Bill Lynn Movies
In this action comedy, a crook trying to go straight finds himself lured back to crime by the police, without his even knowing it. When master criminals Jasper (Robert Pastorelli) and Bristol (Doug Hutchison) pull a heist that nets $40 million in gold but leaves behind several dead policemen, detective Edgar Clenteen (David Morse) pulls out all the stops to put the thief behind bars. Jasper is jailed and ends up sharing a cell with Alvin Sanders (Jamie Foxx), a habitual small-time criminal who was brought in after a bungled robbery of a seafood wholesaler. Jasper, who has a weak heart, suffers a heart attack in jail, and as he dies, he gives Alvin a message to pass along to his wife. Eager to track down Bristol, who still has the gold, Clenteen has Alvin secretly implanted with an experimental tracking device, and then lets him go free, while spreading the word on the street that Jasper told him where the gold was stashed shortly before his death. While Alvin makes an effort to start his life over and get a straight job, Clenteen and his staff are electronically following his every move, waiting for Bristol and his associates to track him down. Bait was directed by Antoine Fuqua, whose previous credit was the stylish crime thriller The Replacement Killers. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jamie Foxx, David Morse, (more)
- 1989
- R
In this made-for-cable TV drama, Lt. Jake Robbins (Kris Kristofferson) was presumed to have been killed in action during the Vietnam War. His wife, Sarah (JoBeth Williams) and his son were forced to get on with their lives; however when Jake turns up in Thailand many years later with a Cambodian wife and two children, the two families must struggle to deal with this complication. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kris Kristofferson, JoBeth Williams, (more)
Afraid to spend the Christmas holiday alone, an aging widower decides to hire himself a spouse to spend the vacation with him in his lovely mountain retreat and finds true romance in this heartwarming made-for-cable television drama that is based on a story by Helen Norris. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Public safety takes a turn for the worse in this hit comedy, which spawned a long-running franchise. As a crime wave sweeps through a major city, the mayor decides that part of the problem may stem from overly restrictive qualifications for police officers, so she opens the door of the city's Police Academy to anyone who wants to join. Soon, the new class is overrun with misfits and losers, including Carey Mahoney (Steve Guttenberg), who is given the choice of joining the force or going to jail; Karen Thompson (Kim Cattrall), a pretty cadet whom Mahoney has his eye on; Moses Hightower (Bubba Smith), a mountain of a man who likes to tend flowers; and Larvell Jones (Michael Winslow), who has an uncanny ability to imitate the sound of practically anything. Constantly befuddled Commandant Lassard (George Gaynes) and his lackey, Lt. Harris (G.W. Bailey), are none too thrilled with their new charges, but as they try to wash their hands of the cadets, Mahoney and his classmates become all the more determined to make good. The surprising success of Police Academy spawned six sequels and two TV series. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Guttenberg, G.W. Bailey, (more)
- 1979
Mixing a tongue-in-cheek approach with thriller action, this routine caper story features Christopher Plummer as James Hatcher -- a businessman who has just double-crossed both the CIA and the Mafia and has to hide out -- and Richard Harris as Louis Kinney, an unemployed accountant who takes on the job of bodyguard to Hatcher's sister and mother. Eventually, both the CIA and the Mafia catch on to the fact that they have been mutually bilked out of $10 million by Hatcher, but they are further befuddled when Hatcher manages to portray Kinney as a murderer. This, of course, sets Kinney off on a manhunt for Hatcher, who is now most-wanted by just about everybody. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Harris, Christopher Plummer, (more)
- 1976
Best known to international audiences for his irreverent "historical" sitcom Up Pompeii, British comedian Frankie Howerd headlined a number of other equally chucklesome TV efforts. One of these was The Frankie Howerd Show, which aired not in England but was beamed out to Canadian audiences by the CBC. The premise: Frankie played "himself," an unemployed immigrant who moved into a Canadian boarding house. Constantly seeking the quickest and easiest means to improve his lot, and incidentally making "ad-libbed" comments to the TV audience all along the way, Howerd had to contend with such wacky fellow boarders as Wally Wheeler (Jack Duffy) -- who lived in the house's basement to escape from his ex-wife -- and buxom model Denise (Peggy Mahon), whom Frankie ogled at every opportunity. Also known as Oooh, Canada, The Frankie Howerd Show was telecast from February 26 to June 5, 1976, as a brief 13-week replacement for the long-running King of Kensington. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
