Robert Cochran Movies

Season four of the wildly successful "real-time" adventure series 24 begins some 18 months at the end of season three. John Keeler (Geoff Pierson) has succeeded David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) as president of the United States, and the new secretary of defense is James Heller (William Devane) -- who is also the new boss of crack CTU agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland). One of Heller's first moves is to reunite Jack with his old nemesis Erin Driscoll (Alberta Watson), now the head of the CTU. Unbeknownst to most of the principal characters, Jack is in love with Heller's daughter (and policy assistant), Audrey Raines (Kim Raver), this despite the fact that Audrey is still legally married to estranged husband, Paul (James Frain). Outside of Jack Bauer and President Keeler, the only series character from season three to return as a regular in season four is CTU tech analyst Chloe O'Brien (Mary Lynn Rajskub); the rest of the cast is virtually brand-new. The "day" that comprises the fourth season begins, typically, with a nail-biting crisis, when James Heller and his daughter Audrey are captured by a terrorist group headed by Habib Marwan (Arnold Vosloo), who has already set a fiendish master plan in motion with a train bombing in the U.S. It soon develops that the abduction of Heller and Audrey is but a subterfuge to allow an enemy stealth bomber to blow up Air Force One and eliminate the president -- and ultimately to gain control of a nuclear warhead that will destroy a major U.S. city. Making matters worse, there is a turncoat in the ranks of the CTU -- and without giving the game away, it can be noted that CTU agent Sarah Gavin (Lana Parrilla) tumbles to the mole's identity before Jack Bauer does. As the tension mounts, Paul Raines is seriously wounded saving Jack during a covert mission, which "ices" Jack's relationship with Audrey; a shattering personal tragedy forces Erin Driscoll to resign from her post in mid-season; there is dissension in the terrorist ranks during a concerted effort to trigger nuclear meltdowns in six different cities; the seldom-used 25th Amendment is invoked to change presidents in midstream; and an old enemy of Jack's from the series' first two seasons appears virtually out of nowhere to make a terrible situation far worse than could ever be imagined. Clearly, the fourth season of 24 drew inspiration from the headlines of the day, notably the controversial treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib. The series also was attacked by certain special-interest groups for making several of the villains Arabs, or of Arab descent. And of course, there were those who carped that the series' notion of "real time" (each episode consisted of a single uninterrupted hour in the same day) resulted in some rather ludicrous lapses of logic. But 24 was as big a hit in the ratings throughout its fourth season as it had been all along. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Nina's dead, and some are questioning the necessity of Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) shooting her. Chappelle (Paul Schulze), in particular, is worried about covering himself, as she was their only lead, but then Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub) catches a financial transaction that eventually enables CTU to get a location for Amador (Greg Ellis). When an undercover officer on the scene is shot, Jack and Chase (James Badge Dale) barge into the club and capture Amador. Amador is too afraid of his client to talk, but he does mention that the man seems to know Jack. While Tony (Carlos Bernard) does some cross-referencing to come up with potential suspects, the team finds blueprints for the Chandler Plaza Hotel on Amador's laptop. Against Tony's wishes, Chappelle assigns Michelle (Reiko Aylesworth) to lead a squad, including Gael (Jesse Borrego), to the hotel. While hotel security attempts to lock things down, Tony orders Michelle to wait outside until the HAZMAT suits arrive, but when she discovers that Alvers (Lothaire Bluteau) is inside, she goes in after him, and her team follows. Meanwhile, Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) deals with the aftermath of Milliken's death. The police don't buy Julia's (Gina Torres) cover story, and they don't believe Sherry (Penny Johnson Jerald) either, when she claims she was never at Milliken's house. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Sherry (Penny Johnson Jerald) finds Kevin Kelly (Jack Kehler), whose daughter was killed by Alan (Albert Hall) in a hit-and-run accident. Kelly witnessed the crime, but was pressured by the police and bribed by Alan to keep quiet. Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) isn't certain whether or not to use the information, but it all becomes moot when Kelly vanishes. Sherry understandably suspects foul play, and calls on Julia (Gina Torres) to help her prove that Alan was behind the disappearance. The sting operation is reaching its climax, but that doesn't stop Kim (Elisha Cuthbert) from going to Tony (Carlos Bernard) with her suspicion that Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub) is lying about the provenance of the baby she's brought to work. Tony essentially tells Kim to shut up and watch the baby, because they need to keep Chloe in place. Down in Mexico, Ramon (Joaquim de Almeida) finishes off his brother. Nina (Sarah Clarke) reiterates her belief that Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) is still working for CTU, but Ramon isn't listening. He warns her that his snipers will be trained on her as she completes the deal with Amador (Greg Ellis). Chase (James Badge Dale) is also watching, and waiting to signal the CTU team to move in. After Nina confirms the presence of the virus, and wires the money into Amador's account, Ramon decides to kill Jack, and Chase is forced to intercede. Ramon, Nina, and Amador scatter, with Ramon taking the vial. But it turns out that Amador has betrayed them all. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

The trigger on the nuke is tamper-proof, and there's no way to disarm it. It will go off in less than an hour, so Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) decides to get on a plane and fly it away from the city. Palmer's (Dennis Haysbert) people determine that the safest thing to do is to detonate the bomb way out in the desert. Jack will only have enough time to fly to the location before the bomb goes off. Mason (Xander Berkeley) shows up at the airport, and offers to fly the plane, since he's dying anyway, but Jack isn't certain Mason will survive long enough to get to the designated detonation area. At CTU, the team decodes an encrypted recording, which seems to be of Syed Ali and the leaders of three Arab nations planning the nuclear attack. Yusuf Auda (Donnie Keshawarz), an intelligence agent sent by one of those countries to help in the investigation, tries to get Tony (Carlos Bernard) to tell him what's on the tape, and gets angry when he's rebuffed. Palmer gets word about the tape, and begins thinking about retaliation. Kim (Elisha Cuthbert) is trying to hitch a ride to her aunt's house in San Jose, and ends up having to use the gun Lonnie gave her to defend herself on the road. Eventually, she does get a ride, and uses the driver's cell phone to call CTU. Tony puts her through to Jack, who's already in the air. Jack explains the situation and says goodbye to her. Kim, distraught, gets out of the car and sits by the side of the road. As his plane nears the detonation site, Jack is surprised to discover that Mason has stowed away aboard the plane, and has a parachute for Jack to use. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Michelle (Reiko Aylesworth) and Adam (Zachary Quinto) find Kim (Elisha Cuthbert) bound and gagged, and Gael (Jesse Borrego) is quickly captured. Michelle convinces Ryan (Paul Schulze) to let her go to the hospital to see Tony (Carlos Bernard), while he handles the interrogation. Anne (Wendy Crewson) gets a call from her ex, Ted (Conor O'Farrell), who tells her that if she comes to meet him at his hotel, he'll turn over documents proving her innocence. While Ramon (Joaquim de Almeida) parties on the plane, he contemplates killing Jack (Kiefer Sutherland), who is tied up in the cargo hold. Jack manages to get loose, though. He gets a gun, and holds Ramon at gunpoint until the plane lands in Mexico, where Hector (Vincent Laresca) waits with a small army. Chase (James Badge Dale) disobeys orders again. He finds out where Ramon is headed, and flies there himself, telling Kim that he'll have to "go dark" to complete his mission. When Tony wakes up and finds out about Gael, he checks himself out of the hospital and races back to CTU, where he fills in the rest of the team on Jack's secret plan. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Attila the Hun, fabled leader of a band of nomadic warriors who fearlessly took on the might of the Roman Empire, has his life story brought to the screen in this two-part miniseries. Attila (Gerard Butler) raised an army from the people of Caspia, and in time created a fighting force so strong that they received an annual tribute from the leaders of Rome as an inducement not to attack. Not all Romans were happy with this situation, and in time it was decided that General Aetius (Powers Boothe), a brave yet unscrupulous leader who attempted to usurp the rule of Empress Placidia (Alice Krige), was the only man who could confront Attila on his own terms. Aetius recognized Attila's skills as a leader, and decided the best way to prevent him from invading Rome was to lead him into an alliance, as Rome and the Huns joined forces against a third nation. But despite their mutual respect, it soon became apparent that only one man could be the undisputed leader in a meeting between Rome and the Huns. Attila also features Tim Curry as Theodosius, Simmone Jade MacKinnon as N'Kara, and Reg Rogers as Valentinian. Attila was first aired on the USA Cable Network on January 30 and 31, 2001.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Nikita (Peta Wilson) is suspicious of Section One's motives when she is assigned to romance celebrated charity fundraiser Alec Chandler (Simon MacCorkindale); after all, if Alec is only a "money launderer" as her superiors claim, why go to the trouble of putting him under surveillance? Things become more problematic when Nikita, convinced of Alec's charitable selflessness, falls in love with him. But Alec's generosity may be merely a front for a particularly nasty criminal operation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Registry, a computer program listing all Section One members throughout the world, is stolen by a terrorist who intends to auction off the list to the highest bidder. Tracking the terrorist to Prague, Michael (Roy Dupuis) discovers that the list has been planted on a supposedly innocent bystander, an architect named Gray Wellman (Callum Keith Rennie). Assigned to retrieve the Registry by playing up to Wellman, Nikita (Peta Wilson) falls in love with the man -- thereby placing both their lives in danger. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this mystery, a detective trying to crack a forgery ring gets one of its members to go to prison to help him. When he gets out three years later, he finds that his girlfriend is now with the ringleader, and the detective must save him from being hanged by the gang. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide

In this little thriller, an innocent wager nearly results in death. The trouble begins when a novelist bets that he can hide his friend for a month. He then whisks the fellow into the country. However, the young victim's parents do not know about the bet and call the police. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Anthony Asquith evokes a vivid impression of Russia in 1916 in I Stand Condemned. The story follows handsome Russian officer Captain Ignatoff (Laurence Olivier), who is carried into a hospital in a delirious condition from severe war wounds. When he comes to his senses, he sees the beautiful Red Cross nurse Natasha (Penelope Dudley-Ward) staring down at him and he is immediately smitten. Although she feels the same way about Ignatoff, she is unhappily engaged to Brioukov (Harry Baur), a middle-aged war profiteer who has paid off the mortgage on her parent's home. Since she owes so much to Brioukov, she is reluctant to leave him and take up with the comely captain. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide