Family Man (2000)

Brett Ratner directed this fantasy about a successful guy named Jack (Nicholas Cage) who is given a glimpse of what could have been. The film opens several years earlier when Jack is on his way to take advantage of an internship in England. His girlfriend Kate (Tea Leoni) has a feeling that he shouldn't go. Kate fears Jack won't return to her. She's right.

Fast forward to the present where Jack is a top dog at an investment firm. He's rich and successful. He stops in a store on Christmas Eve and witnesses a confrontation between Cash (Don Cheadle) and a clerk at the counter. Cash has a gun. Jack talks Cash out of being violent, and they leave the store. Jack gives Cash some money, and Cash gives Jack a hint that he's missed out on something in life. Jack goes home for the evening, but when he wakes up the next morning, Kate is sleeping next to him. Annie (Mackenzie Vega) runs into the bedroom, calling Jack "Daddy". Jack is understandably confused and upset.

The rest of film follows Jack as he navigates through the life he would have had if he'd married Kate. There's a message that people aren't fulfilled unless they are married have kids, which I didn't buy. But I could get with the message of "follow your heart".

Nicholas Cage is related to the Coppola family. His credits include Moonstruck (1987) and Con Air (1997). Jeremy Piven plays Cage's best friend; he was in the quirky ABC TV series "Cupid" (1998-1999). Tea Leoni was in the TV series "The Naked Truth" (1995-1998). Don Cheadle was the lead in Talk To Me (2007).

Runaway Jury (2003)

Footage of a child's birthday party is juxtaposed with scenes of the child's dad, Jacob Woods (Dylan McDermott), arriving at his office. It is a typical Monday morning. Suddenly, gunshots boom throughout the office amid screams of the staff. Woods makes a wrong move and loses his life.

The story then picks up two years later. Celeste (Joanna Woods), Jacob's widow, has retained the services of attorney Wendell Rohr (Dustin Hoffman). She is suing the gun company that manufactured the weapon that the gunman used on her husband. The gun company has their lawyer, Durwood Cable (Bruce Davidson), of course. But they've also retained the services of a slick jury consultant, Rankin Fitch (Gene Hackman). The gun merchants want to make sure the verdict turns out in their favor. If Celeste wins, it'll mean all gun companies will be open to being penalized when their products are used in crimes. Fitch's job is to assure the right jurors are sitting on the trail, and he's not above using trickery to make that happen.

Fitch and his staff don't have high hopes for Nicholas Easter (John Cusack), because they don't think he's going to help the gun merchants' cause. Easter is choosen anyway, and it soon becomes apparent that he planned it that way. He's working with his girlfriend Marlee (Rachel Weisz), who tells both Rohr and Fitch that she can swing the jury their way -- for a price. We know Rohr and Fitch's agendas. But what do Easter and Marlee hope to gain from jury tampering?

A good main cast, peppered with actors in smaller, but no less important roles, makes for a tight film that focuses on a hot button issue. Hackman has always been very good at playing underhanded, sneaky men who don't give a damn about who they bulldoze to move ahead. Hoffman plays his role as a Southern gentleman (the film takes place in New Orleans) with principles. Cusack and Weisz keep the audience guessing about their true motives up to the end.

Jeremy Piven ("Entourage") plays a jury consultant on Rohr's side. Nora Dunn ("Saturday Night Live"), Jennifer Beals (Flashdance, 1983), Bill Nunn (Do The Right Thing, 1984), and Luis Guzman (Out Of Sight, 1998), are a few of the jurors. Bruce McGill, who appears as the judge presiding over the case, was in the classic comedy Animal House (1978). Cusack, and Beals are from Illinois -- Cusack from Evanston, and Beals from Chicago. Piven was born in New York, but raised in Evanston, IL. Hackman was born in California, but was raised mostly in Danville, IL.