Robert Taylor Movies
- 1997
An IRA volunteer tries to leave his life of violence behind -- only to discover it's waiting for him in America -- in this drama based on a story by leading man Stephen Rea. Dowd (Rea) is a convicted terrorist with the Irish Republican Army who is serving a sentence in a prison in Northern Ireland. While his girlfriend Roisin (Maria Doyle Kennedy) patiently waits for his release, Dowd feels that he has no real future to offer her; the path he's chosen in life is not an easy one to move away from. After a visit from Roisin, Dowd is returning to his cell when he finds himself in the middle of a group of prisoners attempting an escape; Dowd impulsively joins them and turns out to be one of only two convicts to make it out alive. With forged papers, Dowd sneaks into the United States, where he takes a job as a dishwasher and lives in a dingy welfare hotel in Manhattan. While trying to mediate a domestic dispute among his neighbors, Dowd is stabbed in the back; a group of Guatemalan exiles who share an apartment in the building, led by Tulio (Alfred Molina), come to Dowd's rescue and treat his wounds. Dowd becomes friends with Tulio, his friend Paco (Jorge Sanz), and his daughter Monica (Rosana Pastor), and in time, he learns why they've come to the United States. The CIA operative who tortured and killed Tulio's father now lives in New York City, and they have come to assassinate him. However, Tulio and Paco have no experience in political violence, and no talent for it; Dowd soon finds himself drawn into their plan as he helps them organize a serious attempt on the CIA man's life, a situation that becomes all the more complicated when he finds himself falling in love with the beautiful Monica. The supporting cast includes Pruitt Taylor Vince, Paul Giamatti, Brendan Gleeson, and Coati Mundi, a former member of the adventurous R&B group Kid Creole & the Coconuts. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1996
- R
A 1981 hunger strike in a Belfast prison is the historical inspiration for the drama Some Mother's Son, which attempts to focus on the personal dimensions of the event through its portrayal of the families of the striking prisoners. Directed by Terry George, co-author of In the Name of the Father, the film is anchored by Helen Mirren's performance as Kathleen Quigley, an educated, thoughtful schoolteacher who feels the Irish-English conflict is remote from her life until her son is arrested for his involvement with the Irish Republican Army. Yet while she supports her son and works to save his life, Kathleen nevertheless maintains her disdain for violence. This is in great contrast to Annie Higgins, the mother of Gerard's collaborator, who wholeheartedly embraces the IRA's mission. Despite their differing philosophies, the women form an uneasy bond over the suffering of their imprisoned sons. Kathleen finds herself increasingly politicized but finds herself facing a moral dilemma when the prisoners begin a hunger strike. As Gerard's next of kin, it is her right to agree to intravenous feeding should her son enter a coma; however, many people, including Annie, would see such as an act as betrayal of the strike, leaving Kathleen with a choice between saving her son's life and respecting his cause. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helen Mirren, Fionnula Flanagan, (more)
- 1992
In this futuristic sci-fi fantasy, a police officer is assisted in stopping crime by a giant mechanical dinosaur. The great creature was transformed from a child's toy by an enigmatic time traveler. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Taylor, Joan Chen, (more)
- 1990
One of a handful of British "culture clash" cop shows of the 1990s, Yellowthread Street was set in Hong Kong during its waning days as a British colony. The six hour-long episodes focused on a group of police officers stationed in one of the colony's toughest and most vice-ridden districts. Leading the multicultural law-enforcement squad was Ray Lonnen as Chief Inspector Vale. Based on the best-selling police novels by William Marshall (described by one critic as "one-part Ed McBain, one-part Suzie Wong), Yellowthread Street originally aired in 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Lonnen, Mark McGann, (more)
- 1989
Based on a novel by David Morrell, the made-for-TV Brotherhood of the Rose is unabashedly old-fashioned escapist espionage fare. Peter Strauss and David Morse play polar-opposite CIA agents, code names Romulus and Remus. Their superior-and father figure-is crusty CIA official Robert Mitchum. Though Romulus and Remus are devoted to Mitchum, he is only concerned with the greater good of the service-a philosophy that has become despotic over the years. Now Mitchum has determined that Romulus is expendable. Escaping from CIA assassins, Romulus and Remus stumble into a vast rule-the-world conspiracy called The Brotherhood of the Rose. Filmed in New Zealand, this was originally a long miniseries broadcast in two parts, on January 22 and 23, 1989 - and then edited down to feature length. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
Produced in the Autumn of the Golan-Globus collaboration, Avenging Force serves as a vehicle for American Ninja costar Michael Dudikoff. Cast as a retired secret service agent, Dudikoff runs up against a sinister right-wing political organization called the Pentangle. He comes to the aid of his best friend Steve James, a black political candidate who has become a target for the Pentangle's henchmen. Impressed by Dudikoff's martial arts skills, the Pentangle leaders try to convince him to join their cause-and to ensure his cooperation, they kidnap his little sister Alison Gereighty. Avenging Force concludes with a violent Enter the Dragon-style mano y mano squareoff between Dudikoff and the Pentangle flunkeys. The film's finale is "open" enough to allow for a sequel, which has yet to appear. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Dudikoff, Steve James, (more)
Jon Chardiet plays a Puerto Rican youth who targets subway walls for his graffiti renderings. For a while, it looks as though Chardiet's problems will carry the plotline, but before long the film's true raison d'etre comes to the surface. Rap-music deejay Guy Davis, in tandem with such like-minded individuals as music student Rae Dawn Chong, endeavor to stage a huge breakdancing presentation, featuring several musical artistes of the period. Harry Belafonte served as coproducer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rae Dawn Chong, Guy Davis, (more)
- 1984
Kiefer Sutherland won the Canadian equivalent of the Academy Award for his performance in Bay Boy. In 1937 Nova Scotia, Donald Campbell (Sutherland) lives with his dirt-poor parents (Liv Ullmann and Peter Donat). His folks hope that Donald will enter the priesthood, but he isn't keen on this. For one thing, he harbors "unnatural" feelings towards a nun; for another, one of the local priests has made sexual advances towards him. Donald prefers to spend his time with pretty sisters Saxon and Dianna (Leah Pinsent and Jane McKinnon) -- but even this becomes untenable when the boy witnesses a homicidal hate crime committed by the girls' father, police constable Tom Coldwell (Alan Scarfe). It is in this intolerable atmosphere that Donald finally comes of age, which is the point to which the film is leading. Weighed down with an unnecessarily complex script, Kiefer Sutherland comes off quite well in Bay Boy; the other performers -- even the estimable Liv Ullmann -- tend to be one-note stereotypes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liv Ullmann, Kiefer Sutherland, (more)
