Growing up in the States there was always one part of my life which was different to most of my schoolmates, which was that my dad was Italian and he still had a strong tie to that country, including a love of football. Whenever big tournaments like the World Cup were on television it was always a huge thing for us. When I was very young I was a passionate supporter of the Italian national team, though I'm not so much any more. I was disgusted by them at the last World Cup. I felt all they did was whine about the referees.
Junebug (2005) When Madeleine (Embeth Davidtz), a British-born dealer in regional,
"outsider" art, travels from Chicago to North Carolina to pursue a
local painter for her gallery, she and her brand-new, younger husband
George (Alessandro Nivola) extend the trip to include an introduction
to his family: his prickly mother Peg (Celia Weston); his taciturn
father Eugene (Scott Wilson); his angry younger brother Johnny
(Benjamin McKenzie), who has always suffered in the shadow of his
over-achieving brother; and Johnny’s very pregnant and innocently
garrulous wife Ashley (Amy Adams). Madeleine confronts the difficulty
of these two cultures colliding, and discovers the tumultuous outcome
as these separate ways of life must coexist.
Although Ashley immediately takes to the sophisticated Madeleine and
embraces her as a sister, the other members of George’s family,
especially his mother, are less than receptive. With George falling
into his old routine of spending time alone, Madeleine relies almost
entirely on Ashley to help her navigate the family dinners, Church
meetings, and Ashley’s baby shower, all while desperately trying to
close the deal on the artist. Tensions mount when Ashley goes into
labor and each family member’s priorities, Madeleine’s included, are
confronted.
The Sisters (2005)
Turning Green (2005)
The Clearing (2004) Wayne (Redford) and Eileen (Mirren) Hayes live the American Dream. Together they've raised two children and struggled to build a successful business from the ground up. But there have been sacrifices along the way. When Wayne is kidnapped by an ordinary man, Arnold Mack (Dafoe), and held for ransom in a remote forest, the couple's world is turned inside out. Eileen finds her home full of FBI agents, their life under scrutiny. While Wayne is engaged in the negotiation of his lifetime, Eileen works frantically with the FBI to secure his release. The terrifying ordeal causes Wayne and Eileen to reassess their marriage and come to a deeper sense of their commitment to each other. With each passing hour, the need and desire for Wayne to return home safely becomes ever more urgent.
Carolina (2003)
Imprint (2002)
Laurel Canyon (2002) This is the story of a pot-smoking, free-wheeling Los Angeles record producer (McDormand), with a rock star boyfriend (Nivola), whose straight-laced son (Bale) comes back home after graduation from Harvard Medical School with his rich fiancé (Beckinsale), who's working on a book. Although mother and son are initially at odds, their relationship begins to change when he discovers that his bride-to-be likes his mother's rock-n-roll lifestyle too.
