Gary Starke (Andy Garcia) is New York City's supreme scalper. Tickets for the Knicks, MOMA, the pope--you name it, he can get it. To mainstream society, however, Gary doesn't exist. He doesn't work 9 to 5, he doesn't have either a driver's license or a Social Security number, and he isn't even sure he was born in a hospital. Just the Ticket, Richard Wenk's wonderfully understated, well written and ultimately touching romantic comedy, is the story of how Gary finally finds identity. The movie's central premise has Gary trying to score big by scalping tickets for the pope's New York City appearance in order to win back his ex-girlfriend (Andie MacDowell). Both MacDowell and Garcia have been mired in career ruts, so their sexual chemistry is Just the Ticket's biggest surprise. Wenk knows and loves these characters (he based the protagonist on a scalper he met 20 years ago, and he spent five more years pitching the script to numerous studios), and that warmth provides an energy that's so often missing in many Hollywood romantic comedies. Also engaging (and at times heartbreaking) is Richard Bradford, who plays an aging runner who serves as Gary's father figure. MGM inexplicably dumped this picture in the dead of winter in 1999. The DVD--which features audio commentary by Garcia and Wenk, deleted scenes, and a four-page booklet about the making of the film--gives the film the second chance it deserves. --Dave McCoy
