Richard Libertini

Robin Williams plays Dr. Malcolm Sayer, a shy research physician who uses an experimental drug to "awaken" the catatonic victims of a rare disease. DeNiro co-stars as Leonard, the first patient to receive the controversial treatment. His awakening, filled with awe and enthusiasm, proves a rebirth for Sayer, too, as the exuberant patient reveals life's simple - but unutterably sweet - pleasures to the introverted doctor. Encouraged by Leonard's stunning recovery, Sayer administers the drug to other patients.

Only the mind of Woody Allen could cook up a New Jersey caterer whose vacation to Europe turns into an international espionage incident in this hilarious send-up of the Cold War. When the plane carrying Walter Hollander (Jackie Gleason), his wife (Estelle Parson) and beautiful daughter (Joan Delaney) is hijacked to Vulgaria, all it takes is Walter snapping a few photos on his first Iron Curtain tarmac and the family is arrested for spying.

Are all relationships based on lies? Jake Bianski runs a fish market in north Boston, surrounded by Italians. For years, he's carried a torch for Isabella, an ex-girlfriend now married with three children and no interest in Jake. Yet, he tells everyone she's his girlfriend, including Marisa, a veterinarian his employees set him up with at the Italian singles club. She's interested in him until he tells her about his girlfriend, then he's persistent in asking her to be his friend.

This remake of Preston Sturges's 1948 comedy follows the same plot and has its amusing moments. Dudley Moore is a famous orchestra conductor who is convinced that his wife (Nastassja Kinski) is having an affair with his best friend, a flamboyant violinist (Armand Assante). So he plots an elaborate scheme by which he will kill them both and get away with murder. That fantasy, which he has while conducting an orchestra, rapidly falls apart once he actually tries to put it into motion. Moore and Assante compete for overacting awards, while Kinski was never much of an actress to begin with.

This 1979 comedy is absolutely indispensable for fans of Peter Falk, Alan Arkin, or Andrew Bergman, who wrote the film's screenplay and went on to direct The Freshman and Honeymoon in Vegas. (Let's forgive him for Striptease.) Arkin is extraordinarily funny as a dentist who quickly grows skeptical about the wild claims of his daughter's future father-in-law (Peter Falk) that he is a CIA agent. When he is drawn into a bizarre adventure in a banana republic, however, he takes a different view.

Chevy Chase is at his hilarious best in this suspense-packed comedy thriller based on Gregory McDonald's best-seller. Irwin Fletch, a.k.a. Fletch (Chase), is an investigative reporter who's constantly changing his identity. While working on a drug expose, Fletch attracts the attention of a strange businessman (Tim Matheson) who wants to be killed so his wife will inherit more insurance. The wily Fletch senses a scam, and soon he's up to his byline in frame-ups, murder, police corruption and forbidden romance. It'll be the story of the year, if he can stay alive to meet his deadlines!