds by having Bruno Tattaglia (Tony Giorgio), the eldest son and underboss of Don Phillip Tattaglia (Victor Rendina), killed (off-camera).
Following the attempt on the Don's life at the hospital, Sollozzo requests a meeting with the Corleones, which Captain McCluskey will attend as Sollozzo's bodyguard. When Michael volunteers to kill both men during the meeting, Sonny and the other senior Family members are amused; however, Michael convinces them that he is serious and that killing Sollozzo and McCluskey is in the family's interest: "It's not personal. It's strictly business." Because Michael is considered a civilian, he won't be regarded as a suspicious ambassador for the Corleones. Although police officers are usually off limits for hits, Michael argues that since McCluskey is corrupt and has illegal dealings with Sollozzo, he is fair game. Michael also implies that newspaper reporters that the Corleones have on their payroll would delight in publishing stories about a corrupt police captain.
Michael meets with Clemenza, one of his father's caporegimes (captains), who prepares a small pistol for him, covering the trigger and grip with tape to prevent any fingerprint evidence. He instructs Michael about the proper way to perform the assassination and tells him to leave the gun behind. He also tells Michael that the family were all very proud of Michael for becoming a war hero during his service in the Marines. Clemenza shows great confidence that Michael can perform the job and tells him it will all go smoothly. The plan is to have the Corleone's informers find out the location of the meeting and plant the revolver before Michael, Sollozzo and McCluskey arrive.
Before the meeting in a small Italian restaurant, McCluskey frisks Michael for weapons and finds him clean. After a few minutes where Michael and Sollozzo converse in Italian, Michael excuses himself to go to the bathroom, where he retrieves the planted revolver. Returning to the table, he fatally shoots Sollozzo, then McCluskey. Michael is sent to hide in Sicily while the Corleone family prepares for all-out warfare with the Five Families (who are united against the Corleones) as well as a general clampdown on the mob by the police and government authorities. When the don returns home from the hospital, he is distraught to learn that it was Michael who killed Sollozzo and McCluskey.
Meanwhile, Connie and Carlo's marriage is disintegrating. They argue publicly over Carlo's suspected infidelity and his possessive behavior toward Connie. By Italian tradition, nobody, not even a high-ranking Mafia don, can intervene in a married couple's personal disputes, even if they involve infidelity, money, or domestic abuse. One day, Sonny sees a bruise on Connie's face and she tells him that Carlo hit her after she asked him if he was having an affair. Sonny tracks down and severely beats up Carlo Rizzi in the middle of a crowded street for brutalizing the pregnant Connie, and threatens to kill Carlo if he ever abuses Connie again. An angry Carlo responds by plotting with Tattaglia and Don Emilio Barzini (Richard Conte), the Corleones' chief rivals, to have Sonny killed.
Later, Carlo has one of his mistresses phone his house, knowing that Connie will answer. The woman asks Connie to tell Carlo not to meet her tonight. The very pregnant and distraught Connie assaults Carlo; he takes advantage of the altercation to beat Connie in order to lure Sonny out in the open and away from the Corleone compound. When Connie phones the compound to tell Sonny that Carlo has beaten her again, the enraged Sonny drives off (alone and unescorted) to fulfill his threat against Carlo. On the way to Connie and Carlo's house, Sonny is ambushed at a toll booth on the Long Island Causeway and violently shot to death by several carloads of hitmen wielding Thompson sub-machine guns.
Tom Hagen relays the news of Sonny's massacre to the Don, who calls in the favor from Bonasera to personally handle the embalming of Sonny's body. Rather than seek revenge for Sonny's killing, Don Corleone meets with the heads of the Five Families to negotiate a cease-fire. Not only is the conflict draining all their assets and threatening their survival, but ending it is the only way that Michael can return home safely. Reversing his previous decision, Vito agrees that the Corleone family will provide political protection for Tattaglia's traffic in heroin, as long as it is controlled and not sold to children. At the meeting, Don Corleone deduces that Don Barzini, not Tattaglia, was ultimately behind the start of the mob war and Sonny's death, despite showing early signs of senility.
In Sicily, Michael patiently waits out his exile, protected by Don Tommasino (Corrado Gaipa), an old family friend. Michael aimlessly wanders the countryside, accompanied by his ever-present bodyguards, Calo (Franco Citti) and Fabrizio (Angelo Infanti). In a small village, Michael meets and falls in love with Apollonia Vitelli (Simonetta Stefanelli), the beautiful young daughter of a bar owner. They court and marry in the traditional Sicilian fashion, but soon Michael's presence becomes known to Corleone enemies. As the couple is about to be moved to a safer location, Apollonia is killed as a result of a rigged car (originally intended for Michael) exploding on ignition; Michael, who watched the car blow up, spots Fabrizio hurriedly leaving the grounds seconds before the explosion, implicating him in the assassination plot. (In a deleted scene, Fabrizio is found years later and killed.)
With his safety guaranteed, Michael returns home. More than a year later, in 1950, he reunites with his former girlfriend Kay after a total of four years of separation -- three in Italy and one in America. He tells her he wants them to be married. Although Kay is hurt that he waited so long to contact her, she accepts his proposal. With Don Vito semi-retired, Sonny dead, and middle brother Fredo considered incapable of running the family business, Michael is now in charge; he promises Kay he will make the family business completely legitimate within five years.
Two years later, Clemenza and Salvatore Tessio (Abe Vigoda), complain that they are being pushed around by the Barzini Family and ask permission to strike back, but Michael denies the request. He plans to move the family operations to Nevada and after that, Clemenza and Tessio may break away to form their own families in the New York area. Michael further promises Connie's husband, Carlo, that he will be his right hand man in Nevada (Carlo had grown up there), unaware of his part in Sonny's assassination. Tom Hagen has been removed as consigliere and is now merely the family's lawyer, with Vito serving as consigliere. Privately, Hagen inquires about his change in status, and also questions Michael about a new regime of "soldiers" secretly being built under Rocco Lampone (Tom Rosqui). Don Vito explains to Hagen that Michael is acting on his advice.
Another year or so later, Michael travels to Las Vegas and meets with Moe Greene (Alex Rocco), a rich and shrewd casino boss looking to expand his business dealings. After the Don's attempted assassination, Fredo had been sent to Las Vegas to learn about the casino business from Greene. Michael arrogantly offers to buy out Greene but is rudely rebuffed. Greene believes the Corleones are weak and that he can secure a better deal from Barzini. As Moe and Michael heatedly negotiate, Fredo sides with Moe. Afterward, Michael warns Fredo to never again "take sides with anyone against the family."
Michael returns home. In a private moment, Vito explains his expectation that the Family's enemies will attempt to murder Michael by using a trusted associate to arrange a meeting as a pretext for assassination. Vito also reveals that he had never really intended a life of crime for Michael, hoping that his youngest son would hold legitimate power as a senator or governor. Some months later, Vito collapses and dies while playing with his young grandson Anthony (Anthony Gounaris) in his tomato garden. At the burial, Tessio conveys a proposal for a meeting with Barzini, which identifies Tessio as the traitor that Vito was expecting.
Michael arranges for a series of murders to occur simultaneously while he is standing godfather to Connie's and Carlo's newborn son at the church:
Don Stracci (Don Costello) is gunned down along with his bodyguard in a hotel elevator by a shotgun-wielding Clemenza.
Moe Greene is killed while having a massage, shot through the eye by an unidentified assassin.
Don Cuneo (Rudy Bond) is trapped in a revolving door at the St. Regis Hotel and shot dead by soldier Willi Cicci (Joe Spinell).
Don Tattaglia is assassinated in his bed, along with a prostitute, by Rocco Lampone and an unknown associate.
Don Barzini is killed on the steps of his office building along with his bodyguard and driver, shot by Al Neri (Richard Bright), disguised in his old police uniform.
After the baptism, Tessio believes he and Hagen are on their way to the meeting between Michael and Barzini that he has arranged. Instead, he is surrounded by Willi Cicci and other button men as Hagen steps away. Realizing that Michael has uncovered his betrayal, Tessio tells Hagen that he always respected Michael, and that his disloyalty "was only business." He asks if Tom can get him off for "old times' sake," but Tom says he cannot. Tessio is driven away and never seen again (it is implied that Cicci shoots and kills Tessio with his own gun after he disarms him prior to entering the car).
Meanwhile, Michael confronts Carlo about Sonny's murder and forces him to admit his role in setting up the ambush, having been approached by Barzini himself. (The hitmen who killed Sonny were the core members of Barzini's personal bodyguard.) Michael assures Carlo he will not be killed, but his punishment is exclusion from all family business. He hands Carlo a plane ticket to exile in Las Vegas. However, when Carlo gets into a car headed for the airport, he is immediately garroted to death by Clemenza, on Michael's orders.
Later, a hysterical Connie confronts Michael at the Corleone compound as movers carry away the furniture in preparation for the family move to Nevada. She accuses him of murdering Carlo in retribution for Carlo's brutal treatment of her and for Carlo's suspected involvement in Sonny's murder. After Connie is removed from the house, Kay questions Michael about Connie's accusation, but he refuses to answer, reminding her to never ask him about his business or what he does for a living. She insists, and Michael outright lies, reassuring his wife that he played no role in Carlo's death. Kay believes him and is relieved. The film ends with Clemenza and new caporegimes Rocco Lampone and Al Neri arriving and paying their respects to Michael. Clemenza kisses Michael's hand and greets him as "Don Corleone." As Kay watches, the office door is closed.

The lake house

Kate Forster is a Doctor in 2006, living alone in Chicago. She has moved into an apartment after living in a house built next to a scenic lake in a secluded countryside area. She writes a letter to the next tenant asking that they forward any mail, and that the paw prints and the box in the attic have always been there. The tenant Alex Wyler reads the letter, but finds no paw prints, no box and no sign of life within the last 5 years, so disregards the letter until a few days later when he is redoing the paint on the handrails and a stray dog, whom Alex takes in and names Jack although the dog is female, trots through the brown paint and leaves its paw prints all the way to the front door. He writes to Kate asking more about these incidents and leaves the letter in the mail box.
On Valentine's Day 2006, Kate visits the Lake House after having a gentleman die in her arms after being hit by a bus, but finds the Mail Box Flag is up. She reads Alex's letter and states her current address, also stating it is 2006, not 2004 from which Alex's letter arrives from. Alex attends her 'current address' but finds a construction site that won't be finished for another 18 months, and they both slowly realize they are communicating from two years apart, with only the Mailbox to communicate from.
As Kate and Alex continue to correspond through the mailbox, they find themselves falling in love. Because Kate is in the future, she can tell Alex specific places to look for her in 2004. On one occasion, she asks Alex to bring her back something important (a gift from her father; her favorite novel by Jane Austen called Persuasion), which she left two years ago during a train station meeting with her then-beau, Morgan. Alex goes to the station and finds the item and sees Kate with long hair. Even though he has the item, he does not place it in the mailbox to return it to her. Instead, he says that he will return it to her personally, "one way or the other." Alex sends her a personalized map of Chicago and takes her on a walking tour of his favorite places in the city one Saturday morning. He leaves her a loving message on a brick wall at the end written in 2004, that she sees in 2006. The message was "Kate, I am here with you. thank you for spending this Saturday together".
In 2004, Mona, a young attractive assistant, is flirting with Alex but he ignores her advances. Alex's dog Jack runs off and leads Alex to a house in which Morgan and Kate are currently living. Alex talks with Morgan and eventually is invited to the birthday party Morgan is holding for Kate that evening. During the party, Alex and Kate dance together and share a romantic kiss, which is broken up by Morgan and Mona. Later, Kate and Alex discuss that night and Kate announces she liked him, and can remember what he looks like.
Crisis enters Alex's life when his estranged father has a heart attack and shortly thereafter dies. Kate somehow discovers his death certificate at the time he dies. She rushes to the mailbox and as a gift to Alex, she places a book in the mailbox, which she says is a tribute to his father, a book that is not yet published in Alex's time.
Determined to bridge the distance between them at last and unravel the mystery behind their extraordinary connection, they tempt fate by arranging to meet. Alex makes a reservation in 2004 for a date in 2006 at Il Mare, a fancy restaurant, but only Kate appears. Alex does not show up. The next day Kate writes Alex a letter telling Alex of this fact, but he doesn't understand. "Something must have happened" he responds. Kate retreats, believing she will never have happiness. She urges Alex to move on She tells him about Valentine's Day 2006 when a man died "in her arms", and that she needs to live her own life. She asks Alex not to contact her again. Alex leaves her a growing pile of letters in the mailbox that she never retrieves. He is brokenhearted and decides to leave the lake house. He places the box in the attic that Kate referred to in her first letter.
Alex appears to Morgan and hands him the keys to the lake house and exits in his truck, leaving Jack behind and having her become Kate's dog.
Almost one year passes.
In December 2007 Kate and Morgan are apparently living together in a Chicago apartment and when he asks her to turn the film she is watching down, she switches it off and storms into the bedroom where a squeaky floorboard irritates her, so she rips it out and discovers her copy of Persuasion, with a pressed and faded rose marks a passage that Kate is particularly touched by. She realizes she still loves Alex, but does not contact him.
On Valentine's Day 2008, Kate and Morgan go to Visionary Vanguard Associates, an upcoming architect's office, to talk about renovations to the apartment they are living in at that time, but do not realize it is run by Alex's brother Harry. Kate notices a beautiful watercolor of the Lake House and asks who did it. Harry says it was done by Alex Wyler, his brother, but tells her he passed away 2 years ago to the day. Kate realizes something and sprints to her car and races to the mailbox by the Lake House, placing a letter inside. Alex was the man that died that day, two years previously, and she tells him to wait 2 years, not to look for her or try to find her. Kate knows that Alex can't change her reality what has happened in Kate's reality has happened. In order for Kate's and Alex's reality to merge, Alex must meet Kate at the Lake House on February 14th 2008.
In 2006, Alex watches as Kate has lunch with her mother, and makes to step off the curb, then watches as the bus that was going to hit him passes by instead. He smiles to himself and, instead of crossing the street, walks away from Kate.
In 2008, the Mail Box Flag squeakily drops and Kate, previously sobbing on the ground, watches it in earnest, and behind her a truck pulls up. Out steps Alex. They share their second passionate embrace and after several minutes walk arm in arm into the Lake House. Alex hands to her, what appears to be, a Valentine's Day card.

The ugly truth

Abby (played by Katherine Heigl) is the producer of a ratings-challenged morning show in Sacramento. Shes good at her job, but the audience just isnt interested in the anchors or any of the other personalities on the show. Her boss Stuart (Nick Searcy) says that if ratings dont pick up soon, the show will be canceled. After all, they can get more eyeballs on a Geraldo Rivera rerun at a lower overall cost.
Things arent going very well in Abbys personal life either. Being a control freak, she often scares men off in the first few minutes which is exactly what happened when she met Jim (Kevin Connolly) after hooking up on a dating website. Abby had already asked assistant Joy (Bree Turner) to run a thorough background check, so she already knew all there was to know about the guy, making for some awkward moments.
Upon returning home that night, Abby flipped on the TV. Her cat happened to step on the remote control, which brought up a show called The Ugly Truth. Hosted by the crass Mike Chadway (Gerard Butler), the show offers dating advice to women, often voiced by Mike in the most crude terms possible. In fact, Abby is so appalled by what she hears in the first few minutes that she calls in to tell Mike hes a cynical jerk, to which he simply replies that she must be on a cold streak because shes ugly. Abby hangs up.
To her horror, she shows up to work the next day to learn that Stuart has hired Mike for a daily 3-minute appearance. Stuart is convinced that this will boost ratings, but Abby is convinced it will be a huge mistake. Mike, unsurprisingly, is a hit, but he and Abby begin arguing almost from the minute that they meet. She confesses that she was the caller from the night before, at which point Mike tells her that hell help her land her dream man Colin (Eric Winter) just to prove that his advice is sound. Abby reluctantly agrees.
The rest of the film then follows these two basic storylines: the main arc of Mike and Abby teaming up to snag Colin, and the subplot of Mike breathing new life into the morning show. This being a romantic comedy, its practically the law that the male and female lead end up together, so obviously Mike and Abby realize that they have feelings for each other right before the credits roll.

The Phantom of the opera

The movie starts with an auction being held in the Paris Opera House. The Opera has been shut down and they are auctioning off props to make some money. One of the items is a stuffed monkey dressed in Persian robes and playing the cymbals sitting on top of a music box. An older gentleman in a wheelchair buys the monkey and holds on to it tightly. The next item is a chandelier that was broken but has been repaired. When the chandelier is revealed, we are whisked back to 1870 ("Overture") where we see the opera house in full swing for it's performance of Hannibal by Chalemau. Rehearsals are under way when the Opera manager informs the cast and crew that he is leaving for Australia and that the Opera House is now under the command of Gilles Andre and Richard Firmin (Simon Callow and Cirian Hinds).
When they resume rehearsal, a stage prop falls on the lead diva, Carlotta (Minnie Driver). After she storms out refusing to sing, Madame Giry (Miranda Richardson), the ballet instructor, convinces the new owners to let Christine Daaé (Emmy Rossum), one of the dancers, to take Carlotta's part. After a stunning performance ("Think of Me"), Christine goes down to the small chapel under the Opera House to pray for her father who died long ago. Meg (Jennifer Ellison) one of the ballet dancers and Christine's best friend comes to find her inquiring of her singing prowess ("Angel of Music").
Later, Christine's childhood friend Raoul, the Vicomte de Changy and patron of the Opera House, comes to visit her in her dressing room. He had been in the audience and had recognized her. After inviting her to a party and leaving to prepare for the ride, Christine is locked in her room and hears singing. The Phantom (Gerard Butler) is mad at Raoul for taking credit in his work in training Christine to sing. He then lures Christine to a mirror where she sees him then follows him to his lair under the Opera House ("The Phantom of the Opera"). Once there the Phantom expresses his feelings for Christine and tries to convince her to stay with him ("Music of the Night"). Later she unmasks him and the Phantom is furious with her. Although he is raging and angry, he becomes vunerable and begins crying. He wishes he didn't have a loathsome gargoyle face ("I Remember/Stranger Than You Dreamt It"). He then returns her to the surface.
While Christine is gone, Andre and Firmin are upset because Christine has disappeared and they no longer have a lead to play in the operas. After receiving a series of notes all signed O.G. (Opera Ghost) they find out that Christine has returned and they have been instructed by the Phantom to put Christine in the lead role of the upcoming opera II Muto. They refuse and put Carlotta in the lead part after convincing her to return ("Prima Donna") and give Christine a silent role, which infuriates the Phantom. He then disables Carlotta's voice giving her the voice of a toad, which forces the Opera managers to put Christine in the lead role. While Christine is getting ready, Joseph Buquet (Kevin McNally) finds the Phantom in the rafters and after trying to escape is caught and hung from the rafters on stage in full view of everyone. This frightens Christine and she runs to the roof with Raoul pursuing her where he comforts her telling her that he loves her and will never leave her ("All I Ask of You") The Phantom overhears and is now in a state of shock because Christine loves Raoul and not him.
3 months later, we see that the Opera House is in full swing without any appearance from the Phantom since he disabled Carlotta's voice. The Opera House is holding a Masquerade to celebrate ("Masquerade"). During the Masquerade the Phantom interrupts and presents the managers with a new Opera he has written called Don Juan. He then gives them an ultimatum. Follow his instructions or bad things will happen. Christine visits the graveyard where her father is buried ("Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again"). The Phantom is also there and tries to lure her to him but Raoul arrives and fights off the Phantom in a sword battle. They then leave the Phantom there and he swears to get revenge.
The performance of Don Juan has finally come and everyone is nervous. Raoul, Andre, and Firmin are positive the Phantom will make an appearance so they set a trap. Christine is torn. She explains that she can't be a part of the trap without the Phantom taking her back. The play starts and Christine comes on stage singing. Backstage, Piangi (Victor McGuire) is getting ready for his next scene when the Phantom kills him and takes his place on stage. Christine sings with the Phantom, expressing her love for him. Raoul, who is in the audience, sadly realizes that Christine loves the Phantom ("The Point of No Return"). The Phantom then sings passionately to Christine who takes his mask off, revealing to the audience the distortion of his face. He takes her once again down to his lair, causing the opera theatre to catch on fire in the progress after bringing down the chandelier ("Down Once More/Track Down This Murderer"). The Phantom gives Christine the ring that he took from her at the masquerade ball, and asks her to stay with him. Meanwhile, Raoul gets Madame Giry to take him to the Phantom's lair. She leaves Raoul halfway through their journey, and Raoul goes the rest of the way alone. After nearly drowning, he shows up in the Phantom's lair to save Christine. The Phantom then gives Christine the difficult desicion: she can either stay with the Phantom and Raoul (who has been tied up by the Phantom) goes free, or she refuses the Phantom and Raoul dies but Christine goes free. Christine decides to stay with the Phantom and tells him that he is not alone. She kisses him passionately. At this the Phantom realizes that Christine truly loves him, but his horrible actions have ruined any chance they have together. In an act of selflessness, he frees both Christine and Raoul. Christine gives the ring back to the Phantom who sadly tells Christine that he loves her. Christine forces herself to leave with Raoul in the boat. She looks back at the Phantom sadly, knowing that she loves him. Heartbroken, the Phantom destroys the mirrors and escapes through a secret passage just before the mob shows up. Meg Giry finds only his mask.
The scene then switches back to 1919. The elderly gentleman now known to be Raoul leaves the monkey music box on Christine's grave. He looks down and sees that the Phantom has left a rose tied with a black ribbon (his trademark) and the ring that he gave to Christine: the Phantom still loves her. Raoul sadly looks at it knowing that Christine truly loved the Phantom.

If only

Ian Wyndham (Nicholls) is a British Businessman who lives with his musician girlfriend, Samantha Andrews (Hewitt) in London. Ian takes Sam for granted making Sam feeling vulnerable in the role of the one who loves more. Taking us through a day in Ian and Sam's life, the film opens by showing different events such as Sam getting burnt on a kettle, Ian's watch breaking, Sam getting Coca-Cola spilt on her and Ian being interrupted by Sam during an important meeting at work. (She had mistakenly thought that Ian had forgotten his presentation folder at home, when in fact it was just another similar but less important folder.)
As the day progresses we see Ian in a taxi. He tells the driver (Tom Wilkinson) about how he and Sam are going through difficulties. The driver recommends he should just love her. After Sam's concert that night, Ian tries to dismiss Sam's favorite student. At dinner Sam confronts Ian where her frustration boils over. She gets angry at Ian for his attitude toward her and tells him that she just wants him to love her. Sam storms out of the restaurant in tears, Ian following close behind and asking for her forgiveness. Sam gets in a passing taxi and as Ian tries to get in beside her he notices that the driver is the same man who he traveled with earlier that day. The man gives Ian an ominous smile and as the clock hits 11 PM, Sam closes the door, leaving Ian standing there. As he watches the taxi drive away, Ian makes one last attempt to reconcile with Sam and runs after the taxi as it stops at a traffic light. Before he gets there, the lights change and the taxi begins driving again. As it speeds up, the taxi is stuck violently by another car and comes to a halt on the middle of the street. Ian halts and falls on his knees shock.
At a nearby hospital, Sam is being taken into the ER and Ian is running through the hospital looking for her. He arrives outside the room Sam is in and through a windows sees her wounded and surrounded by medical personnel. Sam looks over to the window towards Ian, a blank expression on her face. Ian begins to cry and before the doctors can help her, Sam succumbs to her injuries and dies. Ian falls to the floor in the hospital in disbelief. We see Sam's friend Lottie (Lucy Davenport) enter a hospital room, where Ian is sitting in a chair. They both begin to cry. Ian goes back to his apartment, finds Sam's notebook and opens it, finding a song she was working on. He falls asleep clutching the notebook close to him. As the next day begins, Ian wakes up with the notebook still held tight. He is shocked to hear a voice behind him tell him not to read a word. He jumps up and screams, only to see Sam standing in his apartment. After the initial confusion, Ian comes to the conclusion that the previous day must have been a dream and continues the morning, happy to have Sam by his side
As the morning progresses however, Sam gets burnt by her hair straighteners in the same place she had been burnt by the kettle in his supposed dream. Able to shake this off as a sheer coincidence, Ian takes no further notice of it. Other events similar to those he already experienced begin happening too, although at different times and in different ways, as Sam gets Coca-Cola spilt on her. This time Ian mentions his dream to her, and she convinces him that it was just a dream, and if his watch remains in working order then it can't possibly be the same day as his dream. Nonetheless, Ian is still cautious, and while in a meeting at work he holds his folder in his hands. Sam sees this from outside the glass doors and his meeting is left uninterrupted. Later in the day, Ian gets into a taxi. After talking to the taxi driver he realizes that the driver is the man from the previous day. He questions the man about this and the driver says he does not remember, although he once again gives Ian an ominous smile, implying he may in fact know about Sam's accident and all the previous events. This convinces Ian once and for all, and he runs to Sam, who's helping her friend Lottie set up for an art gallery.
After convincing her to come with him, he brings her to a train station. After much questioning he reveals they are traveling to his rural home town. A delighted Sam makes sure that she'll be back in time for her concert, which Ian ensures they will be. Ian brings Sam up a mountain, to a spot he used to visit as a child. The two find a little abandoned cottage on the mountainside to use as shelter during a rain storm. Upon setting up a fire while Sam sits down, Ian notices that his watch is cracked and isn't working. He turns to look at Sam, who's lighting candles on a table. Sam smiles and when Ian asks what she would do if she didn't have a lot of time left, she replies that she'd do what she's doing right now; spending time with him, just being together. Ian and Sam begin kissing, before making love. Afterwards, they make their way back down the mountain, disappointed that they never made it to Ian's spot. In the town below, the two have drinks and Ian tells Sam about his father, who lost his beloved job in 1993 before becoming an alcoholic and dying sometime later. Ian reveals that he wishes he could have helped his father more, but Sam says he was only a child at the time and wherever his father is now, he's proud of him.
The two travel back to London and Ian takes Sam on the London Eye as another surprise. They then travel back to their apartment and while Sam is distracted, Ian takes a page from her notebook and brings it to a nearby photocopying shop while Sam travels to her concert with her violin. Before the show begins Ian sends a bouquet of flowers up to Sam and gives the photocopied pages to an organizer. A puzzled Sam looks out to Ian in the crowd when her bouquet arrives. His plan is soon revealed however when Ian comes onto center-stage with a microphone. He calls a reluctant Sam to his side, who gets nervous. Ian goes and talks to Sam at her seat and tells her she doesn't want to disappoint her future fans. Sam proceeds onto the stage as the orchestra begins to play the song printed on Ian's photocopied sheets. She sings the song she wrote for Ian in her notebook and the crowd burst into applause at her performance. While walking to a restaurant of Sam's choice, she describes her feelings to Ian.
In an intimate surrounding, Sam and Ian discuss the day in a sheer contrast to Ian's experience the previous night. Ian gives Samantha a charm bracelet with different charms and symbols: a musical note, a violin, a flower (which he describes as exquisite, much like Sam herself), the train they took that day and the Eiffel Tower, which Sam had always wanted to see. The two sit in silence as Sam tears up and smiles across at Ian. As they leave the restaurant in a downpour, Sam tries to get a taxi to take them home. Ian realizes they are in the same spot as the previous night when the accident took place and tells her to look at him and listen. In the rain, Sam listens as Ian professes his love for her and tells her that if it weren't for her or today, he would never have known true love at all. Sam begins crying and says she doesn't know what to say, to which he replies that she doesn't need to say anything.
A taxi pulls up and Sam gets in, beckoning Ian to get in too. He gets in next to her. As the taxi approaches the traffic lights, Ian and Sam kiss. He looks forward and sees the clock strike 11 PM and the same ominous smile he has seen so many times already. Sam smiles at him as the taxi pulls away and images of Sam's accident flash through his mind. He sees a car light through his window and grabs Sam tight for the last time. Sam's scream can be heard. At the hospital, we see Sam's friend Lottie run through the halls. She turns a corner and enters a hospital room, where Sam is sitting in a bed. Sam tells Lottie about Ian's premonition and how she didn't believe him. She and Lottie begin to cry. In the end it was Ian who was the victim of the accident.
Six months later, Sam is sitting in the apartment, with Ian's watch in her hands. Everything is packed into boxes and Sam takes a last look at the room. We see her singing on stage in a restaurant, with Lori at the closest table to her. She travels to the cottage on the mountain which she and Ian visited and continues climbing until she reaches Ian's spot at the peak of the mountain. She stands at the top, staring out into a valley, not knowing what lies ahead.
Source: Wikipedia, If Only

Psycho

In a Phoenix hotel room on a Friday afternoon, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) and her out-of-town lover Sam Loomis (John Gavin) end a stolen lunchtime interlude with yet another disagreement about their future. Marion wants to marry Sam, but debts inherited from his father and his own alimony payments do not leave him enough money to support her as he would like. As they have done so often before on Sam's business trips to Phoenix, they part leaving their future uncertain.
Marion returns to the real estate office where she works as a secretary, arriving just ahead of her boss Mr. Lowery (Vaughn Taylor) and his client Cassidy (Frank Albertson) who buys a house from Lowery with $40,000 in cash. Lowery tells Marion to put the money in the safe deposit box at the bank until Monday. Pleading a headache, Marion asks to take the rest of the day off after her errand to the bank.
But Marion doesn't go to the bank. On the spur of the moment, she decides to keep the money, packs a suitcase, and starts driving out of town, only to be spotted by her boss at an intersection where he gives her a suspicious look. Worried that she has been found out already, she still proceeds out of town on her way to Fairvale, California, where Sam lives. All the while she keeps looking behind her, fearful that she's being followed. She drives well into the night and parks alongside the road to sleep.
In the morning, a highway patrolman (Mort Mills) stops to investigate her stopped car, and awakens her. Startled and nervous, she arouses the patrolman's suspicions. He looks at her license and registration, taking note of the plate number. He allows her to go on, but follows her for a while, which intensifies Marion's agitation.
Realizing that her car can easily give her away, Marion decides to trade it in for a different car. She stops in at a used car lot, hurriedly pays the salesman (John Anderson) $700 cash for a likely substitute, and completes the deal as the same highway patrolman watches from across the street. Nervous, she drives away and continues toward Fairvale.
As night falls on this second day, with her fears of pursuit crowding in around her, she drives into a rainstorm. Unable to see the road clearly, she spots the lighted sign of the Bates Motel, and decides to take a room for the night. As there are no other cars there, and no one in the motel office, she honks her horn upon seeing a light on in the house behind the motel, and a silhouette in the window. Someone dashes down the path to greet her, and he introduces himself as Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). He is soft-spoken and shy young man who tells Marion that he lives in the large house with his mother. He comments that the motel seldom has guests anymore since the new interstate bypassed the local highway, and Marion realizes that she probably took a wrong turn in the storm. Still nervous about being tracked by the police, Marion registers under a false name, and Norman checks her into Cabin 1 just next to the office. When she asks about food, Marion learns that Fairvale is only fifteen miles away.
Norman offers to share his supper with her so she doesn't have to go out again in the rain, and he goes back to the house. She begins unpacking, taking time to wrap the money inside a newspaper which she sets aside on the bed table. Then she overhears a shouted argument between Norman and his mother coming from the house. Mother Bates seems to have a low opinion of young women, and doesn't want Norman associating with them. Norman returns to the motel with sandwiches and milk and invites Marion to join him in the parlor just behind the check-in desk.
Marion is taken aback by the stuffed birds that fill the parlor, a product of his taxidermy hobby. In their conversation over sandwiches, Norman talks about being trapped. Just as Marion presently feels trapped by her recent hasty decision, Norman is more permanently trapped in his co-existence with his mother and her madness. But as Norman observes, "we all go a little mad sometimes." Taking Norman's situation as a cautionary tale, Marion decides to return to Phoenix to make amends, and try to pull herself out of the trap she's gotten herself into before it's too late.
When Marion goes back to her room, Norman takes down a picture from the wall and looks through a peephole where he can watch Marion changing. With a new burst of intensity, Norman hurries up the hill and goes into the house.
In her room, Marion sits in her robe and calculates some figures, working out how she can repay the $700 she has already spent. Then she tears up the paper containing the figures and flushes the pieces down the toilet. With newfound peace of mind, she slips out of her robe and slippers, and steps into the tub to enjoy a cleansing shower.
Unseen behind her, the bathroom door opens. A figure approaches and pulls back the shower curtain. It is the shadowy figure of an old woman wielding a large kitchen knife. Marion screams. The blade lifts high into the air, and then strikes, and strikes again and again. Marion cannot escape the slicing blows of the knife. The savage attack continues, and then her killer leaves. Marion sinks down, reaching for the shower curtain which rips under her weight, and she falls over the edge of the tub. The shower continues to run over her as her blood flows down the tub drain, her lifeless eyes fixed in a final hopeless stare.
From the house, Norman's voice yells out in shock, "Mother! Oh, God! Mother! Blood! Blood!" He comes running down the hill and into Marion's cabin to find the aftermath of Mother's knife attack. He quickly cleans up the murder scene. He wraps Marion's body in the shower curtain and places her in the trunk of her car, and gathers her belongings into the trunk as well. At the last moment he spots the newspaper on the bed table and tosses it into the trunk, not knowing that it contains the stolen money. He drives to a swamp near the motel, where he pushes the car in and watches it slowly disappear into the dark bog.
One week later, Sam Loomis is sitting in the back office of his hardware store in Fairvale, writing a note to Marion. He has changed his mind, and if it's not too late he wants to marry her right away even if his finances are limited right now. Marion's sister, Lila Crane (Vera Miles), comes into the store and asks if Marion is there. Sam tells her she isn't. A private investigator named Arbogast (Martin Balsam) also enters the store and asks for Marion's whereabouts. His interest is in recovering the stolen $40,000, which Lila knew about, but Sam did not. Arbogast is convinced that Marion is somewhere in this town close to her boyfriend, so he sets out on a search of hotels and boarding houses around Fairvale to track her down.
When Arbogast gets to the Bates Motel, Norman tells him he hasn't seen Marion, and that there haven't been any guests in weeks. But Arbogast manages to look at the register and sees the false signature in Marion's handwriting. Caught in his lie that here hadn't been any recent guests, Norman admits to remembering her now, and says she stayed that Saturday night and left early on Sunday morning. Arbogast spots Mother's silhouette sitting at the window of the house and asks to see her, but Norman refuses, saying that his mother is an invalid and shouldn't be disturbed. When Norman lets slip his Mother's impressions of Marion, Arbogast becomes determined to talk to her, but Norman insists that he leave.
Arbogast phones Sam and Lila to tell them that Marion had registered the previous Saturday night at the Bates Motel in Cabin 1, and that he means to sneak back and talk to Mrs. Bates regardless of Norman's objections. When he gets back to the motel, Arbogast looks into the office and the parlor briefly to see if Norman is there, and spots the motel safe which is standing open. Then he heads up to the house and goes inside. Sensing that no one is downstairs, he starts up the stairs. As he nears the top of the landing, Mother Bates emerges from the bedroom and stabs him. He stumbles backwards down the stairs and falls to the floor, where he is set upon and stabbed yet again.
At the hardware store, Lila and Sam have been waiting for Arbogast, who was supposed to return hours ago. Sam tells Lila to stay behind while he goes out to the motel. When he gets there, he calls out but no one answers. Norman, standing by the swamp after having just disposed of the investigator's remains, hears Sam call out for Arbogast.
Sam returns to the store, having seen no one at the motel or the house. No Arbogast, no Bates, "only a sick old lady unable or unwilling to answer the door." Sam suggests they go see Sheriff Chambers (John McIntire) to report the missing Arbogast. At the sheriff's house, Chambers and his wife (Lurene Tuttle) listen to Sam and Lila tell their story. At their urging, Chambers phones the motel and talks to Norman, who says that the detective had been there but had left. When Lila presses Chambers about the mother, Chambers tells them that Norman's mother has been dead and buried for the past ten years, having poisoned her lover and herself in the only murder-suicide in Fairvale's living memory. But Sam and Lila insist that there is an old woman out there, and that Arbogast had told them that Norman wouldn't let Arbogast see his mother because she was too ill. That makes the sheriff wonder, if Norman's mother is up there at the motel, then who is buried in that grave in Green Lawn Cemetery?
Norman is worried about all the people who have been snooping around. His concerns lead to another unseen argument with Mother in which he tells her she should hide in the fruit cellar for a few days. She refuses. Norman says he will pick her up and carry her downstairs. She berates him, but in spite of Mother's protests to be put down, Norman carries his mother down the stairs.
The next morning, Sunday morning, Lila and Sam meet Sheriff and Mrs. Chambers coming out of church. The sheriff has already been to the motel before church services. He didn't see anything strange and suggests that the detective probably just moved on to pursue a lead without telling them. He offers to help Lila report a missing person and a theft, and let the law find her sister. Unsatisfied, Lila and Sam decide to go out to the motel for themselves. Their plan is to register as husband and wife and check into a cabin. Then they will search the place more thoroughly.
Norman assigns them to Cabin 10, and Sam insists on signing the register. As he pays and asks Norman for a receipt, Lila takes the key and goes ahead toward their cabin. On the way she checks that the door to Cabin 1 is unlocked. After a brief stop in cabin 10 to talk matters over, and after they are sure Norman is not nearby, Sam and Lila enter Cabin 1 to search for clues. Sam notices that the shower curtain is missing and Lila finds a scrap of paper with something subtracted from $40,000, suggesting that Norman possibly knew about the money. Lila wants to talk to the woman in the house because she might have told Arbogast something. She wants Sam to distract Norman while she goes to the house. Sam tries to dissuade her, but she insists she can handle a sick old woman.
Sam finds Norman in the office and engages him in conversation, while Lila circles around behind the motel to the house. She enters and looks through all the rooms upstairs. She goes into Mother's bedroom, filled with furnishings and clothes from the Victorian era but strangely preserved as if new. The outline of a woman's body is deeply impressed into the old mattress. She looks into Norman's bedroom, another room frozen in time containing the toys and small bed of a child.
Meanwhile, Sam has been trying to get Norman to talk about money, looking for some indication that Norman has the stolen cash. Norman begins to grow agitated. When Sam mentions Norman's mother, Norman realizes that his other guest may be snooping around at the house. Sam tries to keep Norman from leaving, and they struggle. Norman knocks Sam over the head, and Sam falls dazed to the floor.
Lila is just coming down the stairs when she sees Norman running toward the front door. She ducks around behind the stairs and partway down the cellar steps to avoid him. Norman heads upstairs. Lila starts to come back up, when she notices the cellar door at the bottom of the steps. This is a room she hasn't examined yet, and she risks the opportunity to look into it.
Walking through a storage room and into the barren fruit cellar beyond it, she sees an old woman sitting in a chair facing the far wall. She whispers, "Mrs. Bates." But the woman doesn't respond. She taps the woman on the shoulder. The chair swivels around to reveal the desiccated remains of an old woman's corpse, her face contorted into a near-skeletal grin and seemingly staring out of eyeless sockets.
Lila screams and turns away, and her flinching reaction sets the bare hanging light bulb to swinging. At that moment, the living semblance of an old woman enters at the door wielding a large knife, blocking the only escape route from the cellar. In the next moment, Sam's timely arrival saves Lila, as he subdues the would-be assailant from behind. The "woman's" wig falls away to reveal Norman Bates dressed in the guise of his mother.
Lila, Sam, and Sheriff Chambers are among a bewildered group of interested persons who sit in an office in the County Court House, waiting to hear from a psychiatrist who has been called in to examine Norman. The psychiatrist (Simon Oakland) enters to tell them he has gotten the whole story, but not from "Norman." He got it from Norman's "Mother." As a personality, "Norman" no longer exists. The other half, the "Mother" half of Norman's mind has taken over.
The psychiatrist goes on to explain that after the death of Norman's father, Norman came to depend on the undivided attention of his mother. But when she took a lover, Norman felt as if he had been replaced. His jealousy could not stand to share her. So he poisoned both his mother and her lover. Consumed with guilt over his crime, he stole his mother's corpse and treated it to preserve it as best he could.
To further the illusion that his mother was still alive, he began to divide his mind with his mother-- to think and speak for her. He walked around wearing her clothes and a woman's wig. At times he could be both personalities and carry on both sides of conversations. Other times, the "Mother" half, the dominant half, took over completely. "He was never all 'Norman,' but he was often only 'Mother.'"
Norman's "Mother" personality was pathologically jealous of Norman. When Norman met Marion, he felt a strong attraction to her. That attraction set off the jealous "Mother," and it was "Mother" who killed Marion-- and most likely, other women before her.
In a locked and guarded room, the physical shell of Norman Bates sits unmoving as "Mother"'s voice dominates his mind. She wants to prove to the world how harmless she is by sitting completely still. A fly crawls on Norman's hand and he doesn't swat at it, simply smirks as the voice of Mother's personality gloats that everyone must see that she wouldn't even harm a fly.
In a final image, a tow chain begins pulling Marion's car out of the bog.
END OF FILM

Interrupted Melody

With the help of her family, Marjorie Lawrence sneaked out of the family farm in Winchelsea to participate in an opera contest and won. She was given credentials and a letter of introduction and went to France to study with famous opera coach Madam Cécile Gilly.
A year later, Marjorie's father died and she was on the brink of giving up her career when Madam Gilly recommended her for the role of Musetta, in the new production of La Boheme at Monte Carlo Opera. She was an overnight success.
At the hotel lobby, a happy but lonely Marjorie was about to return to her room after giving her family the good news, a kind young American offered to take her out and celebrate. It was love at first sight for Dr. Thomas King and Marjorie, but the next morning they went on their separate ways - he back to New York to start his practice, she started a two-year contract with Monte Carlo Opera.
With the aggressive management of kid brother Cyril and suitor Comte Claude des Vignaux, Marjorie soon gain international fame and started to tour with prominent opera companies such as Paris Opera and the Metropolitan Opera. Thomas went to see her after the opening night of Metropolitan's production of Götterdämmerung, the two fell in lover all over again.
Thomas was just a struggling obstetrician and considered to be below Marjorie's stature. Realising that she couldn't have both a normal life with Thomas and a career, Marjorie ignored both Cyril and Thomas' protest and cancelled all tours, contended with being a contract soprano with Metropolitan Opera. Marjorie and Thomas got married; a disappointed Cyril broke away from his sister and went on to manage other prima donnas.
The Metropolitan Opera was going to put on a production of Tristan und Isolda and wanted Marjorie to sing the lead soprano, with the condition that she must go on a tour to get some practice and experience with this new role. Seeing that even Thomas agreed that she should go, she went on a Latin America tour.
Marjorie clasped during a rehearsal and was diagnosed to have contracted Poliomyelitis, became completely paralysed. Thomas gave up his practice and they moved to Florida to begin a full-fledged rehabilitation. Marjorie made good progress with her upper body, but she was never to get back the use of her legs.
After a suicide attempt, Marjorie finally came out of her depression and Thomas was able to go back to New York to re-open his practice. Marjorie, now needed to live in place with warm climates, was scheduled to join him in the spring.
One day an old friend of Thomas', Dr. Ed Ryson, now drafted to fight in WWII, dropped in to visited Thomas and suggested that she perform for the patients in the hospital. This little performance developed in to a tour, Marjorie began to tour the world singing for American soldiers.
With her new-found confidence from this tour, Marjorie agreed to return to stage and Metropolitan Opera put on a redesigned production of Tristan und Isolda, where she could perform sitting down. The performance was a success and Marjorie was even able to stand up and walk a few steps at the end.

Devil's advocate

Kevin Lomax (Keanu Reeves) is a successful defense attorney in Gainesville, Florida. After successfully defending a high school teacher, Gettys, who is accused of molesting a young girl named Barbara (Heather Matarazzo). He is celebrating with his wife Mary Ann (Charlize Theron) when he is approached by a representative for a New York law firm, Leamon Heath (Ruben Santiago-Hudson). The Lomaxes go to New York, and Kevin proves his expertise while picking a jury. A sharply-dressed John Milton (Al Pacino) watches him from afar. The next day, Kevin receives word that Gettys has been acquitted. More so, the jury only deliberated for 38 minutes before bringing in the verdict.
Heath shows Kevin around the office, and he is distracted by Christabella (Connie Nielsen), a beautiful young lawyer. He meets Milton, and reveals part of his success is due to eavesdropping on juries while they deliberate. Milton shows Lomax the roof, which contains an infinity pool, and quizzes Lomax about his history. A job offer is implied. Heath and his wife Jackie (Tamara Tunie) takes the Lomax's to their spacious, luxurious apartment.
The next day, Kevin meets the team and Pam (Debra Monk), who hands him his first case. He meets his client, Phillipe Moyez (Delroy Lindo), who practices voodoo and is on trial after being found sacrificing a goat. Kevin begins his research while Mary Ann tries to decorate the apartment. Kevin successfully defends Moyez and Milton is impressed.
The Lomaxes attend a party at Managing Director Eddie Barzoon's (Jeffrey Jones) lavish apartment. Milton flirts with Mary Ann, suggesting she change her hair, and Kevin chats with Christabella. Milton brings Eddie, Heath and Kevin to his suite and tells them he wants Kevin for the high-profile murder trial of Alexander Cullen (Craig T. Nelson), a businessman accused of killing his wife, his wife's stepson, and a maid. Eddie and Heath are not happy with the decision to use Kevin as council. That night, Kevin returns to his apartment to find Mary Ann furious that she was left alone at the party.
Kevin meets Alexander and convinces him that he can defend him. Mary Ann, Jackie and Eddie's wife Diana (Pamela Gray) try on expensive dresses, and Mary Ann watches as Jackie's face transforms into a demonic scowl. Kevin tries to console Mary Ann to no avail. After sadly claiming that she misses Kevin and feels lonely, Kevin suggests that they try to have a child. They begin to have sex, and Kevin imagines Mary Ann as Christabella. Mary Ann realizes something is wrong, and they stop.
Kevin conducts a briefing of Alexander, and shows skill. On the way back from a fancy dinner, Kevin, Mary Ann and Kevin's mother (Judith Ivey) meet Milton. Milton tries to charm her, but she seems struck by Milton, as if she knows him from somewhere. Kevin resists the impulse to meet with Milton and hot women in his suite, but Mary Ann sees through it and gets angry. Kevin's mom tries to convince him to leave and return to Florida.
Kevin begins research and interviews. He finds Eddie working late, shredding documents. Eddie tells Kevin to ignore the activities going on, and mentions Weaver at the Justice Department. Milton shows up and invites Kevin to a boxing match. On the subway, they are accosted by a punk, and Milton tells him (in perfect Spanish) to check on his girl, who is cheating on him...
The night continues, with Milton partying and Kevin trying to explain himself to Mary Ann over the phone. Milton and Kevin sit with a group of beautiful women, Kevin talking with them as Milton watches with a smile. Meanwhile, Mary Ann is awakened by a noise, and finds a child in the apartment. She notices, to her horror, that the child is playing with a pile of ovaries. The next day, Kevin tells her it's a dream, but she is still freaked out. She tells Kevin that she found out that she's incapable of bearing children. He's interrupted by the phone.
Alexander tells Kevin he's been unfaithful, and was having an affair with his secretary during the night of the murder. Milton wants Kevin to quit the case and take care of Mary Ann, but Kevin wants to prove himself. Milton relents.
The trial starts. Kevin's strategy is to make Alexander look awful, so he can later prove Alexander was sleeping with his secretary at the time of the murder.
Eddie later confronts Kevin about his promotion, and threatens to go to the Justice Department. Kevin tells Milton about the threat, and Eddie is chased by phantom joggers, then is beaten to death by homeless men who appear as demons. Mary Ann watches from her apartment window.
Kevin briefs the secretary, Melissa (Laura Harrington), and in doing so figures out that she has never had sex with Cullen. He then learns about Eddie's death. He is perturbed by both the death and the secretary's lies. On the subway again, Milton tells Kevin to go with his gut. Back in the courtroom, as Milton watches, Kevin calls the secretary to the stand. She testifies, and Alexander is cleared. Upon returning home, Kevin discovers Mary has gone to a local church and is very ill.
Mary Ann tells Kevin that Milton came to the apartment and talked with her for hours. Lonely and desperate, Mary Ann began to have sex with Milton, but when she told him to stop, Milton violently raped her. Kevin thinks Mary is crazy, as he had seen Milton in court. She insists that she isn't crazy and shows Kevin that her body is covered with bloody scratches. Thinking that she has done this to herself, he has her committed to a mental hospital.
Later, Kevin attends Eddie's funeral, and Alexander arrives with his 14-year-old stepdaughter, Alessandra. Kevin watches as Cullen begins stroking Alessandra's skin sensually, and suddenly has a vision of Cullen as Gettys, the pedophile he had defended in Gainesville. Realizing that Cullen was having an affair with his underaged stepdaughter and that Mary Ann may not be crazy after all, Kevin leaves the church. He is met by Mitch Weaver (Vyto Ruginis), who tells him that Eddie was going to testify against Milton. He convinces Kevin only after telling him that Gettys was found with the body of ten-year-old girl in the trunk of his car. Weaver tries to cross to Kevin to talk further, but is hit by a car and killed. As this happens, Milton smirks and boils holy water with his touch.
Kevin goes to visit Mary Ann in the psych ward, and his mom is there. She tells Kevin his father was a NYC waiter, and Mary Ann sees Pam as a demon. She locks the door and slits her throat while Pam looks on. Later, Kevin's mother tells him the truth about his father - it's Milton! Kevin realizes Milton has been watching and helping him all along.
Kevin leaves to see Milton, and Pam reassures him. No one is on the streets as he walks through New York. Kevin confronts Milton in his office and shoots him, but it has no effect. Milton reveals that he indeed is Satan, and Christabella is his half-sister. Milton wants them to take over the firm and conceive a baby. Kevin starts negotiating the deal, and the sculptures come alive. Christabella seduces Kevin, but at the critical moment, he commits suicide by shooting himself in the head.
Enraged, Milton explodes into flames. As Kevin falls to the floor, Christabella shrivels to a mummified corpse, and Milton changes to his true angelic form, which looks exactly like Kevin. Suddenly, the entire scene rewinds back to the opening scene of the movie where Kevin finds himself facing a restroom mirror in the Florida courtroom. Kevin is contemplating defending the teacher whom he knows is guilty. He also finds Mary Ann waiting for him outside the men's room as he returns to the courtroom to begin cross examination of Barbara the victim to discredit her testimony. Before he can begin, he announces to the judge and jury that he cannot proceed with the trial and quits as the legal council saying that it's the right thing. Kevin, aware of what has happened to him, realizes that by divine intervention, he has been given a second chance to do good rather then for what he is told to.
As Kevin and Mary Ann leave the courthouse, he is pursued by a reporter (the same one from the restroom at the beginning) to ask him for an exclusive interview about his decision to quit the case and of being "a lawyer with a conscience". Kevin initially refuses, but when the reporter and Mary Ann both encourage him, Kevin agrees to phone him later for the exclusive.
As Kevin and Mary Ann walk out of the courthouse, the reporter morphs into John Milton, who smiles and adds the closing line: "Vanity... definitely my favorite sin."

Keanu Reeves
Kevin Lomax
Al Pacino
John Milton
Charlize Theron
Mary Ann Lomax
Jeffrey Jones
Eddie Barzoon
Judith Ivey
Mrs. Alice Lomax
Connie Nielsen
Christabella Andreoli
Craig T. Nelson
Alexander Cullen
Tamara Tunie
Mrs. Jackie Heath
Ruben Santiago-Hudson
Leamon Heath
Debra Monk
Pam Garrety
Vyto Ruginis
Mitch Weaver - Justice Department
Laura Harrington
Melissa Black
Pamela Gray
Mrs. Diana Barzoon
George Wyner
Meisel
Chris Bauer
Lloyd Gettys (as Christopher Bauer)
Connie Embesi
Mrs. Bernice Gettys
Jonathan Cavallary
Gettys' Son
Heather Matarazzo
Barbara
Murphy Guyer
Barbara's Father
Leo Burmester
Florida Prosecutor
Bill Moor
Garson Deeds - Florida Judge
Neal Jones
Larry - Florida Reporter