From Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ===== Late 1889. Dissatisfied with life in her rural Wisconsin home, 18-year-old Caroline "Sister Carrie" Meeber takes the train to Chicago, where her older sister Minnie, and Minnie's husband, Sven Hanson, have agreed to take her in. On the train, Carrie meets Charles Drouet, a traveling salesman, who is attracted to her because of her simple beauty and unspoiled manner. They exchange contact information, but upon discovering the "steady round of toil" and somber atmosphere at her sister's flat, she writes to Drouet and discourages him from calling on her there. Carrie soon embarks on a quest for work to pay rent to her sister and her husband, and takes a job running a machine in a shoe factory. Before long, however, she is shocked by the coarse manners of both the male and female factory workers, and the physical demands of the job, as well as the squalid factory conditions, begin to take their toll. She also senses Minnie and Sven's disapproval of her interest in Chicago's recreational opportunities, particularly the theater. One day, after an illness that costs her her job, she encounters Drouet on a downtown street. Once again taken by her beauty, and moved by her poverty, he encourages her to dine with him, where, over sirloin and asparagus, he persuades her to leave her sister and move in with him. To press his case, he slips Carrie two ten dollar bills, opening a vista of material possibilities to her. The next day, he rebuffs her feeble attempts to return the money, taking her shopping at a Chicago department store and securing a jacket she covets and some shoes. That night, she writes a good-bye note to Minnie and moves in with Drouet. Drouet installs her in a much larger apartment, and their relationship intensifies as Minnie dreams about her sister's fall from innocence. She acquires a sophisticated wardrobe and, through his offhand comments about attractive women, sheds her provincial mannerisms, even as she struggles with the moral implications of being a kept woman. By the time Drouet introduces Carrie to George Hurstwood, the manager of Fitzgerald and Moy's – a respectable bar that Drouet describes as a "way- up, swell place" – her material appearance has improved considerably. Hurstwood, unhappy with and distant from his social-climbing wife and children, instantly becomes infatuated with Carrie's youth and beauty, and before long they start an affair, communicating and meeting secretly in the expanding, anonymous city. One night, Drouet casually agrees to find an actress to play a key role in an amateur theatrical presentation of Augustin Daly's melodrama Under the Gaslight for his local chapter of the Elks. Upon returning home to Carrie, he encourages her to take the part of the heroine. Unknown to Drouet, Carrie long has harbored theatrical ambitions and has a natural aptitude for imitation and expressing pathos. The night of the production – which Hurstwood attends at Drouet's invitation – both men are moved to even greater displays of affection by Carrie's stunning performance. The next day, the affair is uncovered: Drouet discovers he has been cuckolded, Carrie learns that Hurstwood is married, and Hurstwood's wife Julia learns from acquaintances that Hurstwood has been out driving with another woman and deliberately excluded her from the Elks theatre night. After a night of drinking, and despairing at his wife's financial demands and Carrie's rejection, Hurstwood stumbles upon a large amount of cash in the unlocked safe in Fitzgerald and Moy's offices. In a moment of poor judgment, he succumbs to the temptation to embezzle a large sum of money. Inventing a false pretext of Drouet's sudden illness, he lures Carrie onto a train and escapes with her to Canada. Once they arrive in Montreal, Hurstwood's guilty conscience – and a private eye – induce him to return most of the stolen funds, but he realizes that he cannot return to Chicago. Hurstwood mollifies Carrie by agreeing to marry her, and the couple move to New York City. In New York, Hurstwood and Carrie rent a flat where they live as George and Carrie Wheeler. Hurstwood buys a minority interest in a saloon and, at first, is able to provide Carrie with a satisfactory – if not lavish – standard of living. The couple grow distant, however, as Hurstwood abandons any pretense of fine manners toward Carrie, and she realizes that Hurstwood no longer is the suave, powerful manager of his Chicago days. Carrie's dissatisfaction only increases when she meets Robert Ames, a bright young scholar from Indiana and her neighbor's cousin, who introduces her to the idea that great art, rather than showy materialism, is worthy of admiration. After only a few years, the saloon's landlord sells the property and Hurstwood's business partner expresses his intent to terminate the partnership. Too arrogant to accept most of the job opportunities available to him, Hurstwood soon discovers that his savings are running out and urges Carrie to economize, which she finds humiliating and distasteful. As Hurstwood lounges about, overwhelmed by apathy and foolishly gambling away most of his savings, Carrie turns to New York's theaters for employment and becomes a chorus girl. Once again, her aptitude for theatre serves her well, and, as the rapidly aging Hurstwood declines into obscurity, Carrie begins to rise from chorus girl to small speaking roles, and establishes a friendship with another chorus girl, Lola Osborne, who begins to urge Carrie to move in with her. In a final attempt to prove himself useful, Hurstwood becomes a scab, driving a Brooklyn streetcar during a streetcar operator's strike. His ill-fated venture, which lasts only two days, prompts Carrie to leave him; in her farewell note, she encloses twenty dollars. Hurstwood ultimately joins the homeless of New York, taking odd jobs, falling ill with pneumonia, and finally becoming a beggar. Reduced to standing in line for bread and charity, he commits suicide in a flophouse. Meanwhile, Carrie achieves stardom, but finds that money and fame do not satisfy her longings or bring her happiness and that nothing will. ===== In 1950, Puyi has been kept in custody for five years, since the Red Army captured him during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria at the end of World War II. In the recently established People's Republic of China, Puyi arrives as a political prisoner and war criminal at the Fushun Prison. Soon after his arrival, Puyi attempts suicide, but is quickly revived and told he must stand trial. 42 years earlier, in 1908, a toddler Puyi is summoned to the Forbidden City by the dying Empress Dowager Cixi. After telling him that the previous emperor had died earlier that day, with her last words, Cixi tells Puyi that he will be the next emperor. After his coronation, Puyi, frightened by his new surroundings, repeatedly expresses his wish to go home, which is denied. Despite having scores of palace eunuchs and maids to wait on him, his only real friend is his wet nurse, Ar Mo, who accompanied him and his father to the palace on the Empress Dowager's summons. The next section of the film continues the series of chronological flashbacks showing Puyi's early life intermixed with his imprisonment in the 1950s. His upbringing is confined entirely to the imperial palace, which he is not allowed to leave. When he is about ten, he is visited by his younger brother, Pujie, who tells him he is no longer Emperor and that China is a republic; that same day, Ar Mo is made to leave him. In 1919, the kindly Scotsman Reginald Johnston is appointed as Puyi's tutor and gives him a Western-style education. Puyi becomes increasingly desirous to leave the Forbidden City. Johnston, wary of the courtiers' expensive lifestyle, convinces Puyi that the best way of achieving this is by marrying; Puyi subsequently weds Wanrong, with Wenxiu as a secondary consort. Now the master of his own home, Puyi sets about reforming the Forbidden City, including expelling the thieving palace eunuchs. However, in 1924, he himself is expelled from the palace and exiled to Tientsin following the Beijing Coup. He leads a decadent life as a playboy and Anglophile, and he sides with Japan after the Mukden Incident. During this time Wenxiu divorces him, but Wanrong remains and eventually succumbs to opium addiction. In 1934 the Japanese crown him "Emperor" of their puppet state of Manchukuo, though his supposed political supremacy is undermined at every turn. Wanrong gives birth to a child, but the baby is murdered at birth and proclaimed stillborn. He remains nominal ruler of the region until his capture by the Red Army. Under the "Communist re-education programme" for political prisoners, Puyi is coerced by his interrogators to formally renounce his forced collaboration with the Japanese invaders for war crimes during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Finally, after a heated discussion with the camp commandant and upon watching a film detailing the wartime atrocities committed by the Japanese, Puyi recants his previous stance and is considered rehabilitated by the government; he is subsequently set free in 1959. The final minutes of the film show a flash-forward to 1967 during the rise of Mao Zedong's cult of personality and the beginning of the Cultural Revolution. By now, Puyi has become a simple gardener who lives a peasant proletarian existence. On his way home from work, he happens upon a Red Guard parade, complete with children playing pentatonic music on accordions en masse and dancers who dance the rejection of landlordism by the Communists. His prison camp commander, who helped him greatly during his rehabilitation, is one of the political prisoners now punished as an anti-revolutionary in the parade, forced to wear a dunce cap and a sandwich board bearing punitive slogans. Puyi later visits the Forbidden City as an ordinary tourist. He meets an assertive little boy wearing the red scarf of the Pioneer Movement. The young Communist orders Puyi to step away from the throne. However, Puyi proves to the boy that he was indeed the Son of Heaven, proceeding to approach the throne. Behind it, Puyi finds a 60-year-old pet cricket that he was given by palace official Chen Baochen on his coronation day and gives it to the child. Amazed by the gift, the boy turns to talk to Puyi, but the emperor has disappeared. In 1987, a tour guide is leading a group through the palace. Stopping in front of the throne, the guide sums up Puyi's life in a few, brief sentences, concluding that he died in 1967. ===== The film revolves around three characters who work in television news. Jane Craig (Holly Hunter) is a diminutive, talented, uptight, controlling, aggressive, and intelligent producer whose life revolves around her work. Jane's best friend and collaborator, Aaron Altman (Albert Brooks), is a gifted writer and reporter, ambitious for on-camera exposure and secretly in love with Jane. Tom Grunick (William Hurt), a local news anchorman who was promoted from sports anchorman, is tall, handsome, likeable and telegenic, but lacks news experience, general knowledge, intelligence and language skills. He knows that he was hired for his good looks and charm. He is attracted to Jane, although he is also intimidated by her skills and intensity. All three of them work in the Washington, D.C., office of a national television network. Jane is drawn to Tom, but resents his lack of qualifications for his new position as news anchor. Aaron and Jane go to Nicaragua to report on the Sandinista rebels there and get caught up in a shooting battle between them and the contras but remain unscathed and bring home footage that wins the approval of their national anchorman. At an office party, one of Jane’s female friends asks Jane if she would mind if she made a pass at Tom. Jane is ambivalent about Tom, saying no, then yes, then no again. News arrives of a Libyan plane having bombed a U.S. base in Italy. The network chief decides to put on a news show on the spot, with Tom as anchor and Jane as executive producer. Jane tells the network chief that Tom is in no way qualified for this job. The network chief disagrees with her and tells her sarcastically that it must feel great to always be right and more intelligent than everybody else in the room. Jane replies that it feels awful. Aaron is devastated that he has no role in the report as he had previously spent time overseas and knew a great deal about the subject matter. Watching the report from his home and noticing missing facts, Aaron calls Jane with the pertinent information, which she feeds to Tom through his earpiece. The special report is a huge success due to their teamwork. Aaron also is appalled by Tom's lack of experience and knowledge, but accepts his advice when finally given an opportunity to anchor a newscast himself. Unfortunately, he lacks Tom's poise and composure in that seat. Tom coaches him but when Aaron becomes an anchorman for the first time in his life, he breaks out in what he calls a “flop sweat” and his debut as an anchorman is a disaster. Aaron acknowledges to Jane that he is in love with her, while trying to dissuade her from pursuing a love relationship with Tom. As a massive layoff hits the network, resulting in many colleagues losing their jobs, Aaron tenders his resignation and tells Jane he plans to take a job at a local television station in Portland, Oregon. However, before he leaves town he tells Jane of an interview Tom had conducted with a date rape victim in which Tom appeared to be weeping out of sympathy to his interviewee. Aaron says that Tom’s tears were fake and then leaves. Jane views the footage herself and realizes that Tom had staged his tears. Meeting Tom at the airport for a planned week-long getaway, Jane angrily confronts him, saying that his actions in the date-rape-victim interview were a breach of journalistic ethics and that she cannot in good conscience become personally involved with him. They separate. Jane has lost both Aaron and Tom. The three meet again seven years later. Tom has become a national network anchorman, Aaron has a wife and child, and Jane has a new boyfriend who works in the Surgeon General’s Office and loves water skiing. The film ends with Tom walking away and Aaron and Jane sitting on a bench, contemplating their lives. ===== Daniel "Dan" Gallagher is a successful, happily-married Manhattan lawyer whose work leads him to meet Alexandra "Alex" Forrest, an editor for a publishing company. While his wife, Beth, and daughter, Ellen, are out of town for the weekend, Dan has an affair with Alex. Although it was initially understood by both as just a fling, Alex begins to cling to him. After leaving unexpectedly in the middle of the night, Dan reluctantly spends the following day with Alex after she persistently asks him over. When Dan attempts to suddenly leave again, she cuts her wrists in a manipulative ploy. He helps her bandage the cuts, stays with her overnight to make sure she is all right, and leaves in the morning. Although Dan believes the affair to be forgotten, Alex shows up at his office one day to apologize for her behavior and invites him to a performance of Madame Butterfly, but he politely turns her down. She then continues to call him at his office until he tells his secretary that he will no longer take her calls. Alex then phones his home at all hours, claiming that she is pregnant, won't consider an abortion, and plans to keep the baby. Although he wants nothing to do with her, she argues that he must take responsibility. After he changes his home phone number, she shows up at his apartment (which is for sale) and meets Beth, feigning interest as a buyer. Later that night, Dan goes to Alex's apartment to confront her, which results in a scuffle. In response, she replies that she will not be ignored. Dan moves his family to Bedford, but this does not deter Alex. She has a tape recording delivered to him filled with verbal abuse. She stalks him in a parking garage, pours acid onto his car, ruining the engine, and follows him home one night to spy on him, Beth, and Ellen from the bushes in their yard; the sight of their content family literally makes her sick to her stomach. Her obsession escalates further when Dan approaches the police to apply for a restraining order against Alex (claiming that it is "for a client"). The lieutenant claims that he cannot violate her rights without probable cause, and that the "client" has to own up to his adultery. At one point, while the Gallaghers are not home, Alex kills Ellen's pet rabbit, and puts it on their stove to boil; Beth finds the pot and screams in terror. After this, Dan tells Beth of the affair and Alex's supposed pregnancy. Enraged, she demands that Dan leave. Before he goes, Dan calls Alex to tell her that Beth knows about the affair. Beth gets on the phone and warns Alex that she will kill her if she persists. Without Dan and Beth's knowledge, Alex picks up Ellen from school and takes her to an amusement park. Beth panics when she cannot find Ellen. She drives around frantically searching and rear-ends a car stopped at an intersection which causes her to be injured and hospitalized. Alex drops Ellen off at home unharmed, asking her for a kiss on the cheek. Dan barges into Alex's apartment and attacks her, choking her and coming close to strangling her. He stops himself, but as he does, she lunges at him with a kitchen knife. He overpowers her but decides to put the knife down and leave, while Alex is leaning against the kitchen counter, smiling. The police begin to search for her after Dan tells them about the kidnapping. Following Beth's release from the hospital, she forgives Dan, and they return home. Beth prepares a bath for herself when Alex suddenly appears with the kitchen knife and explains her belief that Beth is standing in the way of having Dan to herself before proceeding to attack her. Dan hears the screaming, rushes in, wrestles Alex into the bathtub, and seemingly drowns her. She suddenly emerges from the water, swinging the knife, but Beth arrives with Dan's revolver and shoots Alex in the chest, finally killing her. The final scene shows police cars outside the Gallaghers' house. As Dan finishes delivering his statement to the police, he walks inside, where Beth is waiting for him. They embrace and proceed to the living room as the camera focuses on a picture of them and Ellen. Glenn Close in 2012 Michael Douglas ===== Beginning just before the start of the Second World War, the film tells the story of the Rowan family: Billy, his sisters Sue and Dawn, and his parents Grace and Clive, living in a suburb of London. After the war starts, Clive joins the army, leaving Grace alone to watch over the children. She almost sends Billy and Susie away from London, but pulls them back at the last second on the train platform when she realizes she cannot bear to be apart from them. Thus Billy stays in London for the rest of the war. Seen through the eyes of 10-year-old Billy, the "fireworks" provided by the Blitz every night are as exciting as they are terrifying. His family does not see things in quite the same way as the bombs continue to drop, but their will to survive brings them closer together. The nightly raids do not provide the only drama, however, as his older sister, Dawn, falls for a Canadian soldier, becomes pregnant and, finding her life turned upside down, soon discovers the value of her family. The family eventually moves to the Thames-side home of Grace's parents when their house burns down (not in an air raid, but in an ordinary fire). This provides an opportunity for Billy to spend more time with his curmudgeonly grandfather. ===== Thirty-seven-year-old Loretta Castorini, an Italian- American widow, works as a bookkeeper and lives in Brooklyn Heights with her family: father Cosmo; mother Rose; and paternal grandfather. Her boyfriend, Johnny Cammareri, proposes to her before leaving for Sicily to be with his dying mother; Loretta is insistent that they carefully follow tradition as she believes her first marriage was cursed by her failure to do so, resulting in her husband's death after two years. Johnny asks Loretta to invite his estranged younger brother Ronny to the wedding. Loretta returns home and informs her parents of the engagement. Cosmo dislikes Johnny and is reluctant to pay for the "real" wedding that Loretta insists on, while Rose is pleased that Loretta likes Johnny but does not love him; she believes that one can easily be hurt by a partner whom one loves. When Loretta goes to see Ronny at his bakery, he reveals that he has a wooden prosthetic hand and blames Johnny for his loss in a moment of inattention, after which his fiancée left him. Loretta insists that they discuss things in his apartment, where she cooks a meal and then tells him that she believes he is a "wolf" who cut off his own hand to escape the trap of a bad relationship. Ronny reacts furiously and passionately, kissing Loretta and then carrying her to his bed, where they make love. That evening, Rose's brother Raymond and his wife Rita join Rose and Cosmo for dinner and they wonder where Loretta is. Raymond recalls a particularly bright moon like the one shining now that he thought long-ago was brought to the house when Cosmo was courting Rose. The next morning, Loretta tells Ronny they can never see each other again. Ronny promises to never bother Loretta again if she attends an opera at The Met with him. She goes to church to confesses her infidelity and afterwards calls at Raymond and Rita's store to close out the cash register. Upon leaving, she impulsively goes to a hair salon and buys a glamorous evening gown and shoes at a boutique next door. Loretta is deeply moved by her first opera, Puccini's La bohème. As they leave, she sees Cosmo together with his girlfriend Mona, and confronts her father. As Loretta is with Ronny, he suggests that they agree that they did not see each other at all. Loretta attempts to return home, but Ronny desperately persuades her into another tryst. That same night, Rose decides to dine alone at a restaurant and sees a college professor, Perry, being dramatically dumped by a female student. Rose invites him to dine with her instead, allowing him to walk her home but refusing to invite him in because she is loyal to her marriage. Later, Johnny unexpectedly returns from Sicily after his mother's "miraculous" recovery and arrives at the Castorini house; as Loretta is not there, Rose asks him instead why men chase after women, and agrees that it is because they fear death. Returning home next morning, Loretta is distressed to learn from Rose that Johnny will be there soon. Ronny arrives, and Rose invites him for breakfast over Loretta's objections. Cosmo and his father emerge from upstairs; Grandpa insists that Cosmo agree to pay for Loretta's wedding. Rose then confronts Cosmo and demands that he end his affair; he is upset but gives in and, at Rose's insistence, also agrees to go to confession. Both reaffirm their love for each other. Raymond and Rita arrive, concerned that Loretta had not deposited the previous day's takings at the bank, and are relieved to learn that she merely forgot and still has the money. When Johnny finally arrives, he breaks off the engagement, superstitiously believing that their marriage would cause his mother's death. Loretta berates Johnny for breaking his promise and throws the engagement ring at him. Seizing the moment, Ronny borrows the ring and asks Loretta to marry him, to which she agrees. The family toasts the couple with champagne and Johnny joins in at Grandfather's urging, since he will now be part of the family after all. ===== Charlie Babbitt is in the middle of importing four grey market Lamborghinis to Los Angeles for resale. He needs to deliver the vehicles to impatient buyers who have already made down payments in order to repay the loan he took out to buy the cars, but the EPA is holding the cars at the port due to the cars failing emissions regulations. Charlie directs an employee to lie to the buyers while he stalls his creditor. When Charlie learns that his estranged father has died, he and his girlfriend Susanna travel to Cincinnati, Ohio, in order to settle the estate. He learns he is receiving the classic 1949 Buick Roadmaster convertible which he and his father fought over, but the bulk of the $3million estate is going to an unnamed trustee. Through social engineering, he learns the money is being directed to a mental institution, where he meets his elder brother, Raymond Babbitt, of whom he was previously unaware. Raymond is autistic, has savant syndrome, and adheres to strict routines. He has superb recall, but he shows little emotional expression except when in distress. Charlie spirits Raymond out of the mental institution and into a hotel for the night. Susanna becomes upset with the way Charlie treats his brother and leaves. Charlie asks Raymond's doctor, Dr. Gerald R. Bruner, for half the estate in exchange for Raymond's return, but he refuses. Charlie decides to attempt to gain custody of his brother in order to get control of the money. After Raymond refuses to fly back to Los Angeles, they set out on a cross-country road trip together. They make slow progress because Raymond insists on sticking to his routines, which include watching Judge Wapner on television every day and getting to bed by 11:00 PM. He also objects to traveling on the interstate after they pass a bad accident. During the course of the journey, Charlie learns more about Raymond, including that he is a mental calculator with the ability to instantly count hundreds of objects at once, far beyond the normal range of human subitizing abilities. He also learns that Raymond actually lived with the family when Charlie was young and he realizes that the comforting figure from his childhood, whom he falsely remembered as an imaginary friend named "Rain Man", was actually Raymond. He then figures that Raymond was sent away to the institution after an incident where Raymond was believed to have accidentally nearly injured a young Charlie in a scalding hot bath. Charlie realizes that to the contrary it had been Raymond's actions which had saved himself from being scalded in that bathtub, but that Raymond had been unable to speak up for himself and undo the wrong caused by the misunderstanding. After the Lamborghinis are seized by his creditor, Charlie finds himself $80,000 in debt and hatches a plan to return to Las Vegas, which they passed the night before, and win money at blackjack by counting cards. Though the casino bosses are skeptical that anyone can count cards with a six deck shoe, after reviewing security footage they ask Charlie and Raymond to leave. Charlie has made over $86,000 to cover his debts and has reconciled with Susanna who rejoined them in Las Vegas. Back in Los Angeles, Charlie meets with Dr. Bruner, who offers him $250,000 to walk away from Raymond. Charlie refuses and says that he is no longer upset about what his father left him, but he wants to have a relationship with his brother. At a meeting with a court-appointed psychiatrist, Raymond is shown to be unable to decide for himself what he wants. Charlie stops the questioning and tells Raymond he is happy to have him as his brother. Charlie takes Raymond to the train station where he boards an Amtrak train with Dr. Bruner to return to the mental institution. Charlie promises Raymond that he will visit in two weeks. ===== Set in Baltimore, Maryland, the plot revolves around Macon Leary, a writer of travel guides whose son has been killed in a shooting at a fast-food restaurant. He and his wife Sarah, separately lost in grief, find their marriage disintegrating until she eventually moves out. When he becomes incapacitated due to a fall involving his disturbed dog and one of his crazy home inventions, he returns to the family home to stay with his eccentric siblings—sister Rose and brothers Porter and Charles. The siblings' odd habits include alphabetizing the groceries in the kitchen cabinets and ignoring the ringing telephone. When his publisher, Julian, comes to visit, Julian finds himself attracted to Rose. They eventually marry, though Rose later moves back in with her brothers, followed by Julian months later, who becomes part of the family. Macon hires Muriel Pritchett, a quirky young woman with a sickly son, to train his unruly dog, and soon finds himself drifting into a relationship with the two of them. Muriel is the exact opposite of Macon's wife: brash, talkative, pushy, less "classy" and less educated, and fond of wearing eccentric outfits. Despite his initial resistance to this relationship, Macon finds that he is constantly surprised by Muriel's perceptiveness, strength and optimism, as well as her quirky habits and ability to listen. Macon's natural love of the familiar and resistance to commitment results in a relationship that is quite a struggle between the pushy Muriel and the passive Macon. But over time, Macon becomes attached to both Muriel and Alexander, the son, and moves in with them in their tawdry little house. Macon slowly finds that he loves "the surprise of her, and also the surprise of himself when he was with her. In the foreign country that was Singleton Street he was an entirely different person." When his wife Sarah becomes aware of the situation, she decides they should reconcile, forcing him to make a difficult decision about his future. ===== In 1964, three civil rights workers — two Jewish and one black — go missing while in Jessup County, Mississippi, organizing a voter registry for African Americans. The FBI sends two agents, Alan Ward and Rupert Anderson to investigate. Ward is a Northerner, senior in rank but younger than Anderson, and approaches the investigation by the book, whereas Anderson, a former Mississippi sheriff, is more nuanced in his approach. The pair find it difficult to conduct interviews with the local townspeople, as Sheriff Ray Stuckey and his deputies exert influence over the public, and are linked to a branch of the Ku Klux Klan. The wife of Deputy Sheriff Clinton Pell reveals to Anderson in a discreet conversation that the three missing men have been murdered. Their bodies are later found buried in an earthen dam. Stuckey deduces Mrs. Pell's confession to the FBI and informs Pell, who brutally beats his wife in retribution. This is a turning point in the plot. Ward and Anderson's different approaches spill over into a physical fight between the two; Ward wins but concedes his methods have been ineffective and he gives Anderson carte blanche to deal with the problem. Anderson devises a plan to indict members of the Klan for the murders. The FBI arranges a kidnapping of Mayor Tilman, taking him to a remote shack. There, he is left with a black man, who threatens to castrate him unless he speaks out. Tilman gives him a full description of the killings, including the names of those involved. The abductor is revealed to be an FBI operative assigned to intimidate Tilman. Although his statement is not admissible in court due to coercion, Tilman's information proves valuable to the investigators. Anderson beats Pell up inside a barbershop after cutting him with a shaving blade. Anderson and Ward exploit the new information to concoct a plan, luring identified Klan collaborators to a bogus meeting. The Klan members soon realize that they have been set up, and leave without discussing the murders. The FBI then concentrate on Lester Cowens, a Klansman of interest who exhibits a nervous demeanor, which the agents believe might yield a confession. The FBI pick him up and interrogate him. Later, Cowens is at home when his window is shattered by a shotgun blast. After seeing a burning cross on his lawn, he attempts to flee in his truck, but is caught by several hooded men who intend to hang him. The FBI arrive to rescue him, having staged the whole scenario; the hooded men are revealed to be other agents. Cowens, believing that his fellow Klansmen have threatened his life because of his admissions to the FBI, incriminates his accomplices. The Klansmen are all charged with civil rights violations, as this can be prosecuted at the federal level. Most of the perpetrators are found guilty and receive sentences from three to ten years in prison, with the exception of Stuckey, who is acquitted of all charges. Tilman is later found dead by the FBI in an apparent suicide. Mrs. Pell returns to her home, which has been completely ransacked by vandals, and resolves to stay and rebuild her life, free of her husband. Before leaving town, Anderson and Ward visit an integrated congregation, gathered at an African-American cemetery, where the black civil rights activist's desecrated gravestone reads, "Not Forgotten". ===== Tess McGill is a working-class girl from Staten Island with a bachelor's degree in business from evening classes. She works as a stockbroker's secretary, aspiring to reach an executive position. It's clear that Tess is smart, but she's treated like a bimbo by her boss and male coworkers. We find that after shabby treatment at several placements, Tess has gotten angry at her chauvinistic bosses and quit. The employment agency chastises Tess for causing trouble, but gives her one last shot, assigning her as secretary to Katharine Parker, a young associate in the Mergers and Acquisitions department. Seemingly supportive, Katharine encourages Tess to share ideas. Tess makes a suggestion for a merger, but Katharine later tells Tess her idea won't work. When Katharine breaks her leg skiing in Europe, she asks Tess to house-sit. While at Katharine's place, Tess discovers some meeting notes and realizes Katharine plans to pass off the merger idea as her own. Distraught, Tess returns home to find her boyfriend in bed with another woman. She returns to Katharine's apartment. Tess decides to use her boss' absence, connections and clothes to get ahead. She schedules a meeting with herself and Jack Trainer, the person Katharine planned to give Tess's idea to. She plans on attending a party to casually "bump into" Jack Trainer before their meeting the next day. She cuts her hair and puts on one of Katharine's fancy dresses, but has a panic attack when she realizes how expensive it is. Her friend Cyn gives her a Valium to calm her down. At the party, Tess unknowingly meets Jack, who is fascinated by her. They have a couple of drinks, and the combined effect of Valium and alcohol causes Tess to black out in the cab. Trainer gently carries her upstairs to his apartment. Tess wakes up the next morning in Jack's bed, and quickly leaves before he wakes. Later when she arrives at the meeting, she realizes the man she spent the night with is Jack Trainer. She pretends they are meeting for the first time, and makes her pitch for the merger. She leaves the meeting feeling the whole situation, including her pitch, was a disaster. Jack, however, arrives at her (Katherine’s) office, tells her nothing romantic happened the night before; he simply took care of her after she passed out. He also tells her that her merger idea has potential, and gives her a gift of a new briefcase. Days later, Jack meets again with Tess, having secured a great radio network acquisition for Trask Industries. Tess tells Jack she has a meeting with Trask himself, but without Jack. Jack thinks Tess is trying to run the project solo (reminiscent of Katherine), and tells her she needs him at that meeting. Tess acquiesces, but when the day of the meeting arrives, Jack realizes Tess’ plan is to crash Trask's daughter's wedding in order to pitch the plan. Despite the crazy antics, the bold plan works: Trask is interested and a meeting is scheduled. The duo spend the next few days cooped up, preparing the financials to present the merger proposal to Trask Industries. The proposal is a success and, in the relief and excitement of it all, Tess and Jack give in to their attraction, and end up in bed. Tess wants to tell Jack the truth about her, Katherine, and the stolen idea, but keeps quiet after learning Jack was romantically involved with Katherine. Though he swears the relationship is over, Tess realizes just how complicated the situation is. Katharine comes home on the day of the merger meeting between Trask and the owner of the radio station. Tess is forced to run errands for Katherine, who is still laid up because of her broken leg. Jack arrives while Tess is out, but when she returns, she overhears Katharine asking Jack to confirm his love for her, but he avoids her advances. Tess rushes off, accidentally leaving her appointment book with Katherine. Katharine snoops through the appointments in the book, and discovers Tess’ meeting with Trask. She rushes to the meeting, storms in, outs Tess as her secretary, and accuses her of having stolen the idea. Tess begins to protest but feels nobody would believe her. She leaves, apologizing. Days later, Tess clears out her desk and then bumps into Jack, Katharine, and Trask at the lobby elevators. Katherine attempts to appear like the bigger person, telling Tess they should bury the hatchet, but in one of the more memorable lines of the movie, Tess replies, “You know where you can bury your hatchet? Now get your boney ass out of my sight.” Katharine tries to lead the group away, but Jack stays and says he believes Tess. Though Trask initially thinks Jack is blinded by love, his attention is piqued when Tess mentions a possible hole in the merger. He hops off the closing elevator, leaving Katharine still in the lift. He gets on another elevator with Jack and Tess, where Tess then gives her elevator pitch, explaining where she got the inspiration for the merger idea. When they get to their floor, Trask confronts Katharine, asking if she can explain how she came up with the idea. She stumbles and balks and is unable to explain the idea's origin. She looks at Jack for help, but he refuses. Trask assures Katherine he will have her fired for her fraud. He then offers Tess an entry-level job with Trask Industries, which she happily accepts. When Tess arrives for her first day at her new job at Trask, and is directed to her new office, she sees a woman in it, on the phone with her feet up. Tess assumes this is her new boss, and starts to settle in at the receptionist desk outside. The woman comes out of the office and identifies herself as Alice. There is confusion between the two until it finally dawns on Tess that Alice is, in fact, her secretary and that she is the new junior executive. Tess insists they work together as colleagues, showing she will be very different from Katharine. She then calls her best friend from her own office, to tell her she has finally made it. ===== In 1948, Daisy Werthan, or Miss Daisy (Jessica Tandy), a 72-year-old wealthy, White Jewish, widowed, retired schoolteacher, lives alone in Atlanta, Georgia, except for a black housekeeper, Idella (Esther Rolle). When Miss Daisy drives her 1946 Chrysler Windsor into her neighbor's yard, her 40-year-old White son Boolie (Dan Aykroyd) buys her a 1949 Hudson Commodore and hires Hoke Colburn (Morgan Freeman), a black chauffeur. Miss Daisy at first refuses to let anyone else drive her, but gradually accedes to the arrangement. As Miss Daisy and Hoke spend time together, she gains appreciation for his many skills. After Idella dies during the spring of 1963, rather than hire a new housekeeper, Miss Daisy decides to care for her own house and have Hoke do the cooking and the driving. The film explores racism against black people, which affects Hoke personally. The film also touches on anti-semitism in the South. After her synagogue is bombed, Miss Daisy realizes that she is also a victim of prejudice. But American society is undergoing radical changes, and Miss Daisy attends a dinner at which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gives a speech. She initially invites Boolie to the dinner, but he declines, and suggests that Miss Daisy invite Hoke. However, Miss Daisy only asks him to be her guest during the car ride to the event and ends up attending the dinner alone, with Hoke, insulted by the manner of the invitation, listening to the speech on the car radio outside. Hoke arrives at the house one morning in 1971 to find Miss Daisy agitated and showing signs of dementia, believing she is a young teacher again. Hoke calms her down with a conversation in which Daisy calls Hoke her "best friend." Boolie arranges for Miss Daisy to enter a retirement home. In 1973, Hoke, now 85 and rapidly losing his eyesight, retires. Boolie, now 65, drives Hoke to the retirement home to visit Miss Daisy, now 97. ===== In the autumn of 1959, shy Todd Anderson begins his senior year of high school at Welton Academy, an all-male, elite prep school. He is assigned one of Welton's most promising students, Neil Perry, as his roommate and is quickly accepted by Neil's friends: Knox Overstreet, Richard Cameron, Stephen Meeks, Gerard Pitts, and Charlie Dalton. On the first day of classes, they are surprised by the unorthodox teaching methods of the new English teacher, John Keating. A Welton alumnus himself, he encourages his students to "make your lives extraordinary", a sentiment he summarizes with the Latin expression carpe diem, meaning "seize the day." Subsequent lessons include having them take turns standing on his desk to demonstrate ways to look at life in a different way, telling them to rip out the introduction of their poetry books which explains a mathematical formula used for rating poetry, and inviting them to make up their own style of walking in a courtyard to encourage them to be individuals. His methods attract the attention of strict headmaster Gale Nolan. Upon learning that Keating was a member of the unsanctioned Dead Poets Society while he was at Welton, Neil restarts the club and he and his friends sneak off campus to a cave where they read poetry and verse, including their own compositions. As the school year progresses, Keating's lessons and their involvement with the club encourage them to live their lives on their own terms. Knox pursues Chris Noel, an attractive cheerleader who is dating Chet Danburry, a football player from a local public school whose family is friends with his. Neil discovers his love of acting and gets the role as Puck in a local production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, despite the fact that his domineering father Thomas wants him in the Ivy League (and ultimately medical school). Keating helps Todd come out of his shell and realize his potential when he takes him through an exercise in self-expression, resulting in his composing a poem spontaneously in front of the class. However, Charlie takes things too far when he publishes an article in the school newspaper in the club's name demanding that girls be admitted to Welton. Nolan paddles Charlie to coerce him into revealing who else is in the Dead Poets Society, but he resists. Nolan also speaks with Keating, warning him that he should discourage his students from questioning authority. Keating does admonish the boys (in his manner), warning that one must assess all consequences. Thomas discovers Neil's involvement in the play and forces him to quit on the eve of the opening performance. Devastated, Neil goes to Keating, who advises him to stand his ground and prove to Thomas that his love of acting is something he takes seriously. Thomas unexpectedly shows up at the performance. He takes Neil home and says he has been withdrawn from Welton, only to be enrolled in a military academy to prepare him for Harvard so he will become a doctor. Unable to find the courage to stand up to his father, and lacking any support from his concerned mother, a distraught Neil commits suicide. Nolan investigates Neil's death at the request of the Perry family. Cameron blames Neil's death on Keating to escape punishment for his own participation in the Dead Poets Society, and names the other members. Confronted by Charlie, Cameron urges the rest of them to let Keating take the fall. Charlie punches Cameron and is expelled. Each of the boys is called to Nolan's office to sign a letter attesting to the truth of Cameron's allegations, even though they know they are false. When Todd's turn comes, he is reluctant to sign, but does so after seeing that the others have complied and succumbing to his parents' pressure. Keating is fired and Nolan (who taught English at Welton before becoming headmaster) takes over teaching the class, with the intent of adhering to traditional Welton rules. Keating interrupts the class to gather his leftover belongings. As he leaves, Todd stands up on his desk and says "O Captain! My Captain!", which prompts the other members of the Dead Poets Society (except for Cameron) to do the same, to Nolan's fury and Keating's pleased surprise. Touched by this gesture, Keating proudly thanks the boys and departs. ===== Ray Kinsella lives with his wife, Annie, and daughter, Karin, on their Iowa corn farm. He is troubled by the relationship with his late father, John Kinsella, a devoted baseball fan. Walking through his cornfield one evening, he hears a voice whispering, "If you build it, he will come". He sees a vision of a baseball diamond in the cornfield and the great Shoeless Joe Jackson. Ray believes if he builds a baseball field, Shoeless Joe, whom his father idolized, can play baseball again. Annie is skeptical, but agrees to him plowing part of the corn to build a baseball field, despite the financial loss. As he builds, he tells Karin about the 1919 Black Sox Scandal. Months later a ball player appears, whom Ray recognizes as Shoeless Joe. Joe asks if others can play and returns with the seven additional Black Sox players. Annie's brother, Mark, unable to see the players, warns that Ray is going bankrupt. Meanwhile the voice urges Ray to, "ease his pain." Ray and Annie attend a PTA meeting where some local citizens want to ban library books by radical author Terence Mann. Ray deduces the voice was referring to Mann, who had named one of his characters, "John Kinsella," and who once professed a childhood dream of playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. When Ray and Annie have identical dreams about Ray and Mann attending a game at Fenway Park, Ray seeks out Mann in Boston. While attending a game, Ray hears the voice urging him to, "go the distance", while the scoreboard shows statistics for a player named Archibald "Moonlight" Graham, who played one game for the New York Giants in 1922, but never had a turn at bat. After the game, Mann admits he heard the voice and saw the scoreboard. They drive to Chisholm, Minnesota, and learn that Graham, who was a physician, died years earlier. During a late-night walk, Ray finds himself in 1972. He encounters the elderly Graham, who states he happily left baseball for a satisfying medical career. During the drive back to Iowa, Ray picks up a young hitchhiker who introduces himself as Archie Graham and says he wants to be a baseball player. Ray later tells Mann that his father dreamed of being a baseball player. Ray says he stopped playing catch with his father at age 14 after reading Mann's books, and later caused a rift by claiming that Shoeless Joe was a criminal. Ray regrets never reconciling with his father before his death. Arriving at Ray's farm, they find that various classic all-stars have arrived to field a second team. A game is played, and Archie finally gets his turn at bat. The Field of Dreams, Dyersville, Iowa—May 2006 The next morning, Mark returns and demands that Ray sell the farm. Karin insists that people will come and pay to watch the ball games. Mann agrees, saying that "people will come" to relive their childhood innocence. A scuffle breaks out between Ray and Mark, knocking Karin off the bleachers. Karin is choking, so Graham leaves the field, knowing he will be unable to return after stepping over the boundary. He becomes old Dr. Graham, and save Karin, then reassures Ray he has no regrets. After being commended by the other players, Graham disappears into the corn. Suddenly, Mark can see the players and urges Ray to keep the farm. Shoeless Joe invites Mann to enter the corn, and Mann disappears into it. Ray is angry at not being invited, but Shoeless Joe rebukes him, then glances towards a player at home plate, saying, "If you build it, he will come." The player removes his catcher's mask to reveal he is Ray's father as a young man. Shocked, Ray realizes that the phrase, "ease his pain" referred to his father. He believes that Shoeless Joe was the voice all along, but Joe implies the phrase was about Ray himself. Ray introduces John to Annie and Karin. As John heads towards the cornfield, Ray, calling him "Dad", asks if he wants to play a game of catch. They play as hundreds of cars are seen approaching the field, fulfilling Karin and Mann's prophecy that people will come to watch baseball. ===== In 1932, Christy Brown is born into a family of 15. Doctors discover he has severe cerebral palsy. Christy is unable to walk or talk. He is loved and supported by his family, especially his mother. One day, Christy's mother trips down the stairs while in labour and Christy was the only person home to see it. He was able to alert some neighbours and summon them over to help. Christy's father, who never believed Christy would amount to anything, starts to become proud after witnessing him use his left foot, the only body part he can fully control, to write the word "mother" on the floor with a piece of chalk. Consequently, Christy seeks a hobby in painting. The neighbourhood youngsters include him in their activities, like street football, but when he paints a picture and gives it to a girl he likes, she returns it. Later, his father loses his job and the family faces exceptionally difficult hardships, so Christy devises a plan to help his brothers steal coal to their mother's dismay. Christy's mother, who had been gradually gathering some savings in a tin in the fireplace, finally saves enough to buy him a wheelchair. Christy is then introduced to Eileen Cole, who takes him to her school for cerebral palsy patients and persuades a friend of hers to hold an exhibition of his work. Christy falls in love with Cole, but when he learns during the dinner that she is engaged to be married, he considers suicide. His mother helps him build a private studio for himself, but soon afterward his father dies of a stroke, and during the wake Christy instigates a brawl. At this point, Christy starts writing his autobiography, My Left Foot. Cole returns and they resume their friendship. Later on, Christy attends a charity event where he meets his handler, a nurse named Mary Carr. She begins reading his autobiography. He asks Mary to go out with him and they then happily leave the fete together. ===== In 1863, First Lieutenant John J. Dunbar is wounded in battle at St. David's Field in Tennessee. Choosing death in battle over amputation of his foot, he takes a horse and rides up to and along the Confederate lines. Confederate forces fire repeatedly at him and miss, and the Union Army takes advantage of the distraction to mount a successful attack. Dunbar survives and receives both a citation for bravery and medical care that allows him to keep his foot. He is subsequently awarded Cisco, the horse that carried him during his suicide attempt, and his choice of posting. Dunbar requests a transfer to the western frontier, so he can see it before it disappears. Dunbar is transferred to Fort Hays, a large fort commanded by Major Fambrough, an unhinged officer who despises Dunbar's enthusiasm. He agrees to post Dunbar to the furthest outpost under his jurisdiction, Fort Sedgwick, and kills himself shortly afterwards. Dunbar travels with Timmons, a mule-wagon provisioner. They arrive to find the fort deserted. Despite the threat of nearby native tribes, Dunbar elects to stay and man the post himself. He begins rebuilding and restocking the fort, and prefers the solitude, recording many of his observations in his diary. Timmons is killed by Pawnee people on the journey back to Fort Hays. The deaths of both Timmons and Fambrough prevent other soldiers from knowing of Dunbar's assignment, and no other soldiers arrive to reinforce the post. Dunbar initially encounters his Sioux neighbors when attempts are made to steal his horse and intimidate him. Deciding that being a target is a poor prospect, he decides to seek out the Sioux camp and attempt dialogue. On his way, he comes across Stands with a Fist, the White adopted daughter of the tribe's medicine man Kicking Bird, who is ritually mutilating herself while mourning for her husband. Dunbar brings her back to the Sioux to recover. Though the tribe is initially hostile, soon some of the members begin to respect him. Eventually, Dunbar establishes a rapport with Kicking Bird, the warrior Wind In His Hair, and the youth Smiles A Lot, initially visiting each other's camps. The language barrier frustrates them, and Stands with a Fist acts as an interpreter, although with difficulty. She only remembers a little English from her early childhood before the rest of her family was killed during a Pawnee raid. Dunbar discovers that the stories he had heard about the tribe were untrue, and he develops a growing respect and appreciation for their lifestyle and culture. Learning their language, he is accepted as an honored guest by the Sioux after he tells them of a migrating herd of buffalo and participates in the hunt. When at Fort Sedgwick, Dunbar also befriends a wolf he dubs "Two Socks" for its white forepaws. Observing Dunbar and Two Socks chasing each other, the Sioux give him the name "Dances with Wolves". During this time, Dunbar also forges a romantic relationship with Stands with a Fist and helps defend the village from an attack by the rival Pawnee tribe. Dunbar eventually wins Kicking Bird's approval to marry Stands with a Fist and abandons Fort Sedgwick. Because of the growing threat from the Pawnee and the U.S., Chief Ten Bears decides to move the tribe to its winter camp. Dunbar decides to accompany them, but must first retrieve his diary from Fort Sedgwick as he realizes that it would provide the army with the means to find the tribe. When he arrives, he finds the fort reoccupied by the U.S. Army. Because of his Sioux clothing, the soldiers open fire, killing Cisco and capturing Dunbar, arresting him as a traitor. Two officers interrogate him, but Dunbar cannot prove his story, as a corporal has found his diary and kept it for himself. Having refused to serve as an interpreter to the tribes, Dunbar is charged with desertion and transported back east as a prisoner. Soldiers of the escort shoot Two Socks when the wolf attempts to follow Dunbar, despite Dunbar's attempts to intervene. Eventually, the Sioux track the convoy, killing the soldiers and freeing Dunbar. They assert that they do not see him as a White man, but as a Sioux warrior called Dances with Wolves. At the winter camp, Dunbar decides to leave with Stands with a Fist because his continuing presence would endanger the tribe. As they leave, Smiles A Lot returns the diary, which he recovered during Dunbar's liberation, and Wind In His Hair shouts to Dunbar, reminding him that he is Dunbar's friend, a contrast to their original meeting where he shouted at Dunbar in hostility. U.S. troops are seen searching the mountains, but are unable to locate them, while a lone wolf howls in the distance. An epilogue states that 13 years later, the last remnants of the free Sioux were subjugated to the American government, ending the conquest of the Western Frontier states and the livelihoods of the tribes on the plains. ===== In 1969, Dr. Malcolm Sayer (Robin Williams) is a dedicated, genuine, and caring physician at a local hospital in the Bronx borough of New York City. After working extensively with the catatonic patients who survived the 1917–1928 epidemic of encephalitis lethargica, Sayer discovers certain stimuli will reach beyond the patients' respective catatonic states; actions such as catching a ball, hearing familiar music, being called by their own name, and experiencing human touch all have unique effects on particular patients and offer a glimpse into their worlds. Leonard Lowe (Robert De Niro) proves elusive in this regard, but Sayer soon discovers that Leonard is able to communicate with him by using an Ouija board. After attending a lecture at a conference on the subject of the L-Dopa drug and its success with patients suffering from Parkinson's disease, Sayer believes the drug may offer a breakthrough for his own group of patients. A trial run with Leonard yields astounding results: Leonard completely "awakens" from his catatonic state. This success inspires Sayer to ask for funding from donors so that all the catatonic patients can receive the L-Dopa medication and experience "awakenings" back to reality. Meanwhile, Leonard is adjusting to his new life and becomes romantically interested in Paula (Penelope Ann Miller), the daughter of another hospital patient. Leonard also begins to chafe at the restrictions placed upon him as a patient of the hospital, desiring the freedom to come and go as he pleases. He stirs up a revolt by arguing his case to Sayer and the hospital administration. Sayer notices that as Leonard grows more agitated, a number of facial and body tics are starting to manifest, which Leonard has difficulty controlling. While Sayer and the hospital staff are thrilled by the success of L-Dopa with this group of patients, they soon find that it is a temporary measure. As the first to "awaken", Leonard is also the first to demonstrate the limited duration of this period of "awakening". Leonard's tics grow more and more prominent and he starts to shuffle more as he walks, and all of the patients are forced to witness what will eventually happen to them. He soon begins to suffer full body spasms and can hardly move. Leonard puts up well with the pain, and asks Sayer to film him, in hopes that he would someday contribute to research that may eventually help others. Leonard acknowledges what is happening to him and has a last lunch with Paula where he tells her he cannot see her anymore. When he is about to leave, Paula dances with him, and for this short period of time his spasms disappear. Leonard and Sayer reconcile their differences, but Leonard returns to his catatonic state soon after. The other patients' fears are similarly realized as each eventually returns to catatonia no matter how much their L-Dopa dosages are increased. Sayer tells a group of grant donors to the hospital that although the "awakening" did not last, another kind — one of learning to appreciate and live life — took place. For example, he himself overcomes his painful shyness and asks Nurse Eleanor Costello (Julie Kavner) to go out for coffee, many months after he had declined a similar proposal from her. The nurses also now treat the catatonic patients with more respect and care, and Paula is shown visiting Leonard. The film ends with Sayer standing over Leonard behind a Ouija board, with his hands on Leonard's hands, which are on the planchette. "Let's begin," Sayer says. ===== Sam Wheat, a banker, and his girlfriend Molly Jensen, a potter, renovate and move into an apartment in Manhattan with the help of Sam's friend and co-worker Carl Bruner. One afternoon, Sam confides in Carl his discovery of unusually high balances in obscure bank accounts. He decides to investigate the matter himself, declining Carl's offer of assistance. That night, Sam and Molly are attacked by a mugger who shoots and kills Sam in a scuffle before stealing his wallet. Sam sees Molly crying over his body and discovers he is now a ghost, invisible and unable to interact with the mortal world. Molly is distraught in the days after Sam's death, as Sam remains close to her. Carl comes over and suggests Molly take a walk with him; Sam, unable to follow, stays behind. Moments later, the mugger enters the apartment in search of something. When Molly returns, Sam scares their cat into attacking the thug, who flees. Sam follows the mugger to his Brooklyn apartment and learns that the man, Willie Lopez, was sent by an unknown party. After leaving Willie's residence, Sam happens upon the parlor of psychic Oda Mae Brown, a charlatan pretending to commune with spirits of the dead who is shocked to discover her true psychic gift when she can hear Sam speaking. Sam persuades her to warn Molly that she is in danger. To allay Molly's skepticism, Oda Mae relays information that only Sam could know. Molly later gives Willie's address to Carl, who volunteers to investigate. She then goes to the police, who have no file for Willie but they show her Oda Mae's lengthy one as a forger and con artist. Meanwhile, Sam follows Carl and is devastated to learn he and Willie are working together. Carl is laundering money for drug dealers and he had Willie rob Sam to get his apartment key, which Carl uses to obtain Sam's book of passwords and transfer the money into a single account under the fictitious "Rita Miller". Sam learns from a violent poltergeist haunting the subway system how to use energy to move objects. Sam then persuades Oda Mae to help him thwart Carl. Before Carl can transfer the money for his clients, Oda Mae impersonates Rita Miller, closes the account, and reluctantly donates the $4 million cashier's check to charity. As Carl desperately searches for the money, Sam reveals his presence by typing his name on the computer keyboard. Carl goes to Molly, who reveals she spotted Oda Mae closing an account at the bank. Carl and Willie go to Oda Mae's place but Sam warns her and her sisters to take shelter. When Willie arrives, Sam spooks him, causing him to flee into the street in a fit of panic before being struck and killed by an oncoming car. Shadowy demons emerge from the darkness to drag Willie's ghost down to Hell. Sam and Oda Mae return to the apartment where—by levitating a penny into Molly's hand—he convinces Molly that Oda Mae is telling the truth about him. Oda Mae allows Sam to possess her body so he and Molly can share a slow dance. Carl breaks into the apartment but Sam is too exhausted from the possession to fight Carl. The women escape onto the fire escape, to a loft under construction, but Carl catches Oda Mae and holds her at gunpoint, demanding the check. Sam recovers and pushes Carl off her, prompting Carl to take Molly hostage and plead with Sam for the check. Sam disarms Carl and attacks him again. Carl tries to escape through a window and tosses a suspended hook at Sam, but the hook swings back, shattering the window and causing it to slide down, fatally impaling Carl with a glass shard. The shadowy demons who came for Willie return to claim Carl's ghost for Hell. Sam asks if the women are all right. Molly is now able to hear him and a heavenly light shines in the room, illuminating Sam's presence. Realizing that it is time for him to go with his task now completed, he and Molly share a tearful goodbye and one final kiss, finally having a proper closure between them. Sam thanks Oda Mae for her help and then walks into the light and onward to Heaven. ===== In 1979, Michael Corleone is approaching 60. Wracked with guilt over his ruthless rise to power, especially for having ordered his brother Fredo's assassination, he donates millions to charitable causes. Michael and Kay are divorced; their children, Anthony and Mary, live with Kay. At the reception following a papal order induction ceremony in St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in Michael's honor, Anthony tells his father that he is leaving law school to become an opera singer. Kay supports his decision, but Michael wants Anthony to complete his law degree first; nevertheless, Michael agrees to let Anthony go his own way. Michael and Kay have an uneasy reunion when Kay reveals that she and Anthony know the truth about Fredo's death. Vincent Mancini, the illegitimate son of Michael’s long- dead brother Sonny, arrives at the reception. Michael’s sister Connie arranges for Vincent to settle a dispute with his rival Joey Zasa, but Zasa calls Vincent a bastard, and Vincent bites Zasa's ear. Michael, troubled by Vincent's fiery temper yet impressed by his loyalty, agrees to include Vincent in the family business. Michael knows that the head of the Vatican Bank, Archbishop Gilday, has accumulated a massive deficit and offers $600 million in exchange for shares in Internazionale Immobiliare, an international real estate company, which would make him its largest single shareholder. He makes a tender offer to buy the Vatican's 25% share in the company, which will give him controlling interest. Immobiliare's board approves the offer, pending ratification by the Pope. Don Altobello, a New York Mafia boss and Connie's godfather, tells Michael that his partners on The Commission want in on the Immobiliare deal. Michael pays them from the sale of his Las Vegas holdings. Zasa receives nothing and, declaring Michael his enemy, storms out, followed by Altobello. Moments later, a helicopter hovers outside the conference room and opens fire. Most of the bosses are killed, but Michael, Vincent, and Michael's bodyguard, Al Neri, escape. Michael realizes that Altobello is the traitor, and suffers a diabetic stroke. As Michael recuperates, Vincent and Mary begin a romance, while Neri and Connie give Vincent permission to retaliate against Zasa. During a street festival, Vincent kills Zasa. Michael berates Vincent for his actions and insists that Vincent end his relationship with Mary, explaining Vincent's involvement in the family's criminal enterprises endangers her life. The family goes to Sicily for Anthony's operatic debut in Palermo at the Teatro Massimo. Michael tells Vincent to pretend to defect from the Corleone family in order to spy on Altobello. Altobello introduces Vincent to Licio Lucchesi, Immobiliare's chairman. Michael visits Cardinal Lamberto, anticipated being the next pope, to discuss the deal. Lamberto persuades Michael to make his first confession in 30 years, during which Michael tearfully confesses that he ordered Fredo's murder. Lamberto says that Michael deserves to suffer for his sins, but can be redeemed. Michael discovers that the Immobiliare deal is an elaborate swindle, arranged by Lucchesi, Gilday, and Vatican accountant Frederick Keinszig. Vincent tells Michael that Altobello has hired Mosca, a veteran hitman, to assassinate Michael. Mosca and his son, disguised as priests, kill Corleone family friend Don Tommasino as he returns to his villa. While Michael and Kay tour Sicily, Michael asks for Kay's forgiveness, and they admit they still love each other. At Tommasino’s funeral, Michael vows to sin no more. Following the pope's death, Cardinal Lamberto is elected to succeed him and the Immobiliare deal is ratified. The plotters against the ratification attempt to cover their tracks and Gilday kills the new pope with poisoned tea. Michael sees that Vincent is a changed man and names him the new Don of the Corleone family, in return for ending his romance with Mary. The family sees Anthony's performance in Cavalleria rusticana in Palermo while Vincent exacts his revenge: * Vincent's men smother Keinszig and then hang him from a bridge, making his death look like a suicide; * At the opera, Connie gives Altobello a poisoned cannoli and watches him die from her opera box; * Calò, Tommasino's former bodyguard, stabs Lucchesi in the neck with his own spectacles. * Neri travels to the Vatican, where he shoots and kills Gilday. At the opera house during Anthony's performance, three of Vincent's men search for Mosca but he overcomes them. Mosca shoots Michael, wounding him, and the bullet passes through him and hits Mary, killing her. Vincent shoots and kills Mosca. Michael cradles Mary's lifeless body and screams in agony; the scene fades out into a montage of Michael with Kay, Mary, and his first wife, Apollonia. Years later, an elderly Michael is alone in the courtyard of Don Tommasino's villa. Suddenly, he slumps over in his chair and falls to the ground. =====