Splash! (1984)
Nov 24, 2002Mermaid Comedy
One of the earliest films from Ron Howard as director, an infectiously light comedy with Tom Hanks in a romance with mermaid Daryl Hannah. This was a hit and offered career breakthroughs for all involved
Brian Grazer
Real Genius (1985)
Apr 27, 2000Hi-Tech University Hijinks
Highly enjoyable comedy set among the hi-tech hijinks of a group of university science geeks. Val Kilmer owns the show in his second screen performance
Spies Like Us (1985)
Aug 20, 2003Spy Comedy
Unfunny John Landis film with Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd as two bumbling CIA agents. This aspires to being one of the Bob Hope-Bing Crosby Road films but only arrives at inane slapstick
Like Father, Like Son (1987)
Apr 19, 2004Father-Son Bodyswap Comedy
An entry in the spate of 1980s bodyswap comedies with Dudley Moore and Kirk Cameron as father and son who swap bodies. Enjoyably silly with good performances from both.
Apollo 13 (1995)
Jul 31, 2000True-Life Space Mission Disaster
Probably the best among Ron Howard's mostly undistinguished films, a dramatisation of the real-life Apollo 13 space mission disaster. Once the film gets the capsule up into orbit, the drama is gripping
The Nutty Professor (1996)
Mar 11, 2000Personality Transformation Formula Comedy
Remake of the Jerry Lewis film is a comedic tour-de-force for Eddie Murphy as he swings between a shy 400 lb professor and a manic, testostoronally charged health junkie
Fear (1996)
Apr 19, 2004Daughter's Psycho Boyfriend
Psycho-thriller with William Petersen trying to protect daughter Reese Witherspoonan from being ensnared by a charming, psychopathic boyfriend played by an unknown Mark Wahlberg
Liar Liar (1997)
Jan 16, 2005Man Cursed with a Truth-Telling Wish Comedy
A film with a children's movie premise - an amoral lawyer is forced to be honest for a day when his kid makes a wish - is over-taken by Jim Carrey in full over the top mode
Psycho (1998)
May 1, 1999Psycho Remake
Over Gus Van Sant's shot-for-shot remake of Psycho, there hangs the single question of “Why?” The result seems a futile conceit, one only designed to infuriate those who regard the original in such high esteem
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
Nov 17, 2000Dr Seuss Adaptation
Ron Howard's live-action adaptation of the Dr Seuss story visually embraces the nonsense absurdism but the charms get buried beneath the lavish production polish. Jim Carrey saves the day as The Grinch however.
The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000)
Jul 30, 2000Rejuvenation Formula Comedy
Sequel to the Eddie Murphy remake of The Nutty Professor. That film's tour-de-force was a scene with Murphy playing all the members of his family. Here the family have been brought to the fore. Murphy's performance and the effects are expectedly great but the plot is all over the place
Undercover Brother (2002)
Nov 24, 2002Blaxploitation Spoof
Conceived in the aftermath of the Austin Powers films, this is a rather funny parody of the Blaxploitation film from Spike Lee's cousin Malcolm D. Lee
The Cat in the Hat (2003)
Apr 19, 2004Dr Seuss Adaptation
Adaptation of the Dr Seuss book made following the success of Ron Howard's How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The book is dragged down into noisy slapstick chaos, capped by a badly unrestrained Mike Myers as The Cat
The Da Vinci Code (2006)
Jun 21, 2006Secret History of Christianity/Historical Conspiracy
Ron Howard directed film version of Dan Brown's best-selling book. This is historical nonsense woven into a fancifully absurd conspiracy theory where Howard does no more than offer an illustrated version of the book
Angels & Demons (2009)
May 19, 2009The Da Vinci Code Sequel
Ron Howard and Tom Hanks follow up their adaptation of The Da Vinci Code by turning to an earlier Dan Brown novel concerning conspiratorial goings-on in The Vatican but the show collapses amid absurdly contrived plotting
Cowboys & Aliens (2011)
Jul 9, 2011Western/Alien Invasion
High-concept Jon Favreau directed film that has a winning title concept, overflows with star power and is made on a big budget. But the script feels like it had no idea what to do after setting up its title conceptual mash-up
Restless (2011)
Mar 4, 2012Oddball Romance/Ghost Companion
The oddity of an emo romance from indie director Gus Van Sant about an alienated teenager with a ghost companion who falls for a girl dying of cancer. Needless to say, the film's mopey romance between oddball outsiders and Van Sant's aimless improvisational style never quite gel
Inferno (2016)
Dec 3, 2016Dan Brown Adaptation/Trail of Clues to a Deadly Virus
The third film based on Dan Brown's Robert Langdon books. This is essentially the same plot as The Da Vinci Code with Tom Hanks following clues to a deadly virus hidden in classic artworks around Europe
Candy Cane Lane (2023)
Dec 16, 2023Christmas Film
Eddie Murphy – one of the funniest talents of the 1980s – has been largely absent for much of the 2010s. He returns here with a Christmas comedy in which he is the recipient of a curse given to him by an evil Santa elf