Matt Craven Movies

Residents in a retirement home band together to thwart the thievery of the home's crooked director. Woody, Joseph, Olive (Cloris Leachman) and Peter were a bridge foursome. The film opens at Peter's funeral where Joseph (Jan Rubes) is attempting to recruit Rose (Olympia Dukakis) to fill Peter's spot at the bridge table. Acting on a prior understanding with Peter, Woody (Jean Lapointe) goes to the home's director, Carl (Matt Craven), and tries to get the money Peter allocated to cover the costs of his funeral. Carl claims Peter left the money to the home, and nothing is available for the funeral. Woody knows perfectly well that Peter would do no such thing, and his suspicions are aroused. The four bridge players begin to notice other, equally shady, things going on, and so put together a sting operation. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this martial arts actioner, a vengeful government agent seeks the gangster who slew his partner. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this actioner, a petty crook attempts to deliver a computer disk to his boss. Unfortunately, the information upon that disk is of particular interest to corrupt G-men and the ruthless members of a drug cartel. Finding himself in the midst of this deadly struggle, the crook receives help from a plucky lady detective. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this high-energy direct-to-video actioner, a retired bomb expert is called back to duty to find out who has been planting terrorist bombs in Seattle. While he investigates, more bombs explode and it becomes frighteningly clear that the terrorist is targeting bomb-squad members. Matters get more intense when the prime suspect suddenly disappears. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Killer is writer-director Mark Malone's offbeat noir fantasy about Mick (Anthony LaPaglia), an alienated, existential hit-man with a secret, romantic streak which leads him into tragedy. Mick is troubled by his desire to murder a call-girl because she failed to excite him, and he confides in mob boss George (Peter Boyle). George offers to set Mick up with a prominent psychiatrist if he first makes a hit on an upscale lady who has stolen money from the mob. Mick's pal Archie (Matt Craven) wants to join him, and Mick reluctantly agrees even though Archie's cowardice in a previous hit nearly cost George and Mick their lives. When Mick arrives to carry out the hit, to his surprise, he finds his victim expecting him. Elegant, cool Fiona (Mimi Rogers), asks a great many questions about Mick, learns a great deal and they engage in some mild sadomasochistic sex. Archie too becomes Fiona's confident, telling her of his botched hit and his troubled relationship with Mick. The film's conclusion is unusual and surprising, with dense and subtle performances by the entire cast. Malone is a confident and inventive director whose use of lighting and sound is smoothly impressive. But unlike many directors, Malone never allows this technique to interfere with the performances of his actors. Killer was well-received by critics, but failed to find an a well-deserved audience until it was released on video. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

In this military courtroom drama based on the play by Aaron Sorkin, Navy lawyer Lt. Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise) is assigned to defend two Marines, Pfc. Louden Downey (James Marshall) and Lance Cpl. Harold Dawson (Wolfgang Bodison), who are accused of the murder of fellow leatherneck Pfc. William Santiago (Michael de Lorenzo) at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Kaffee generally plea bargains for his clients rather than bring them to trial, which is probably why he was assigned this potentially embarassing case, but when Lt. Commander JoAnne Galloway (Demi Moore) is assigned to assist Kaffee, she is convinced that there's more to the matter than they've been led to believe and convinces her colleague that the case should go to court. Under questioning, Downey and Dawson reveal that Santiago died in the midst of a hazing ritual known as "Code Red" after he threatened to inform higher authorities that Dawson opened fire on a Cuban watchtower. They also state that the "Code Red" was performed under the orders of Lt. Jonathan Kendrick (Kiefer Sutherland). Kendrick's superior, tough-as-nails Col. Nathan Jessup (Jack Nicholson), denies any knowledge of the order to torture Santiago, but when Lt. Col. Matthew Markinson (J.T. Walsh) confides to Kaffee that Jessup demanded the "Code Red" for violating his order of silence, Kaffee and Galloway have to find a way to prove this in court. A Few Good Men also features Kevin Bacon as prosecuting attorney Capt. Jack Ross and Kevin Pollak as Kaffee and Galloway's research assistant, Lt. Sam Weinberg. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Megan Turner (Jamie Lee Curtis) is a rookie cop who witnesses a robbery in progress on her first night on the job. With her more experienced partner using the men's room, Megan decides to take action on her own. She creeps into the supermarket where a man (Tom Sizemore in a small role) is holding the clerk at gunpoint. Megan gets close enough to shoot the gunman, and calls out for him to drop his weapon. He spins the gun toward her, and she unloads her service revolver into his chest. His gun goes flying, and a bystander, Eugene Hunt (Ron Silver), surreptitiously picks it up and takes it home. Megan's superiors, unable to confirm that the man she shot was armed, suspend her. Eugene, a wealthy commodities broker, becomes obsessed with Megan. He sets up an "accidental" meeting between them and begins dating her, romancing her with fancy restaurants and helicopter rides over Manhattan. He also carves her name into the bullets he uses to gun down strangers in the street. A tough homicide detective, Nick Mann (Clancy Brown of The Shawshank Redemption), gets Megan's gun and badge back so she can help him track down the psycho killer. Eventually, Megan realizes that Eugene is the killer, but he uses his money and influence to elude the law, and he starts coming after Megan's friends and family. Megan's determination to bring Eugene to justice quickly becomes a very personal obsession. This intense cop drama, Blue Steel, was director Kathryn Bigelow's major studio follow-up to her well-received indie vampire flick, Near Dark. Bigelow co-wrote both films with Eric Red (The Hitcher). ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

In this cheerful, lightweight comedy, excruciatingly clumsy, disorganized, and messy Uncle Buck Russell (John Candy) becomes the screens most unlikely babysitter since Clifton Webb in Sitting Pretty. While their parents are away, eight-year old Miles (Macaulay Culkin), six-year old Maizy (Gaby Hoffman) and their teen-aged sister, Tia (Jean Kelly) are left in the care of Buck. Surprisingly, the very inept Uncle Buck entertains the younger children who come to love him and earns the respect of Tia when he rescues her from her worthless boyfriend. However, in doing so, Buck nearly loses his long-time girlfriend Chanice (Amy Madigan). John Candy is delightful in the leading role giving a touching and notable comic performance. Directed by John Hughes in his typical broad style, this youth-oriented comedy is perhaps the best role of John Candy's regrettably brief career. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

Gerald (Matt Craven) is a country boy who takes a job in Toronto as a bookkeeper for an advertising agency. He hopes to someday launch his own successful ad campaigns and daydreams about the beautiful model on the billboard outside his office window. Gerald meets the model Odessa (Kim Catrall) and follows her to the Palais Royale nightclub. He soon learns Odessa is controlled by mobsters led by Dattilico (Dean Stockwell), the crime boss who is trying to go legit in this uneven feature that is a misfired attempt at post-noir drama. Comedy passages are uninspired. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

The CIA plays footsie with the Mob in Agent on Ice. Secret service boss Clifford David conspires with Mafia chieftan Louis Pastore in a plot to assassinate "inconvenient" political leaders. Young CIA operative Tom Ormeny, who has no inkling of David's plan, is ordered to kill Pastore-who, as it turns out, isn't killed at all. Set up as a fall guy, Ormeny is disgraced and fired from the service. His only hope for redemption is to prove that Pastore is still alive, still doing the CIA's dirty work. Though partially set in Europe, Agent on Ice was filmed entirely in New Jersey-and looks it. John Pastore, who plays the "assassinated" Mafia boss, also produced the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This moving docudrama on a man whose courage raised $20,000,000 for a worthy cause is also an honest look at the nature of determination. When Canadian Terry Fox was diagnosed with cancer in 1977, his right leg was amputated and rather than simply battle depression, Fox decided to run his own cross-country marathon (5,150 miles) to raise money for cancer research. His parents, his doctor, and his friends opposed the idea but he persisted, convincing a friend with a camper to come along with him (or he could never have made the run). Fox starts at the Atlantic Ocean off Newfoundland, and with only a few supporters and very little fanfare, begins his odyssey. The amputee's human failings are clear: he is egocentric, impatient, short-tempered, and verges on the suicidal in forcing his endurance to the limit. As Fox's mental and emotional state is stretched at the beginning of the run, his friend driving the van has to call on his own reserves to stay with him. No one pays very much attention to Fox as he moves slowly through Quebec, but by the time he reaches Ontario, the Canadians start to notice his heroic effort. The Ontario Cancer Society representative, Bill Vigars (Robert Duvall), moves in like a steamroller to set up more sponsors, media events, and receptions. Fox is suddenly forced into the limelight, having to give speeches in front of huge audiences for the first time in his young life (he is 21). About half-way through his now well-publicized journey, Fox collapses and it becomes clear that his dream will have to end -- but not before he inspired millions of others to donate to cancer research. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Certainly the low point in Glenn Ford's acting career, this Canadian production is, nevertheless, one of the slickest-looking slasher films from that subgenre's early-'80s heyday. The plot (what one can make of it) involves an unseen killer stalking a group of college students at the prestigious Crawford Academy. The well-staged murders are mysteriously linked to the slightly off-kilter Virginia (Melissa Sue Anderson, formerly of Little House on the Prairie), whose disturbing past holds the key to the killer's identity. Though this film brought nothing new to the psycho-horror field, it did feature one of the more interesting ad campaigns of the period. One-sheets loudly boasted, "Six of the most bizarre murders you've ever seen!" and barred all late-arriving patrons from entering the theater during the final ten minutes (a promotional stunt stolen from Psycho). This hype proved less than apropos since the murders in question are not particularly bizarre or original (aside from the shish-kabob impalement depicted in the ads), and the film's climax is so painfully contrived that latecomers may be more able to comprehend it than those bemused viewers who watched the film from the beginning. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide