Perfume

As a number of luminaries on the international fashion scene converge for a major show, their personal and professional crises come to a head in this comedy-drama. Lorenzo Mancini (Paul Sorvino) is an internationally famous designer who has learned he has only a short time to live. As Mancini tries to make his peace with both his ex-wife (Sonia Braga) and his long-time companion (Peter Gallagher), he also tries to mend fences with his son (and heir) Mario (Michael Sorvino) while persuading him to not merge the family business with the hip-hop fashion empire of J.B. (Omar Epps. Anthony (Jared Harris), a famous and influential fashion photographer, is having a career crisis as his marriage to Francene (Michelle Forbes) begins to collapse. Cutting-edge designer Roberta (Rita Wilson) is scrambling to complete her latest line as her underlings start leaving her one by one. Camille (Leslie Mann), Roberta's business partner, may be the next to hit the road, as she becomes involved with Jamie (Jeff Goldblum), who works for a firm run by arch-rival designer Phillip (Harris Yulin). And Janice (Joanne Baron), the editor of a leading fashion journal, is facing a deadline when she gets an unexpected visitor -- her daughter Halley (Michelle Williams), whom she hasn't seen in over a decade. Taking an unusual approach, director Michael Rymer and screenwriter L.M. Kit Carson wrote a detailed outline for Perfume and in-depth background sketches for all the characters, but allowed the cast to improvise all the dialogue used in the film. Perfume had its world premiere at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide