Robert Ri'chard Movies
The producers of Wedding Crashers are back with the comedy The Comebacks. Spoofing countless inspirational sports movies, the film stars David Koechner (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy) as Lambeau Fields, a football coach who suffers from a streak of bad luck that has become the stuff of legend. As a last resort, he takes a job coaching a college football team populated with some of the least desirable players imaginable. He must pull this ragtag crew together in order to salvage his career. Carl Weathers plays rival coach Freddie Wiseman. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Koechner, Carl Weathers, (more)
The true-life story of a coach who tries to teach his players that there's more to life than basketball is brought to the screen in this sports drama. Ken Carter (Samuel L. Jackson) was once a star player on the Richmond High School basketball team in Richmond, CA, and years later, after establishing himself in publishing and marketing, he returns to the school and to the team as the new basketball coach. Carter quickly sees that his work is cut out for him -- the team is having an awful season, and their fights off the court are more decisive than their play on the court. While Carter wants to make the Richmond cagers into a winning team, he also wants a lot more -- to teach the boys to respect themselves and one another, and that they must excel in the classroom as well as in the gymnasium. Under Carter's guidance, the team turns their losing season around, with the state title a genuine possibility. However, when Carter learns that a number of his players have let their grade point averages slip below 2.3, as mandated in a contract he entered into with the students, he decides to lock the team out of the gym and send them into study hall until their marks improve. Carter's plan quickly becomes a subject of controversy among parents and team boosters, and their objections are soon picked up by the local news media, many of whom are not sympathetic to Carter's belief that his players must have goals beyond college ball or the NBA. Coach Carter also features Rob Brown and Rick Gonzalez as members of the team, and R&B diva Ashanti in her film debut as the girlfriend of one of Carter's players. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Ri'chard, (more)
A bunch of college students are stranded in a small town where suffering for art takes on a whole new meaning in this tale of terror. Carly (Elisha Cuthbert) and her boyfriend, Wade (Jared Padalecki), have hit the road with a handful of their friends to attend a championship college football game; tagging along with them are Carly's bratty friend Paige (Paris Hilton, Carly's trouble-making twin brother Nick (Chad Michael Murray), and Blake (Robert Ri'chard), Paige's latest boy toy. While camping out for the night, the gang makes the mistake of getting on the wrong side of a mysterious local redneck, and the next morning they discover that Wade's car no longer works. As the others continue on to the big game, Carly and Wade make their way into the closest town, Ambrose, and discover it's all but deserted, except for a local tourist attraction, the House of Wax. However, it isn't long before they find out why the wax sculptures at the museum look so freakishly real, and discover a pair of murderous brothers are keen on making them part of the next exhibit. House of Wax is an in-name-only remake of the well-remembered 1953 3-D horror outing starring Vincent Price, which was in turn based on the 1933 picture Mystery of the Wax Museum. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elisha Cuthbert, Chad Michael Murray, (more)
From the makers of Slap Her...She's French comes this teen sex comedy starring Brandon Davis of the Disney Channel original series Even Stevens. Davis plays Chris Hughes, a geeky adopted high-schooler who suddenly finds himself rich and popular when it is revealed that his recently deceased birth parents were the proprietors of a vast pornography empire. The debut feature from writer/director Andy Fickman, Who's Your Daddy also stars Dave Thomas, Colleen Camp, Kadeem Hardison, and Ali Landry. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brandon Davis, Colleen Camp, (more)
Based on a story by Anne Rice, this made-for-cable miniseries explores the little-known phenomenon of the "Gens de Couleur Libres," or "Free People of Color," who lived in Louisiana at a time when slavery still held a stranglehold on much of the South. In 1822, it was not at all uncommon for attractive women of color to be retained as a "placage," a sort of "kept woman" who served the wishes of wealthy landowners, and after Philippe Ferronnaire (Peter Gallagher) enters into a loveless arranged marriage with Aglae (Jenny Levine) in order to curry the favor of her elderly (and very well-to-do) father Magloire Dazincourt (John Gilbert), he soon finds himself the father of two families -- one raised by Aglae, and another raised by his "placage" Cecile Ste. Marie (Gloria Reuben), a lovely bi-racial woman from Haiti. Philippe's son with Cecile, Marcel Ste. Marie (Robert Richard), is raised with the promise that, even though Philippe cannot officially acknowledge his parenthood, he will receive a first-class education in Europe, and Marcel finds himself travelling between the worlds of wealthy whites and economically disadvantaged Creoles in New Orleans. In time, Marcel falls in love with a girl of similar circumstances, Anna Bella (Bianca Lawson), but as fate would have it, her guardian, Elsie Claviere (Ruby Dee), has already arranged for the girl to enter into a "placage" with Vincent Dazincourt (Alec McClure), who happens to be Philippe's brother-in-law. Directed by Peter Medak, Feast of All Saints also features Ben Vereen and Ossie Davis. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gloria Reuben, Peter Gallagher, (more)
- 2001
Joel Grey returns as eager, willing but woefully inexperienced angel Ronald, who aspires to bring hope into the life of teenager Alex Wilson (Robert Ri'chard), currently incarcerated for fatally shooting former jazz musician Henry Baldwin (Bill Cobbs) during a botched robbery. Making the youth's plight all the more painful is the fact that Henry had been his mentor and role model, and now Alex feels betrayed--not only by Henry, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but by the whole world. Visiting the juvenile detention center where Alex is being temporarily held, Ronald and Monica (Roma Downey) try to help the youngster via the roundabout method of organizing a singing group comprised of Alex's fellow inmates--played by the members of the real-life singing aggregation Plus One (Nate Cole, Gabe Combs, Jeremy Mhire, Jason Perry and Nathan Walters. Songs: "When Your Spirit Gets Weak" and "The Promise". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2000
In this family drama, a group of kids who like vintage styles in clothing and music find themselves shunned by their classmates. Hoping to make their own kind of fun, they form a bowling team, only to get caught up in the highly competitive play of other teenage bowling leagues. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kyle Schmid, Robert Ri'chard, (more)
Noted R&B artist and producer Kenneth (Babyface) Edmonds served as executive producer for this tough urban drama. After a shooting incident in a neglected inner-city school leaves a police officer wounded, a group of students holds the cop hostage, in a desperate effort to force improvements to their school. The cast includes another R&B hitmaker, Usher, as well as Forest Whitaker, Vanessa L. Williams, and Rosario Dawson. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Usher Raymond, Forest Whitaker, (more)
Clay Crosby never had the chance to know his late father very well and it created a void in his life. At 15, he finds a pair of shoes, tries them on, and suddenly finds himself whisked back to the days when his father was a teen. When he takes the shoes off, he returns to his own time. Each time he travels backward, Clay draws more insight into his father's personality and life, things that help the boy deal more effectively with his own life and family. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Ri'chard, Louis Gossett, Jr., (more)
- 1996
Monica (Roma Downey) assumes the guise of a journalist, assigned to interview teenage death-row inmate Luther (DeAundre Dixon) while Tess (Della Reese) provides moral support to Luther's mother Valerie (Debbie Allen) and brother Sam (Robert Ri'chard). Through her visit with Luther, Monica is harrassed by another condemned prisoner named Willis (Carl Lumbly)--who turns out to be Luther's father! With time running out, Monica must find a way to melt Willis' hardened heart. . .and Tess, who had previously failed with Willis, must prevent young Sam from following in his father's and brother's footsteps. Former O.J. Simpson prosecutor Christopher Darden appears as an inner-city pastor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
