Richard Russo

The Ice Harvest -- A wickedly funny thriller that takes moviegoers on a wild ride brimming with larceny, lust and lethal behavior. In icebound Wichita, Kansas, it's Christmas Eve, and this year Charlie Arglist (John Cusack) just might have something to celebrate. Charlie, an attorney for the sleazy businesses of Wichita, and his unsavory associate, the steely Vic Cavanaugh (Billy Bob Thornton) have just successfully embezzled $2 million from Kansas City boss Bill Guerrard (Randy Quaid). But the real prize for Charlie is the stunning Renata (Connie Nielsen), who runs the Sweet Cage strip club. Charlie hopes to slip out of town with Renata. But as daylight fades and an ice storm whirls, everyone from Charlie's drinking buddy Pete Van Heuten (Oliver Platt) to the local police begin to wonder just what exactly is in Charlie's Christmas stocking - and the 12 hours of Christmas Eve are filled with surprises.

The Human Stain -- A light comedy about a man, his obsession with cleanliness, and his epic battle with a stain he can't get rid off.

John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton lead an all-star cast in this hilarious and unpredictable thriller that critics are calling, "very funny stuff" (Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper). When lawyer Charlie (Cusack) and his partner Vic (Thornton) steal from a mob boss, they think they've pulled off the perfect crime. But when they race through a night filled with mayhem, lust and lethal surprises, they realize that the biggest risk they'll take will be trusting each other. From the director of Analyze This and Groundhog Day, The Ice Harvest cracks with outrageous laughs and slippery twists that will keep you guessing until the very end!

The Nobody's Fool (1994) team of Paul Newman, director Robert Benton, and scripter Richard Russo reassembled for this L.A. detective drama, beginning with a Puerto Vallarta prologue showing private eye Harry Ross (Newman) accidentally shot by 17-year-old Mel Ames (Reese Witherspoon) during his efforts to get her to return home. Two years later, the broke and divorced Ross lives in a garage apartment on the estate of Mel's parents, his movie-star friends Jack and Catherine Ames (Gene Hackman and Susan Sarandon). The cancer-ridden Jack is not unaware that Harry is attracted to Catherine. Delivering a package for Jack, Harry encounters elderly Lester Ivar (M. Emmet Walsh), who shoots at Harry and then dies. Harry's curiosity is provoked when he discovers that Ivar was an investigator checking into the disappearance of Catherine's first husband, written off 20 years earlier as an unsolved case, but now reactivated as Harry's sleuth-work leads him on a trail of past crimes and cover-ups. The Ames residence is actually the former Cedric Gibbons-Delores Del Rio home, and a never-completed Frank Lloyd Wright house near Malibu served as the Ames' ranchhouse.

A retired ex-cop and private detective (Newman) who lives with a rich actor (Hackman) who is dying from cancer and his actress wife (Sarandon) gets mixed up in murder when he is asked to deliver blackmail money.

A retired ex-cop and private detective (Newman) who lives with a rich actor (Hackman) who is dying from cancer and his actress wife (Sarandon) gets mixed up in murder when he is asked to deliver blackmail money.

Screen legend Paul Newman heads a luminous cast in this acclaimed whodunit packed with stars and suspense. He plays Harry Ross, a burned-out private eye who's plunged into a murder mystery tied to a long-unsolved case of Hollywood dreams, schemes and cover-ups.

Twilight -- A retired ex-cop and private detective (Newman) who lives with a rich actor (Hackman) who is dying from cancer and his actress wife (Sarandon) gets mixed up in murder when he is asked to deliver blackmail money.

Paul Newman earned an Oscar(r) nomination plus Best Actor honors from the National Society of Film Critics and New York Film Critics Circle for his portrayal of Sully, a likable working stiff who's made a lifetime of bad decisions. But he unexpectedly has a chance to make right on some of them when his estranged son - and grandson - drop into his life. Melanie Griffith and Jessica Tandy are among the talented costars of this engaging film honored on numerous 1994 Ten Best Lists.

Nobody's Fool -- Sully is a rascally ne'er-do-well approaching retirement age. While he is pressing a worker's compensation suit for a bad knee, he secretly works for his nemesis, Carl, and flirts with Carl's young wife Toby. Sully's long- forgotten son and family have moved back to town, so Sully faces unfamiliar family responsibilities. Meanwhile, Sully's landlady's banker son plots to push through a new development and evict Sully from his mother's life.