David Speck

Crazy in Alabama -- Antonio Banderas' directorial debut weaves together the stories of a boy coming of age in racially charged 1960's Alabama, and his eccentric aunt (Melanie Griffith) on the run to Hollywood where she hopes to fulfill her dreams of TV stardom.

The Client -- A gripping adventure of a streetwise kid who, finding himself wanted by both the FBI and the mob, hires a lawyer to defend his right not to reveal what he knows about a mafia killing.

Stunning cinematography, costume designs and remarkable and colorful characters come together to create a period piece which superbly evokes a broad spectrum of 1930s life in deep South. Joel Samson, a young boy of 13, is summoned to a sprawling and decaying plantation house to meet the father he has not seen for nine years. On his arrival, he meets Amy Skully, the mistress of the house, and Randolph, her debauched and eccentric cousin. His father is nowhere is sight. Joel later discovers the man lying paralyzed in the attic of the crumbling mansion whereupon he begins to unravel the mysterious secrets that lie within the house.

Antonio Banderas' directorial debut opens in the sweltering summer of 1965, and everyone in Alabama has gone completely crazy, especially 12-year-old Peejoe's glamorous Aunt Lucille (Melanie Griffith). Deciding not to let her abusive husband stand in the way of her dreams of television stardom, she gets rid of him in a most unusual way and leaves Peejoe (Lucas Black) with lots of questions and one explosive secret. Accompanied only with her hat-box and its mysterious contents, Lucille tries to evade both the cops and her demons on her hilarious journey to Hollywood, while Peejoe is left behind with his uncle (David Morse) in Alabama. And as he tries to steer clear of the cunning sheriff Doggett (Meat Loaf), Peejoe learns which secrets to keep and which ones to tell in this poignant comedy about the price of freedom and why it's always worth it, whatever the cost.