Chuck Nolan, a top international manager for FedEx, and Kelly, a Ph.D. student, are in love and heading towards marriage. Then Chuck's plane to Malaysia crashes at sea during a terrible storm. He's the only survivor, and finds himself marooned on a desolate island. With no way to escape, Chuck must find ways to survive in his new home.
Novalee Nation is a 17-year-old Tennessee transient who has to grow up in a hurry when she's left pregnant and abandoned by her boyfriend on a roadside, and takes refuge in the friendly aisles of Wal-Mart. Eventually, some eccentric but kindly strangers 'adopt' Novalee and her infant daughter, helping them buck the odds and build a new life.
When an EPA representative is murdered in a small Appalachian community, EPA undercover agent Jack Taggart is sent in—posing as a handyman working with a Christian relief agency—to determine what happened.
Living in rural Texas is a dysfunctional family: an abusive dad, a Vietnam vet with a war wound that's left him impotent; a compliant wife and a son of about 20, two small sons who look a lot like their brother. The dad harbors a secret, and he goes to murderous lengths to keep it hidden. The young man, Jimmy, who has suspicions, but little comes out until a Yankee woman comes to town.
Jordan Roosevelt, at 65, found herself alone, destitute, and depressed. Up against the wall, she took heart from the suggestion of a friend, a blind woman who was a nurse: enter a foster care program in which one takes care of patients in their own home. The patients she cares for are Alzheimers sufferers, and she shares her home with three other women in advanced stages of the disease, one (Gayle) wheelchair bound. And with these women, Jordan realizes a lifelong dream - to feel the ocean breeze. An accidental find of a coffee can stash of cash, buried by her late husband, makes the trip possible. Based on the true story of Peggy Lee of Camilla, Texas (the Alzheimers, the patients, and the foster care program are actual, the trip to the Galveston beaches is fictional).
Asthmatic teenager Barry Gabrewski is a daydreamer. Troubled by bullying, he escapes into a fantasy world where he is the sidekick to his martial arts hero, Chuck Norris, in a series of high-octane adventures taken right out of his movies. With help from his teacher's wise old uncle, Mr. Lee, Barry learns the finer points of martial arts and enters a karate championship.
Airline security specialist John Cutter, finally returning to the job after his wife's death, finds himself stuck on a flight being hijacked by notorious terrorist Charles Rane. Unfortunately for the terrorists, they're also stuck with him.
Undercover cop Jim Raynor (Jason Patric) is a seasoned veteran. His partner, Kristen Cates (Jennifer Jason Leigh), is lacking in experience, but he thinks she's tough enough to work his next case with him: a deep cover assignment to bring down the notoriously hard-to-capture drug lord Gaines (Gregg Allman). While their relationship turns romantic during the assignment, they also turn into junkies, and will have to battle their own addictions if they want to bring down Gaines once and for all.
Maureen Trant and her younger sibling Dani share a strong connection, but local boy Court Foster threatens to throw their bond off balance. Dani and Court meet first and have a flirtatious rapport -- but when he meets Maureen, he falls hard and they begin a passionate affair. The new couple try to keep their love hidden from Dani, but she soon learns the truth, disavowing her sister. But a heartbreaking accident later reunites the girls.
A profile of the astronauts, crew, and civilians who were involved in the January 28, 1986 flight of the spaceship, Challenger, that resulted in its explosion upon takeoff. The center point of the film is the safety inspections and arguments surrounding the use of the o-rings that ultimately were blamed for the explosion.
It's recruiting time and despite being short and scrawny, Johnny Walker is America's hottest young football prospect. His dilemma: should he take one of the many offers from college talent scouts or should he attend the local state college with his girlfriend and give up his football career?
An awkward 13-year-old leaves her cranky grandfather in rural Texas, to live with her mother in Fort Worth.
A gang of terrorists tries to hijack a truck carrying plutonium.