"He's mean," says the young girl of the man who has kidnapped her. "He is?" replies the man's abused teenage wife and partner in crime. No social critic could express with more eloquence or economy the plight of the white-trash couple Rebecca Gilman chronicles in her deadpan, slice-of-lowlife drama. This 1997 play, having its New York premiere in a fine production directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman and starring Anna Paquin, is a stunner.
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...