In Bernardo Bertolucci's controversial adult drama, a middle-aged American (Marlon Brando), whose wife has just committed suicide, meets a young French girl (Maria Schneider) when they both view an apartment in Paris at the same time. They begin a strange, anonymous sexual relationship in the empty apartment, agreeing not to divulge any personal information to each other. Bertolucci and Brando were both nominated for Academy Awards.

Warren Beatty's adaptation of the detective comic strip displays a big-screen comic book look of its own. In a 1930s American city, Big Boy Caprice (Al Pacino) takes a stranglehold on all underworld activities, disposing of his main rival Lips Manlis (Paul Sorvino) and nabbing his girlfriend Breathless Mahoney (Madonna). Dick Tracy (Beatty) is entrusted with the task of cleaning up the city, but problems on the home front, with the adoption of a young orphan, and the seductive come-ons of Breathless threaten to ruffle his composure.