Gary Swanson Movies
Supporting actor, onscreen from the '80s. ~ All Movie Guide
Drawing inspiration from the intervention of a well-known American playwright, director Peter Masterson's adaptation of the stage play by JoAnn Tedesco (who also wrote the screenplay) takes viewers on an emotional rollercoaster ride as one man's support system struggle to save their friend from his own worst enemy - himself. Leopold De Angeli is a highly intelligent playwright who is personable, intuitive, and sharp as a tack when he's sober. But these days sobriety doesn't come often to Leopold, and his friends are getting concerned. Everyone can sense the disaster that's looming just over the horizon, yet by confronting their friend about his alcoholism, everyone in this well-meaning group will have to face up to their own inner demons as well. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Swanson, Olympia Dukakis, (more)
- 1992
- R
In this erotic thriller (which at the same time parodies many stereotypical elements of the genre), Monica Martel (Sally Kirkland) is a one-time sex symbol whose career has seen better days. Hoping for a comeback, Monica agrees to appear in a steamy murder mystery, but there's a catch: while the script has a number of nude scenes for her character, Monica refuses to appear nude herself. An attractive younger woman named Lisa Shane (Sherrie Rose) is hired to serve as Monica's body double; Monica is less than enthusiastic about this development, especially when her husband and co-star Eric Cline (ndrew Stevens) begins showing a more-than-professional interest in Lisa. Lisa is nearly killed when a bomb causes her car to explode, and many on the film begin to wonder if Monica's jealousy has begun to spin into homicidal madness. Double Threat is available on home video in both R-rated and unrated versions. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sally Kirkland, Andrew Stevens, (more)
In this fast-paced military thriller, Tom Berenger is Thomas Beckett, a tough, grizzled, U.S. Marine Corps veteran sharpshooter who goes through target-spotter partners faster than bullets on his ultra-dangerous missions. The National Security Council secretly assigns Beckett to assassinate a Panamanian rebel bankrolled by a drug cartel in his bid for the presidency. The NSC also gives Beckett a sidekick: raw recruit Richard Miller (Billy Zane), a former Olympic marksman who's never killed anybody. Miller technically outranks the more experienced Beckett, a source of friction between the men as they make their way through the jungle to find their prey. Once they locate their target, Beckett and Miller not only have to pull off a complex shooting but also must avoid a covert shooter who's been trained by Beckett and is now gunning for them. A Panama native, director ($Luis Llosa later repeated the trick of crafting a visually exciting genre film out of thin material with Anaconda (1997). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Berenger, Billy Zane, (more)
Set upon a struggling turn-of-the-century Texas sugar-cane plantation, this brutal and realistic drama centers on the efforts of an aging plantation boss (Robert Duvall), using convicts for workers, to keep his farm afloat. The story is adapted from Horton Foote's cycle of plays The Orphan's Home. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Duvall, Lukas Haas, (more)
- 1990
- R
Elaine May and Marlo Thomas star in this black comedy taking place in the black comedy capital of the world -- New York City. Elaine May plays Marianne Flan, who moves back to a nightmare New York City from Beverly Hills after her husband, Roger (Peter Falk), has been fired from his job. She hires ditzy psychic Reva Prosky (Marlo Thomas) to redecorate her apartment, and they end up being pursued by a crazed killer. They flee the city and end up at a new-age retreat in upstate New York. Jeannie Berlin, Elaine May's daughter, co-wrote the script with Laurie Jones and appears briefly as the Flan's strumpet neighbor. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elaine May, Marlo Thomas, (more)
- 1990
A welcome exception to the slasher-stalker-kidnapper films usually seen on the USA cable network, After the Shock is a tribute to the courage and heroism of Bay Area residents following the San Francisco earthquake of October 17, 1989. Director Gary A. Sherman opts for a "cinema verite" approach, utilizing a hand-held camera to recreate the style of the original on-the-spot TV reporting. The cast includes Scott Valentine, Rue McClanahan, Yaphet Kotto, Jack Scalia and Richard Anthony Crenna as various firefighters, paramedics, law officials and private citizens. One of the best performances is offered by Nick Zaninovich, a real-life quake survivor who spent seven hours trapped in his car, which was buried under a collapsed stretch of the Nimitz freeway. After the Shock debuted September 12, 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A team of cops investigate the destructive power of a lethal street drug being promulgated on the streets of Los Angeles. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1990
- R
The Exorcist director William Friedkin made a return to the horror genre with this blend of straightforward suspense and Druid myth-inspired horror-fantasy. The idyllic lives of yuppie couple Phil and Kate (Dwier Brown and Carey Lowell) seem complete when they select the winsome young Camilla (Jenny Seagrove) as a live-in nanny for their newborn child, but the lovely young Camilla -- whose natural sexuality begins to work its spell on Phil -- is not what she appears to be. This becomes shockingly apparent to the audience early in the story when she is set upon by a trio of rape-minded thugs who meet with a particularly nasty fate in the woods, but it seems to take the parents much longer to come to the same conclusion. In fact, the woods are the key to the entire equation, as Camilla is revealed to be a powerful forest entity from Druid mythology who intends to sacrifice her infant charge to a hideous tree-god. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jenny Seagrove, Dwier Brown, (more)
- 1988
Siblings Eric Roberts and Julia Roberts appear in this old-fashioned saga about oppressed Sicilian wine-growers in 19th-century California. Giancarlo Giannini stars as Sebastian Collogero, the robust Italian patriarch who is battling with railroad mogul William Bradford Berrigan (Dennis Hopper) to prevent his land from being taken over by the rail company. Sebastian's spirited son, Marco (Eric Roberts), is in love with Angelica (Lara Harris), the daughter of a rival wine-grower's clan. Marco is not very concerned about the warfare about to erupt between the wine-growers and the railroad until Berrigan's thugs torture and kill Sebastian in front of his daughter Maria (Julia Roberts). Marco then gets his friends together and organizes a revolt against Berrigan and his railroad empire. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Roberts, Giancarlo Giannini, (more)
- 1987
- PG13
Any film with a cast that runs the age-and-experience gamut from Ione Skye to Maureen O'Sullivan is certainly worth at least one look. Stranded casts Ione as a lonely 17-year-old, living in a remote farmhouse with her grandmother, O'Sullivan. Late one evening, five space aliens crash-land near the farm. Holding Skye and O'Sullivan prisoner, the extraterrestrials run afoul of the law when one of them impulsively kills Ione's boyfriend, who happens to be the son of local hothead and rabblerouser Michael Greene. Despite the aliens' laser weaponry, sheriff Joe Morton intends to treat the incident as a standard hostage crisis, but Greene wants to storm the farmhouse, with no consideration of Skye and O'Sullivan's safety. In true "Stockholm syndrome" fashion, the hostages befriend the more likeable aliens--one of whom is played by Flea, bass player for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. A curious blend of several genres, Stranded has true cult-classic potential, should any distributor want to give it a second chance on the midnight-movie circuit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ione Skye, Joe Morton, (more)
- 1986
- R
After their psychiatrist is killed, mental patients Lydia (Shelley Winters), Julietta (Corinne Neuchateau), and Hattie (Frencesca de Sapio) escape from a mental institution and take up residence in an abandoned house. Attempting to use occult powers to contact the spirit of their dead shrink, the women run into complications when they meet up with a local hunter. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shelley Winters, Francesca de Sapio, (more)
- 1985
A trio of rich ex-cops begin to investigate a murder involving baseball and gangsters. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ted Wass, Markie Post, (more)
Arthur Hiller directed this drama exploring the disintegration of an ideal marriage after the husband discovers he is gay. Kate Jackson is Claire, a successful television producer, and Michael Ontkean is her husband Zack, an equally successful doctor. They enjoy eight years of married bliss until homosexual writer Bart McGuire (Harry Hamlin) appears at Zack's office. As Zack gets to know Bart, he discovers he is attracted to him. He asks Bart out to dinner, one thing leads to another, and soon Zack announces to Claire that he wants to explore his new-found sexuality with Bart. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Ontkean, Kate Jackson, (more)
When pimp Ramrod (Wings Hauser) is wanted by the police for murder, an undercover detective, Tom Walsh (Gary Swanson), enlists the aid of prostitute Princess (Season Hubley), a loving mother struggling to support her kid, to help capture the fiend. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Season Hubley, Gary Swanson, (more)
- 1978
A Family Upside Down stars Fred Astaire and Helen Hayes as a retired married couple. Always proud of his independence and resilience, Astaire suffers a sudden heart attack. Though he recovers, Hayes is unable to care for Astaire herself, so she and her husband are compelled to move in with son Efrem Zimbalist Jr. and daughter-in-law Pat Crowley. Astaire's heart problems persist, and the family must face the unpleasant alternative of placing him in a nursing home. Though A Family Upside Down threatens to become an uninterrupted wallow in misery, the film takes several unexpected twists and arrives at a reasonably upbeat conclusion. Coproduced by Ross Hunter, A Family Upside Down co-stars Patty Duke Astin as Astaire and Hayes' emotionally overwrought daughter. The made-for-TV film, which won Fred Astaire the last of his many Emmy awards, originally aired April 9, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
