Brad Garrett Movies

The weekly Fox sitcom 'Til Death was fashioned as a vehicle for towering (6'8") comic actor Brad Garrett, who had just come off a long and successful run as a supporting player on Everybody Loves Raymond. Garrett was cast as Eddie Stark, a cynical, know-it-all schoolteacher who had been married for 25 turbulent years to wife Joy (Joely Fisher). The humor arose from the contrast between the combative Starks and their young neighbors, billing-and-cooing newlyweds Jeff and Steph Woodcock (Eddie Kaye Thomas, Kat Foster), who at the outset of the series had been married a whole 12 days. In some cases, the marital crisis of the week was augmented with interviews showing real-life couples discussing love and marriage. Created by the husband-and-wife team of Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa, both alumni of the Everybody Loves Raymond lookalike The King of Queens, 'Til Death joined the Fox lineup on September 7, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

John Lasseter, director of Pixar's movie phenomenon Toy Story, has set new standards in computer animation with this effort, another Disney-released children's epic entitled A Bug's Life. Blending classic Disney storytelling characters and the mysterious underground world of bugs, Lasseter has created a film that can be enjoyed by all audiences, and another franchise in the process. A Bug's Life is a computerized retelling of the Aesop fable The Ant and the Grasshopper, made as a cartoon-short by the one-and-only, Walt Disney, in the mid-'30s. However, A Bug's Life has modernized the story with many new twists and celebrity voices. The story focuses on a colony of ants who seasonally gather food for themselves and a wild gang of rowdy grasshoppers. When bumbling worker ant Flik (David Foley) destroys the food supply, the angry grasshoppers, lead by the maniacally warped Hopper (Kevin Spacey), threaten to kill the ants if they don't produce a new supply of food by the time they return -- an impossible feat. Flik leaves the anthill in search of help in the form of bigger bugs, and to wage war against the grasshoppers. What he doesn't know is he has actually discovered a group of down-on-their-luck traveling circus insects in need of a job. When the ants realize that their heroes are really circus performers (and the circus bugs realize these grasshoppers are really big and mean), the situation goes from bad to worse. Ultimately, the ants use their large numbers to overcome the grasshoppers. ~ Chris Gore, All Movie Guide

Based on the popular cartoon character, this family-oriented "ghost story" is about a not-so-scary spirit who bonds with a little girl (Christina Ricci). The eternally irritable Ms. Carrigan (Cathy Moriarty) discovers that the only thing she's been left in her recently departed father's will is a rickety old house in New England. Naturally, the woman is furious about this, until her "close personal friend" and assistant, Dibbs (Eric Idle of Monty Python fame), discovers a secret message that a treasure may be concealed somewhere in the house. The two take off for Maine, only to learn that the house is haunted by Casper "the friendly ghost" and his three ghostly uncles Stinky, Stretch, and Fatso. After futilely recruiting an exorcist (Don Novello, more or less reviving his Father Guido Sarducci character from Saturday Night Live) and a "professional ghost exterminator" (Dan Aykroyd), she brings in a "ghost psychiatrist" (Bill Pullman) and his daughter Kat (Ricci). Innocently attracted to the young girl, Casper befriends Kat as they try to save the ghosts' home from the evil Carrigan. Eye-popping special effects highlight this magical story that touches (albeit lightly) on the theme of what lies at the heart of human desires. Clint Eastwood, Rodney Dangerfield, Mel Gibson and The Crypt Keeper (of Tales from the Crypt) all make cameos as apparitions in the mirror Bill Pullman looks into in the house. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

Writer/director John Sayles' dramatization of the most infamous episode in professional sports -- the fix of the 1919 World Series -- is considered by many to be among his best films and arguably the best baseball movie ever made. This adaptation of Eliot Asinof's definitive study of the scandal shows how athletes of another era were a different breed from the well-paid stars of later years. The Chicago White Sox owner, Charlie Comiskey (Clifton James), is portrayed as a skinflint with little inclination to reward his team for their spectacular season. When a gambling syndicate led by Arnold Rothstein (Michael Lerner) gets wind of the players' discontent, it offers a select group of stars -- including pitcher Eddie Cicotte (Sayles regular David Strathairn), infielder Buck Weaver (John Cusack), and outfielder "Shoeless" Joe Jackson (D. B. Sweeney) -- more money to play badly than they would have earned to try to win the Series against the Cincinnati Reds. Sayles cast the story with actors who look and perform like real jocks, and added a colorful supporting cast that includes Studs Terkel as reporter Hugh Fullerton and Sayles himself as Ring Lardner. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide

The first season of Everybody Loves Raymond drew heavily upon the standup routines of comedian Ray Romano, who depicted himself as a loving but befuddled husband and father of three children, bedeviled by his own overbearing Italian-American parents and a jealous older brother who happened to be a policeman. In the series proper, Romano played Ray Barone, Long Island-based sportswriter for New York Newsday. Ray, his wife, Debra (Patricia Heaton), and their three children lived next door to Ray's parents, bombastic Frank (Peter Boyle) and snoopy Marie (Doris Roberts). Frank and Marie in turn lived with Ray's older brother, a divorced cop named Robert (Brad Garrett), who still harbored a childhood jealousy for his younger sibling. In the pilot episode, Ray's three children were played by the Ferreira children: Amber, Drew, and Justin. The youngest kids, twin boys, were named Matthew and Gregory (after Romano's real-life children), while the six-year-old daughter was not identified by name. Thereafter, the children were known as Ally, Michael, and Geoffrey, and were played by members of the Sweeten family: Madylin, Sullivan, and Sawyer. During season one, a handful of semi-regulars were introduced, among them Ray's friend Andy (Andy Kindler), a sports statistician; Nemo (Joseph V. Perry), the owner of the pizza parlor; and Amy MacDougall (Monica Horan), Robert's off-and-on girlfriend. Also firmly established was the intensely combative relationship between Ray's parents, who also had a cute habit (cute to everyone but Ray's long-suffering spouse Debra) of dropping into their son's house unannounced and poking their noses into everyone else's business. More welcome drop-ins occurred whenever Ray's sports-world friends -- usually celebrity athletes and famous TV commentators -- opted to pay a visit to the series. Despite languishing in a low-rated Friday-night slot, Everybody Loves Raymond quickly became a critical favorite, encouraging CBS to move the series to a more advantageous Monday-night berth in mid-season. Though the ratings didn't exactly go through the roof, the series garnered enough of a fan following to warrant a second season. ~ All Movie Guide

Season three of Everybody Loves Raymond finds sportswriter Ray Barone (Ray Romano), his wife, Debra (Patricia Heaton), and kids, Ally (Madylin Sweeten), Geoffery (Sawyer Sweeten), and Michael (Sullivan Sweeten), still living next door to Ray's overbearing father, Frank (Peter Boyle), and snoopy mom, Marie (Doris Roberts), in the same Long Island neighborhood. As for Raymond's brother, divorced cop Robert (Brad Garrett), his romance with Amy (Monica Horan) is now a thing of the past, due to Robert's inability to make a commitment. As the season progresses, Robert finally moves out of his parents' house and into an apartment of his own, but can't deal with independence any more than he could with a relationship, and is soon back where he started. Meanwhile, Debra decides to re-enter the workplace, taking a PR job. By season's end, Ray and Debra are still commuting to work, and Robert is still camping with his folks -- after a tentative effort to rekindle the flames of passion with Amy has failed, and for the very same reason as before (this guy's in a rut!). Even with all this going on, the writers haven't forgotten that, after all, Ray Romano is the star of the show. Thus, there are plenty of episodes revolving around the tribulations of Ray and his family, beginning with a lively season opener involving an infestation of termites in the Barone household, and ending with the season finale, in which Ray and Debra recall their first meeting way back in 1984. Having ranked as the 30th most popular TV program in America during its second season, Everybody Loves Raymond zoomed up to 11th in the ratings for season three -- making a renewal for season four a foregone conclusion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

So here's how things stand as Everybody Loves Raymond enters its fifth season on CBS. Sportswriter Ray Barone (Ray Romano), his PR-rep wife, Debra (Patricia Heaton), and their three kids are still living in Long Island, still next door to Ray's obstreperous parents, Frank (Peter Boyle) and Marie (Doris Roberts). And after experimenting with independence by moving into his own apartment, Frank's brother, divorced cop Robert (Brad Garrett), has returned to his parents' home -- minus his off-and-on girlfriend Amy (Monica Horan), who has apparently given up on Robert because of his inability to make a commitment. But things aren't entirely bleak romantically for Robert this season. While vacationing in Rome with his family (in an episode shot on-location in Italy), the neurotic policeman falls head over heels in love with Stefania (Alex Meneses). Inasmuch as Robert has proclaimed her "the girl of my dreams," Stefania shows up in New York later in the season, certain that their relationship will soon become both permanent and legal. Alas, Robert is still constitutionally incapable of committing himself to any woman, and the couple breaks up -- but not before Stefania's strict, "old world" father, Marco (David Proval), who is now a friend and kindred spirit of Ray and Robert's prickly dad, Frank, has decided to remain in the Big Apple, going so far as to purchase the Barones' favorite restaurant, Nemo's.

With all this going on, one would think that series star Ray Romano had taken a back seat to his supporting cast -- but one would be wrong. During season five, Ray Barone has many a misadventure of his own, beginning with the emotional fallout attending his decision to finally tell his parents that they are far too much a part of his and Debra's lives. Later on, Ray accidentally commits "petslaughter" on his daughter Ally's (Sawyer Sweeten) beloved hamster; receives a serious ego drubbing when his book on sports is rejected by the publisher; goes into "hamana-hamana-hamana" mode upon meeting a girl he'd dated 25 years earlier (an evening that he messed up with his untoward advances!); and tries to mediate a battle between his parents and his in-laws (Robert Culp, Katherine Helmond) during Thanksgiving dinner. The season closer is likewise devoted to Raymond, as he recalls the day that wife Debra gave birth to daughter Ally. For the second year in a row, Patricia Heaton won an Emmy award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series at the end of Everybody Loves Raymond's fifth season. Likewise honored was Doris Roberts, for Outstanding Supporting Actress. The series itself continued to be the shining jewel of CBS' Monday-night schedule, moving up again in the overall TV ratings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Despite industry rumors that the series would soon voluntarily end its run and the cast members would go their separate ways, Everybody Loves Raymond confidently breezes into its seventh season with most of its previous "status" still "quo." Ray Barone (Ray Romano) remains a sportswriter; his wife, Debra (Patricia Heaton), continues to hold down a public-relations job; their three kids are getting older and more wisecracky; and the Barones are still living next door to Ray's insufferable parents, Frank (Peter Boyle) and Marie (Doris Roberts), who in turn continue to provide a home for Ray's neurotic policeman brother, Robert (Brad Garrett). This is the season in which the vacillating Robert finally proposes to his longtime -- and long-suffering -- sweetheart Amy (Monica Horan). She accepts, but Robert isn't quite out of the woods yet: he still has to win the approval of Amy's uptight parents, Hank (Fred Willard) and Pat (Georgia Engel) -- to say nothing of her loopy brother, Peter (Chris Elliott). Ultimately, however, most of the personality problems are ironed out, and the season ends with the much-anticipated wedding of Robert and Amy. Which, of course, is not to say that Ray Romano has suddenly taken a leave of absence from his own series. Among the many "Ray-related" episodes is the one in which Ray takes a dare to write a eulogy for his still-living dad, Frank; the one in which Ray has to rescue his dad from a shoplifting charge; the one where Ray is put out because his sportscaster pal Andy (Andy Kindler) won't book him on his new radio show; and the one which proves that Ray knows nothing about hosting bachelor parties -- at least not any more. Though Everybody Loves Raymond took a slight dip in the ratings during its seventh season, it still closed out the year as one of the nation's most-watched TV programs -- and the most popular sitcom on the air. And as in previous seasons, the series took home a number of Emmy awards, for Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Supporting Actor (Brad Garrett's second win), Outstanding Supporting Actress (Doris Roberts' third!), Outstanding Writing (Tucker Cawley), and a technical award for sound mixing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the tradition of such past sitcom classics as The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Seinfeld, the producers of the popular, multi-Emmy-winning CBS comedy series Everybody Loves Raymond decided to quit while they were ahead, bringing the series to an end during its ninth season on the air. Thus, with its 209th episode, telecast May 16, 2005, Raymond shuffled off its mortal coil and ascended to syndicated-rerun heaven. In place during the series' valedictory season are its by-now familiar regulars: sportswriter Ray Barone (Ray Romano), his PR-exec wife, Debra (Patricia Heaton), their ever-growing three children, Ray's overbearing parents (and next-door neighbors), Frank (Peter Boyle) and Marie (Doris Roberts), and Ray's neurotic policeman brother, Robert (Brad Garrett), who somewhat incredibly has managed to stay married to his second wife, Amy (Monica Horan), for two whole years. As for the plot developments, things get off to a roaring start when Frank and Marie move out of their home and into a retirement condo -- only to be booted out by the condo's owners due to their obstreperous behavior. Magnanimously, Robert and Amy invite Frank and Marie to move in with them, thus neatly reversing the living arrangements that existed during the series' past eight seasons. As for Raymond, he continues to deal with such matters as Debra's mercurial temper, the academic travails of his daughter, Ally (Madylin Sweeten), and the unwelcome intrusions of his divorced in-laws, Warren (Robert Culp) and Lois (Katherine Helmond). In other words, it's the mixture as before, with few surprises but lots of laughs. And in an unusual move (especially for 21st century sitcoms), the Everybody Loves Raymond finale does not run a "very special" 60 minutes, but instead remains a neat, precise, and economical half-hour of hilarity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Andrew Stanton, who helped write Toy Story and Monsters, Inc., co-wrote and directed this computer-animated comedy-adventure about finding a very small fish in a very large ocean. Marlin (voice of Albert Brooks) is a more-than-slightly paranoid Clown Fish who is extremely devoted to his young son, Nemo (voice of Alexander Gould), the only survivor after an undersea predator swallowed up Nemo's mother and her other offspring. It's not Marlin's nature to explore unfamiliar waters, but when he and Nemo are accidentally separated near the Great Barrier Reef en route to Nemo's first day of fish school, Marlin gathers his courage and sets out to find his son. What Marlin doesn't know, however, is that while Nemo was looking at a boat passing on the surface, he was caught in a net and given a new home in a dentist's aquarium. As Marlin searches for his son, he makes friends with a friendly but absent-minded Regal Blue Tang named Dory (voice of Ellen DeGeneres), a Great White Shark named Bruce (voice of Barry Humphries) who is trying to cut fish out of his diet, a beach-rat Sea Tortoise named Crush (voice of Andrew Stanton), and Nigel (voice of Geoffrey Rush), a Pelican who can take Marlin's search from the ocean to dry land. Finding Nemo's impressive voice cast also includes Willem Dafoe, Allison Janney, Eric Bana, Stephen Root, and Brad Garrett. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This independent comedy-drama concerns George (David Morse), who works as a janitor cleaning up at a bar in a small town. While no one's sure if George is retarded, he doesn't seem to live in the same world as the rest of them; if he's not unintelligent, he is unfortunately gullible and trusting and lacks the ability to dodge around people's emotions in conversation. George has always thought of his birthday as his good luck day, so one year he decides to celebrate by taking a trip to Reno, and for a change George's hunch is right on the money -- he wins big and comes home with enough money to buy his own house and start his own cleaning business. George finds he's lonely in his new home, and he asks Angela (Nina Siemaszko), a young woman who works at a discount store, to move in with him. Angela doesn't care for her job and is desperate to get away from her harridan mother, so she agrees, though life with George proves to be both funny and troubling. George B. was shown in competition at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide