It's a great twist — a woman (Tilda Swinton, right) and her blackmailer (Goran Visnjic) fall in love. She's trying to protect her son from extortion, but she can't protect herself from the soulful, vulnerable man who wants her cash. The result, co-directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, is an elegant, romantically doomy movie that rises well above its precipitating gimmick.
Animated actors dominated the box office, Barry Bonds hit 73 and 'It' turned out to be a scooter. TIME picks the bests and the worsts of this year...