The film begins following the British victory of the first Opium War and the seizure of Hong Kong. Although the island is largely uninhabited and the terrain unfriendly, it has a large port that both the British government and various trading companies believe will be useful for the import of merchandise to be traded on mainland China, a highly lucrative market.
In 1950s Connecticut, a housewife's life is upended by a marital crisis and mounting racial tensions in society.
Mahlee and Blanche Sackville are half-sisters, Blanche the daughter of an Englishman and his wife, Mahlee of the Englishman and his Chinese mistress. Mahlee rejects her people and attempts to find a life for herself among the Europeans. But she finds the color line impossible to pass and returns to lead her Chinese people in rebellion.
A Taiwanese-American man is happily settled in New York with his American boyfriend. He plans a marriage of convenience to a Chinese woman in order to keep his parents off his back and to get the woman a green card. Chaos follows when his parents arrive in New York for the wedding.
Verona and Burt have moved to Colorado to be close to Burt's parents but, with Verona expecting their first child, Burt's parents inexplicably decide to move to Belgium, now leaving them in a place they hate and without a support structure in place. They set off on a whirlwind tour of of disparate locations where they have friends or relatives, sampling not only different cities and climates but also different families. Along the way they realize that the journey is less about discovering where they want to live and more about figuring out what type of parents they want to be.
While out to avoid spending time with her narcissistic and promiscuous mother, sixteen-year-old Jo has a brief affair that leaves her pregnant and abandoned. When her mother remarries, Jo's only support becomes her friend Geoffrey, a homosexual.
A dashing Mississippi river gambler wins the affections of the daughter of the owner of the Show Boat.
A successful and married black man contemplates having an affair with a white girl from work. He's quite rightly worried that the racial difference would make an already taboo relationship even worse.
In the slums of the upper West Side of Manhattan, tensions are high as a gang of Polish-Americans compete against a gang of recently immigrated Puerto Ricans, but this doesn't stop two romantics from each gang falling in love.
A couple's attitudes are challenged when their daughter brings home a fiancé who is black.
A white female detective is partnered with a black male detective to find the person who is committing a series of particularly vicious murders. During the course of the investigation the two begin to develop an attraction to each other, but the situation is complicated by the fact that he is married.
A prison guard begins a tentative romance with the unsuspecting widow of a man whose execution he presided over.
Genius artist Cesar Catilina seeks to leap the City of New Rome into a utopian, idealistic future, while his opposition, Mayor Franklyn Cicero, remains committed to a regressive status quo, perpetuating greed, special interests, and partisan warfare. Torn between them is socialite Julia Cicero, the mayor’s daughter, whose love for Cesar has divided her loyalties, forcing her to discover what she truly believes humanity deserves.
Seeking refuge on an island in Upstate New York, a married couple's final attempt to salvage their failing relationship takes a turn for the worse when the husband begins to regress emotionally, mentally, and physically.
Five women faced with monumental life choices prepare to make the decisions that will resonate through the rest of their lives in director Tony Hickman's reflective drama. Sara is a photographer whose artistic eye has helped her to launch a successful career as a professional photographer. But these days Sara is inundated with commercial work, and photography has become just another job. Though her best friend challenges Sara to get back to her roots, it begins to appear as if he has ulterior motives. Meanwhile, Amy is still reeling from a life-changing loss when her father gets her to throw a party, and struggling actress Katie is attempting to decide whether to end her relationship with a more successful albeit less stable actor in order to keep her career on track. Later, introverted psychologist Beth begins to open up in ways she never thought possible while attending a party thrown by one of her patients.
This semi-autobiographical film by Barry Levinson follows various members of the Kurtzman clan, a Jewish family living in suburban Baltimore during the 1950s. As teenaged Ben completes high school, he falls for Sylvia, a black classmate, creating inevitable tensions. Meanwhile, Ben's brother, Van, attends college and becomes smitten with a mysterious woman while their father tries to maintain his burlesque business.
In a small Vietnamese village torn apart by war, a young woman faces unimaginable horrors before deciding to escape to the city. There, she encounters a compassionate Marine who offers her hope and a chance at a new life, igniting the possibility of a future together.
Ben Singer is a failed children's folk singer, a career proofreader, a less-than-extraordinary weekend dad, and perhaps the most negative man alive. Floundering in all aspects of his life, Ben's only comfort comes from regular chess games and friendly debates on game theory with his Senegalese roommate Ibou. When Ibou is suddenly struck ill, Ben's pessimistic worldview seems unequivocally confirmed. It takes an extended visit from Ibou's sister Khadi for Ben to realize that cynicism may be all a matter of perspective.
An "underground" cartoonist contends with life in the inner city, where various unsavory characters serve as inspiration for his artwork.
College and high school serve as the backdrop for two stories about dysfunction and personal turmoil.