David Keith Movies

In this family drama, a white Southerner discovers that his family history isn't what he thought it was -- with the fact that he's half-black only one of his many surprises. Earl Pilcher, Jr. (Robert Duvall) runs a gas station in Arkansas; he's a typical middle-aged Southern man who likes his pickup truck and loves his momma. Shortly after his mother's death, he receives some very unexpected news; she wasn't really his mother after all. It seems that years ago, Earl Sr. (James N. Harrell) raped the family's African-American maid, Willie Mae, who nine months later died while giving birth to Earl Jr. To avoid further scandal, Mrs. Pilcher simply raised Earl Jr. as her own. While the family has kept the matter a secret all these years, Earl Jr. has a half-brother living in Chicago, and it was his mother's wish that the two should some day meet and become friends. Earl travels to Chicago and tracks down Ray Murdock (James Earl Jones), a veteran police officer and Willie Mae's other son. Earl Jr. quickly learns that Ray has little interest in getting to know him better; he knows all the facts behind the matter, and he's always blamed Earl for the death of his mother. However, Earl Jr. isn't used to life in a big city up north, and after he's mugged and carjacked, Ray grudgingly takes in his half-brother, letting him stay in the home he shares with his son Virgil (Michael Beach) and Aunt T. (Irma P. Hall), who raised Ray as a boy. A Family Thing was written by Billy Bob Thornton shortly before his breakthrough as writer, director, and star of Sling Blade. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The horror film All Souls Day concerns a man and woman who can't seem to escape from Santa Bonita, Mexico. They would like to leave seeing as the town is filled with ghosts. In order to resolve the situation, the pair must face the feared criminal Vargaz Diaz, who apparently is almost 200 years old. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

For his follow-up to 1979's Academy Award-winning Norma Rae, director Martin Ritt re-teams with that film's star, Sally Field, for this gritty romantic road comedy. Reportedly Ritt's homage to Frank Capra's films of the 1930s, Back Roads stars Field as Amy Post, a no-nonsense prostitute in the deep South struggling with the fact that she gave up her only child for adoption. When Amy first encounters the recently unemployed Elmore Pratt (Tommy Lee Jones), she is anything but fond of the drifter. But after taking to the road together with dreams of California, the two societal misfits find themselves falling for each other. Ritt and Field would team together once again four years later in another romantic comedy set in the South, Murphy's Romance. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

A Midwestern bar tender hungering for life in the fast lane enters a Hollywood King of the Bar contest in this fast-paced showbiz satire starring Jason Mewes and Paris Hilton. Owen Peadman (Mewes) is Minnesota's "Golden Boy" of bartending, but the Midwest has grown a little bland, and now Owen is looking make a name for himself in the thriving L.A. nightclub scene. When Owen gets word of a high profile bartender contest with a hearty cash prize, he sets his sights on Hollywood and prepares to knock the judges dead. Unfortunately for Owen things don't quite work out as planned, and after losing out to a well-known L.A. barman he is forced to seek the help of his flamboyant Uncle Earl. A fast-talking producer of a popular tabloid new program, Uncle Earl offers Owen a job and the pair soon set out to get the scoop on Hayden Field - the hottest young star around. Getting to Hayden isn't going to be easy though, and after hatching a plan to befriend Hayden's glamorous girlfriend Lisa Mancini (Hilton), the one-time drink slinger find out just how wild the west coast nightlife can truly get. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Fact-based drama starring Robert Redford as Henry Brubaker, the new inmate at a run-down Southern prison that's become notorious for corruption and violence. After he witnesses several instances of gross misconduct and defuses a tense confrontation with a crazed inmate (Morgan Freeman), Brubaker reveals to the guards and administrators that he's not a criminal at all, but the new warden, assigned by the governor to infiltrate the facility undercover. His identity confirmed, Brubaker takes office and sets about shaping up policies and procedures, despite resistance from, incredibly, even some of the more entitled convicts. With the help of the prison's chief trustee (Yaphet Kotto) and a compassionate ally (Jane Alexander), the warden effects some positive change, but powerful business interests line up against him when his ideas threaten their financial bottom line. A reform-minded, socially conscious, and politically liberal picture of the type usually associated with director Norman Jewison, this fact-based prison drama was the result of a troubled production that saw original director Bob Rafelson replaced with Cool Hand Luke (1967) and The Amityville Horror (1979) helmsman Stuart Rosenberg. Despite the backstage turmoil, Brubaker was an acclaimed release and an Oscar-nominated, career-finale triumph for co-screenwriter Arthur A. Ross, creator of Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954) and father of successful writer/director Gary Ross. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Because of her thieving new husband, a young woman is thrown into jail where she is harassed by fellow prisoners and by the warden. Before long, hubby gets a chance to take on the identity of a guard so he can help her escape. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

This made-for-TV remake of the classic movie chiller Carrie is slightly more faithful to the original Stephen King novel--and slightly less profane and violent. Following in the bloody footsteps of Sissy Spacek, Angela Bettis stars as woebegone high school girl Carrie White, whose shy and awkward demeanor obscures the fact that she is "gifted" with awesome telekinetic powers. As part of a cruel and vicious student prank, Carrie's better-looking and more socially savvy classmates arrange for the hapless heroine to be elected prom queen--and one does not have to have seen the original film to know the terror that is unleashed once Carrie is crowned (in more ways than one). The climax is infinitely more "high tech" than in the 1976 film, but whether it is equally as frightening is a matter of taste; additionally, the 2002 version boasts a radically different ending, one that could very well accommodate a sequel or two...or three... Patricia Clarkson reprises the old Piper Laurie role as Carrie's abusive religious-fanatic mother. Carrie first aired November 4, 2002, on NBC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of Marvel Comics' most popular characters comes to the screen for the first time in this sci-fi action-thriller. Matthew Murdock (Ben Affleck) is a lawyer whose father, a prizefighter, was killed by gangsters when Murdock was just a boy. Since then, Murdock has devoted his life to bringing wrongdoers to justice and is willing to help others by taking on cases no other attorney will touch. Murdock is also blind, after being struck down by a truck while trying to save a man from being hit. What no one knows is that Murdock was also doused with an unusual radioactive isotope which had a strange effect on him -- while Murdock's sight may be gone, his other senses have been raised to such a keen pitch that they act like radar, allowing him to tell where he's going and what happens around him, both near and far away. Murdock puts his gifts to use at night as the costumed crime-fighter Daredevil, whose pursuit of justice has earned him the wrath of underworld leader Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan). Kingpin wants Daredevil out of his way once and for all, and hires Bullseye (Colin Farrell), a super-assassin with an uncanny ability to throw blades, to do the job. Daredevil also makes the acquaintance of Elektra Natchios (Jennifer Garner), a woman with super-heroic talents who is also on Kingpin's bad side, though it remains to be seen if she has aligned herself with the forces of good as Daredevil has done. Jon Favreau, Joe Pantoliano, and David Keith highlight Daredevil's supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Gigantic, intelligent electric eels are preventing the submarine crews of a United Nations mission to detonate nuclear charges in a growing fissure under the North Pole that is causing the Pole to melt at a disastrous rate. Capt. Andy Raines (David Keith) is brought in to help scientists Dr. Anne Fletcher (Simmone Jade Mackinnon) and Chomsky (Mark Sheppard) figure out how to defeat the eels and save the planet. Little do the rest of them know, but Dr. Fletcher has been communicating with them, and maybe on the side of the slippery fish. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide

Science must confront a power greater than our own in this unusual sci-fi-thriller. As seismic activities around the world begin going haywire, causing untold damages in major cities and claiming thousands of lives, the President of the United States orders Kasia Czaban, one of his top scientific advisers, and Mason Rand, a leading weapons expert, to investigate the phenomenon and see if it can be stopped. Kasia and Mason's investigation leads them to the Himalayas, where they discover a strange object of otherworldly origin that can generate its own power and water, spawn and support its own life forms, and either extend or extinguish human lives at will. What is this strange item? What is its role in the history of our universe? And can Mason and Kasia unlock its secrets without falling prey to its dangers? Epoch stars David Keith, Stephanie Niznik, Ryan O'Neal, and Shannon Lee. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In the film Epoch, a mysterious monolith sprang out of the ground and intrigued a number of the world's best and brightest. Epoch Evolution, the sequel, stars David Keith as Dr. Mason Rand who must determine if the monolith will help save the war-torn world from itself, or if the structure is actually hastening the end of mankind. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Firestarter is based on a bone-chilling novel by Steven King. Drew Barrymore plays Charlie McGee the young daughter of Andrew (David Keith) and Vicky (Heather Locklear) McGee, who years earlier had been guinea pigs for a top secret experiment. As a result, Charlie has acquired the unenviable ability to start fires simply by thinking about fires. Charlie is pursued over hill and dale by The Shop, a secret government organization bent upon using her skills for nefarious purposes. The special effects are undeniably startling, even when the script and dialogue are straight out of the funny papers (it's hard to keep a straight face during the New York Times final shot!) The high-priced cast--including George C. Scott, Art Carney, Louise Fletcher--seems to be having a grand ole time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A teen from Los Angeles and her recently widowed mother move back to the family's Pacific Northwest home in 1980 to try to reassemble their lives. Young teen Beth at first hates country living, but then she meets the outspoken, defiant Jody and the two become fast friends. Jody has quite a reputation and has had to deal with the shame of having an alcoholic mother. Beth and Jody both adore Winnie the Pooh, and share an adventurous spirit. This spirit gets them into trouble when they decide to go explore the mysterious caves beneath Bear Mountain. Legend has it that in one of those caves, a very lucrative, 100-year-old lost gold mine can be found. This adventure chronicles Beth and Jody's experiences beneath the great mountain. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide