Four extremely beautiful people do extremely horrible things to one another in Closer. Anna (Julia Roberts) is a photographer who specializes in portraits of strangers; Dan (Jude Law) is an obituary writer struggling to become a novelist; Alice (Natalie Portman) is an American stripper freshly arrived in London after a bad relationship; and Larry (Clive Owen) is a dermatologist who finds love under the most unlikely of circumstances. When their paths cross it's a dizzying supernova of emotions, as Nichols and Marber adroitly construct various scenes out of their lives that pair them again and again in various permutations of passion, heartbreak, anger, sadness, vengeance, pleading, deception, and most importantly, brutal honesty.

13 Conversations About One Thing

A smartly written and wonderfully acted movie about happiness and fate. 13 Conversations About One Thing takes four characters (a lawyer who hits a housecleaner with his car, then flees the scene; the housecleaner herself; a science professor who leaves his wife; and an insurance claims adjuster who's deeply envious of a coworker who seems irrepressibly happy) and blends their stories into a delicate but potent mix. The characters cross paths at various points, but more often the events reverberate off each other in funny, surprising, or sorrowful ways.

Afterglow

Lucky is a big teddy bear who finds joy in construction and womanizing. Nearly every sentence is a smooth entendre or a typical Rudolph witticism. This arrangement seems to be fine with his longtime wife Phyllis (Christie), an ex-B-movie actress who acts as if much of her life is still a bad movie. Lucky's latest client is a young housewife (Lara Flynn Boyle) who also has a muddle of a marriage: Marianne swoons for Lucky's attention, because her husband, Jeffrey (Jonny Lee Miller), has energy for his high-rise business career but little else. Soon Jeffrey espies sad and stunning Phyllis and is on the prowl, unaware that she is Lucky's wife.

Diary of a Mad Black Woman

When Helen (Kimberly Elise, Beloved) is literally thrown out of her house by her callous lawyer husband (Steve Harris), her sense of self unravels. She finds herself on the doorstep of her gun-toting grandmother Madea (cross-dressed Tyler Perry), who sets Helen on the road to dignity and forgiveness--with a few detours along the way. The plot of Diary of a Mad Black Woman unfolds in a dizzying melange of styles, from soap opera to campy comedy to chick-flick romance to gothic revenge to inspirational tale of redemption.

The Last Kiss

With its breezy look at the battle of the sexes, this stylish comedy has generated critical acclaim everywhere! A wife, a child, a house . . . it all seems like too much responsibility for a guy who's afraid to grow up! But Carlo is not alone. All of his buddies are suffering with their own growing pains and none of them seem to be ready to settle down without a fight. As the romantic entanglements tighten, this amusingly self-centered group of guys will keep you entertained as they struggle to learn the complicated lessons of life and love.

A Price Above Rubies

Sonia (Zellweger) is a young woman who always did just what was expected: she married the right man, moved to the right neighborhood, and had a beautiful baby. And yet, when she discovers an exciting world beyond her tightly knit community, it sparks a growing desire for independence that threatens the security of the perfect life she knows. See A PRICE ABOVE RUBIES for yourself, and learn why critics and audiences nationwide have praised this passionate movie gem!