The story takes place during a Sunday in the late summer of 1912. Monsieur Ladmiral is a painter without any real genius and in the twilight of his life. Since the death of his wife, he lives alone with Mercedes, his servant. As every Sunday, he invites Gonzague, his son, a steady young man, who likes order and propriety, accompanied by his wife, Marie-Thérèse and their three children, Emile, Lucien and Mireille. That day, Irène, Gonzague's sister, a young non-conformist, liberated and energetic woman, upsets this peaceful ritual and calls into question her father's artistic choices.
The story starts as a retrospective, as police officer Dave Speed (Terence Hill) faces his fourth execution attempt (this time by the electric chair) for the alleged murder of his superior and friend, Sergeant Willy Dunlop (Ernest Borgnine). While taking his last walk once more, Dave reminisces about how this all got started.
The film opens with a series of still photographs appearing over melancholic music, representing the abstract memories of the unseen Herman Raucher, now a middle-aged man. We then hear Raucher recalling the summer he spent on the island in 1942. The film flashes back to a day that then 15-year-old "Hermie" and his friends – jock Oscy and introverted nerd Benjie – spent playing on the beach. They spot a young soldier carrying his new bride into a house on the beach and are struck by her beauty, especially Hermie, who is unable to get her out of his mind.
The title designates time and location: an unusually hot August in a rural area outside Pawhuska, Oklahoma. Beverly Weston (Sam Shepard), an alcoholic, once-noted poet, interviews and hires a young native American woman Johnna (Misty Upham) as a live-in cook and caregiver for his strong-willed and contentious wife Violet (Meryl Streep), who is suffering from oral cancer and addiction to narcotics. Shortly after this, he disappears from the house, and Violet calls her sister and daughters for support. Her sister Mattie Fae (Margo Martindale) arrives with husband Charles Aiken (Chris Cooper). Violet's middle daughter Ivy (Julianne Nicholson) is single and the only one living locally; Barbara (Julia Roberts), her oldest, who has inherited her mother's mean streak, arrives from Colorado with her husband Bill (Ewan McGregor) and 14-year-old daughter Jean (Abigail Breslin). Barbara and Bill are separated, but they put up a united front for Violet.
Philippe Darland, un ancien coureur moto ayant arrêté la compétition à la suite d'un accident, aide son oncle dans son agence de détective privé. Un soir, il se rend chez Élisabeth Leroy, qui a fait appel à eux. Sa sœur Valérie a disparu depuis trois mois et les recherches menées par le commissaire Turielle n'ont rien donné. Les investigations de Darland vont l'amener dans le milieu de la drogue...
Duke brothers Randolph (Ralph Bellamy) and Mortimer (Don Ameche) own a successful commodities brokerage in Philadelphia. Holding opposing views on the issue of nature versus nurture, they make a wager of the "usual amount" and agree to conduct an experiment switching the lives of two people at opposite sides of the social hierarchy and observing the results. They witness an encounter between their managing director—the well-mannered and educated Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd), engaged to the Dukes' grand-niece Penelope—and a poor street hustler named Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy); Valentine is arrested at Winthorpe's insistence because of a suspected robbery attempt. The Dukes decide to use the two men for their experiment.
April Burns, the eldest daughter in a highly dysfunctional family, lives in a small tenement apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan with her boyfriend Bobby. Although estranged from her family, she opts to invite them for Thanksgiving dinner, probably the last for her mother Joy, who has breast cancer.
Drame de famille, chez les flics, situé entre la fin de l'Occupation et la Libération. Le faible Georges, traqué par les Allemands s'était réfugié chez son beau-frère, commissaire à la PJ. Une fois Paris libéré, il s'acoquine, pour les beaux yeux d'une fille, avec le peu reluisant Zattore. Une banque est dévalisée, mais la police agit vite et fort. Georges y laisse sa vie.
Four men rob a bank in Saint-Jean-de-Monts. A detective (Delon) tries to catch the team responsible for the lethal bank robbery, foil a drug smuggling operation and hold on to his girlfriend (Deneuve), whom he shares with a nightclub owner (Crenna), his friend and a prime suspect in the robbery. The notoriety and shared knowledge between the players intensifies into the film, similar to a Le Carre adaptation with the protagonists confronting each other at the climax of the story. The short stories and anecdotes that lead viewers to the conclusion, become a melange of real time actions scenes and non verbal interactions that hint at spy mystery, while remaining open to the viewer's interpretation. In one scene, all three protagonists can be seen at a bar, sharing a drink and glancing at each other as strangers, each one coy to reveal his or her real identity. Hence Melville's license to play with characters and plots to leave space for the film genre to shine through.
After years of pursuing drug lord Cullen Crisp (Richard Tyson), Los Angeles Police Detective John Kimble (Schwarzenegger) has him on a murder charge after Crisp shot and killed an informant (Tom Kurlander) who has given him information regarding the whereabouts of his ex-wife, Rachel Myatt Crisp, and his son Cullen, Jr. However, the informant's girlfriend (Alix Koromzay) is unwilling to testify in court.
Devon Butler (Golden) is an eight-year-old boy who lives in Tampa and dreams of being a cop. He watches police TV shows, knows police procedures and plays cops and robbers with his friend Ray. One day, while snooping around in a warehouse, he witnesses a murder. He goes to the police, who want the information, but he refuses to give it unless they make him a cop. They then team him with veteran cop (and child hater) Nick McKenna (Reynolds), and they team up in a comic series of events to find the killer. They eventually come to a mutual understanding in order to bring the killer to justice.
Joe Thanks (Terence Hill) is a genius conman. He conducts various schemes with his two friends: Half-breed Steam Engine Bill (Robert Charlebois) and his girlfriend Lucy (Miou-Miou). Lucy loves both men, and they in turn both vie for her affection.
Le professeur Delage est un brillant chirurgien, patron d'un service à Paris. Il est admiré, mais aussi jalousé professionnellement, notamment parce qu'il a mis au point une nouvelle manière de greffer un rein. Après le décès d'une patiente, il recueille le jeune Emile.