Frank Hart Movies
This fast-paced action picture plays like Die Hard (1988) on an airplane. Grieving over the death of his wife at the hands of an armed robber and blaming himself for her death, anti-terrorism expert John Cutter (Wesley Snipes) is retiring from his dangerous job. The flight he's on is occupied by a coterie of FBI agents escorting the lethal terrorist Charles Rane (Bruce Payne), but as the aircraft is taking off, Rane's associates, who have also boarded the plane, take the vehicle by force and free their leader. With the aid of a sheriff on the ground, a pair of stewardesses (Alex Datcher and Elizlabeth Hurley) and his old friend, airport manager Sly Delvecchio (Tom Sizemore), Cutter puts his special training and martial arts skills to good use combating the kidnappers. The clever, dapper Rane has several surprises in store for his nemesis, however, including killing a hostage and an ally who's only pretending to be on Cutter's side. His options becoming increasingly limited, Cutter devises a dangerous plan that involves dumping the airplane's precious fuel reserves. Director Kevin Hooks cast his father, actor Robert Hooks in the role of federal agent Dwight Henderson. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Wesley Snipes, Bruce Payne, (more)
- 1984
The director, writer, editor, and producer Michelle Citron of this feminist-oriented, somewhat melodramatic docudrama first interviewed 40 different women about their life on and off the job and then condensed the 40 stories into six, dramatizing each with professional actresses. Four of the women discuss the problems they have encountered with their male colleagues, including sexual harassment and the usual pay disparities (as everyone knows, men are most commonly -- though not always -- paid more than women for the same job). In-between the enacted interviews are enacted scenes that illustrate a growing friendship between the two remaining women of the six, a friendship that eventually ends in a lesbian relationship. Although noted by gay and lesbian groups, this twist to the docudrama is truly minor. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Belinda Cloud, Donna Blue Lachman, (more)
- 1983
- PG
In this weakly limned melodrama, Marvin (John Cassavetes) is a homeless man who stops the 11-year-old Tige (Gibran Brown) from killing himself one night, and after a bumpy start, the two become as close as a father and son. Tige's real father left him long ago, his mother has just died, and Tige is seriously ill himself. Marvin takes this in and then hunts down Tige's father (Billy Dee Williams), who is married and the father of three other children. After some initial reluctance, the father finally accepts Tige into his household, but the boy's life does not necessarily get any better from there. With a plot that is transparently melodramatic and characters barely etched on the surface, the intention to manipulate viewers with "tragic" scenes is uncomfortably apparent. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Cassavetes, Billy Dee Williams, (more)
