Jeff Apple Movies

A brilliant young man is tapped to join the elite branch of American intelligence, only to discover how complex and dangerous the job can really be in this suspense-drama. James Clayton (Colin Farrell) recently completed his studies at MIT, where he graduated at the top of his class and is pondering his next move while he works as a bartender at an upscale nightspot. One evening, Clayton is approached by Walter Burke (Al Pacino), a recruiter for the Central Intelligence Agency, who describes himself as "a scary judge of talent" and believes Clayton is just the sort of man the CIA is looking for. Clayton, who has little interest in an ordinary nine-to-five career and suspects his father (whom Burke claims to have known) worked for the Agency, accepts the offer and is soon sent to the CIA's secret training camp. It soon becomes obvious that Burke's intuition has not failed him; Clayton is smart, fast on his feet, a crack shot, and possesses a very agile mind. In training, Clayton notices a few things, most notably one of his fellow students, Layla (Bridget Moynahan), a beautiful woman whose skills equal his own. Clayton becomes quite infatuated with Layla, and after a fashion the attraction appears to be mutual, but Clayton has to keep in mind Burke's dictum that "nothing is as it seems," especially when Clayton is given a special assignment -- find the mole within the Agency's training program who is actually feeding information to America's enemies. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Clint Eastwood delivers one of his finest performances, as a secret service agent haunted by his past in Wolfgang Petersen's taut thriller In the Line of Fire. Eastwood plays Frank Horrigan, a secret service agent who keeps thinking back to November 22, 1963, when, as an agent hand-picked by President Kennedy, he became one of the few agents to have lost a president to an assassin. Decades later, psychotic Mitch Leary (John Malkovich) is stalking another president (Jim Curley) running for re-election. He has spent long hours studying the psyche of Frank Horrigan, and he taunts Horrigan (feeling that there is a bond between them), telling him of his plans to kill the president. After his conversation with Leary, Horrigan makes sure he is assigned to presidential protection duty. Horrigan has no intention of failing his president this time around, and he is more than willing to take a bullet. But everything goes Leary's way -- he is smart and cagey and the president's aides refuse to alter the itinerary. As the election draws closer, Horrigan's chances to catch Leary look to be less and less a possibility, and he begins to doubt his own abilities -- both now and in the past, when Kennedy was murdered. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Carrie meets Porky's as Charles in Charge co-stars Scott Baio and Willie Aames re-team for this mischievous-minded teen comedy about a hormonal high school science student suddenly bestowed with telekinetic powers. Emerson High School genius Barney Springboro (Baio) has a keen understanding of the periodic table of the elements, and a curious knack for experimentation. One day, while Barney is conducting a particularly sensitive experiment in horticulture, the lab is suddenly set ablaze, and his dreams appear to go up in flames. But any scientist will tell you that some of the best discoveries appear from the ashes of failure, and when Barney realizes that he now possesses the power of telekinesis his high school life suddenly becomes a lot more interesting. Of course the jocks don't stand a chance against a geek who can knock out a home run with the power of his mind, and as Barney's hormones take hold the skirts begin to flip and the tops begin to pop. Now, as the senior prom draws near, Barney does his best to land a date for the dance as his horrified parents put in a call to the local exorcist, his best friend Peyton (Aames) joins in on the fun, and a local reporter attempts to break the biggest story this small town has ever known. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide