Paul Ben-Victor Movies

A handful of strangers living on the edge of Los Angeles' sex industry share a terrible secret in this psychological drama. Jimmy (Paul Ben-Victor) is a small-time kingpin in California's underground sleaze empire, and he runs a strip club and peep-show arcade where Tara (Angela Sarafyan) displays her body for paying customers. Tara is working off a sizable debt to Jimmy, and her boyfriend, Jaron (Josh Janowicz), meets with Jimmy's business partner Uncle Lou (Marcus Giamatti) to find out what it would cost to clear her bill. Eager to make some fast money to pay off Jimmy, Jaron teams up with Balery (Brittany Snow), a hooker who wants to get even with an abusive regular customer. One of Jimmy's more unlikely colleagues is Mr. Garrett (Eddie Jemison), a high-school teacher who learns that two of his students, Courtney (Chloe Domont) and Melody (Candice Accola), are attracted to him. Garrett decides to introduce the girls to Jimmy, who wants to lure them into a career in pornographic modeling. And Wes (Clayne Crawford) is a self-centered musician whose career has yet to take off; needing money, he allows his girlfriend, Chantel (Shanna Collins), to earn their keep by working as a streetwalker. Also starring Theresa Russell and James Russo, On the Doll was the first feature film from director Thomas Mignone, who previously distinguished himself making music videos. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Three friends become involved in the drug trade after coming into possession of a package of ecstasy, only to discover a bit too late just how dangerous things can get when you dabble in the dark side in a simmering crime drama featuring Michael Rapaport and Chazz Palminteri. No matter how hard they try, Joe, Kevin, and Mickey just can't seem to get ahead. Their lives in shambles and their finances crumbling, the desperate trio think they've hit a goldmine when, during a night on the town in a high-profile Miami nightclub, they are unexpectedly bestowed with a highly profitable package containing a healthy payload of ecstasy. In offering to distribute the drug to their personal, business, and party contacts, Joe, Kevin, and Mickey soon find themselves under the proverbial thumb of Miami's most feared drug lord. Subsequently spurned on by their initial success, the naïve trio eventually agrees to increase their distribution as fading loyalties and emerging additions threaten to put a permanent end to much more than just their lucrative endeavor. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Accompanied by Natalie (Traylor Howard), Monk (Tony Shalhoub) goes on his annual pilgrimage to wine country, there to check in at the same bed and breakfast where he and his late wife Trudy spent their honeymoon. But this sentimental journey is interrupted by an obnoxious guest named Larry Zwibell (Daniel Roebuck), and by Monk's uncharacteristic display of drunkenness. Upon sobering up, Monk is amazed to learn that no one else has seen the intrusive Mr. Zwibell; indeed, it is highly likely that the man never existed! As it turns out, this little mystery is interwoven with a murder in which the victim was a mob accountant (Larry Clarke)--and inevitably, Monk must put his vacation on hold to solve both cases (but not before getting drunk a second time!) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Reluctant secret agent Darien Fawkes (Vincent Ventresca continues to use his ability to render himself invisible on behalf of the government agency known as--er--The Agency, in Season Two of The Invisible Man. Of course, Darien is doing this only in the hopes that some day, some how, sexy scientist Claire Keeply (Shannon Kenny) will come up with a method to remove the invisibility gland that has been grafted to his neck--thereby not only ending his forced servitude to the Official, but also rescuing him from the likelihood of succumbing to "Quicksilver Madness." Making things particularly difficult this season is the fact that the perennially underfunding Agency is shunted from one government regulatory bureau to another in order to keep it alive: First, it is taken over by the Bureau of Fish and Games, then by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, then the Department of Human Services, next the Post Office, and finally by the Bureau of Weights and Measures. It is during his tenure with Human Services that Darien gains a new boss, imperious secret agent Alex Monroe (Brandy Ledford), who turns out to have a connection with the Chrysalis, the sinister terrorist organization that murdered Darien's scientist brother in Season One. Among the Season Two highlights: Albert Eberts (Michael McCafferty), the bean-counting liason between the Agency and the Federal Government, is "possessed" by Darien's frequent nemesis, terrorist Arnaud DeThiel (Joel Bissonette); Darien uses DNA to channel his late brother in hopes of finding a permanent cure for his chronic invisibility; and in a particularly prickly situation, our hero falls into the clutches of an insane acupuncturist (Justine Micelli)! In the series' somewhat open-ended finale, Darien is finally cured--at least halfway--and he leaves the Agency to work for the FBI...sort of. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rage, jealousy, murder, and Eastern European automotive engineering combine in this offbeat black comedy. Verplanck, NY, is a small town north of Manhattan that has the dubious distinction of being the Yugo capital of America; the ill-fated import compact was first test-marketed in Verplanck, and nearly everyone in town drives one. So no one finds it unusual when a yellow Yugo is seen floating in the river, though seeing someone trapped inside is out of the ordinary. Verplanck's chief of police, Wyatt Rash (Danny De Vito), discovers that the deceased driver was a prominent local citizen, Mona Dearly (Bette Midler), and the evidence suggests that Mona's death was no accident. But the investigation into Mona's murder is hampered by one rather significant detail: nearly everyone in town hated Mona and wanted her dead. She alienated her son Jeff (Marcus Thomas) and his business partner Bobby (Casey Affleck). Bobby's girlfriend Ellen (Neve Campbell) (who is also Rash's daughter) is convinced that Mona would have tried to drive a wedge into their relationship. Mona's husband Phil (William Fichtner) couldn't stand her and fell into an affair with Rona (Jamie Lee Curtis), the waitress at the local diner. And even Rash's sidekick, Deputy Feege (Peter Dobson), spent too much time on the wrong end of Mona's temper to care that she's dead. Before long, the question is no longer who is a suspect, but who isn't? Drowning Mona was directed by Nick Gomez, who earned positive notices for his independent films New Jersey Drive and Illtown. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The first season of The Invisible Man begins as lifelong criminal and chiseler Darien Fawkes (Vincent Ventresca), facing life imprisonment courtesy of the "three strikes you're out" law, agrees to be paroled in the custody of his scientist brother Kevin (David Burke), who is conducting secret invisibility experiments on behalf of a shadowy (and perennially underfunded) government agency called--well, The Agency. No sooner has Kevin planted a quicksilver-filled "invisibility gland" in Darien's neck than terrorists burst in and murder the hapless scientist. As a result, Darien is left with the awkward gland permanently grafted to his person, enabling him to disappear from view whenever he becomes terribly frightened (which is often!). Unfortunately, Darien now faces the likelihood of succumbing to "Quicksilver Madness" unless he is regular injected with a temporary antidote by gorgeous government scientist Claire Keeply, aka The Keeper (Shannon Kenny). Thus, Darien is in no position to refuse an offer from The Agency's head man The Official (Eddie Jones) to use his invisibility on behalf of the United States' counterespionage activities--if he had refused, the antidote doses would have been immediately cut off (and of course there would have been no series). In the course of Season One, reluctant spy Darien is teamed with slovenly, neurotic veteran agent Bobby Howes (Paul Ben-Victor) and is regularly menaced by the sinister Chrysalis organization, whose minions include terrorists Arnaud DeThiel (Joel Bissonette) and Jarod Stark (Spencer Garrett). Darien also faces the danger of sudden exposure whenever a severe change in temperature renders him visible at the most inopportune moments. Season highlights included the poignant episode "Ralph", in which Darien pretends to be the imaginary friend of a little girl traumatized by witness an assassination; "Impetus", wherein Darien's troubles are doubled when he contacts a disease that causes rapid aging; "Liberty and Larceny", guest-starring Priscilla Barnes as Darien's criminal mentor Liz, who hopes to use his invisibility to her advantage; and "Ghost of a Chance" in which Darien poses as a ghost in order to persuade a South American prime minister to vote against a dangerous weapons system--only to face extermination at the hands of a real ghost! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A crime caper that gaily spoofs such antecedents as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and nods its head more than a few times to the work of Quentin Tarantino, Very Mean Men opens in a bar, where a bartender (Matthew Modine) finds himself serving drinks to a tough-looking guy (Martin Landau) he pegs as a cheap drinker. In order to keep the miniscule tips coming, the bartender makes up a story about warring mob families in the San Fernando Valley. In one corner there are the Minettis, who are led by Gino (Ben Gazzara), a mobster who's mellowed with age. Gino wants to make amends when Big Paddy Mulroney (Charles Durning) complains that Gino's clan is invading his side of the Valley. Gino's temperamental son Paulie (Scott Baio, sporting peroxided hair and a goatee to match) gives Mulroney money, only to then stiff Mulroney's waitress daughter on a tip after having lunch at the family's diner. Soon ethnic insults are flying like bullets, and everyone is out for revenge. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi

Nick Chen (Chow Yun-Fat) was the first Chinese-born immigrant in the NYPD, and is now one of the force's most decorated officers. As such, he's been named leader of the city's Asian Gang Unit, who are the primary peacekeepers in Chinatown. Trouble has just arrived for the Triads, the long-entrenched Chinese gangsters who are the real power behind Chinatown. After years of posing as honest businessmen, the Triad's powers are threatened by the newly arrived Fukienese Dragons. With a gang war on the horizon, the city sends a new recruit, Danny Wallace (Mark Wahlberg), to join Chen's unit. Danny finds Chen and the AGU in a very comfortable (perhaps too comfortable) relationship with the Triads. When the mobsters attempt to corrupt Danny, Chen must reassess his relationship with the Triads, and Danny must also learn that certain concessions must be made to ensure the peace in this world set apart from the rest of New York. ~ Ron Wells, Rovi

Mickey Rourke, Frederick Forrest and Danny Trejo star in this action-packed drama about a gang of psychotic criminals who have taken control of a Texas shopping mall. Only one misfit cop is brave enough to go in and face the maniacs -- because he's looking for his brother, who lives on the other side of the law. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The squad must deal with a murder witness (Kathleen Doyle) who obviously is not playing with a full deck -- and who is subsequently kidnapped on orders from the suspect's lawyer. Medavoy (Gordon Clapp) and Martinez' (Nicholas Turturro) investigation of the latest in a series of cab robberies unearths a dangerous sibling rivalry. Jill (Andrea Thompson) wonders if her close relationship with Cohen (Michael B. Silver) is a good idea when he tries to strike a bargain with a crooked attorney. And, with Gina out on pregnancy leave, the squad tries to adjust to the new temporary PAA, the ambitious Naomi Reynolds (Gabrielle Fitzpatrick, in her first series appearance). This is the "Pop Goes the Weasel" episode. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Eddie Murphy once again finds himself exchanging both wisecracks and gunfire in this comic action-thriller. Scott Roper (Murphy) is a hostage negotiator with the San Francisco Police Department; Roper has his own way of doing things, which doesn't always mean following department proceedure, but he's good at his job and has the respect of his colleagues. Roper has been given a new partner, Kevin McCall (Michael Rapaport), a former SWAT team member whom Roper is training in the fine art of handing dangerous criminals with words as well as weapons; in his spare time, Roper tries to smooth out his stormy relationship with his girlfriend, Ronnie Tate (Carmen Ejogo), and deal with his addiction to gambling. However, Roper has his hands full when Michael Korda (Michael Wincott), a psychotic criminal, claims some hostages in the midst of a jewel heist. Roper finds it hard to be cool and detached in dealing with Korda, since the thief killed a cop who was one of his best friends, and one of the people taken by Korda happens to be Ronnie. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Heather Graham stars as Olive, a woman whose husband discovers one day that she has taken a lover; the husband kills him, then himself. While still reeling from this trauma, Olive becomes the object of a crazed stalker, who invades her home, attacks her and then disappears. Olive's terror is only compounded when she discovers the police ignore her reports. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi