Peter M. Lenkov 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

Dina (Shohreh Aghdashloo) and Behrooz (Jonathan Ahdout) successfully convince Navi (Nestor Serrano) that the teen has murdered his American girlfriend. But then the girl's mother (Phyllis Lyons) comes looking for her. Back at CTU, Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub) has been busted by Driscoll (Alberta Watson) for secretly helping Jack (Kiefer Sutherland). Driscoll decides not to press charges, but demands Chloe's resignation. On her way out, she tells Edgar (Louis Lombardi), "Good luck today. You're gonna need it." She's right, of course. Marianne (Aisha Tyler) knows that Edgar was secretly helping Chloe, and threatens to tell Driscoll unless Edgar bumps up her security clearance. Driscoll agrees to let Jack run the ground operation, and asks the local cops to back off of Kalil (Anil Kumar), but a couple of patrolmen get the message late, arousing Kalil's suspicion that he's being followed. Once CTU determines the location of the compound where Heller (William Devane) and Audrey (Kim Raver) are being held, President Keeler (Geoff Pierson) authorizes a preemptive laser-guided missile strike to destroy the facility before the terrorists can broadcast Heller's show trial. The marines are on their way, but they won't get to the compound in time, leaving Jack as the only hope for rescuing the two captives. Heller, meanwhile, comes up with his own drastic plan to keep his show trial and execution from going forward. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

There's a showdown at the hospital. Navi (Nestor Serrano) is holding Behrooz (Jonathan Ahdout) hostage. He's afraid to kill him because he thinks Dina (Shohreh Aghdashloo) will tell the authorities everything if he does. Meanwhile, Dina warns Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) that if he doesn't save Behrooz, she'll do nothing to help him find the override. Eventually it all ends with Behrooz in custody, at which point Dina admits that she doesn't actually know where the override is. She gives them an address where the family got their assignments, and Jack and Tony (Carlos Bernard) go to investigate. They find an underground bunker with some plans involving the kidnapping and the override. Sarah (Lana Parrilla), having worked out a deal for Driscoll (Alberta Watson) to compensate her for being wrongfully accused and tortured, notices that the CFO of the company that owns the building is none other than Paul Raines (James Frain), Audrey's (Kim Raver) husband. Jack asks Audrey to call Paul and find out where he is, so that Jack can pick him up for questioning. When Audrey learns that Paul is about to leave town, she agrees to meet with him to discuss getting back together. Meanwhile, Marianne (Aisha Tyler) tells Curtis (Roger R. Cross) that she can access a file in Powell's office with information that might lead them to the override. Curtis suspects that a trap awaits, but he agrees to take her there. Tony heads back CTU, where Driscoll agrees to temporarily reinstate him. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Two former government agents square off as they search for the most deadly new weapon on Earth in this white-knuckle thriller. Sever (Lucy Liu) was once a top agent with the Defense Intelligence Agency, but she quit when her son was killed in a bungled raid organized by Gant (Gregg Henry), and has sworn to take vengeance against him and his colleagues. When Sever learns that Gant and his team are in possession of a remarkable new weapon -- a microscopic device injected into the victim's bloodstream which is benign until triggered, then kills immediately without leaving a trace -- she is determined to get her hands on it, whatever the cost. However, Gant has turned rogue, and FBI agent Julio Martin (Miguel Sandoval) has been ordered to find him and recover his new weapon. Martin needs the best man he can find for the job, and calls upon Jeremiah Ecks (Antonio Banderas), a former FBI tracker, to do the job. Ecks quit the Bureau when his wife was killed, but Martin informs Ecks that his spouse is actually alive and in hiding, and if he can bring in Gant, she will be returned to him. But Ecks has to face the most formidable adversary of his life in Sever, a master of mayhem bent on revenge. Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever was the first English-language feature from Thai filmmaker Wych Kaosayananda (aka Kaos), whose first feature Fah was a box-office blockbuster in his homeland. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A goofy slacker wreaks havoc after worming his way onto the jury of a high-profile court case in this broad comedy. The extremely unmotivated Tommy Collins (Pauly Shore) has found himself homeless after being kicked out by his mother, and he needs a place to stay. After hearing how the juries of important cases are sequestered in fancy hotels and provided with free meals, he decides that's the life for him and successfully volunteers for jury duty. Enjoying what he considers the high life and wishing to romance an attractive female juror (Tia Carrere), Tommy infuriates his fellow jurors by attempting to drag out the trial. Director John Fortenberry offers much obvious slapstick, along with a few attempts at topical jibes against media sensationalism, but even fans of Shore's lowbrow humor may be disappointed by the film's quality. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

The plot of this action film begins in 1996, with Los Angeles in a violence-crazed conflagration. One of the LAPD's most notorious cops, John Spartan (Sylvester Stallone), known as "the demolition man," is in hot pursuit of blonde-haired psychopath Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes), who is so nasty he even kills sometimes just because he feels cranky. John captures Simon, but not before Simon kills innocent hostages. John is blamed for the deaths of the hostages, and both he and Simon are cryogenically frozen to remove their brand of ultra-violence from a society that is simply just too violent. The film shifts to the future world of 2032, where Los Angeles has become a megalopolis called San Angeles. There is no poverty, Arnold Schwarzenegger was (at one time) president of the United States, and Taco Bell is the sole survivor of the Franchise Wars. Into this peaceful and bland society, Simon is summarily defrosted by reigning benevolent dictator Dr. Cocteau (Nigel Hawthorne) to have Simon murder Edgar Friendly (Denis Leary), the leader of a group of underground rebels. But Cocteau bites off more than he can chew when the melted-down Simon proceeds to go on a murder-and-looting spree. Reluctantly, Cocteau defrosts John to hunt down his old adversary. As John adjusts to self-driving cars and having sex wearing helmets, he pairs up with Lenina Huxley (Sandra Bullock), a bored cop with a nostalgic fascination for 20th-century culture. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide